1972 Concert Doc ‘Elvis On Tour’ Sees The King Starting To Unravel

45 years since taking his final bow, Elvis Presley is still on our minds. Beloved by many, dismissed by others, often misunderstood, his impact on pop culture and pop music can be debated but never denied. His early recordings were among the first manifestations of rock n’ roll, his breakout success ushered in the teen music market, and his later decline has been a consistent source for comedy and caricature. Recent films, including the 2018 documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, have tried to rehabilitate his image and explain his importance to generations too young to remember his reign as the so-called “King of Rock N’ Roll.”

Like empires and artists, Elvis’s life and work is discussed in eras. The Sun years, the Hollywood days, the ‘68 comeback, Vegas. Put more coarsely and cruelly, his career is often split between the “Skinny Elvis” and “Fat Elvis” periods. Directed by Robert Abel and Pierre Adidge and currently streaming on HBO Max, the 1972 documentary Elvis On Tour chronicles the beginning of the end. While still at the heights of his popularity, and in full command of his talents, the cracks in the castle walls are starting to deepen. 

Meant to portray Elvis in his natural state, the film follows Presley as he tours across the South and Midwest. In between performances, we flash back to clips from The Ed Sullivan Show and his early rise to fame. Besides incidental backstage footage, Elvis never speaks directly into the camera. Instead, we hear him in voice-over. He speaks quietly and infrequently, revealing his elemental fears and discussing the ecstatic reaction he inspires with wonder. “I’ve got to please the crowd. I’ve got to excite them,” he says. He sounds like he’s talking to himself. 

When we first see Elvis, it’s in slow motion over the opening credits. The jowls are starting to emerge and baby blue is definitely not his color. Then he’s in a triptych, in red (well, burgundy, really), white and blue variations of his superhero jumpsuit preparing to mount the stage. A drum roll ushers him in as the band starts cooking on “See See Rider,” a traditional blues updated through the years by successive waves of black and white musicians. He straps on an acoustic guitar which he mainly uses as a prop or perhaps to remind himself of his rockabilly roots. 

It should be noted, Elvis’s backing musicians from his late ‘60s come back up until his death, were an absolute powerhouse, centered around influential Telecaster master James Burton on lead guitar, drummer Ronnie Tutt and bassist Jerry Scheff, among others. They are joined on stage by R&B vocal group The Sweet Inspirations and gospel choir J.D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet on backing vocals and a small orchestra. The fast songs are delivered with the thundering power of a freight train while slower numbers drip with a saccharine sweetness. 

When not on stage, we see Elvis in the studio, recording maudlin ballads in smoke-filled studios. The sunglasses permanently affixed to his face protect him from the gaze of onlookers. Elvis didn’t write any of his own material but the song “Separate Ways” could be about his failing marriage to Priscilla Presley. “We almost seem like strangers, All that’s left between us are the memories we shared / Of times we thought we cared for each other.” Their relationship began when she was still a teenager, but they would separate in February 1972. After the session, Elvis boards his personal jet, landing in some nameless town where women on the street scream at him while he checks into his hotel. 

Back on stage, the crowd goes wild again. Elvis soaks up the adulation but performs for himself, the audience not participants but witnesses. On some songs, he’s smugly self-satisfied and phones it in. At other points, he’s possessed, intoxicated by his own star power. After a while, it all blurs together, the running on and off the stage, an endless loop of cheers and frenzy followed by isolation, punctuated by karate kicks and thank yous. 

Before the finale, Elvis asks the The Stamps Quartet to perform the hymn “Sweet, Sweet Spirit.” He finally seems happy, listening with his eyes closed and mouthing the words. He follows it up with Lloyd Price’s “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” about a lover who likes to “ball all morning” and “Don’t come home til late at night.” 

Elvis finishes the crowd off with a breezy “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” It ends with Elvis on his knees, his superhero cape fully extended, eyes rolling into the back of his head as fans burst into tears. As he heads for the exit, we see Col. Tom Parker waiting in a limousine out back. It’s chilling. While the limousine pulls away an announcer on stage announces, “Elvis has left the building.” No king rules forever. Five years later, he would die ignominiously in his bathroom at the age of 42.

Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter:@BHSmithNYC.