Way Down in concert?

[rick]

Sadly no it wasn't performed, although there was a set list, supposedly in Elvis' writing, for the June 26, 1977 concert sold on e-bay a while back where Way Down was listed but crossed out after the introductions.
Whether this was legitimate is another matter but he sure should have sung it for EIC
rick

[Jungleroom76]

I've also seen photos of the "supposed" set list from Indianapolis that Rick mentioned....and as Rick said, it is questionable whether the list is in fact genuine. That would have been VERY cool if he had performed it though!! It would be VERY interesting to see how well it would have sounded live, although I am sure it would have been AWESOME!!!

There are reports from various sources (including Charlie Hodge, if you can believe what he has to say) that Elvis was considering performing WAY DOWN on the tour that was supposed to start in Portland, ME. on 8/16. As I said, whether we can believe Charlie or not is yet another question, as he has a tendency to embellish things, shall we say!

TCB!
Mike

[Stefan Kock]

The only possible dates for Elvis to sing Way Down live in '77 would be on:

March 24th
June 17th
June 22nd

These are the only concerts in '77 where no recording and/or set-list whatsoever has surfaced yet.

Given Elvis physical condition, especially during the later part of '77, it seems very unlikely he ever did the song on stage. I agree on the fact that it is a great song and it would have been great would he had performed the song right after the introductions as he did with T.R.O.U.B.L.E during '75.

[EagleUSA]

Thank you, Albert. I haven't heard this version of "Way Down" in over twenty years!!!!!!!!!!

I had that tribute album when I was a kid...came out in the fall of '78 if I remember. I also recall J.D. giving a speech about "may God strike me dead if I lie to you; I have no reason to. But, Elvis Presley did not do drugs. He didn't need to."

Don't tell me why I remember that line so well. I also never could figure out why they changed the lyrics of the song so drastically during the performance. Were the sexual references too much for a gospel group???

[Lonniebealestreet]

Great to see you here, Eagle. Welcome. (h)

[EagleUSA]

Thank you, Bobby! Good to be here. This is one heck of a site. Can't believe I haven't frequented it before now.

[paulsweeney]

Thanks for the Stamps version of Way Down

[Lonniebealestreet]

Just played that myself. Pretty cool!

You're welcome, Eagle. Glad you like what you see.

[rockinrebel]

I think one of the reasons the “Way Down” live rumour circulated was due to fan reviews that were written from memory before the tapes were in circulation.

The old “Elvis Monthly” often contained reviews of this kind, and whilst they where obviously written with good intentions, and not intended to mislead people, it is understandable that anyone that is caught up in the excitement of an Elvis concert, and doesn’t have an audio source to look back on when writing the review could make mistakes somewhere along the line.