The Life And Career Of Elvis Aron Presley: 1975
On January 3rd RCA issued "My Boy" / "Thinking About You", a few days later the album "Promised Land" hit the stores. In their initial sales periods the records sell 200,000 and 300,000 units. The single became the king's third top20 hit in a row, the album peaked at number 47 of the Billboard Charts. The press provided Elvis with a lot of attention, because of his 40th birthday. Not all headlines and articles were positive, his appearance and general condition was discussed vividly. The man himself spent his birthday reclusively at Graceland.
A day after Elvis' birthday, a tornado plowed through Mississippi, the state the king was born and raised in. Four days after the incident governor Bill Waller announced, that the king would stage a charity show for the victims of the storm in April. Of course the concert wasn't a single event. Colonel Parker quickly organized a tour around this date.
On January 29th Elvis was admitted to Baptist Memorial Hospital. The king suffered from breathing difficulties, most likely caused by his abuse of medication. Once again Dr. Nicopoulos and his team tryed to detox Elvis and convince him to accept further help. Of course he denied all of his problems. A week after his son, Vernon Presley was admitted to the hospital, too. He had suffered a heart attack and occupied the room next to Elvis. Vernon didn't hold back any of his feelings and openly blamed his son to worry him into the grave.
For the king the work year began in March. Between the 10th and the 12th of the month he recorded ten new songs at RCA Studio C in Hollywood/California and used the following day to rehearse for his upcoming Vegas stint. After further rehearsal sessions in Vegas, he opened the engagement on March 18th. Due to his recent weight gain Elvis didn't wear the usual jumpsuits, but outfits with a jacket. Backstage he was visited by Barbra Streisand, who offered the king a role in her new movie project "A Star Is Born". Elvis accepted on the spot. It soon turned out to be a mistake, because when First Artist sent over the official documents in early April, Strisand's company just offered 500,000 USD and a profit share of 10% as well as the rights to utilize the footage of the concerts, Elvis' character was playing in the film. Considering that MGM had paid him a million three years earlier, just to film him for a documentary, the offer was a joke. With his client's approval Colonel Parker drafted a counter-offer. He demanded a million USD, a cost lump sum of 100,000 USD, a profit share of 50% as well as the exploitation right to every song Elvis was about to sing in the movie. Of course he also wanted a share in the sales of the soundtrack album. First Artists never answered the offer and the king also never ordered his manager to contact the company or tried to get in touch with Streisand himself.
In March RCA included Elvis in their series of "Pure Gold" albums. The label used the franchise to exploite the catalogues of artists like Glenn Miller, Harry Belafonte and others. In the case of the king it was especially lucrative, because RCA only used recordings, Elvis had made prior to 1973 and therefore didn't have to pay any royalties to him. On April 17th Elvis bought a Convair 880 jet from Delta Airlines. He payed 250,000 USD for the plane and more than twice as much for customizing it according to his wishes. On the 22nd of the month RCA released the single "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" / "Mr. Songman". During its initial sales period 200,000 units were retailed and it peaked at number 35 of the single chart.
Two days later Elvis started the first tour of the year in Macon/Georgia. The concert trip ended on May 7th and earned the king 700,000 USD. The charity show for the tornado victims generated 100,000 USD. The king continued to wear the two-piece suits he had used in Vegas. When he returned to the concert circuit on May 30th, Elvis was back to wearing jumpsuits. He had lost some weight, but still was far away from his previous years' appearance. At least he looked healthy. To improve his looks, the king checked into Baptist Memorial Hospital on June 15th and underwent an eye lifting. Of course he didn't admit such a medical intervention, officially it was nothing but a routine eye examination. Meanwhile RCA had released "Elvis Today", the album he had recorded in March. During its initial sales period it sold 350,000 units and peaked at number 57 of the Billboard Charts. Between July 9th and 24th the singer undertook another concert tour. He had lost some more weight and his shows were energetic and versatile. But behind the scenes the things started to get out of hand. Several harmony singers felt insulted by his "jokes" and refused to perform with him. In his hotel room Elvis threatened Dr. Nichopoulos with a weapon, when he refused to write a prescription for the substances, the king requested. Finally the singer wanted to donate a Gulfstream-jet to his manager, but he refused to take it. For himself Elvis leased a Fairchild F-27 plane, but backed out of the contract two days later and bought an Aero Jet Commander for 508,000 USD instead. Another sign of his growing wackiness was the fact, that he now could be seen wearing his stage costumes in private.
On August 15th the king headed for Vegas to prepare for the "Elvis Summer Festival 1975" at the Hilton. But just like in January he was plagued by respiratory problems. The plane had to make an emergency landing and a physician was called. After a few hours of rest Elvis continued his flight. On August 16th and 17th the king and his band rehearsed, the following day the curtain went up for the grand opening show. Two days and four concerts later the engagement was over. In the early morning hours of August 21st Elvis returned to Memphis and went straight to Baptist Memorial Hospital. Officially it was stated, that the king suffered from chronic exhaustion, but in fact Dr. Nichopoulos diagnosed a depression. Besides that, Elvis still was addicted to various substances and the years of abusing "medication" had impaired his liver and intestine. Because the singer showed no intention to change his lifestyle or to accept psychological help, Dr. Nick put Marion Cocke and Tish Henley in place. Officially the nurses were hired for the cardiac Vernon, but their main task was to ration Elvis' drugs and deliver them to him at certain times. By now Dr. Nick had to accept, that his patient was heavily addicted and wasn't going to change anything. So he tried to provide Elvis with the substances he needed and to avoid craving and overdosing from Elvis' side.
Colonel Parker did the best he could, to provide his client with time to recuperate. There was neither the usual concert tour in the fall, nor additional recording sessions. RCA wasn't too happy, because instead of the requested 24 new masters Elvis just had delivered ten. Parker suggested to release an album of children's songs (from the king's movies of the 1960s), the singer himself came up with the idea to record some songs during his next Vegas stint. In December he was to perform a "Pre Holiday Jubilee" to make up for the missed shows in August. Out of desperation RCA released the single "Bringing It Back" / "Pieces Of My Life". But the record just sold 60,000 units, because both songs were available on the longplayer "Elvis Today" for several months.
In November Elvis took a loan of 350,000 USD from the National Bank Of Commerce. During the last few months he had spent a fortune on planes, jewelry and other stuff and now he even wanted to build his own racquetball court. But Colonel Parker would have not been himself, if he hadn't a solution for the problem. He booked his client into the Pontiac Silversome. On New Years Eve he would perform for 60,000 people and goss a whopping 800,000 USD for an hour of work! So Elvis ended the year with a bang. It was the biggest audience of his career and the largest amount of money, a star had ever made with a single concert.
To regenerate Elvis planned to slow down a bit in 1976. Apart from a recording session in February he wouldn't have to work until the opening of another engagement at Del Webb's Sahara Tahoe Hotel in late April.