On February 27, 1978 RCA Records issued "Unchained Melody" / "Softly As I Leave You". It was the final single release Elvis was involved in. On March 25th "Unchained Melody" entered the "Hot Country Singles Chart". It had a run of 11 weeks and peaked at number 6. However, the 350,000 sold units were not enough to make it on the more important "Hot 100". Because of the low sales figures RCA Records  forewent a global release, but it is known that it was issued locally in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands. In total the single sold 600,000 copies, which translates to 90 million paid streams. Today "Unchained Melody", albeit in the "Moody Blue" version, surprisingly clocks in at around 80 million streams on Spotify and therefore comes close to former sales giants like "Are You Lonesome Tonight". The track on the b-side, "Softly As I Leave You", is almost forgotten and accumulates less than 100,000 streams.

Half a year after the king's demise the business with single releases was as dead as Elvis himself. Colonel Parker and the management of RCA Victor must have been shocked when they realized that the hype about the singer had vanished within just a few months.

The cover photo was shot on the same occasion as the picture on the sleeve of the CAMDEN release "Almost In Love" (1970). A banner promotes "Elvis In Concert" and the forthcoming album "He Walks Beside Me".

The soundtrack album of the movie "Elvis" (2022) is available on the streaming platforms in high resolution (24 bit/96 kHz) and features a remix of "Unchained Melody". "Softly As I Leave You" can be found on "Elvis: From The Vaults - 70s", albeit just in 16 bit/48 kHz.

This is not the version from the "Moody Blue" album, but a performance captured on June 21, 1977 in Rapid City for the "Elvis In Concert" project. Obviously the track was intended to be released on the album, because it was overdubbed on August 29th and 30th at the Young 'un Sound Studio in Murfreesboro/Tennessee. On the first day harmony vocals were added, on the second day the track was enhanced with guitar, percussion, drums, bass and piano.

The greatness of Elvis still shines through, but obviously the performance demands all he has left and he is gasping for breath at an alarming rate. The overdubs hide certain things, but especially when listening to the undubbed recording one cannot help to ask oneself if the singer will ever experience the end of the song.

Once again Colonel Parker and RCA Records try to push the sales by offering a "new" song. Again the source is the mono recording from December 13, 1975. On this evening Elvis had not just performed "America (The Beautiful)", but also "Softly As I Leave You".

Here Sherrill Nielsen sings lead while Elvis recites the lyrics. In contrast to the partly overblown "Unchained Melody" this one is simple, intimate and very emotional. "Softly As I Leave You" is nothing a radio station would play and nothing you'll hear while cleaning a room. It's something to sit down and focus. I recommend to do so, it's definitely worth it.