In late 2022 Follow That Dream Records had released three shows from the king's concert tour in June/July 1976 on an album called "From Louisiana And Memphis". A year later Sony's own collector's label followed up with three shows from Presley's next road trip, which took place in July and August. The new release was a tripple-disc (of course FTD once again did without a digital outing) by the name of "Summer Of '76". But while the first collection of concerts featured three at least acceptable performances, this new one does not. It even demonstrates the worsening of the man's condition. In Charleston Elvis is in good mood and clear frame of mind, but even though it's just the second show of the tour he already sounds somewhat tired and displays vocal problems. Five days later his voice sounds more hoarse and Elvis obviously is under the influence of some kind of substance. Especially during the first part of the show he's slurring his words and his contributions are reminiscent of the infamous 1974 closing night. In Hampton Roads the king was clear again and his mood was great. But by now his voice was shot and the remaining energy was little. So "Summer Of '76" is a rather sad experience, but it gives us fans an honest view of this phase of the king's career.

As usual the compact discs are housed in a fold-out 5" digi-pak, well designed with photos from the tour, reprints of ticket-stubs and some background information. The recordings themselves sound fine, considering that they were made in mono through the mixing desk of the engineer.

For reviews of the individual concerts tap on the links:

July 24th: Charleston/West Virginia (afternoon show)    July 29th: Springfield/Massachusetts (evening show)

    August 1st: Hampton Roads/Virginia (afternoon show)