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Elvis and Las Vegas, 2
Elvis's first appearance in Las Vegas was was an engagement at the New
Frontier Hotel in 1956.
It was not until 1969 that he performed in the city again. Elvis was
ready for a change by then. His movies had been less than fulfilling for
him creatively.
His TV special in December of 1968 had been successful and exciting,
giving Elvis a needed energy recharge, a chance to refocus his career
goals.
His manager Colonel Parker worked out a deal for Elvis to perform at
the International Hotel in Las Vegas. The hotel, which was still under
construction, would become the biggest hotel-casino in Las Vegas in that
era.
It would have a 2,000-seat showroom as compared to the typical
1,200-seat
showrooms at other properties in the city.
The Colonel asked $500,000 for four weeks, one show per night and two
shows on the weekends with Mondays off. He also wanted to be able to
record albums and TV specials using the hotel's facilities. The
International countered with $400,000 for four weeks ($500,000 if Elvis
would be the first star to play the showroom), two shows a night, suites
for Elvis and the Colonel, and recording facilities.
The Colonel
declined the offer of having Elvis open the showroom,
preferring that another act endure the working out of any bugs in the
new sound and lighting systems.
Not getting the extra $100,000 was not a worry because the Colonel felt
he would be in a position to renegotiate their deal once Las Vegas saw
Elvis perform.
Elvis auditioned musicians and put together a great band, including
James Burton (lead guitar), Larry Muhoberac (piano), Jerry Scheff
(bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums) and John Wilkinson (rhythm guitar). He also
hired two of his favorite singing groups to provide backing vocals - The
Imperials, a male gospel group, and The Sweet Inspirations, a female R&B
group. For his costumes Elvis engaged designer Bill Belew, with whom he
had worked on the 1968 TV special.
Elvis and the band planned and rehearsed. When they arrived early in Las
Vegas to continue rehearsals, Barbra Streisand, who was the showroom's
first headliner, was still playing her engagement there. Elvis spent
time visiting the other shows on the Strip, watching the acts and
gauging the audiences.
Meanwhile, the Colonel was plastering posters and banners all over Las
Vegas. He had radio,
TV and print ads running daily.
In reference to his promotional blitz the Colonel told Elvis, "......the
gophers in the desert [will] know you're here!"
Elvis began his 4-week, 57-show engagement on July 31, 1969. Opening
night attendance was by invitation only and the room was full of
celebrities and music critics. It has been said that, from the moment
that Elvis appeared on the stage to the strains of "Blue Suede Shoes",
the room "exploded". This engagement broke all attendance records in Las
Vegas.
The International gave Elvis a special gold award belt in commemoration
of this feat.
In the hotel coffee shop after the opening night concert, Colonel Parker
and International Hotel president Alex Shoofey renegotiated Elvis's
contract, writing the new deal on the tablecloth that covered the table
where they sat, effectively raising Elvis's salary to $1 million a year
for two four-week engagements each year through 1974. Between 1969 and
his final Vegas engagement in 1976, Elvis played approximately 641 shows
at The International Hotel (renamed The Hilton in the early 1970s) with
great success, including breaking his 1969 attendance record again and
again.
RCA recorded a number of his Las Vegas shows over the years. A
particular performance in one of the shows of 1969 has gotten a lot of
attention over the years. During his midnight show on August 26, 1969,
shortly after beginning to sing "Are You Lonesome Tonight", Elvis became
amused by the antics of a man in the audience. Once Elvis started
laughing about the guy, he just couldn't stop. He continued to laugh his
way through to the end of the song while Cissy Houston of The Sweet
Inspirations continued to sing her soprano obligato. RCA has, to date,
released this much-requested recording on three albums: the "Elvis Aaron
Presley" silver box set, "Elvis: A Legendary Performer, Volume 4" and
the "Collectors Gold" box set.
Certainly, there are more important
recorded moments, but we can't resist including information about this
one because there's a non-stop flow of inquiry about it. Once in a
while, a disc jockey somewhere will play it on the radio and we'll get
messages from people who want to know how to find it. To answer a
typical second question - no, unfortunately, the performance can't be
found on video. The only formal filming of any of Elvis's Las Vegas
engagements took place in the summer of 1970 when MGM shot several shows
to include in that year's theatrically released documentary "Elvis,
That's the Way It Is". |
