Out of the blue the Gravel Road Music importlabel released "The CBS Concert Recordings" containing the June 19 and June 21, 1977 CBS recordings.From the press-release:
The complete soundtrack of CBS special, two concert performances - one from June 19,1977 in Omaha, and the second concert from June 21, 1977 in Rapid City. These two concerts are now available in a deluxe 2-CD set with almost 60 historical tracks. Also included are a beautiful 16-page booklet stuffed with extensive liner notes and relevant photos. Especially for the Elvis Collectors the label included numbered 100% genuine reproductions of the original tickets of both concerts. This is limited to 555 editions only!
Hear Elvis at the piano and many songs performed for the very last time on stage. With the last and arguably best-performed version of “How Great thou art” and the last versions of “Are you lonesome tonight”, the powerful “Trying To Get To You” and the unusual “Hawaiian Wedding Song”. With this release it is obvious whatever may have been wrong, Elvis' unique voice never failed him!
In the spring of 1977 CBS-TV expressed an interest in creating a program covering the Elvis Presley Show. After much pre-planning, producers Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion chose the cities of Omaha and Rapid City on the June tour for their primary videotaping locations.
Elvis did not do so well in Omaha, but gave everything he had in Rapid City.
The Monday, October 3, 1977 broadcast, aired about six weeks after Elvis' unexpected death, used most of the second show in their edit.
The RCA soundtrack “Elvis In Concert” reached *Billboard* U.S. #3 shortly after this airing. The program would be rerun just once, on Sunday, May 7, 1978, and has never been issued on VHS or DVD.
The Gravelroad team started this project back in 2010 but with the release of “TFC box” it seemed to be a cancelled project. To our surprise their sound didn't match the results we already achieved on these two concerts. From the various fans that heard the progress samples we've received requests to, please finish it. Thanks to new technical possibilities we could solve certain recording issues that were impossible to solve just a few years ago.
As some insiders already said, this is the best sounding release of these concerts to date! Of course we can say many things, we rather let you be the judge of that!
The Tracklist: 19.06.1977 Omaha
01. Also Sprach Zarathustra 02. C. C. Rider 03. I Got A Woman/Amen 04. That's All Right 05. Are You Lonesome Tonight 06. Love Me 07. Fairytale 08. Little Sister 09. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel 10. And I Love You So 11. Jailhouse Rock 12. How Great Thou Art (Performed for the last time) 13. Band Introductions 14. Early Mornin' Rain 15. What'd I Say 16. Johnny B. Goode 17. Drum Solo 18. Bass Solo 19. Piano Solo 20. I Really Don't Want To Know 21. Electric Piano & Clavinet Solo 22. Orchestra 23. Hurt 24. Hound Dog 25. O Sole Mio (Sherrill Nielsen)/It's Now Or Never 26. Elvis’ saying “thanks” to Felton Jarvis, Bruce Jackson, Bill Porter 27. Can't Help Falling In Love 28. Closing Vamp & Announcements
The Tracklist: 21.06.1977 Rapid City
01. Also Sprach Zarathustra 02. C. C. Rider (with break) 03. I Got A Woman/Amen 04. That's All Right 05. Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Performed for the last time) 06. Love Me 07. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 08. You Gave Me A Mountain 09. Jailhouse Rock 10. O Sole Mio (Sherrill Nielsen)/It's Now Or Never 11. Tryin' To Get To You (Performed for the last time) 12. Hawaiian Wedding Song (Performed for the last time) 13. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel 14. My Way 15. Band Introductions 16. Early Mornin' Rain 17. What'd I Say 18. Johnny B. Goode 19. Drum Solo 20. Bass Solo 21. Piano Solo 22. I Really Don't Want To Know 23. Electric Piano & Clavinet Solo 24. Orchestra 25. Introduction of Vernon Presley & Ginger Alden 26. Hurt 27. Hound Dog 28. Unchained Melody 29. Elvis‘ saying “thanks” to audience and crew 30. Can't Help Falling In Love 31. Closing Vamp
(Source: FECC)