It was a regular occurance for Elvis to acknowledge that ‘My Way’ had been recorded by Frank Sinatra, and here he does so again, but under the wrong assumption that Sinatra was from Chicago, (he was actually from Hobocken, New Jersey) but the acknowledgement is a nice touch nonetheless, and very Elvis like.
This Chicago version from 1 May 1977, is a beautiful rendition not unlike the Rapid City version, but with Elvis sounding just a bit more relaxed and the piano and guitar are wonderful.
“My Way’s” English lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song “Comme d’habitude” co-composed, co-written and performed in 1967 by Claude François. Anka’s English lyrics are unrelated to the original French song.
As far as Elvis Presley is concerned, his renditions of ‘My Way’ are synonomous with the last two TV Specials that he filmed – 1973’s Aloha From Hawaii and Elvis in Concert from 1977.
The first live performance of ‘My Way’ by Elvis, took place, as new additions to the setlist often did, on the opening night of a Las Vegas engagement, on this occasion 4 August 1972.
.With hindsight and irony during the period that it became a permanent fixture in the set list, it is difficult to see it as otherwise especially with the images from Elvis in Concert recorded on 21 June 1977 in Rapid City and as such remains a poignant recording and many a fan’s favourite.
A studio take was recorded by Elvis on 10 June 1971, in RCA’s Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee but was not released officially until 1995 on Walk a MIle in My Shoes – The Essential 70’s Masters. RCA instead decided to release the version from Rapid City as a single, soon after his death.
As with all of these videos, to get the most out of the audio, I highly recommend you use ear /headphones and turn the volume up as much as you dare!
source
