Elvis' final stint at Del Webb's Sahara Tahoe Hotel took place between April 30th and May 9th, 1976 and included 15 shows. The king appeared daily at 10:00 pm, on Fridays and Saturdays there were shows at 8:00 pm and midnight. The tickets were sold via telephone only and cost $20.00 each.
Musicians
James Burton (guitar), John Wilkinson (guitar), Charlie Hodge (guitar & harmony vocals), Jerry Scheff (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums), Tony Brown (piano), David Briggs (clavinet) and The Al Tronti Orchestra (conducted by Joe Guercio). The harmony voclals were provided by The Sweet Inspirations (Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shemwell & Estelle Brown), J.D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet (Bill Baize, Ed Enoch, Larry Strickland & Ed Hill), Sherrill Nielsen as well as Kathy Westmoreland.
About The Engagement
Colonel Parker had been able to increase the payment of his client significantly. From 1971 to 1974 Elvis had received 150,000 USD per week for two performances each day. Now he got 315,000 USD for ten days and had to appear twice only on Fridays and Saturdays. After having finished off his concert tour in Spokane on April 27th, Elvis flew to Stateline and checked into Del Webb's Sahara Tahoe Hotel. In accordance with the contract the hotel had sold tickets for two shows on April 30th, because it was a Friday. The king had thought, that he had to do a single opening show and got mad, when he learned that he had to appear twice, regardless if it was the first day of the engagement or not. The set list mirrored more or less the one of the previous tour, but as the stint progressed, he also started to add rarely performed material like "I'll Remember You", "An American Trilogy" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" . Sometimes he played guitar and accompanied himself on "That's All Right". To everyone's surprise he also tried "Return To Sender", "Loving You" and "Crying In The Chapel". After having fulfilled a fan's request for "Jailhouse Rock", Elvis included the song in his standard set list and would continue to sing it right up to his final concert a year later. It was also here in Stateline, when "Love Letters" became a part of the "Introductions". Elvis finally bowed out with one of the longest shows of his career. Because it was mother's day, every woman in the audience received a rose and the king sang a few rarely performed songs. On stage Elvis used the "White Egyptian Bird Suit", the "Blue Egyptian Bird Suit", the "V-Neck Suit" and the "Chicken Rib Suit".
Behind the scenes the mood was dim. Elvis' abuse of drugs had reached a new level and even outsiders couldn't help to notice. When some members of The Jacksons met him backstage, one of them said straight away, that the man from Memphis appeared to be doped. John O' Grady, a drug enforcement officer, gave the king a year or so, if he wouldn't change his lifestyle. He even worked out a plan for Elvis to detox and asked Priscilla to talk to her former husband about the idea. But just like he had done in the past, the king simply denied his problems. Of course the audience didn't know about all these things. To them the king just appeared to be overweight and tired, but he seemed to be in a happy mood, talked a lot and even took requests. His voice also sounded more than solid. In total, they all thought, that their idol simply needed some rest.
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