To promote the event, Colonel Parker booked 145 billboards and provided the staff of the Las Vegas Hilton with 5,000 buttons with the slogan "Elvis Now". For the customers he had 50,000 catalogs of the currently available Presley records, 75,000 Elvis-calendars and 10,000 promo-bags for the transport of the souvenirs.
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), J.D. Sumner & The Stamps (Bill Baize, Ed Enoch, Donnie Sumner, Richard Sterban & Ed Wideman) as well as Kathy Westmoreland.
About The Engagement
On January 12th Elvis flew to Los Angeles, were he had booked the RCA Studio C for two days to rehearse with his band. On January 19th the group flew to Las Vegas, were they met the harmony singers and the orchestra for further preparations. The new songs of the season were "An American Trilogy", "Never Been To Spain", "You Gave Me A Mountain" and "Until It's Time For You To Go". Elvis also added his number one hit "A Big Hunk O' Love" and the ballad "I'll Remember You", a bonus track from the "Spinout" album, to the set list. "Delta Lady" and "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" were rehearsed, too, but never performed live on stage. New material was important, because RCA was planning a live album. Between February 14th and 17th Felton Jarvis and Al Pachucki recorded individual tracks for the project, which was called "Standing Room Only". After Elvis had signed with MGM for a documentary of his concert tour in April, the plan was discarded. During the king's lifetime just "An American Trilogy" and "It's Impossible" were released.
In the fall of 1971 Elvis had worn jumpsuits of a different style. The new outfits were more elaborate and featured wide belts and capes. For this Vegas engagement Bill Belew and Gene Doucette (who worked for a company called Pzazz Design) came up with five additional suits of the new style. The outfits are called "White Pyramid Suit & Yellow Cape", "Red Pinwheel Suit & White Cape", "Blue Nail Suit & White Cape", "Black Butterfly Suit & Yellow Cape" and "Royal Blue Fireworks Suit & Silver Cape". Some of the outfits can be seen in the movie "Elvis On Tour". Photos of the king in the "Pyramid" suit and the "Red Pinwheel" outfit were used on the covers of the albums "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden" and "Burning Love And Hits From His Movies".
During the "Elvis Summer Festival 1971" the king had focused on the music and mostly done without the jokes and communication with the fans. The new season continued this trend, Elvis sang the songs in quick succession. Some of the oldies sounded a bit rushed and sometimes the singer's lack of interest was evident. However, the newer material was handled excellently. Elvis was in great voice and made full use of the choir and the orchestra.
Audio
