Elvis in Concert is a television special originally aired by CBS on October 3, 1977, starring Elvis Presley and produced by Dwight Hemion and Gary Smith. The posthumous program was filmed in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, in June 1977, during Presley's last concert tour. It became the singer's third and last television special.
By the late 1970s, Presley suffered from multiple health issues, and he was heavily dependent on prescription narcotics following a decade of heavy use: his physical appearance was affected as he gained weight, while his ability to perform on stage was compromised. Additionally, Presley's personal relationships were strained, and the singer was involved in an FBI investigation after he was the victim of a scam surrounding one of his personal jets.
His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, worked on a deal with CBS at the time for the new special to be filmed during Presley's tour in the summer of 1977. Parker was criticized by Presley's close entourage for accepting the deal despite the singer's poor condition. The dates were selected by the television network for the similarity of its arenas and proximity. Minimal footage of the first night could be used due to Presley's poor performance, while most of the special consisted of the Rapid City concert. The special was completed with backstage footage and interviews that were interspersed with the concert.
Despite Presley's death on August 16, 1977, the network chose to keep the original October release date for the special. Elvis in Concert was met with reviews that mostly focused on Presley's degraded appearance and performance, while also remarking on the support his fans still showed. The program became the most-watched show for that week with 24.1 million spectators. Footage of the special was included in films and documentaries in the following decades, but no official releases on home media were produced by Elvis Presley Enterprises on account of Presley's appearance.
Background Elvis Presley had been routinely taking a mixture of amphetamines and diet pills during his movie career in the 1960s. At the time, he used the former to stay awake for longer working hours and the latter to keep his weight under control. His future wife, Priscilla, noticed that his behavior became increasingly erratic, fueled by his use of uppers, downers, and sleeping pills during the filming of Fun in Acapulco. George C. Nichopoulos first treated Presley for insomnia in 1967, and he later became his personal physician in 1970 during the singer's second residency in Las Vegas. Presley performed two shows each night, and he received amphetamines before the start and tranquilizers by the end of each appearance. Nichopoulos made attempts to reduce his patient's intake of pharmaceuticals, but Presley would have other doctors write prescriptions when he refused to.
By 1973, Presley's dependency increased as he started to tour on a far more demanding schedule. In February, he overdosed on barbiturates and was in a coma for three days; while during a tour stop in St. Louis, he overdosed again. By the end of the year, he was admitted to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis because of a Demerol addiction and poisoning by cortisol injections. Nichopoulos then placed him on a methadone treatment. Due to Presley's insistence on receiving pills, the doctor started to give him placebos, and he commissioned Knoll Pharmaceuticals to manufacture a special batch of fake Dilaudid for Presley. In a later interview, Nichopoulos stated that Presley did not see his personal use of pharmaceuticals as an addiction and that he considered his intake acceptable since it was prescribed by a doctor. His close entourage later pointed out in different interviews or memoirs that Presley's heavy use of prescription drugs may have been related to career disappointment, failed relationships, spiritual loss, and other issues that the singer faced at the time. By 1977, his health had declined from years of abuse: Presley suffered multiple issues, including glaucoma, high blood pressure, liver damage, and an enlarged colon, each aggravated—and possibly caused—by his drug abuse. In 1977 alone, Nichopoulos prescribed him with 10,000 doses of assorted narcotics. Additionally, Presley was overweight and had a predilection for junk food.
Presley's ability to perform in concert deteriorated: the singer lacked energy and, on occasion, cut his shows short due to his health issues. While his fan base still showed support, the reviews often noted his bad condition. In August 1976, the Houston Post noted in its review by Bob Claypool that the latest concert in the city was "awful" and a "depressingly incoherent, amateurish mess" performed by a "bloated, stumbling, and mumbling figure" who did not reflect his image as "'The King' of anything, least of all, rock 'n' roll". Claypool described that the sold-out arena, The Summit, was packed with 17,500 fans that were either "die-hard screamer(s)" or "blank, stunned faces" because of Presley's appearance. The reviewer further described him as not being as "fat" as much as "absolutely bloated". While he continued to note the loyalty of Presley's fans, he opined that the singer became a "heartless parody of his former self" due to the reduced movements, which he perceived as "clumsy", and his "lumbering" walk on stage. Claypool closed by remarking that "the man who had given us the original myth of rock 'n' roll" was now "for whatever reason, taking it all back". After Presley fired part of his close entourage, his former friends and bodyguards Sonny and Red West published the tell-all book Elvis: What Happened?, written by journalist Steve Dunleavy. Meanwhile, Presley's father, Vernon, was also suffering from heart disease.
Presley's relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had been strained on and off for a number of years, and they did not speak often. While Presley struggled with his drug dependency, Parker had a gambling issue, and he racked up major debts at the tables of the Las Vegas Hilton. On April 30, 1977, Parker denied to The Tennessean the news that appeared in the Nashville Banner the previous day of a possible sale of Presley's management contract to a group on the West Coast due to Parker's "poor health and financial problems". The article in the Nashville Banner suggested that Parker had a large gambling debt and that the manager and singer had not spoken in two years. Presley's road manager, Joe Esposito, also denied claims of Parker's debts and his strained relationship with Presley. Parker assured The Tennessean from a tour stop in St. Paul, Minnesota, that he was in town working with Presley and that the story was a "complete fabrication".
Presley's personal finances were also in distress. The singer owned two jets that had crews on permanent call: a 1958 Convair 880 and a 1962 Lockheed JetStar. The yearly cost of the crews amounted to US$250,000 () before flight expenses. By June 1976, Vernon Presley had been trying to sell the JetStar after it had been sitting unused for months while losing value and producing high costs. The singer's father was contacted by Frederick Pro of the Air Cargo Express, Inc. after he became aware of their need to sell. Pro was a con artist also known to the FBI as Alfredo Proc, president of the New York City-based Trident Consortium and the England-based Seven Oaks Finance Ltd. Pro flew to Memphis with two other associates for a meeting with Vernon Presley: the scammers offered a business plan that entailed having the plane re-fitted to comply with the newest version of the Federal Aviation Regulation Part 121 and then to sub-lease the plane under Presley's name. Pro would help the Presleys take a loan from a New York bank to pay the original purchase loan of the aircraft and cover the cost of the refitting. Additionally, he offered to pay Presley a signing bonus of US$40,000 (). With the sub-lease of the plane, Presley would keep the aircraft and receive US$1,000 () monthly. The Chemical Bank of New York agreed to finance the plane because of Presley's name, and they gave the singer US$950,000 () to repay the original plane purchase loan to Memphis's National Bank of Commerce and to finance the improvements. Vernon Presley never received the signing premium offered by Pro. By October, Presley had not received any payments for the sub-lease, and he was out of an additional US$400,000 () in cashier's checks that the scammer's team cashed from Vernon Presley. The singer then called his attorney, Beecher Smith, who contacted the local Assistant U.S. Attorney, who in turn brought the Memphis FBI office into the case. While the investigation was in progress, the FBI attached two undercover agents for Presley's protection to his road crew, and the number of security guards used for his live appearances increased.
Production Parker reached a deal with CBS for a new television special featuring Presley: the network offered the manager US$750,000 (). Parker applied the new deal he had reached with Presley the year before for the first time: while US$10,000 would be allocated to the promotion of the show, the rest of the earnings were to be divided 50-50 in full partnership between the manager and singer, as well as the ownership of the special following its first airing. In late May 1977, it was announced that Presley would appear in the new CBS special. Initial reports indicated that the one-hour concert would be filmed during Presley's summer tour in two cities and would also feature behind-the-scenes footage. Parker's announcement came as a surprise to Presley's musicians and entourage, given the performer's worsening condition, as they felt he could not be filmed up-close. Additionally, Presley's mood at the start of the tour was negatively affected by the publication of promotional excerpts from Elvis: What Happened?, while his manager argued that the rumors would help sell tickets. Parker offered different explanations as to why he agreed to the special, including that Presley needed a challenge and that the singer had asked him to do it. Later Parker also explained that he felt that CBS would turn down the large figure he wanted from the network and that their acceptance of it compelled him to go through with the deal. Director Dwight Hemion and producer Gary Smith were commissioned by CBS to produce the one-hour special entitled Elvis in Concert. The team hired Danish director Annett Wolf to capture the behind-the-scenes footage featuring Presley.
In mid-June, it was announced that out of the dates of the tour, Rapid City, South Dakota, and Omaha, Nebraska, were selected as the filming locations for the special. According to CBS operations engineer Martin J. Murphy, the network selected both locations due to the similarity of their arenas and their geographical proximity. The concert in Omaha was to be held on Sunday, June 19, while the Rapid City concert would take place the following Tuesday. Murphy further stressed the logistical complexity: while Presley performed similar sets in all of his shows, the crew would have to adapt the concert for television without disturbing the live audience. The network had to install special lighting for the shows, and their crew consisted of 35 technicians who operated four videotape machines, seven cameras, and the sound equipment. Additionally, Presley traveled with a crew of 70 people. Presley appeared in both concerts wearing his Aztec-themed jumpsuit, his one costume that fit him properly.