What was going on in this video?

[Vissie]

it was only abdomen area looked swollen and fluid retention on hands and face..nothing to do with being obese or fat..he was ill..

He most certainly was ill, bless his heart. I think the mid-section bloating comes from his misshapen colon and his inability to properly cleanse his body of waste by-products.

[KPM]

Didnt we already have a thread on this subject in the last few weeks already? My reply then was recitation in any song is hard and its not like he had never in his life not messed up on this long spoken part. Add any medication into the mix and he just screwed it up. In the past when he messed up on it he made jokes and played with it for laughs-thats my take.

[Tony Trout]

I'll agree with what everyone else has said...it was all a combination of nerves and the stuff ("uppers", dare I say?) that he was taking....at least it's not as bad as it was two nights earlier in Omaha, NE. He even admitted to the producer (Dwight Hemion is/was his name I think) that he knew he was bad that night and promised to do better when filming resumed on the 21st. There was also supposed to have been some footage shot on the 20th in Lincoln, NE but the manager of that particular auditorium denied CBS clearance for filming because of the cameras and he was worried that they might be a distraction for the fans Watching the footage from June 19, 1977 just breaks my heart....he's so out of it that I wonder if he even knew where he was???

[Vissie]

I'll agree with what everyone else has said...it was all a combination of nerves and the stuff ("uppers", dare I say?) that he was taking....at least it's not as bad as it was two nights earlier in Omaha, NE. He even admitted to the producer (Dwight Hemion is/was his name I think) that he knew he was bad that night and promised to do better when filming resumed on the 21st. There was also supposed to have been some footage shot on the 20th in Lincoln, NE but the manager of that particular auditorium denied CBS clearance for filming because of the cameras and he was worried that they might be a distraction for the fans Watching the footage from June 19, 1977 just breaks my heart....he's so out of it that I wonder if he even knew where he was???

Great post Tony I hadn't heard about the footage from Lincoln, NE. As for knowing where he was, it's my understanding that many performers just don't have a clue (and rightfully so). My friend (the one who was good friends with J.D. Sumner and other guys that Elvis recorded with) said when he (meaning my friend) would go on stage, they would just flash the name of the city on a piece of cardboard so he could at least fake that he knew where he was