Elvis in Concert | EPE Official Statement
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The 1977 television special Elvis in Concert, which was shot during Elvis' last concert tour in June of 1977 (not the last concert itself as Vernon Presley stated at the end of the special) aired a couple of times on network television and parts of it, and additional footage shot during the production of it, have been used in various television and video documentary projects over the years. However, much to the disappointment of a number of fans, we have no plans for releasing a home video of the Elvis in Concert material at this time.
Because of the severity of Elvis' health problems at the time the special was shot, Elvis was far from his best in the way he looked and the way he performed, though there are some truly brilliant moments in the footage. The true fans look at this through the eyes of love, respect, and understanding, and see the great historical value - as do all the members of our staff. But, this not so with much of the general public and the media. It's not that we don't want the fans to have this footage or that we don't know how much it would mean to them. We do. There just simply is no way to get it only to the real fans (and we've exhausted all kinds of ideas) without also having Elvis served up to the general public and press for ridicule. They already emphasize and exaggerate the tragedy and sadness of the last years of his life too much.
Right now, the emphasis for us is to remind them of all that came before.
We receive many calls, letters, and E-mails from fans pushing for us to release this footage on home video. There is not a single argument in favor of our releasing it that has come from fans that haven't come up amongst our management team. We talk about it at length periodically. Up to now, some members of the management team who decide these things have not become comfortable with releasing it. Perhaps that could change someday. For now, our position remains as explained herein. 'Not now' does not necessarily mean 'not ever'. We'll see. In the meantime, we truly understand, respect and appreciate and share on so many levels the feelings of those fans who want the 1977 material released.
In the meantime, we continue to use clips from the 1977 special as appropriate for historical context and completeness in documentary projects and exhibits.
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