The various incarnations of the screen-tours lasted longer, than the career of the living entertainer. On August 16, 1997 the blueprint of these shows was staged at the Midsouth Coliseum in Memphis/Tennessee. The concert was recorded by the engineer through the soundboard and in 2000 a label named Tupelo released the recording under the name of "The Return Of The King - Elvis In Concert 97".

Compared to the tour-versions of the show, the lineup is much broader. With Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana the concert included two musicians from Elvis' early days and there are performances of the tribute artists Ronnie McDowell and Terry Mike Jeffrey. Elvis' buddy George Klein also appears on stage. Back in the 1990s the fan-world was completely different. Most of the king's companions were still alive, visited conventions and shows on a regular basis. Therefore a concert like this could revive the good, old days in a perfect way. Of course the audience knew the "technical dates" of the show, but I am pretty sure, that nobody expected the emotional roller coaster ride, they were about to experience.

Just like the king's concerts of the 1970s, the new show begins with "Also Sprach Zarathustra". The arrangement differs a bit and the piece is played a tad longer. A curtain hides the stage, the audience doesn't know what to expect yet.

The band moves over to the "Opening Riff", the curtain comes down and the fans get to see the stage. All of the king's original musicians are there (minus John Wilkinson, whose health made it impossible for him to perform) and Elvis enters the stage. Well, at least on the video screens. "See See Rider" is also arranged in a different way, it now features an organ. Even though the Presley show had paused for two decades, the band still performs with a lot of zest. The footage of Elvis is taken from "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite".

Just like the television concert of 1973, the show continues with "Burning Love". Afterwards the video-Elvis welcomes the audience. When the king doesn't speak, the audio track is silenced, but there is so much noise bleeding through his microphone, that it sounds strage when it appears and disappears every few seconds. Maybe Elvis Presley Enterprises should have asked the sound-alike Ronnie McDowell to dub the king, like they did on "Don't Cry Daddy", which is presented later. Nobody in the audience would have realized, that it's not Elvis, who spoke the few words.

The new arrangement sounds much tamer, even a bit sedate. It's ok, but not as good as the original.

The same can be said about this country classic. It's nice enough and presented very well, but it simply lacks drive.

Here we experience the opposite. Especially James Burton demonstrates, what a great guitarist he still is. When the show went on tour, the arrangement would also feature bass-, piano- and drum-solos. When I saw the show on March 28, 2001 in Hannover/Germany, I thought the new, spiced-up edition was so much better than the somewhat lame presentation of 1973. It's a bit sad to realize some twenty years later, what Elvis could have done with rock songs like this, if he had cared about them.

Especially the intro differs to the original version, Ronnie Tutt is also brought a bit to the fore. After the song is finished, the material switches from "Aloha" (1973) to "That's The Way It Is" (1970). Here the king introduces The Imperials. The scene wasn't shown in the original movie, so the audience gets to see something new.

Because the music has to fit the king's movements, the arrangement could not be changed all that much. However, the pianist and the brass section stray from the original version. Unfortunately "Polk Salad Annie" wasn't recorded in its entirety.

In 1997 there is a greater emphasize on the rhythm, Ronnie Tutt plays a bit harder than in 1970.

Now The Sweet Inspirations perform their signature tune. Myrna Smith, Estelle Brown and Syliva Shemwell are now supported by Portia Griffin. One of the ladies misses her cue, but otherwise it's a very good performance.

Elvis thanks the group and continues the show with "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". This part is taken from "Elvis On Tour" (1972). At the time The Stamps had just sung "Sweet Sweet Spirit" and the king's comments are referring to them. But because this cannot be seen in the footage, it was a clever move to use it here. Afterwards Elvis thanks the audience. This snippet is taken from "Aloha From Hawaii" (1973) and once again the noises, that are bleeding through the king's microphone sound strange.

The footage switches back to "That's The Way It Is". The Ray Charles classic is performed with drive, but somehow it seems, that the timing between the live band and the screen vocalist is off.

The 1972 Elvis sings "Never Been To Spain". Here James Burton offers a guitar solo, that differs to the original one.

We return to the footage from "That's The Way It Is" (1970). The arrangement of "Just Pretend" wasn't touched, which certainly was a good choice.

Back in 1970 Elvis had performed a medley of "Don't Cry Daddy" and "In The Ghetto". Here James Burton plays an intro and the footage of the king is started, when he sings the first word.

Of course, The Stamps also get their solo-spot. While they sing an a' capella version of the gospel, Elvis can be seen listening to them. The footage was taken from "Elvis On Tour" (1972), where the group also presented the song.

Now The Imperials and The Jordanaires are announced. Together with The Stamps and the band they perform the gospel hymn "How Great Thou Art". Elvis' vocals are taken from the album "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis" (1974). While the king sings in his classic 1970s style, the choirs are arranged very similar to the studio recording from 1966. The result sounds stunning.

Elvis' performance is taken from "That's The Way It Is" (1970). The huge backup fits the dramatic ballad well, even though it doesn't sound as fluid as the original version. There's also some applause bleeding through the king's microphone while he sings, which sounds a bit strange. But back in the 1990s there were no tools to remove bits and pieces like that. After the performance is over, a voice announces a break.

George Klein, a well-known radio dj from Memphis (but even more famous for being Elvis' friend), enters the stage and announces the second part of the program.

The orchestra plays an instrumental version of "If I Can Dream".

Now the more or less virtual king performs "Trouble". The footage was taken from the tv special "SINGER presents Elvis"

The following "Introductions" are taken from the same source. Elvis introduces Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana, who appear on stage to perform some songs from the early days with Ronnie McDowell and his band.

Of course this section of the show starts with "That's All Right", the a-side of Elvis' first single.

The flipside is presented as well, Scotty Moore plays a nice solo. In contrast to the studio recording, The Jordanaires add some harmony vocals, which fit the song very well.

Gordon Stoker, the head of The Jordanaires, explains, how the young singer from Memphis met his gospel group. Afterwards "Heartbreak Hotel" is performed, once again Scotty adds some nice solos.

By mistake Mr. McDowell tells the crowd, that Elvis recorded "Crying In The Chapel" in 1958. The Jordanaires now introduce themselves and sing the song. Compared to the king's version the tempo is a bit higher.

Hugh Jarrett, the predecessor of Ray Walker, is introduced. Then the group sings "Don't Be Cruel", on of the kings best-known songs.

Ronnie McDowell tells an anecdote and sings the title song of Elvis' fourth movie. Scotty Moore delivers another fine guitar solo.

To lead over to the next item on the agenda, the band plays an instrumental version of the SUN classic "Mystery Train". An announcer once again introduces the musicians.

A member of The Jordanaires introduces the next act, the singer Terry Mike Jeffrey and his band.

In contrast to the previous artist, Terry somewhat imitates the style of the king. But it doesn't hurt, it's a good performance.

The ballad is performed a bit faster than Elvis' version. It's a good rendition of this classic, but it clearly demonstrates, that the king had something special in his voice, that Terry has not.

Now Millie Kirkham appears on stage. In the 1950s and 1960s she sang soprano voice for Elvis and also supported him on stage during the filming of "That's The Way It Is" (1970). Of course her voice is a mojor part of Terry's performance of "Surrender". Afterwards the singer introduces his band and thanks Todd Morgan and Stig Edgren (the producers of this show) for being on the program.

Mr. Jeffrey closes his part of the show with "It's Now Or Never". Even though the 1960s were characterized by The Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones, it was good ole' Elvis, who delivered the best selling single of the decade.

While Wink Martindale talks to the audience, the orchestra, the choires and the members of the king's former live band get ready for the second part of the video show.

It starts with "The Wonder Of You". The orchestra and the harmony singers are brought to the fore and they truly shine. James Burton offers a very good guitar solo.

Now Priscilla Presley, the ex-wife of the king and representative of Elvis Presley Enterprises, enters the stage. She appears to be quite emotional and truly moved. Finally she announces their daughter, Lisa-Marie Presley.

Without doubt, this is the highlight of the evening: A duet of Lisa-Marie and Elvis Presley! She turns out to be a good singer, her voice is comparatively dark and smokey. In total it's a performance worth listening to. Due to the audience's enthusiasm, Lisa sings the song again. Later it became known, that the duet was smoothed by Ronnie McDowell, who added small parts in Elvis' place.

The screen show continues with "Hound Dog". The performace is taken from "That's The Way It Is" (1970).

"Don't Be Cruel" is taken from the same source. Joe Guercio has tried to arrange the music closer to the studio recording, which sounds much better than the king's original live versions.

However, "All Shook Up" is performed in the regular highspeed mode. No improvement at all.

His first number one hit was always well regarded by Elvis and performed with care. The major differnce to the well known version (once again from August 1970) is James Burton's guitar solo.

The same applies to "One Night". When the king sings "just call my name" a member of The Sweet Inspirations uses his old joke and screams "Elviiiiiiiiiis!".

Before the classic movie song is performed, the video-Elvis cracks some jokes. While the real king had no problems with using words like "sonofabitch", the producers of this show have decided to cut them out. Many Presley fans of the 1990s were much more conservative than their idol was twenty years earlier. Once again the audience reactions bleeding through Elvis' microphone are annoying. Because the king used the song to kiss the ladies at the edge of the stage, "Love Me Tender" is performed as an instrumental track at times. For me a performance like this is a bad choice for a video show, because the singer is needed in person.

Now Elvis introduces the band. While he is shown on the center screen, the live pictures of the band are presented on the screens on the left or right.

The new arrangement of the country ballad emphasizes on the string section of the orchesra.

Until now the screen show worked well, but during "Suspicious Minds" the taped Elvis quits his job. Of course the musicians are pure professionals and keep the performance going.

Wink Martindale explains the problem to the audience. One of the power circuits has failed and the technicans are working on the problem.

After the troubleshooting is finished the song is started again. This time everything works well.

Now the video switches back to "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite" (1973). All the remaining performances are taken from this source, too. The arrangement doesn't differ all that much from the original version.

The piano and the guitar are arranged differently. It's a good, rockin' performance.

Here the new arrangement emphasizes on the harmony voices.

Once again the focus is on the choir. In total the new arrangement sounds even more bombastic than the king's performances of the 1970s.

Of course the video show has to end with "Can't Help Falling In Love". Ronnie Tutt is now involved in the intro, too, but otherwise the song is played just like in the original shows.