The Life And Career Of Elvis Aron Presley: 1971
On January 9th the Junior Chamber Of Commerce Of America announced, that Elvis had been nominated for the Jaycee Award, which honored the outstanding personalities under the age of 35. A week later the king accepted the award at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis and invited the committee and the other nominees for a reception at Graceland.
RCA released the album "Elvis Country - I'm 10,000 Years Old". Just like the previous longplayer it sold 500,000 units during its initial sales period, which in this case lead to a peak at number 12 on the Billboard Chart.
On January 17th Elvis started to rehearse for his forthcoming Vegas stint, which ran from January 26th to February 23rd. Compared to the "Elvis Summer Festival 1970" the shows were short and the king appeared to hurry through many of his shows. The press and the fans still were full of praize, but some also remarked, that maybe the singer needed a break. On the last day of the engagement RCA released the single "Rags To Riches" / "Where Did They Go Lord". With sales of 400,000 copies and a peak at number 33 it was a setback.
To produce new material Elvis arrived in Nashville on March 15th. Due to the huge success of the budget version of his "Christmas Album" RCA had asked him to record another one. Besides that, the king wanted to tape another gospel album and songs for and several singles. On the second day Elvis' eyes started to hurt and he had to cancel the remainder of the sessions. Shortly afterwards he was diagnosed with glaucoma. Today it's no magic to solve the problem, but back in the 1970s it meant the loss of sight.
Because he wasn't allowed to fly, Elvis authorized his manager to sign two contracts with RCA in his name. Against a prepayment of 180,000 USD the company was enabled to release three more budget albums in 1972. Besides that, a second volume of "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits" was to be compiled. RCA granted Elvis royalties for 150,000 units. Each one was paid with $3.50, so the king received a guaranteed payment of 525,000 USD. Both projects were regarded to be joint ventures, so the earnings were split 50/50 between Presley and Parker.
The latest CAMDEN album, it was called "You'll Never Walk Alone" and was a compilation of gospels and more or less religious popsongs, sold 200,000 units during its initial sales period. For a budget album of already released material this was more than acceptable. Much less satisfactory were the sales of "Only Believe" / "Life". It just sold 275,000 copies and never made it past number 53 of Billboard's single chart.
On May 12th Elvis visited the Self Realization Center in Pasadena, three days later he continued his work in Nashville. He recorded a bunch of Xmas songs as well as gospels and contemporary Christian music. Besides the material for the concept albums, Elvis also taped pop- and folksongs for forthcoming singles and longplayers. Just like in Vegas, the king displayed a new sloppiness. In contrast to the previous year he now accepted slightly flawed performances and his voice also didn't sound as good as it had a few months earlier. Partly this was owed to a mild cold, but there obviously was something else. Elvis' abuse of medication had increased and it began to affect his voice and behavior.
The singer's birth place n Tupelo was opened to the public on June 1st, because Elvis by now had reached some kind of cult status.
Unfortunately this didn't translate to his record sales. Neither the single "I'm Leavin'" / "Heart Of Rome", nor the longplayer "Love Letters From Elvis" became a huge success. Both moved 300,000 units during their initial sales period, the 45 peaked at number 36 and the album at number 33. Also in July CAMDEN released the budget lp "C'mon Everybody", which featured movie tunes of the 1960s. Previously the tracks had only been available on extended players, which by now were deleted from the catalogue. The cheapy sold 100,000 units.
On July 5th Elvis started to rehearse for his upcoming stint at Del Webb's Sahara Tahoe Hotel in Stateline/Nevada. The engagement ran from July 20th to August 2nd, just like in Vegas Elvis appeared on stage twice each day. He was paid 300,000 USD for these two weeks, which was a tad more than he made in Vegas. During this engagement an emergency doctor had to be called, after Elvis and a female fan had consumed a cough syrup containing codeine. In larger quantities the opiate unfolds a muting and euphorigenic effect. The king's system was used to substances of this kind, but the woman had to be admitted to hospital. The incident was kept in the closet, but more and more people started to worry about the king's abuse of medication. However, on stage Elvis still was unbeatable and delighted his fans as well as the press.
Right after the stint at Lake Tahoe was over, the group flew to Vegas. From August 9th to September 6th another "Elvis Summer Festival" was staged at the International Hotel. Since the Hilton Group had bought the venue from Kirk Kerkorian the king's contract offered an opportunity to end the business relation. But Elvis and Colonel Parker decided to continue under the established terms. On August 28th the king was visited by a committee of the Academey Of Recording Arts And Sciences. The organization honored him with The Lifetime Archievement Award, which before had only been given to Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Irving Berlin. Meanwhile RCA released the boxed set "The Other Sides - Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits Volume 2". At first just 50,000 copies were sold. Financially Elvis didn't need to care, because the label had guaranteed royalties for three times as many sales. Nevertheless nobody failed to notice, that the first volume had been welcomed much warmer.
In early September Colonel Parker planned another concert tour of his client. Against a non-refundable pre-payment of a million USD the organization of the tour was assigned to Management III.
At the same time it was rumored, that Colonel Parker wanted to sell his contract with Elvis. It was also claimed, the singer and his wife had drifted apart and their divorce was just a matter of time. As usual, neither Presley, nor Parker commented on the situation. While the manager had never thought of selling his contract, his client's marriage indeed was in trouble. Elvis had countless affiars and showed little interest in the everyday family life. Besides that, his abuse of medication was increasing. Priscilla more and more tried to escape the golden cage, finally she began an affair with Mike Stone, a well known martial arts fighter and owner of a karate school. Originally Priscilla had taken karate lessons from Stone to have something in common with her husband. Soon she received something from him, that Elvis wasn't willing to give her: Attention.
Meanwhile RCA released "It's Only Love" / "The Sound Of Your Cry". The previous 45 had sold 300,000 units and wasn't considered to be a success. The new single didn't even move half as many copies and never made it past number 51 of the hitparade. A month later CAMDEN issued another compilation of old movie tunes, this time the product was named "I Got Lucky". The sales were comparable to the previous cheapy. Also in October RCA put "Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas" in the stores. But while the previous years' rehash of "Elvis' Christmas Album" had sold 400,000 copies, the new set of seasonal recordings barely made 50% of this amount.
On November 5th the king went on the road. Because The Imperials requested more money and Colonel Parker wasn't willing to give in, Elvis' long-time backing group was not available anymore. Just like in 1957, when Scotty and Bill had wanted a raise, the king didn't do anything to sort things out. He neither talked to his manager, nor to his buddies. Elvis simply let things happen and tried to stay as far away as possible from all the inconvenient trouble. Back in the 1950s the guitarist and the bass player simply were replaced by others, now The Imperials were replaced by The Stamps. The group had been put together by JD Sumner, a famed bass singer and one of the king's musical heros. Originally Mr. Sumner didn't want to perform himself anymore and just act as a manager in the background, but Elvis insisted on having him on stage.
To boost the sales of "Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas", RCA released a single with "Merry Christmas Baby" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful". The plan didn't work out, the 45 barely moved 30,000 copies and became one of the biggest flops of the king's career. His private life wasn't much better. On December 30th Priscilla and Lisa Marie had flown from Memphis to Los Angeles and Elvis openly talked about the fact, that his wife had left him. However, none of them issued a public statement.