"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 recorded - 1973's Aloha From Hawaii and Elvis in Concert from 1977.
Despite being sung during both Aloha shows, five months after this first live rendition, it was included in the setlist in a very sporadic fashion thereafter. Although complete setlists for many shows are as yet unknown, with the information available it appears that Elvis sang it only four times in post Aloha 1973, once in 74, and twice in 75, both in December.
It was not until April 1976 that the song became an almost ever present in the Elvis Presley show. During that first season that Elvis introduced the song he felt compelled for some reason to deny that the song was in any way autobiographical. With hindsight and irony during the period that it became a permanent fixture in the setlist it is difficult to see it as otherwise especially with the images from Elvis in Concert recorded on 21 June 1977 in Rapid City in mind.
Further irony can be found in what would become Elvis' final tour, the song was included on 18 June 77 in Kansas City and the aforementioned Rapid City show on 21 June. Elvis gave ten shows on that tour and sang it in just three including the secnd to last live performance by Elvis in Cinncinnati on 25 June, although purely coincidental the song's lyrics make these last performances the ultimate irony.
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.
Version One - 4 August 1972 Opening Show, Las Vegas - The First Live Rendition
The first live performance of 'My Way' by Elvis took place, as new additions to the setl ist often did, on the opening night of a Las Vegas engagement, on this occasion 4 August 1972.
Version Two - 14 January 1973, Hawaii - The "Aloha" Version
Version Three - 3 July 1973, Atlanta
Version Four - 22 May 1974, Midnight Show - Lake Tahoe
Version Five - 10 December 1975, 10pm Show, Las Vegas - The Sherill Nielsen duet Rendition
In this unique version, it is not Elvis who sings the third verse but his tenor Sherill Nielsen, encouraged by Elvis, with Elvis joining in at the back end of the verse!
Version Six - 31 December 1976, Pittsburgh
This version contains an extended intro as Elvis tries to avail himself of a lyric sheet. Listen out for some outstanding guitar work by James Burton too.
Version Seven - 1 May 1977 - The Chicago Stadium
It was a regular occurrence 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. It is also worth noting that Elvis doesn't seem to need the lyric sheet on this occasion
Version Eight - 21 June 1977, Rapid City - The "Elvis In Concert" and Second Last Live Rendition
This performance never fails to pull at the heartstrings, but Elvis' physical appearance and retrospective knowledge of what lay ahead should not detract from what is a wonderful performance of a classic.
As with all of these videos, to get the most out of the re-edited audio, I highly recommend you use ear /headphones and turn the volume up as much as you dare!
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