A book commemorates the 50th anniversary of the return of the king of rock to the stage, which defined the character of the city of casinos
American popular culture is experiencing a joyous summer of 1969 anniversaries. 50 years have passed since the arrival of man on the moon, Woodstock, Manson's crimes... and also the day Elvis reinvented himself against all odds. Along the way, he invented a Las Vegas concert concept that rocked the city's gel and lasts to this day.
A year earlier, Elvis Presley had recorded a performance for television. It was called the Comeback special, it was a huge ratings success and served to convince him and his manager, Tom Parker, that he could do that same show for large audiences. The chosen location was Las Vegas. On July 31, 1969, around eight in the evening, Elvis Presley walked on stage at the newly opened Las Vegas International Hotel to give his first concert in eight years. He started with Blue suede shoes. He sang for an hour and a quarter.
Elvis's performance that night disarmed an army of skeptical critics who had come prepared to certify the old idol's decline. He hadn't given a concert since Hawaii in 1961. His voice was perfect, he was incredibly handsome and in shape. He was even able to interact with the public, something he was never good at. He had much more control over his stage image than he had a decade earlier. The classics the world had known on acetate discs sounded devastating in a first-rate theater and with a Las Vegas production. In addition, he had renewed his repertoire with songs like In the Ghetto and Suspicious Minds. Elvis gave a resounding show. “Supernatural”, called it Rolling Stone, in a review in which it proclaimed “the resurrection” of Elvis Presley.
He repeated it twice a night, every day, for four weeks. There is no video or recording of the first night, although there are others from that residence. Elvis broke Las Vegas records in terms of production. That first year he received $100,000 a week for four weeks, the cache that Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra charged. It was watched by 101,500 viewers. It generated 1.5 million in ticket revenue. When he finished, he signed to repeat for five more years, for $125,000 a week.
Everything is told in detail in a new book (Elvis in Vegas: How the King Reinvented the Las Vegas Show), in which city historian Richard Zoglin argues that Presley is the true origin of today's residences, in which great artists make a fixed schedule of concerts in a theater in the city playing all their hits.
Elvis "created the blueprint for a different type of Las Vegas show," Zoglin argues in his book. “It was no longer an intimate nightclub gathering for a few hundred people, but a big-time extravaganza for thousands of people. It paved the way for lavish shows by stars like Cher and Dolly Parton and, long after, Celine Dion, Elton John, and a new generation of pop stars signing up for Las Vegas residencies.”
"I wanted to do the book because Elvis doesn't usually get much credit for his years in Las Vegas," Zoglin told Magazine in a telephone conversation. He answers from Memphis, where he is, of course, at the annual Elvis week (August 16 was the 42nd anniversary of his death). “People know what Las Vegas did for Elvis, but they don't realize what Elvis did for Las Vegas. That was the beginning of the changes that took place in the city during the next two decades, from the new hotels to the Cirque du Soleil. Elvis discovered the audience of American families that Las Vegas needed, although it took him a while to realize it.
Until then, the city had its founding myths in the Hollywood stars of the 50s and, above all, in the legendary nights of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., who took over the city in 1960 during the filming of Ocean's Eleven. His farruca ended up turning into shows. By the end of the decade, all of that was languishing, swept away by the rise of rock and roll. Las Vegas had completely turned its back on the new culture (Nat King Cole had a show that advertised by saying, "Nat King Cole doesn't rock 'n roll," which rhymes). The culture of the 60s, for its part, had also turned its back on the city. Nobody wanted to play there.
Elvis brought rock and roll to Las Vegas, which until then had only admitted small nostalgic shows by the old pioneers of the genre. “It was the first rock concert in a big theater in the city,” says Zoglin. With him, he took the fans of him. Suddenly, middle-class families from all over the country were coming to Las Vegas to see Elvis. It was more than a concert, it was an event. “In the old days, people would plan their trip to Las Vegas and then buy tickets to the shows,” Zoglin writes. “If Frank or Sammy weren't in town, there were always others to choose from among the many stars coming in and out of Vegas. Now, people were planning their trip to go to the Elvis show.”
Despite the resounding triumph of his return, Elvis had just two years of true artistic splendor in Las Vegas, in which he maintained the excitement for his return and his energy. Starting in 1971, the one-piece sequined suits began the cape, the glasses, the patriotic songs... the show gradually deteriorated, along with his health. Elvis's capacity for resistance deteriorated and he began to depend on drugs to act and to sleep, with obvious consequences in his image and in his lack of control on stage.
A Memphis newspaper wrote in December 1976: “After enduring Elvis Presley's performance, one leaves wondering how long until his perhaps sudden end comes, and why the King of Rock and Roll is submitting to the possibility of ridiculous to go on stage so ill-prepared." Elvis Presley died eight months later, on the afternoon of August 16, 1977. In all, he played 636 concerts at the International Hotel in Las Vegas over seven years. According to the organization, he never left a seat unsold.
