The first concert tour of 1972 was the kings longest so far. It was organized by Concerts West, the tickets were available at $5.00, $7.50 and $10.00.
Tour Stations
04/05/1972: Buffalo, New York; Memorial
Auditorium (17,360 spectators)
04/06/1972:
Detroit, Michigan; Olympia Stadium (16,216
spectators)
04/07/1972: Dayton, Ohio;
University Of Dayton Arena (13,788 spectators)
04/08/1972: Knoxville, Tennessee; Stokley
Athletics Center (23,800 spectators, 2 shows)
04/09/1972: Hampton, Virginia; Hampton Roads
Coliseum (21,650 spectators, 2 shows)
04/10/1972: Richmond, Virginia; Richmond
Coliseum (11,500 spectators)
04/11/1972:
Roanoke, Virginia; Civic Center (10,436
spectators)
04/12/1972: Indianapolis,
Indiana; Fair Ground's Coliseum (11,000
spectators)
04/13/1972: Charlotte, North
Carolina; Charlotte Coliseum (12,000 spectators)
04/14/1972: Greensboro, North Carolina;
Greensboro Coliseum (16,300 spectators)
04/15/1972: Macon, Georgia, Macon Coliseum
(23,000 spectators, 2 Shows)
04/16/1972:
Jacksonville, Florida, Veteran's Memorial
Coliseum (18,758 spectators, 2 shows)
04/17/1972: Little Rock, Arkansas; TH Baton
Coliseum (10,000 spectators)
04/18/1972: San
Antonio, Texas; Convention Center (10,500
spectators)
04/19/1972: Albuquerque, New
Mexico, Tingley Coliseum (11,847 spectators)
Musicians
James Burton (guitar), John Wilkinson (guitar), Charlie Hodge (guitar and harmony vocals), Jerry Scheff (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums), Glen D. Hardin (piano) and The Joe Guercio Orchestra. The harmony vocals were provided by The Sweet Inspirations (Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shemwell & Estelle Brown), J.D. Sumner & The Stamps (Donnie Sumner, Bill Baize, Ed Enoch & Richard Sterban) and Kathy Westmoreland.
About The Tour
Most fans know about this concert trip from the movie "Elvis On Tour". It was a sequel of "That's The Way It Is" and made the king a whopping million USD. MGM filmed parts of the shows in Hampton, Richmond, Greensboro and San Antonio and accompanied the king backstage, at airports, etc. Originally RCA also wanted to release a soundtrack album, but due to the hype about the king's summer concerts at the Madison Square Garden it was decided to issue on of them on a longplayer instead. It finally took half a century, before a soundtrack of "Elvis On Tour" was released.
Colonel Parker tried out some new merchandising items during this tour. Besides many other things the fans could buy a new photo book, two new buttons ("Elvis, We Love You!" and "Elvis In Person") and a portrait picture, which had been shot during the king's recent Vegas stint. Elvis himself also offered new material. Besides the additions he had made for his string of shows in Las Vegas, the king also sang "For The Good Times" and "Burning Love". The latter one was sung just twice, I guess it was stricktly for the MGM cameras. The track was planned to be Elvis' next single and the producers wanted a performance of it in their movie. During this tour the king was in fine voice and obviously enjoyed performing for the large crowds all throughout the south. Compared to his previous tour Elvis moved much less and even though he still was slim and slender, his face looked pale and bloated at times. Today we know, that this was a side effect of Demerol (a fully synthetic opioid), which the singer had started to take on a regular basis. It was the first visual sign of his decline. For this tour Elvis didn't order any new jumpsuits. He continued to wear the ones from his tour in November 1971 and his Vegas engagement in January and February 1972. The collection included the "Pinwheel Suit" (the white and the red version), the "Royal Blue Fireworks Suit", the "White Pyramid Suit", the "Light Blue Nail Suit" and the "White Snowflake Suit". The "Red Pinwheel Suit" and the "White Pyramid Suit" were combined with the Gold Belt, which Elvis had received from the management of the International Hotel three years earlier.
Audio
