The "Pre-Holiday Julilee" ran from December 2nd to 15th and included 16 shows. Elvis appeared on stage at 10:15 pm, on Saturdays there were concerts at 8:00 pm and midnight. The tickets were sold at $22.50, the king was paid a fee of 263,142.85 USD. After all expenses were paid he was left with approximately $180,000, of which a third went to his manager.
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, Ed Hill & Larry Strickland) as well as Kathy Westmoreland and Sherrill Nielsen.
About The Engagement
In August the king had canceled his "Elvis Summer Festival 1975" after five shows due to chronic fatigue. So he returned to the Las Vegas Hilton in December for a "Pre-Holiday Jubilee". It was a bold undertaking, because Vegas was a dead city at this time of the year. But while other resorts had to close their showrooms, Elvis Presley had no trouble filling the biggest one in town night after night. Just like during his previous stints all concerts were sold out in advance.
On November 27th the king arrived in Vegas to prepare for the engagement. But even though he had suggested an hybrid album of studio material and live recordings, he didn't rehearse anything new apart from "America, The Beautiful". Of course there also was "Softly, As I Leave You", but two unreleased songs were not worth the effort and so RCA didn't bring any recording equipment to the Hilton. However, Felton Jarvis recorded both concerts on December 13th on a reel-to-reel tape. After Elvis' death "America, The Beautiful" was released on the b-side of "My Way" and "Softly As I Leave You" was put on the flipside of "Unchained Melody". Instead of new material, the king re-rehearsed some older stuff like "Just Pretend", "Little Sister" and "One Night". Even though the concerts offered (almost) nothing new, they were well compiled and included songs from all periods of his career. Elvis also was in good voice. Even though he had put on some weight, he still used several of his older jumpsuits (albeit with new, larger belts). Namely the "Chicken Rib Suit", the "Eskimo Totem Pole Suit", the "Indian Chief Suit" and some of the "Phoenix Suits". New additions were the "V-Neck Suit", the "Rainfall Suit" and the "White Egyptian Bird Suit".
Although most reviews were positive, the things didn't look all that bright. Officially the previous stint had been canceled due to fatigue, but in fact Elvis suffered from a fatty liver, chronic intestinal problems and a depression. It's safe to say, that all these problems were caused by more than 15 years of substance abuse. After the cancelation of the "Elvis Summer Festival 1975" Dr. Nicopolous once again tried to get his patient off the drugs, but he had to admit, that Elvis simply was unwilling to change his lifestyle. The solution was to hire two nurses, who had to monitor the singer's condition and to provide him with the drugs he needed. Nicopolous hoped, that he was at least able to control the kind and amount of substances the singer took. Elvis seemed to compensate the lack of "medicine" with food and got even more overweight. But his general condition improved and he appeared to be in better health. To stabilize the condition of his patient, Dr. Nicopolous advised to do just one show per evening.
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