Available now for pre-order is the anticipated-turned-controversial CD 48 Hours To Memphis: Recorded Live On Stage In Richmond, Virginia — March 18, 1974.

The North America/Worldwide version of Elvis Presley Enterprise’s ShopElvis.com reports that the CD should arrive to US addresses on or around October 31. I know what’s going to be cranked up at my house Halloween night!

Direct link: Pre-Order Elvis Forty Eight Hours to Memphis FTD CD (Mono) — ShopElvis.com

As with other releases on Sony’s Follow That Dream collectors label for Elvis fans, the only physical store in the US authorized to sell the CD is Good Rockin’ Tonight, a Graceland gift shop in Memphis.

Online, FTD CDs can be obtained from a variety of other Elvis stores.

In the 1970s, Elvis performed live on four dates at the Richmond Coliseum, spanning 1972 through 1976. The March 18, 1974, concert was only six days after his March 12 appearance there. The tour swung back through Richmond due to a rapid sell out of the earlier show.

Elvis fans around the world highly anticipated the CD after revelations several weeks ago that it would feature a previously unknown multi-track recording of the event.

However, a more recent announcement that the source of the CD is a mono tape thought to have been mixed down from the apparently lost multi-track has made the release controversial and anti-climactic for some. As for me, I’m still excited about it.

The 48 Hours To Memphis title reflects that Elvis closed out his tour two days later with a concert in Memphis. An edited version of the Memphis show became the July 1974 album Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis. A song from that album earned Elvis his third and final Grammy Award.

48 Hours To Memphis marks the first official audio release of an Elvis concert in Richmond. Though MGM filmed a 1972 concert at the Richmond Coliseum for the movie Elvis On Tour, it used only a tiny portion of it in the documentary. Warner Brothers has never released the remaining Richmond footage, nor has Sony made any plans as of yet to release the audio. Elvis On Tour instead prominently featured a concert in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

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From ShopElvis.com, here is the full product description:

Please note: Contrary to previous informal information given, please be advised that this is a MONO release.

Derived from what must have been a full professional 16-track multi track recording, the sound is absolutely great, and Elvis is in top form. The booklet is full of great pictures from the actual show and informative notes. The CD comes in a 7″ digi format with a 16 page booklet.

Recorded Live on stage in Richmond, Virginia. March 18, 1974″

Tracklisting

Live At The Richmond Coliseum: March 18, 1974
01) Also Sprach Zarathustra/
02) See See Rider
03) I Got A Woman/Amen [edited with Memphis, March 20, 1974]
04) Love Me
05) Tryin’ To Get To You
06) All Shook Up
07) Steamroller Blues
08) Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel
09) Love Me Tender
10) Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On/Your Mama Don’t Dance/Flip, Flop & Fly/Jailhouse Rock/Hound Dog
11) Fever
12) Polk Salad Annie
13) Why Me
14) Suspicious Minds
15) Introductions By Elvis
16) I Can’t Stop Loving You
17) Help Me
18) An American Trilogy
19) Let Me Be There
20) Funny How Time Slips Away
21) Can’t Help Falling In Love/
22) Closing Vamp

Bonus Songs
23) Sweet Caroline [Tulsa, March 1, 1974]
24) Johnny B. Goode [Memphis, March 17, 1974]
25) That’s All Right [Memphis, March 17, 1974]