Elvis On Tour - what was actually filmed? [Archive]

medleyofcostumes

10-06-2007, 12:39 PM

With an undying hope that an 'Elvis on tour' 3/4 dvd box set will be available soon, I was wondering what the producers filmed for the film and thus could (or rather should) be made available to us.

Many outtakes from either the March rehearsals and the April tour have been circulating for years.

What about the professionally filmed clip of Elvis getting dressed to receive an award (I believe) shot in Vegas during August. And the excellent (professional???) clips from June 1972?

EP75

10-06-2007, 01:50 PM

Over 16 hours of footage was filmed between March and April with the dressing room footage being filmed in August. Four complete shows were filmed by MGM and recorded by RCA. They were:

Hampton Roads, Va, April 9, 1972 8:30 pm show.
Richmond, Va, April 10, 1972 8:30 pm show.
Greensboro, NC, April 14, 1972 8:30 pm show.
San Antonio, TX April 18, 1972 8:30 pm show.

Other shows were filmed in parts but without audio. Some backstage footage was filmed in Knoxville, Jacksonville, Macon, Buffalo (rehearsal), and Little Rock. Strangely the Richmond show was really never used in the original film. They only used about 45 seconds or so while singing Until It's Time For You To Go and Love Me Tender. About 98% of the show remains unseen and about 40% remains unheard as it is missing from the bootleg.

Note of interest: EP sang Lawdy Miss Clawdy at the Richmond show near the end as he did in Hampton Roads the night before. But it is missing from the audio on bootleg.

Stryx

10-06-2007, 02:50 PM

pacer 1966

10-06-2007, 05:21 PM

EP75

10-06-2007, 05:23 PM

Yes they were. It's been comfirmed by several who have seen the outtakes in the vaults.

EP75

10-06-2007, 05:26 PM

apparently MGM filmed around 50 hours of footage...there'a photo somehwhere of the two directors standing next to all the cans of film reels which some are clearly labelled...will try and find it if your interested.....also heard a rumour that more O/T are due to be ermmm released...lol

Correct. But most of that footage was without sound. I would love to see the lost and almost forgotten Richmond concert released in it's entirety on DVD in 5.1 surround sound and high def.(y)

EP75

10-06-2007, 05:29 PM

Here's some stills from the Richmond concert filmed by MGM.

http://i9.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/95/87/5d9b_1.JPG

KPM

10-06-2007, 05:30 PM

A lot of it has been circulating for the last couple years in pretty poor quality but I would love to see a 4 DVD set from what they have released to us.

Tommy

10-06-2007, 06:45 PM

We've all been wishing for this for a long time. EOT remastered, more footage. I'll believe it only when I see it (that it will ever be released again)

Stryx

10-07-2007, 08:33 AM

Yes they were. It's been comfirmed by several who have seen the outtakes in the vaults.

Suprisinlgy they didn't make it onto the bootlegs.

I didn't film it so I can't say for sure, but it seems that things were not filmed in their complete entirety.

It would be great to have 3-4 full concerts from the tour.

King_Creole

10-07-2007, 10:35 AM

Let's clear this up, shall we ?

Not everything filmed for "Elvis On Tour" has survived or made it onto actual tape, per se.

To the best of my knowledge, According to MGM/Turner archives, of the 4 concerts filmed for "Elvis On Tour", they are NOT all complete and this goes for the March rehearsal/s tapes as well.

MGM briefly filmed the afternoon performance in Hampton Roads, Va and a few of those scenes can be seen in the film.

Unfortunately, the concert filmed in Richmond, VA, where Elvis wears his now famous "Burning Love" jumpsuit, is also NOT complete and to this day, no evidence has surfaced as doing so. In fact, very, very little footage has ever been seen from this concert, except for the bits used in the "On Tour" movie.

The recordings for these shows were done by the Record Plant, with the exception of the San Antonio concert, which was recorded by the Wally Heider Company.

The RCA archives only claims to have one complete show, (San Antonio-released in 2003), and 1/2 of the Greensboro gig.

KPM

10-07-2007, 11:40 AM

I hope whatever they have they release it and clean it up a little.
You can buy programs for our home computers which inhance color and clarity in old film and they work pretty well for the price-surely at the very least someone at the studio level could allow even this small a restoration of the film they have unreleased.

EP75

10-07-2007, 07:37 PM

To the best of my knowledge, According to MGM/Turner archives, of the 4 concerts filmed for "Elvis On Tour", they are NOT all complete and this goes for the March rehearsal/s tapes as well.

How's that? Have you actually been inside the vaults? Uh, no you have not so don't assume what is and isn't there. Besides those that have actually seen this footage personally have said that these shows were filmed, maybe not all the dialogs at times. But the numbers performed were and that's all that matters.

MGM briefly filmed the afternoon performance in Hampton Roads, Va and a few of those scenes can be seen in the film.

Where do you get this from?:supriced: There's about 85% of this show already released. And about 60% professionally. I wouldn't call that "brief".LOL Besides EP tells Glen to start over Teady Bear because the camera guy missed it. So that pretty much sums up that they were recording the whole show as much as possible.

In fact, very, very little footage has ever been seen from this concert, except for the bits used in the "On Tour" movie.

I already said this in my earlier post.

The RCA archives only claims to have one complete show, (San Antonio-released in 2003), and 1/2 of the Greensboro gig.

I have no idea where you got this information from but this is completely wrong. RCA has all four shows complete in their NY city vaults gathering dust and aging. Ernst himself has said that all four shows are in the vaults and complete. They are waiting for Time Warner to quit beating around the bush so that they can release a deluxe set as a tie-in with the DVD release. That is if it ever comes out in our lifetime.

alstrada

10-07-2007, 09:14 PM

Filming For Mgm

"elvis On Tour"

March 30 1972 "rca Hollywood Studio" Filmed With Mgm Cameras

March 31 1972 "rca Hollywood Studio" Filmed With Mgm Cameras

April 5 1972 "buffalo" Ny Conference Room Filmed With Mgm Cameras

April 5 1972 "buffalo" Ny Filmed Using A Mobile Video Camera

April 9 1972 "hampton" / 2 Concerts / Filmed With Mgm Cameras

April 10 1972 "richmond" Filmed With Mgm Cameras

April 13 1972 "charlotte" Filmed With Mgm Cameras

April 15 1972 "macon" / 2 Concerts / Filmed With Mgm Cameras

April 16 1972 "jacksonville" / 2 Concerts / + After Show Filmed With Mgm Cameras

April 18 1972 "san Antonio" Filmed With Mgm Cameras

June 9 1972 "madison Square Garden" Ny There Is Approximately 40 Minutes Of Professional Footages

November 18 1972 "the H.i.c. Arena, Honolulu Hawaii" At Least 4 Songs Were Filmed During This Show

January 23 1973 "las Vegas" A Minimum Of 7 Songs From This Concert Is On Film And In The Hands Of Collector

EP75

10-07-2007, 09:24 PM

Thanks for all that information Alstrada.(y)

Getlo

10-07-2007, 10:14 PM

What's your source for this list?

June 9 1972 "madison Square Garden" Ny There Is Approximately 40 Minutes Of Professional Footages

Rumour, rumour, rumour only! There has never been any verified proof of this, not to mention the fact that not one millisecond of "professional footage" from MSG has emerged in 35 years. Not even a screengrab.

November 18 1972 "the H.i.c. Arena, Honolulu Hawaii" At Least 4 Songs Were Filmed During This Show

Only by Japanese television, not MGM cameras or any film company!

January 23 1973 "las Vegas" A Minimum Of 7 Songs From This Concert Is On Film And In The Hands Of Collector

Rumour again! And "a collector" is not a credible source, sorry. (See below from ruggishboo - there was no show on January 23rd!!)

You forgot to mention the rehearsal footage where Elvis is wearing that long light blue jacket with the dark blue stripes. On the On Tour outtakes video, he starts to sing Burning Love with the words to For The Good Times. A snippet of this day's footage is seen in On Tour, ie when he gets on an elevator carrying a cane, and a couple of other seconds. Anyone know when this was fillmed?

ruggishboo

10-07-2007, 10:25 PM

You forgot to mention the rehearsal footage where Elvis is wearing that long light blue jacket with the dark blue stripes. On the On Tour outtakes video, he starts to sing Burning Love with the words to For The Good Times. A snippet of this day's footage is seen in On Tour, ie when he gets on an elevator carrying a cane, and a couple of other seconds. Anyone know when this was fillmed?

Wasn't this filmed in Buffalo on April 5th? That's what I've always been led to believe anyway...

ruggishboo

10-07-2007, 10:30 PM

January 23 1973 "las Vegas" A Minimum Of 7 Songs From This Concert Is On Film And In The Hands Of Collector[/QUOTE]

Elvis was in Vegas by this date, but his first show wasn't until the 26th..:hmm:

Getlo

10-07-2007, 10:47 PM

Elvis was in Vegas by this date, but his first show wasn't until the 26th..:hmm:

Hey, yeah. Good point! (y)

Elvis had returned to Vegas on the 15th.

King_Creole

10-07-2007, 11:44 PM

How's that? Have you actually been inside the vaults? Uh, no you have not so don't assume what is and isn't there. Besides those that have actually seen this footage personally have said that these shows were filmed, maybe not all the dialogs at times. But the numbers performed were and that's all that matters.

Your ignorance clouds whatever brain cells you might still have.

I don't assume, I know, (I have official documentation on this info), and until YOU can prove me wrong, try and limit your reply time with these outlandish, illinformed and childish replies and keep your piehole closed for once.

Where do you get this from?:supriced: There's about 85% of this show already released. And about 60% professionally. I wouldn't call that "brief".LOL Besides EP tells Glen to start over Teady Bear because the camera guy missed it. So that pretty much sums up that they were recording the whole show as much as possible.

Again, if you knew what you were actually talking about, you could have saved yourself the embarrasment, but I said "AFTERNOON" performance, not "EVENING" ...

Betcha didn't even know Elvis did a matinee that day, HUH ?

Oh brother ... :doh::doh::doh:

I have no idea where you got this information from but this is completely wrong. RCA has all four shows complete in their NY city vaults gathering dust and aging.

Uh, no RCA has what I just told you above. You have absolutely NO IDEA what your babbling about, as usual ...

Reality bites ya real hard when I make ya spin after your own tail don't it Ep75 ? :lmfao:

Ernst himself has said that all four shows are in the vaults and complete.
When and where has Ernst said this ???

And since when have you ever believed anything Ernst has claimed to be the bible when you are the biggest Ernst hater there is ?

Puh-Leeze ... ;)

Getlo

10-08-2007, 06:21 AM

I don't assume, I know, (I have official documentation on this info),

Then, please post it here, or supply a URL link as a reference.

Have you actually been inside the vaults?

Have you?

poormansgold

10-08-2007, 06:38 AM

Quote:
I have no idea where you got this information from but this is completely wrong. RCA has all four shows complete in their NY city vaults gathering dust and aging.

It's In Indanaplois Vaults, The Sony/BMG( RCA )Valts not in NY City,
I think only two Shows they Recorded.
Tom

poormansgold

10-08-2007, 06:50 AM

All Music Sony/BMG(RCA) Have are in Indanaplois, In. Since late 1940's, they had another vaults In Los Angeles or In Hollywood, That's most Soundtracks was hold into, they close that in 1980's, Move Music in Indanaplois Vaults.
Tom

EP75

10-08-2007, 08:34 AM

The music is all in NY City in underground bomb proof vaults. This is a FACT.

Getlo

10-08-2007, 08:53 AM

The music is all in NY City in underground bomb proof vaults. This is a FACT.

Reference, URL link please?

Oh, and the reason I'm asking is because I don't actually know where the stuff is stored, so I'd like an actual reference for confirmation.

KPM

10-08-2007, 12:05 PM

What's your source for this list?

Rumour, rumour, rumour only! There has never been any verified proof of this, not to mention the fact that not one millisecond of "professional footage" from MSG has emerged in 35 years. Not even a screengrab.

Only by Japanese television, not MGM cameras or any film company!

Rumour again! And "a collector" is not a credible source, sorry. (See below from ruggishboo - there was no show on January 23rd!!)

You forgot to mention the rehearsal footage where Elvis is wearing that long light blue jacket with the dark blue stripes. On the On Tour outtakes video, he starts to sing Burning Love with the words to For The Good Times. A snippet of this day's footage is seen in On Tour, ie when he gets on an elevator carrying a cane, and a couple of other seconds. Anyone know when this was fillmed?

MGM is not the only professional film company in the world-professionals are people and companys which do it for a living-so A Japanese televison company would in deed be a professional company which films things. They may have not been fully "authorized" to film but they were professionals none the less.

EP75

10-08-2007, 12:30 PM

Reference, URL link please?

Oh, and the reason I'm asking is because I don't actually know where the stuff is stored, so I'd like an actual reference for confirmation.

Sometimes there are no links or evidence to prove online. Sometimes things come as they are and are found through history or media coverage from the past. I saw EP in concert at 3 years old. Do I need proof or a "link" to show evidence of this? Of course not. That's why I laugh whenever someone thinks you have to have a link or evidence to prove things.

Here's something to note that may or may not have a link for evidence. Back in 2001 right after 911 there was actual concerns that the underground vault where EP's catalog is kept could be damaged due to flooding since the location of the BMG-RCA headquarters were close by to ground zero and underground pipes were bursting from the collapse and destruction of the towers.

Sometimes the news is the only source.

Getlo

10-08-2007, 12:56 PM

MGM is not the only professional film company in the world-professionals are people and companys which do it for a living-so A Japanese televison company would in deed be a professional company which films things. They may have not been fully "authorized" to film but they were professionals none the less.

I did not suggest the Japanese TV film wasn't professional. alstrada had listed this under his "filmed by MGM" list, which was clearly erroneous.

Professional: movie companies, TV companies. That's all really, for the purposes of discussing Elvis. If it is unauthorised, then it can't be professional. It may be professional in technique, but not in the release of the final product.

Getlo

10-08-2007, 12:59 PM

I saw EP in concert at 3 years old. Do I need proof or a "link" to show evidence of this? Of course not.

Your point?

You said that the music being in NYC vaults is fact (like the Graceland highway story or the MM banned from Graceland yarn) yet you offer only the theory that you read it or maybe heard it somewhere. If it is indeed fact, then BMG, EPE or whomever should have it on file, or be able to confirm it, yes?

So ... please contact them if you like, and post their reponse.

News may indeed sometimes be the only source. It doesn't mean it's always accurate.

KPM

10-08-2007, 01:39 PM

I did not suggest the Japanese TV film wasn't professional. alstrada had listed this under his "filmed by MGM" list, which was clearly erroneous.

Professional: movie companies, TV companies. That's all really, for the purposes of discussing Elvis. If it is unauthorised, then it can't be professional. It may be professional in technique, but not in the release of the final product.
Exactly that is my point. I could not care less if its authorised or not. (I don't think anyone else is either)-but we are all interested in whether the finished product is "professional in technique" and that is my point. If its authorized by MGM, RCA, CBS etc does not matter to me-the picture quality and clarity do. "Authorization" does not change quality of product.
If 4 songs by Japanese professional filmakers is clear and crisp but not authorized I don't care-the quality of professional filmakers is all I want to see. That is my point.

poormansgold

10-08-2007, 02:30 PM

The music is all in NY City in underground bomb proof vaults. This is a FACT.

They was there one time , they move them to Inadanaplois Vaults in 1950's and anothers music in 1980's
Tom

poormansgold

10-08-2007, 02:40 PM

Ernst almost in tears!:
The lost (destroyed) Elvis tapes
EIN recently received an enquiry (thank you, Robert) asking why BMG had not released alternate takes of the following tracks:

Blue suede shoes
All shook up
Don't be cruel
Hound dog

As a result of the enquiry we did some detective work to answer the question. The following pieces of information (principally from the Elvis Collectors messageboard) illuminated our research:
"An element of the unknown shrouds any account of the Sun session masters, which yielded a batch of world-changing tracks, including "Good Rockin' Tonight" and "Mystery Train." Presley was an 18-year-old truck driver when he began the recordings in July 1954, and a year later he had enough momentum to catch the attention of RCA, which paid $35,000 to Phillips to buy out Elvis's contract.

That sale included all of Phillips's master tapes. He delivered 15, and RCA turned them into cash right away. Before the label released its own string of hits with Presley, starting with "Heartbreak Hotel," it re-released his Sun material, which, with the added heft of a national publicity campaign, rose higher than they had the first time around. According to Jorgensen, RCA then stashed the masters in a warehouse in Indianapolis, near the company's manufacturing plant.

About nine of those tapes were destroyed in 1959 when someone in upper management decided to save money on storage costs by tossing out thousands of reels. They had copies, after all. Who cared? "I talked to some of the men who were at the plant back then," Jorgensen says. "I wanted to cry when they told me about it. I couldn't bring myself to ask how they destroyed them."

Negligence and luck saved the surviving six, which either were mislabeled in Indianapolis or kept in a Nashville storage facility that was spared an austerity program. Those six are kept in a climate-controlled vault built into a mountain in Pennsylvania.

Stryx

10-08-2007, 03:05 PM

Your point?

You said that the music being in NYC vaults is fact (like the Graceland highway story or the MM banned from Graceland yarn) yet you offer only the theory that you read it or maybe heard it somewhere. If it is indeed fact, then BMG, EPE or whomever should have it on file, or be able to confirm it, yes?

So ... please contact them if you like, and post their reponse.

News may indeed sometimes be the only source. It doesn't mean it's always accurate.

:clap::clap::clap:

KPM

10-08-2007, 03:25 PM

EP75

10-08-2007, 03:26 PM

Poormansgold-Yes back in the 80's the tapes were in Indianapolis only because that was their headquarters at the time. hence the reason the football stadium was named RCA Dome. But in the late 90's the tapes were all shipped to NY from both Indianapolis and Los Angeles and stored in an underground vault that is supposed to be bomb proof. The temperature is kept like a morgue from my understanding due to deterioration and distortion which was building on audio tapes before they moved them to a safer location.

Getlo, I never said that stuff about the highway was true. I said it was reported by the media back years ago. Lakeisha said she heard from those around Memphis. And some other poster (I Believe it was Presley31) said she too heard of this. So it's not like I made it up out of the blue. As I said before, some things have no link or evidence to prove online. Sometimes you have to give a person the benefit of the doubt. Just because some have not heard something that others have heard does not necessarily make it incorrect or fabricated.

KPM

10-08-2007, 03:58 PM

Here is an Ernst Jorgenson answer to a question he got in 2002 about EOT material:
Q ? What about ?On Tour? material?

E.J - ?On Tour? is a little bit complicated. Obviously everybody, including Roger and I, thought that this would be the year. Especially when Turner recreated TTWII it was with hope of critical acclaim and financial rewards for Turner and although I think TTWII has done fairly well it was never a big commercial success. And talking about an investment and recreating TTWII for 1.3 or 1.4 Million dollars financing ?On Tour? on the back of something that didn?t sell well ? and to a lot of commercial peoples thinking it?s somewhat better than ?On Tour? ? it?s a younger Elvis, a leaner Elvis in TTWII.
They are very nervous about putting out ?On Tour? and spending the same kind of money.
So they are trying to find a way to make ?Elvis On Tour? available in digital format but it?s not going to be a restoration for scratch like TTWII.
The reason why we haven?t put out anything on either FTD or RCA at this time is that we would ideally like to do it with them. So we are giving them a little more time but eventually if they don?t come around, we will release the material that we have which is pretty substantial. Nothing that you can?t guess what it is.
There is a lack of confidence in ?Elvis On Tour?s commercial potential but it?s a shame as, maybe Elvis doesn?t look as good as in TTWII material, but the stuff I have seen.. There is an hour?s worth of Elvis in a recording studio and a lot of people would like to see that. E.J - I think there is a very good chance (of the DVD material being released through FTD) but it takes time and the one thing that is a killer here is that when you do something on CD you know what you have to pay to the artist, record company and copyrighter but the DVD being a new medium - you have to negotiate from scratch. And I?m not exaggerating when I say there will be people coming in asking for $1000 for the use of a song as an advance but they will be someone coming in asking for a million. This is what happened with "Are You Lonesome Tonight" on TTWII. At the last minute the owner came in at the asking for so much money. Everybody needs to be paid the same; otherwise everybody will increase their price and make it unworkable.

KPM

10-08-2007, 04:14 PM

Here is another question asked of Jorgenson about Elvis's music and the vaults:

Q-Detail the detective work you?ve had to execute for Sony/BMG and your FTD releases to locate Elvis released and unreleased material.

EJ-In the early Nineties, I got to know exactly what tapes were in the RCA vaults. And that is still the most fascinating story because nobody knew. There were two things they didn't know. They didn't know what they had and they didn't know what they had lost. So when we eventually established what they had we went in to examine what was lost. There was a guy named Bruce Hailstalk who ran the tape vault, and he was the keeper of the vault in New York. There were vaults in other places, in Nashville, in Indianapolis and in Los Angeles. He was one of those people who kept everything. He had shipping paperwork going way back. He was the one who had to break the news to me that in 1959 the president of RCA Records thought he'd save some money on warehouse spending so he dumped literally ten thousand tapes including the tapes with the outtakes of most of Elvis' Fifties repertoire and even some of the masters. Just to save a buck. That was one headache. Another thing I did with Bruce, even after he left, was to meticulously go over and find every trace of paperwork about tapes that were once at the company but no longer there. I'd try to find out when their paper trail stopped, which would indicate when it got lost and where it could have gotten lost. Sometimes you'd find some stuff at the other vaults. I also had to go outside of the company and find people who were involved at the time. Eventually you find people who knew something about somebody and some of the tapes would turn up again.

poormansgold

10-08-2007, 07:15 PM

There thousands Musics still In Indianapolis Vaults, alot them Unknown Still, Col. Tom Parker had alot soundboards Thats was his own Collection after his death or after law suit, some them Sold off by EPE in 1983 or 84, To pay The Bills On Graceland up keep, That's Cilla opening It To us To Enjoy
That's We had alot bootlegs of soundboards Today and in 1990's
I'm not 100% right, I know That there Still music In Indianapolis WE don't know about.
Tom

King_Creole

10-08-2007, 10:00 PM

Then, please post it here, or supply a URL link as a reference.

Getlo ...

Unfortunately, My scanner isn't working anymore, and by god, I would have loved to scan the paperwork and prove once and for all, that what I posted is accurate and well informed.

When I post info, I believe it's absolutely crucial to be consistant and precise as possible. I don't believe in gimmicks or any other attention seeking posts, (ring a bell?), or threads just for the sake of causing a commotion.

Apparently, someone reported me, (again), and it's all because I tell the truth and try and stear away from the fallacious bullcrap that is constantly being spread over this great messageboard. :doh:

I do highly suggest though, if you can find a copy of Joseph A. Tunzi's excellent book, "Elvis Sessions II", or "Elvis Sessions III", all the info I provided is completely documented in these books as well ...

Good Luck ! :)

Getlo

10-08-2007, 11:41 PM

Getlo, I never said that stuff about the highway was true.

No, of course you didn't! :lmfao:

From another thread:

I guess many of you have no idea that back in 1980 the city wanted to buy the home and bulldoze it to run a new massive highway expansion through that area. Priscilla saved it by pitching the idea to the city that opening Graceland to the public as a national tourist attraction would bring in money to the city that they hadn't seen in a while and the city needed it at the time. Just as the city need these upcoming changes to improve their struggling economy. This along with the fact that Lisa had nothing to fall back on from her dad's life or the money. So the financial problems would be settled with what EPE could make off of tours. The estate didn't even have the money back then to purchase the land to the north of the mansion as they have today and had to settle for turning the strip mall into the plaza.

These were the only real reasons why the mansion was opened to the public back in 1982 at a cost of $5 million for operation.