Elvis Can Still Work His Magic
by John Accord III
The Daily Oklahoman
July 3, 1973

Screaming women were all over the place in the jam-packed Myriad Arena Monday. Flash bulbs were flashing in the hands of thousands camera owners.

ELVIS!

The perennial idol of the ageless bobby soxers can still work his magic.

Mr. Presley decked out in a tight-fitting white suit with a glittering eagle in red and blue on the back is still a hip-swinger even if the wiggles are a bit subdued from his free-swinging days of the 1950s.

It was all the 50 police and Elvis personal bodyguards could do to hold the women back as they attempted to get close to the stage and touch Elvis.

One young lady stood at the door crying. She had been unable to get near the stage.

"All I wanted him to do was kiss me," she said through her sobs.

You would think most of Elvis' audience would be middle-aged women. Not so. The most fanatical screamers were girls in their late teens and early 20s.

Elvis looked a little haggard, and the blue spotlights that kept flickering on his body accented the lines under his eyes.

The Presley voice is still excellent. He uses it much better than he did in his younger days. The 38 year-old singer wowed the audience with some new songs and completely captivated them with a medley of his old hits.

One of the best numbers was the gospel song, "How Great Thou Art," on which he was joined by a good quartet of male voices.

The band backing Elvis was marvelous. His arrangements are outstanding.

Elvis has really learned to be a showman. He pulls every trick in the books to please his audience. As a finale he donned a white cape with a bright blue lining and at the end of his song he dropped to his knees holding the cape outstretched in both hands. Pandemonium and a standing ovation was the answer from the audience.

One man leaving the arena mumbled to himself, "I don't see why they scream over that guy."

The few females that did get within range of the stage were given scarves that Elvis wore around his neck. One young lady on the front row actually did get a kiss from Elvis.

A fine female vocal group, Sweet Inspirations warmed up the crows before the great one's appearance.

Hawkers ran about selling giant posters of Elvisand they had trouble keeping up with the demand.

Myriad officials said the crowd of more than 15,400 was the largest crowd so far in the arena.

Elvis still packs them in wherever he goes. A lot of people may not like his singing or his wiggling, but Elvis could care less. He laughs all the way to the bank.

Courtesy of Sebastiano Cecere