“Ladies and gentlemen, the picture you have just seen was the last live performance of Elvis on stage,” announced Vernon Presley, Elvis Presley’s father, at the end of Record 1 of 1977’s Elvis In Concert soundtrack album.
For years, this and a similar message from Vernon at the end of the CBS television special caused the general public and casual fans to believe the project was indeed Elvis’ last concert.
Elvis In Concert was a compilation of highlights from two shows during Elvis’ last tour – Omaha, Nebraska, on June 19, 1977, and Rapid City, South Dakota, on June 21.
Elvis actually performed a few more concerts after Rapid City, which were not captured on professional video or audio. His last was on June 26 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
After making the bootleg rounds for decades, an audience recording of Elvis’ last concert will soon be officially released for the first time by Follow That Dream (FTD) Records. FTD began in 1999 and is Sony’s collectors label for Elvis fans.
The performance headlines a 3-CD set called Elvis: The Last Concert – Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, June 26, 1977. New audio work on the recording was performed by Anthony Stuchbury, known for his Elvis “Mono II Stereo” CD series in Europe.
The other shows on the set will be October 18, 1976, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (CD 2), and December 30, 1976, Atlanta, Georgia (CD 3). These are two of the soundboard shows FTD previously bundled with a re-release of the Bruce Jackson On The Road With Elvis book.
Jackson, who died in 2011, worked as part of Elvis’ audio team for shows in the final years and taped many of them direct from the soundboard for various purposes. Though he is rumored to have taped the last concert, it has never surfaced in any form.
Cover of ELVIS: THE LAST CONCERT (2026, FTD)
I’m selective when it comes to Elvis releases, including FTD, but this set is a must-have for me due to the historical significance of the Indianapolis show. I usually avoid 1976 shows, but my understanding is that the December 30 Atlanta concert is among the best for that year. I’m always in favor of FTD re-releasing CDs previously bundled with their exorbitantly-priced books, so including two of Jackson’s soundboard recordings is a good move here.
While The Mystery Train is not a news site – I leave that to Kees’ incredible Elvis Day By Day site – this is one of those times where a story is so important to me that I had to share it with you. Check out Elvis Day By Day for the full tracklisting, as provided by FTD.
Circling back to Vernon, who was obviously still overcome with grief during his message just six weeks after Elvis’ death, presumably the “last live performance” myth was written for him in order to better promote the special. He was almost surely unaware of which concerts were taped when.
Forty-nine years later, in my offline Apple Music playlist, Vernon’s message will now have its proper home on Elvis: The Last Concert.
Elvis’ Last Tour
June 17, 1977: Springfield, Missouri
June 18: Kansas City, Missouri
June 19: Omaha, Nebraska
June 20: Lincoln, Nebraska
June 21: Rapid City, South Dakota
June 22: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
June 23: Des Moines, Iowa
June 24: Madison, Wisconsin
June 25: Cincinnati, Ohio
June 26: Indianapolis, Indiana
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
Psalm 34:18 NLT
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