The 1972 edition of the "Elvis Summer Festival" at the Las Vegas Hilton ran from August 4th to September 4th and included no less than 64 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), J.D. Sumner & The Stamps (Bill Baize, Ed Enoch, Donnie Sumner & Ed Wideman) as well as Kathy Westmoreland.
About The Engagement
On July 26th Elvis and the band began the preparations for the upcoming Vegas stint at the RCA Studio in Los Angeles/California. The group rehearsed for three days, then they moved to Vegas, where they met the orchestra and the harmony singers. On July 31st and August 1st the sessions took place at the Theatre Royale, on August 2nd the troop moved to the Showroom Internationale, where the shows were about to take place. As usual Elvis prepared more songs, than he actually performed on stage. Three of the ones he didn't use were his upcoming single "Burning Love", a cover of The Beatles' hit "Something" as well as "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road" from his album "Elvis In Memphis". In general the king presented his standard set list, albeit he added "What Now My Love", "My Way" and "Fever". Compared to the previous "Elvis Summer Festival" the king talked and moved little, but his mood seemed to be good and he obviously was in great voice. During the first concerts the king wore three-piece outfits. The ensembles are called "White 3-Piece Suit With Blue Pocket Flaps & Cape", "White 3-Piece Suit With Green Pocket Flaps & Green Cape", "White 3-Piece Suit With Red Pocket Flaps & Red Cape" and "Light Blue 3-Piece Spanish Flower Suit & Silver Cape". Elvis added shirts in white, blue and with paisley patterns. It soon turned out, that the seams of the pants were not made for karate moves and knee bends. After several slacks had ripped during "Polk Salad Annie" or "Suspicious Minds" Elvis went back to wearing jumpsuits.
On the last day of the engagement Elvis and Rocco M. Laginestra, at the time President Of RCA Records, met the press and announced the forthcoming television special "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite". After having sold over 200 million records (this equals 30 billion paid streams), having starred in 31 feature films as well as two documentaries about himself, Elvis was now to perform for the world in a globally aired television special. It seemed, as if the king was unstoppable and only the sky was the limit.
Audio
