More than a dozen Elvis items are set to go to auction next month at the inaugural Mecum Celebrity Items Auction, July 26-27 in Santa Monica, California and the star of the show is a collection of tapes containing footage of the very last known time Elvis ever appeared and performed on camera with hours of never-before-broadcast material.
The original video and audio footage comes from Elvis' last two recorded live concerts - including one in Omaha, Neb., on June 19, 1977, and one in Rapid City, S.D., on June 21, 1977. The tapes include Elvis performing live onstage as well as footage from backstage and behind-the-scenes.
The uncirculated tapes, totaling approximately four-and-a-half hours, contain the unedited, multi-camera professionally filmed concert footage with the original audio mix. The tapes also include intimate backstage scenes, candid dressing room footage and hallway shots of Elvis, his then-girlfriend, Ginger Alden, and his father, Vernon Presley. The Elvis tapes are being sold solely as a cultural collectible intended for the personal enjoyment of the successful bidder.
EPE owns the rights to the CBS TV production and have previously prosecuted bootleggers who have released them - as in the deluxe 'The Final Curtain' box-set. The Mecum Auction also includes additional Elvis memorabilia such as Elvis a 1972 Cadillac Custom Estate Wagon (Lot S119), 1958-1960 U.S. Army Induction and Discharge Papers (Lot S207) and a 1958 lot of rare Presley photographs in the Army (Lot S200)
Hello, what on Earth is this about? Surely the copyright is held by CBS, Song/BMG or EPE...
I think these are Black & White recordings, originally used (and then acquired!) by the sound mixer on the CBS special. They are probably semi-professional 1/2 inch recordings, not the 2 inch Ampex colour tapes which were then in professional use. Regarding the CBS Special generally, my feeling is that in the end it will be re-edited & be made available to the general public on DVD, purely because with the amount of unreleased Elvis material now fast dwindling, it will have to be released to keep the coffers full.
I find it hard to think that a professional video in 1977 was filmed in black and white. Also, it does state ' multi-camera professionally filmed ' and not 'semi professional'. However, that does not really explain why this is available under auction. I would think EPE's lawyers will be jumping all over this, and it would not surprise me if the lot is withdrawn.
Think it is an hoax. Probably some porn can be found on those tapes...
Ignoring jerome... These tapes are black & White COPIES off the original 2 inch colour master tapes! It sounds as if everything that was shot has been copied off, the two complete concerts & the brief backstage bits & pieces. Possibly these were run off illegally, possibly done for the Sound Dubber to work from, rather than the valuable master tapes. I believe a sound engineer was definitely involved! These tapes were known as EIAJ format & ran on Panasonic machines. As there are very few of these machines actually still working I'm not sure what anyone would do with these tapes! As for the legality, that is covered in the ad "Personal enjoyment"! But yes, they could be withdrawn, it's no great loss to us fans. Obviously the master tapes will eventually get re-edited for DVD release, just hope we are all still alive to see the results!