Colonel Parker advertised the third engagement of his client at the International Hotel in Las Vegas as "Elvis Summer Festival 1970". The stint began on August 10th, ended on September 8th and included 58 shows.
Musicians
James Burton (guitar), John Wilkinson (guitar), Charlie Hodge (guitar and harmony vocals), Jerry Scheff (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums), Glen D. Hardin (piano) and The Joe Guercio Orchestra. The harmony vocals were provided by The Sweet Inspirations (Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shemwell & Estelle Brown), The Imperials (Jim Murray, Armond Morales, Terry Blackwood, Roger Wiles & Joe Moscheo) as well as Millie Kirkham (until August 16th) and Kathy Westmoreland (from August 17th to September 8th).
About The Engagement
The preparations for the upcoming Vegas engagement started on July 14, 1970. This time Elvis and the guys didn't rehearse at the RCA studio in Los Angeles, but at the MGM Soundstage in Culver City. In April the king had signed with the studio for a documentary about his new Vegas stint and it was easier to film Elvis and his band right on the studio lot. On July 15th and 29th the group also rehearsed at the sound stage and wore the same clothes as on the first day of filming. This enabled the production team to edit the material and present the snippets as a continuous session. On July 23rd and 24th Elvis and his band moved to the RCA studio on Los Angeles and prepared the songs without any cameras or film teams around. The group moved to Vegas on August 4th and rehearsed three additional days at the Convention Center of the International Hotel. Here they also met the harmony singers and worked out the arrangements. On August 7th the preparations were continued at the Showroom Internationale, where the orchestra was added to the process. Of course MGM covered several of these dates for the documentary. Meanwhile Parker focused on the promotion. He had prepared 100,000 souvenir menues, as many post cards, 60,000 catalogues, 50,000 photo cards and 20,000 photo albums. The venue itself was decorated with posters and promo banners, the employees wore hats with the slogan "Elvis Summer Festival". Of course the Colonel didn't forget to rent the usual billboards throughout the city.
Elvis stuck to wearing jumpsuits, but introduced many new ones. Some of them were the "White Fringe Suit & Multi Color Beads", the "White Concha Suit", the "White Chain Suit", the "White Red Ladder Suit", the "White Metal Eye Suit" and the "White Plain Suit". Elvis combined these outfits with macramee belts. Because the movie was also supposed to promote Elvis' latest records, he included many tracks he recently had cut in Nashville. Especially the first six shows, which were filmed by MGM and recorded by RCA, were very versatile. However, after the tapings were finished, the king presented a more basic set list. Throughout the engagement Elvis was in perfect physical shape, his voice sounded great and he appeared relaxed and humorous. During the final concerts it was a bit too much, sometimes boardering the unprofessional. In early 1971 there would be more shows of that kind, but in August and September 1970 they were the exception from the rule. Especially the first shows of this engagement represent the peak of Elvis' second comeback. He was in great shape and the set list was an optimal mix of old and new material.
Off-stage two incidents caused some uproar. On August 26th a man called the International Hotel and convincingly threatened to kidnap Elvis. Two days later another man called Joe Esposito and demanded 50,000 USD for naming the person, who wanted to kill the king during one of the shows on August 29th. The FBI was informed and several officers were positioned in the showroom. Elvis had some additional bodyguards flown in from Memphis and carried a mini revolver in each of his boots.
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