Originally published at: Elvis died 45 years ago today. Here's one of his final performances and it's a stunner. | Boing Boing
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This is an aside but can’t say i hold Elvis in any level of esteem, especially knowing that he was chummy with Nixon. Pretty sure if he were alive today he’d be brown nosing Trump
“…Presley told Nixon he did not associate or agree with the “Drug Culture, hippie elements,” student protesters and “Black Panthers,” whom he believed hated America”
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Elvis also had a major hard-on for Hoover and the FBI.
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If I remember there is also a revved-up, almost hard-rock version of “Suspicious Minds” from this show.
More than any other musician of the 20th century Elvis has become such an image/icon that it’s easy to forget that he was a human being. If someone says “Elvis” my first mental image is of a velvet painting, not him performing.
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Listening to this version of UM, I find that it is distinctly where Tortelvis (of Dread Zeppelin fame, who I’ve seen live 13 times) gets a lot of inspiration for his vocal solos. Even all the pauses and vocal tics from this specific performance.
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This seems like a bit of a reboing.
But - what’s the consensus on this video? Lip sync, over dub, multi track?
Like I think it’s pretty obvious he’s not actually playing piano here (or is it?) - but there are many versions of this vid online that do not sync up.
This is one of the better versions where you could almost believe he’s actually singing here.
I already think the song’s a tad melodramatic (well it is from a film score of course) and Elvis’s perf made it even more overwrought. I prefer Willie’s more tender, delicate take:
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He’s rolling and shaking in his grave because of that stupid new movie amirite?
Are you thinking of the one below?
Also, kind of crazy how quickly he declined in health in just a few years.
Same thing with Jerry Garcia.
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Not to take anything away from Willie, or from Elvis for that matter—fine singers both—but for me this is the definitive version.
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Speaking as a singer, those pauses were due to him no longer having proper lung control, likely because of all the medical problems. So for me, it was hard to hear this version.
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Yep. In a way, maybe that makes the performance more impressive, the fact that he did as well as he did while struggling, but the struggle was definitely there. (Maybe “struggling” is too harsh a term, but he definitely used to have better control.)
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It’s pretty clear to me he’s actually singing, with no lip sync or overdub. Every audible breath and syllable matches every rise and fall of his chest. If he’s lip syncing, he’s doing an incredible job.
As to whether he’s actually playing, I’d also say yes. While his hands are only shown for a few seconds, they seem well practiced. He’s also obviously concentrating his gaze on playing the piano. If he was faking playing, he’d be looking up a lot more often.
If you’ve seen video that looked out of sync, perhaps the entire sound track was just out of sync with the video?
Schmaltz and everything else aside, Elvis was a heck of a performer and a great musician.
Also, this is the first time I realized Elvis knew how to play piano.
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42 seems so young. I remember when he died. I was still a teenager and was convinced that it was old age.
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Not to mention underage girls.
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“Elvis died the day he went into the Army” – John Lennon
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I feel like it was Zappa who truly captured the essence of Elvis, but that’s just me. 
Elvis died before I was born, so he always seemed like some historic figure that old people talked about but I couldn’t relate to.
I vaguely remember this British tribute show though.
Or just jump to 57:26 for the first public performance of the song that beat Fairytale of New York to 1987’s UK Christmas No.1 
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A highly recommended tribute, to Elvis (and Fred):
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