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The 1977 television special Elvis in Concert, which was
shot during Elvis' last concert tour in June of 1977
(not actually the last concert itself as Vernon Presley indicated in
a statement 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 hasn'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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