What were Elvis highlight moments after 1973?

[Juan Luis]

He just ran out of air (that would happen to most singers also) and the tight jumpsuit surely did not help. On My Way without any help the bombastic ending would have been great..just not as great as with the tiny extension. Imo.

[Juan Luis]

When Elvis was thin you can bet the jumpsuits were not as tight. In 1970 there was no running out of air songs that challenged like Hurt and Unchained. On the 68 video outtakes Elvis in the Trouble/Guitarman medley ran also out (on a certain take) of breath or air. He did not pace himself or phrased just right to take a breath (during certain part of song) so his lungs would be filled and be able to ride the parts where breathing cannot be done. So imagine live! Live is a one take deal and things like what I mentioned could happen.

[Man @ The Speed Of Light]

Parker liked to keep Elvis in the under 20,000 seat venues...if you look at attendance figures throughout the 70's this is the norm and I don't believe it had anything to do with the quality of Elvis' shows.

This is probably true. The logic is ensure a sold-out show by providing less seats for the volume of people wanting to be there! Many can't, get turned away.

Elvis never played Shea Stadium and why not? To avoid the bad dream of not filling it up to capacity and thus facing inevitable attendance comparisons of the Beatles who played there.


There were many Elvis "highlights" that could've happened after 1973. Some invented (like a foreign tour or new film role) and some built-in to his career such as anniversaries!
1974 = 20 years since Sun debut.
1975 = 20 years since RCA deal.
1976 = 20 years since TV debut.

Did Elvis pay attention to his own heritage?
Why no commemorative reprise of "Sun" material or a return to the Grand Ole Opry although he would've packed the house!

One of the most interesting (yet subtle) highlights was July 5, 1976 he performs "That's All Right" in Memphis - on the 22 anniversary of he cutting it at Sun. Elvis doesn't mention the date to the '76 crowd So was it coincidence he sang it that night, or was he aware of the anniversary?

That's a career highlight albeit minor.

[Juan Luis]

I do not know if he forgot or not but he definately had to squeeze into those 76-77 for the most part suits. I know he was in great shape in 1970 and he was far from it at the end. BUT those My Way and Unchained Melody performances with help or no help and in spite of tight jumpsuits performed them on a lot of shows (I have heard) in a majestic fashion. With actually a hell of a lot of more power than in 1970. I repeat just those two songs mentioned when he gave it all.

[Juan Luis]

All you have to do is look at the version of Unchained Melody from the great performances . On camera you can see when he stopped singing. The help was just making a great performance greater and provide backup if needed. The stuff I have heard I'd say it was not needed but just making it more theatrical or whatever with the help of Nielsen as well as the whole backup group going at it on top of their lungs. A wonderful mess of voices!

[ColinB]

One of the most interesting (yet subtle) highlights was July 5, 1976 he performs "That's All Right" in Memphis - on the 22 anniversary of he cutting it at Sun.
Elvis doesn't mention the date to the '76 crowd
So was it coincidence he sang it that night, or was he aware of the anniversary?

I would hazard a guess that he was unaware of the significance of the date !

[Juan Luis]

They could have edited all they want but you can see and hear Elvis voice shut down when his mouth closed and everyone else was still at it. And it that particular case the "help" did not add or subtract from that performance by him.

[Juan Luis]

I don't know.

[ColinB]

Well Colin B might recall as i think we tried to ascertain this a year or two back and it turned out that by 1976 it hadn't been released with any success other than in Memphis in 1954.
The re-release by RCA in November 1955 was a rather quiet affair in comparison.

Yeah, we were trying to ascertain how it [eventually] got an RIAA gold award [500,000 sales] !

We never did work it out.

[londonflash]

Just how big a deal was having a number 1 country LP or single during this period? How "important" was that chart compared to the Billboard Hot 100?

[Pete Dube]

Just how big a deal was having a number 1 country LP or single during this period? How "important" was that chart compared to the Billboard Hot 100?

Londonflash -
At that time the record buying audience for country music (and adult contemporary) was smaller than for the pop audience. The number of sales units required for a top 10 or #1 country chart hit was a few hundred thousand. A top 10 pop chart hit had to sell at least half a million, but more realistically around 750,000 plus get significant airplay. A #1 record had to sell at least a million. Those were the days!

Elvis' 74-77 sales and chart positions were quite good relative to the country and adult contemporary demographic. But for the pop charts they were lukewarm, if generally respectable.

[Keggyhander]

In 1970 there was no running out of air songs that challenged like Hurt and Unchained..

Elvis ran out of breath on "lesser" songs than those in 1970.

Example : "The Next Step Is Love" (Aug 70) . Elvis has to take extra breaths in the wrong places because he can't sing some of the lines in one go like he did in the studio.

[Man @ The Speed Of Light]

Just how big a deal was having a number 1 country LP or single during this period? How "important" was that chart compared to the Billboard Hot 100?

A County hit is just as important as a pop hit.

Ask Eddy Arnold or George Strait or Alabama - they each have a phenomenal amount of C&W hits, very little Pop presence, and never got depressed enough to destroy themselves or overdose on pills.

Was Elvis' success and sanity and self-worth based exclusively on his ranking on the Great Billboard Hot 100 (or absense from it)?

Sad that anyone would cave to pressure about the Hot 100 and regard any other chart as irrelevent. If Pop #1 hits are all that matter, then Elvis was technically a washed-up hasbeen in late 1969 after Suspicious Minds slipped down the charts. (I point that out with sarcasm I might add)

Elvis discovered, much to his chagrin, that music had changed and he wasn't the icon of the 70s Hot 100 nor was he 70s Rock nor 70s Pop and the other styles/charts were legitimate places for he to dabble in musically but regarded as a novelty?

Elvis wasn't explicitely Pop or Country nor R&B - He was his own Genre, his own brand name. That's cool but there's a downside to that.

[Joe Car]

You'll strugle to find anyone who thought his creativitiy was still there after 1978.

Even I can't argue with this.

[bajo]

Highlights or not: The fact remains that Elvis pulled crowds along the line of The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles in the 70's.
Must have been some happening going on even after '73!
And if country hits counts, then check out the US country charts in the final years of his career!

[brian]

The only real highlights for Elvis' career post Aloha were the country hits he scored and winning a grammy for a live version of How great thou art. That's it.

[JANDERBIG]

The only real highlights for Elvis' career post Aloha were the country hits he scored and winning a grammy for a live version of How great thou art. That's it.

O importante foi que os fans não abandonaram Elvis, avia numerous show e sempre com a audiência latada!

[Rob]

Highlights be damned, there are several people in this thread that are no longer here.

Good people.

[brian]

O importante foi que os fans não abandonaram Elvis, avia numerous show e sempre com a audiência latada!

Well, A lot of artists that were popular continue to sell out shows even when their career is in decline. The fans continuing to go to Elvis shows is not really a highlight. Singers and bands don't really get that much credit for selling out shows.