New FTD: The Last Tours Vol.1 (4CD) & California Holiday 2LP

[DearGeorgie]

This being a "Volume 1", I assume the next volumes will concentrate on each tour he did until June... I'd be shocked if the final volume didn't contain Indianapolis, even if it's an audience recording, like they did with the New Years Eve '76 show in Pittsburgh. The final disc may also contain both Omaha and Rapid City unedited, hard to know for sure but it seems like the most logical choice

[ale]

Good to have more 77 tour stuff altough I was expecting something from 75.....maybe on Nov/Dec release? Hope...

[rlj4ep]

This is really good news. I will certainly be picking up these shows from 1977. The February shows which I have heard are not bad shows...., Elvis and some of the team picked up colds early in this tour which I'm sure impacted some of the singing. Still, the song set lists are good and the shows are generally good, especially in '77.

Glad FTD is giving this opportunity to hear these shows.....,

[JEFF d]

4 cds of 1977!! Just amazing & Spinout is a sentimental favorite of mine

[Mike C]

If they do a volume 2 to cover the March tours, I assume they will include the Amarillo show (3/24/77) which is a very hard to find FTD these days.

[YDKM]

If they do a volume 2 to cover the March tours, I assume they will include the Amarillo show (3/24/77) which is a very hard to find FTD these days.

oh no PLEASE"NO"......Pheonix opening tour show was far, FAR better.

[Mike C]

If they do a volume 2 to cover the March tours, I assume they will include the Amarillo show (3/24/77) which is a very hard to find FTD these days.

oh no PLEASE"NO"......Pheonix opening tour show was far, FAR better.

I agree. But since they took the opportunity to re-release Charlotte February 20, 1977, I can see them doing the same with volume 2.

[BrianTCB]

If they do a volume 2 to cover the March tours, I assume they will include the Amarillo show (3/24/77) which is a very hard to find FTD these days.

I would love to see FTD do 4-5 CD sets for every month of 1977. From March - June. Your suggestion is a good one, Mike. I wouldn't mind having a new version of Amarillo.

Imagine finishing off with a 7 CD set of the last tour:

6/18/1977 soundboard.
6/19/1977 soundboard.
6/20/1977 soundboard.
6/21/1977 soundboard.
6/23/1977 soundboard. (or another day that's better)
6/25/1977 soundboard.
And finally...the 6/26/1977 soundboard.

And no Charlie up front.

[Markus K.]

If they do a volume 2 to cover the March tours, I assume they will include the Amarillo show (3/24/77) which is a very hard to find FTD these days.

I would love to see FTD do 4-5 CD sets for every month of 1977. From March - June. Your suggestion is a good one, Mike. I wouldn't mind having a new version of Amarillo.

Imagine finishing off with a 7 CD set of the last tour:

6/18/1977 soundboard.
6/19/1977 soundboard.
6/20/1977 soundboard.
6/21/1977 soundboard.
6/23/1977 soundboard. (or another day that's better)
6/25/1977 soundboard.
And finally...the 6/26/1977 soundboard.

And no Charlie up front.

Why would you want a soundboard for Omaha and Rapid City when multitrack recordings are available?
Also I was wondering why you omitted Madison from the 24th for your list? Sure, it's a poor show but at least we know it exists - which we can't say for sure for Kansas, Lincoln, Des Moines, Cincinnati or even Indianapolis (at least as being available in the official vaults).
Also the list seems rather random with the ommision of Springfield and Sioux Falls - of which, admittedly, we also have no idea if recordings do exists in the vault.

[LSP-4445]

Hmmm….I heard when FTD released Spring Tour 77 CD in 2002 they had to change the title from The Last Tours due to Estate didnt like the original title or something.
I guess they dont mind now.
As for the shows didnt we get some of these in stereo on bootleg while here all are in mono (Coming On Strong boot comes to mind)

Sony/BMG/FTD have never had to do what the Estate asks.

Usually no but this time they did.
Estate felt back then that The Last Tour was sounding too negative or something.
There was an short article about it back then in either TMAHM or News/Unlimited magazines.

[K.C.]

Looks like it's 60 GPB on elvis shop London which makes it around $79 USD. ( approx ) For 4 cds, which seems it's on the high side compared to the sessions sets with 5 cd's.
We will have to see if the price varies.?

Compared to a new Bob Dylan 27 CD set, holding a complete 1974 tour is due next month for 110 to 120 euro the price seems high indeed.

[LSP-4445]

Looks like it's 60 GPB on elvis shop London which makes it around $79 USD. ( approx ) For 4 cds, which seems it's on the high side compared to the sessions sets with 5 cd's.
We will have to see if the price varies.?

Compared to a new Bob Dylan 27 CD set, holding a complete 1974 tour is due next month for 110 to 120 euro the price seems high indeed.

You cant compare a limited FTD release to a general public release like what the Bob Dylan release is.
For the same reason Aloha on FTD was much more expensive than the Sony release last year and the Sony one even included a bluray disc.
That said the price ive seen for the Dylan set was surprisingly low though.

[rollinson1]

Looks like it's 60 GPB on elvis shop London which makes it around $79 USD. ( approx ) For 4 cds, which seems it's on the high side compared to the sessions sets with 5 cd's.
We will have to see if the price varies.?

Compared to a new Bob Dylan 27 CD set, holding a complete 1974 tour is due next month for 110 to 120 euro the price seems high indeed.

Let me think about this for 30 seconds
4 cds of Elvis-100% not at his best or 27 Cd's of Bob Dylan
Sorry, Elvis wins hands down apart from half a dozen Bob Dylan songs I'd rather listen to my dog wail.
No all joking aside, everybody to their own £15 per disc on a collectors label with a low production run is not that bad really.

[vinelvis]

It also appears danny boy and walk with me by the late mr.nielsen are ommited from the 13th despite existing soundboard recordings

I noticed that too and also the 15th is completely missing. Weird because in the press release they state: "The concerts feature all of the songs that were recorded by the engineer during the February 1977 tour."

[billy jack]

If they do a volume 2 to cover the March tours, I assume they will include the Amarillo show (3/24/77) which is a very hard to find FTD these days.

I would love to see FTD do 4-5 CD sets for every month of 1977. From March - June. Your suggestion is a good one, Mike. I wouldn't mind having a new version of Amarillo.

Imagine finishing off with a 7 CD set of the last tour:

6/18/1977 soundboard.
6/19/1977 soundboard.
6/20/1977 soundboard.
6/21/1977 soundboard.
6/23/1977 soundboard. (or another day that's better)
6/25/1977 soundboard.
And finally...the 6/26/1977 soundboard.

And no Charlie up front.

Why would you want a soundboard for Omaha and Rapid City when multitrack recordings are available?
Also I was wondering why you omitted Madison from the 24th for your list? Sure, it's a poor show but at least we know it exists - which we can't say for sure for Kansas, Lincoln, Des Moines, Cincinnati or even Indianapolis (at least as being available in the official vaults).
Also the list seems rather random with the ommision of Springfield and Sioux Falls - of which, admittedly, we also have no idea if recordings do exists in the vault.

During the concert of June 24 in Madison, it can be heard that Elvis is in even worse shape than on June 19 (Omaha). That's why I don't understand the taboo that exists around Jun 19/21. Don't forget Houston Agust 28, 1976, which was initially going to be released through FTD. The negative hype surrounding June 19/21 is now outdated. According to Keith Flynn's website, soundboards were recorded in April/May/June. By knowing that a spundboard is recorded via documents is one thing. Whether they are available is another matter. Springfield (June 17), as well as Kansas City (June 18) appear to have been recorded.

[jurasic1968]

Because Omaha and Rapid City were on TV.

[billy jack]

Because Omaha and Rapid City were on TV.

That will be it.

[ForeverElvis]

1977- As a historical record, they exist and shouldn’t be ignored. Making them available to those that want them in their collection, to cover his whole career, is the correct thing to do.

But, I fail to understand why this generates excitement (1977). Elvis’s performance at these shows by this point paled in comparison to what he was doing just 2 years before.

Elvis’s worst songs are often discussed - Dominic, starched collar, zodiac, have a happy, he’s your uncle, clambake etc… yet he sings better, is in more control, has more tonality to his voice in any of those recordings than he had in the Last Tours.

[Way Down Under]

Will definitely get this one. Great to see FTD finally give attention to 1977 soundboards once again, and that 'Vol.1' forms part of the title which suggests more similar formats should follow in the remaining '77 tours. It's a good way to ramp up the availability of soundboards from this year more quickly. New soundboard material from Columbia SC and Johnson City TN should provide more interest in this set. On the downside, it's a shame that the Savannah GA date was not included (arguably the best show along with the Orlando FL), instead we get the disappointing Charlotte NC first night gig all over again. It's an absolute crime that the Orlando concert was not recorded properly. Another surprise disappointment is that "Hurt" was not recorded during the Columbia SC show, which is when the sound engineer normally resumes the recording. That version would've been the highlight of the set. I guess we have to accept the good with the bad with the incompleteness of these recordings. A very good cover for a '77 concert.

[Swedish]

We've been waiting for shows from 1977 for a long time. Now we have 6 shows in this box.
I hope FTD will release one of the Madison Square Garden concerts or Aloha with the new Matt Ross mix.

Ftd has aleady tackled both and its available on legacy releases that are cheaper why would they do it again?

People now apparently have to have the same recording in all the different mix versions that exist of course

[YDKM]

We've been waiting for shows from 1977 for a long time. Now we have 6 shows in this box.
I hope FTD will release one of the Madison Square Garden concerts or Aloha with the new Matt Ross mix, on vinyl (LP).

Well actually parts of 7 shows

[KB]

Very good news, will definatelly buy this set. It will be good to have the February tour in one place. We know how good the sound is on bootlegs (Moody Blue and Other Great Performances, Cajun Tornado and Coming on Strong), and I really hope that FTD will be on par with them.

And the front cover is really cool.

[Evo68]

I'll be getting the 'Last Tours vol1' set and look forward to hearing the shows. It will be pretty good to have these together and I'll find it interesting to put them on and not hearing 2001/ See See Rider / I Got a Woman / Amen at the start. I believe I have all of FTD's live show releases and have to say I always skip these opening songs so prefer to have the line-ups included for these shows on this release as a nice alternate to the usual shows.

[YDKM]

I know what tours Vol 2 will come from (content wise) but what will be most interesting is how many volumes this will cover.. and continue for ...like how many soundboards PAST May 3rd for one example question?

[vinelvis]

I know what tours Vol 2 will come from (content wise) but what will be most interesting is how many volumes this will cover.. and continue for ...like how many soundboards PAST May 3rd for one example question?

Yeah it's sta strange there are no soundboards from May / June (or at least, not in circulation) and only one from the June tour. Would love to have a soundboard of the unknown June shows or June 26 off course.