Elvis had performed in Amarillo/Texas in the 1950s, after his return to the concert stage he had re-visited the city in 1974. On March 24, 1977 he was back again for another personal appearance. By Elvis' standards the local Civic Center was rather small. For this concert it was jammed with 7,389 people, who paid 100,242 USD to see him.

In 2011 Follow That Dream Records released a large part of the show under the name of "Amarillo '77". At the time the sound engineer didn't record "Also Sprach Zarathustra", "See See Rider" and "I Got A Woman" / "Amen". He also turned off the equipment when Elvis introduced the band. On this cd the introductions were replaced with a recording from March 27, 1977. Besides that, the disc includes eleven bonus tracks, that were recorded during this tour. The recordings were compiled by Ken Jensen, the mastering was done by Lene Reidel. FTD put the sound carrier in a 5" digipak, which was designed with photos from the tour in March 1977.

As written before, the usual opening with "Also Sprach Zarathustra", "See See Rider" and "I Got A Woman" wasn't recorded. In contrast to other shows during this tour, Elvis didn't continue the program with "Love Me", but kept his guitar to accompany himself on a bunch of songs. Today's performance can be compared to the one on the double album "Elvis In Concert". The king obviously likes the track and presents it well.

Elvis now drinks some water and a lady in the audience asks for the beaker. Quick-witted the king answers "You want the cup? I'm not wearing one". The he sings "Are You Lonesome Tonight", at least he's trying to do so. First he cannot remember the lyrics, then he fools around with Charlie Hodge. It's neither a good performance of the song, nor entertaining. It's just sad. Maybe to save the situation Elvis announces to sing "Reconsider Baby". But he just strums his instrument a few times and hands it over to Charlie.

Instead of the blues song Elvis sings the usual "Love Me". He doesn't pay too much attention to the ballad and hands out scarfs instead.

Jokingly the king tells the audience, the next song was by Olivia Newton's john (instead of Olivia Newton-John). The performance isn't as lively as it used to be, but it's still acceptable. It can be compared to the version on the album "Moody Blue".

It's not all that surprising, that today's version is not one of the king's greatest renditions. At times he still manages to impress, but in general he sounds somewhat tired. 

After two more or less recent songs Elvis returns to the golden 50s. The "Jailhouse Rock" is performed in a fast and shallow way, but as a reminder of the past it works well.

Before the king presents his best selling record, Sherrill Nielsen intones the Italian original. He entertains the audience by yelping in the highest keys. "It's Now Or Never" gives Elvis an opportunity to impress. However, today he doesn't sound as powerful as usual.

Maybe because "Little Sister" is easier to sing, the king delivers a very good performance of his 1961 hit single.

Elvis pretends to be quality-conscious and has Tony Brown start all over again due to a timing mistake. Unfortunately he makes quite a few of them himself and also sounds nasal and unmotivated. Instead of singing his songs well, he throws scarfs in the audience. The ladies at the edge of the stage fight for the souvenirs and don't care for the quality of their idols vocals.

This is a song, Elvis cares about. He really tries hard, but today he is not in the condition to inject the necessary power and drama.

The introductions are taken from March 27, 1977. I don't know why FTD was convinced, that this part of the concert is needed. By 1977 the intros took almost a quarter of the king's time on stage and were a boring affair. As usual Elvis mentiones each and everyone on stage (thank God he didn't introduce the members of the orchestra one by one) and the band as well as the orchestra play a solo. Elvis vocally accompanies "Johnny B. Goode" and "What'd I Say" in a shallow way, his performance of "Early Morning Rain" is acceptable, though.

Elvis' next to last single is one of this evening's highlights, but once again it's obvious, that the man lacks energy.

By 1977 the performance of "Hound Dog" was the low-point of every show. Elvis mumbles the same four lines over and over again and shakes his body to the brass sounds of the orchestra. One really has to have rose-tinted glasses and hearing aids to endure stuff like this.

Now Elvis apologizes for his belated arrival and says goodbye. He performs "Can't Help Falling In Love" the usual way, shakes some hands, gives away his final scarf and leaves the building.

Elvis orders Felton Jarvis and Bruce Jackson on stage, to demonstrate the sound problems to them. He sounds very tired, maybe he's under the influence of downers or painkillers. Then he sings "And I Love You So". He cannot compete with the studio recording from 1975, but in general his performance is acceptable.

As usual Elvis moves his legs to heat up the ladies in the audience. It works well, which amuses the singer.

During his final years the king rarely performed "Love Me Tender". Unfortunately that doesn't mean, that he sings it well. He makes the ladies scream by handing out scarfs. For the fans, that was enough.

The rock'n'roll classic had also left the set list by 1977, but once again Elvis doesn't invest too much energy.

In 1977 Elvis performed the "Steamroller Blues" just once. Two days before the show in Alexandria, the king obviously was in better condition. It's a good and powerful rendition, even better than the single from 1973.

The country song with a religious touch is presented very well.

JD Sumner sings the lead vocals, Elvis joins The Stamps on the chorus. During the second verse he tries to crack up JD with numerous sillinesses. The audience loves it, but in the past the king and his group have done it better. At times it seems Mr. Sumner doesn't know the lyrics too well.

Now Charlie Hodge sings lead and Elvis sings bass. This medley is a true rarity, because it was sung just three times. The first performance was on July 19, 1975 in Uniondale/New York, the second one on December 7, 1976 in Las Vegas/Nevada and the final version on March 29, 1977 in Alexandria/Virginia.

Elvis closes his gospel session with the hymn "How Great Thou Art". It's performed in the usual way, but this time the musicians make a mistake and the king cannot help but to curse loudly.

The song gives Elvis the opportunity to use his voice to its full extent. Unfortunately he stumbes upon the lyrics.