Another Vegas season for the Memphis Mafia had come and gone. Elvis had finally reached the closing show for the August-September 1973 Las Vegas season. After another grueling schedule of two shows a day, every day, for nearly a month; the midnight show on the 3rd of September would be Elvis' 57th show since the 6th of August. At this point in his career and life, Elvis had already begun his downward spiral of despair and drugs. Elvis' personal problems were not immediately evident by his physical features (minus the general puffiness of his face); that stage would not come until a few years down the road. However, the manner in which Elvis carries himself for his closing performance is beyond embarrassing. As the show progresses, it would become increasingly evident that something was wrong with Elvis on the night of the 3rd. His exhaustion, disinterest, and general apathetic attitude towards the delivery of his setlist would soon become apparent to the 2,200 audience members eagerly awaiting the arrival of the king. I should also make clear; the concert was not a total wreck. Elvis can still pull through at times when he wants to; generally, when he actually likes a particular song in his setlist. The last quarter of the show is the best portion as Elvis exerts the most effort during it. Regardless, an attempt to "save" the show is never really made. For the first time, Elvis completely unravels on stage.
The beginning of the album starts with the band queuing Also Sprach Zarathustra. It begins with an abnormally low bass in the beginning followed by the familiar trumpets of the famous piece of music. Somehow, the trumpets sound mildly tired. The backup vocals are good however, and the rest of the band is able to power through for a pretty sharp opening.
Also Sprach Zarathustra closes; Ronnie Tutt bangs on the drums and Jerry Scheff plucks the bass to begin the "Hail Elvis" theme. Once again, the band sounds like they are in rather good shape. However, something unexpected happened. Reminiscent of Cinderella at the ball, the clock strikes midnight and the king transforms into... a jester? Elvis arrives riding on Lamar Fike's back with a stuffed monkey on his own. It seems Elvis really couldn't get the monkey off of his back. The trumpets cease and Elvis' feet hit the floor. He is dressed in his 1973 Arabian/Kitchen Sink jumpsuit which sparkles in the hot Las Vegas stage lights colorfully and chaotically. He grabs the microphone on its stand and lets out a weak and winded, "Oh see, see see rider. Oh see..." Oh no. Elvis pushes through, but by the end of the song he has mostly given up. At one point he says, "Wait a minute. Is this the right song?" The song concludes and Elvis speaks to the crowd for a moment.
"Good evenin' ladies and gentlemen. We hope you like our show tonight. We destroyed our microphone, but... They should tape this thing together you know..." Elvis already sounds completely disinterested in the show and it has been less than five minutes. Elvis and Charlie Hodge make some jokes and butcher the pronunciation of the opening act and comedian, Jackie Kahane's name. The next song is I got a Woman. Unfortunately, Elvis basically slips and falls into the song as he slurs out the words, "Well a'sad I cot woman..." This was only a sign of things to come. However, this particular rendition of I got a Woman was not terrible even though Elvis seemed short of breath again and checked out. He had J.D. Sumner do the dive-bomb routine twice and Elvis sloppily rushes through the second set of Amen.
Next is Love me, which is a common setlist piece of Elvis' repertoire throughout his concert era. Elvis still sounds pretty exhausted and completely lacks any vocal power. Towards the end of the song Elvis sings, "If you ever go, darling I'll be oh so, so, oh so Chinese." It was not the worst version of Love Me but was still a poor version for 1973 Elvis standards.
James Burton's guitar queues next for Steamroller Blues. Elvis begins the song surprisingly strong. However, Elvis struggles to hit any notes that require a significant amount of breath exertion in the latter half of the song and, at points, falls behind the rhythm. As per usual, Burton's guitar sounds superb.
You Gave Me a Mountain is next. Elvis starts the song well and in a low, solemn tone. The first half of the song is excellent; for the first time of the night, a valiant effort is put forth by the king. In the second half, Elvis complains about the sound system switching the lyrics "She took my small, baby boy" to "The sound system in this hotel, ain't worth a damn." However, he still maintains vocal effort through both choruses of the song, even though the end of the second chorus sounds weak. The band remains a vehicle to push Elvis through the show.
Elvis indirectly apologizes to his sound man, Bill Porter, and says that he'd like to do some "Spanish folk songs." The cymbals and horns are queued, and Elvis launches into an unexpected rendition of Trouble from his 1958 movie King Creole. He puts forth another valiant effort, but his exhaustion resounds more than his voice. His voice goes too high, and he runs out of breath, making the "My daddy was a green-eyed mountain jack..." section of the song sound weak. He then amends the song and says, "...don't you try it all alone because he's crazy." His voice sounds weaker at the end than at the beginning of the song.
At this point, the audio switches from the 8:30 p.m. show to the midnight show
Elvis immediately launches into a medley of Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On/Your Mama Can't Dance/ Flip, Flop, and Fly/ Hound Dog; his voice once again faltering throughout it. Every one of these performances is unworthy of mention, ranging from mediocre to poor. Only two moments are worth noting, and they are not good. In Long Tall Sally, he doesn't sing "I saw Uncle John, with bald-headed Sally, he saw Mary coming' and they ducked back in the ally..." and instead sings "I saw Charlie Hodge, with J.D. Sumner, and Mary in the ally..." He then mumbles the rest of the line incoherently. This, alone, kills the song. At the end of the medley, specifically Hound Dog, Elvis begins to sloppily scat. He sounds winded and the scatting drags on for too long, turning into a completely embarrassing display. The band and orchestra, despite Elvis' shortcomings and erratic behavior, remain staunch in their effort to perform well. Elvis follows up the medley by saying, "That was totally unrehearsed, we just did it." We could tell, Elvis.
Elvis' animosity pours through with the next song, Love Me Tender. Before he starts, he does a goofy, high-pitched voice reminiscent of Elmo and says that was Love Me Tender "sped-up." Elvis starts singing. He and the audience immediately start giggling and ruin the solemnity of the song; but it gets worse. He then sings, "Adios, you mother- Bye bye papa too. To hell with the Ho- Hilton Hotel, and the showroom too." Shortly after this he sings, "I will help you, all I can, "cause I know, you're blind." At the end of the song, he plugs his nose at "...and I always will." which, of course, makes him sound ridiculous.
Fever is next and is another low point in a night full of low points. Elvis begins Fever by singing "Myrna Smith and J.D. Sumner, had a very mad affair. When their wives and husbands caught "em, he saw nothin' but teeth and hair..." At this point, even the band, the one shining glimmer of hope through the show, can no longer hold it together. The show is officially a joke. Charlie Hodge can be heard laughing like a hyena in the background; even Elvis tells him "Cool it Charlie." Shortly after, Elvis pants into the mic which garners another laugh from the band. He then sings "...daddy oh don't you dare; she had a deep voice." The Sweet Inspirations make a dreadful moaning sound in response to this. Elvis immediately afterward sings, "She said "J.D.' He said, "Yeah baby?'" Later, Elvis sings, "Here's the point that I have made. Nothin'." He continues, "Cat's were born *sneezing sound* to give you fever. I'm allergic to cats..." Elvis then continues to rant in the middle of the song; "Cool it ya fools. Ya know- Just, behave. I said cool it." The song, thereafter, ends to resounding applause. Just awful.
Now the concert begins to take an upward trend in Elvis' performances, which isn't saying a lot, but anything is better than rock bottom. Next is What Now My Love. He begins and his band and the audience begin laughing which ruins the mood of the song. Elvis purposely begins to mess up and switches the lyrics of a beautiful song. He even yells in a high-pitched voice in the middle of the song. Elvis also continuously giggles and snickers throughout the song. It is not until the end of the song that he tries. Elvis puts in some effort to attempt the concluding high notes but his band and back up singers drown out his weak vocals.
The band begins playing the music for Suspicious Minds, but Elvis begins singing Bridge Over Troubled Water to the tune. He attempts this way for too long, about 33 seconds too long, which is as long as he tries to make it work. He then gives a half-hearted apology to the band and says "I gotta stick to one song or the other, right Glen [Hardin]?" Immediately after Elvis "playfully" calls Hardin "Son of a b..."
Elvis then opts for Bridge Over Troubled Water. Immediately, he begins messing around, purposely forgetting lyrics. He acts like he can't remember a section of the song and forces his band to sing the section for him. He then has the audacity to call them the "Ted Mack Amateur Hour." Despite this, Elvis decides it's time to try again. He begins to sing with some heart. Even in his weakness, he finds a way to pull through and sings his head off. Elvis hones the vocal strength he still holds and channels it into the song. The band feels the emotion and conviction that Elvis begins to sing with and mimics his energy. This culminates in a masterful ending to the song and the salvation of this rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water.
For the second time of the night, Suspicious Minds is queued. Within a few seconds of the song's run time, it is evident that Elvis' voice sounds raspy, and he has checked out again. During the "Won't let our love survive..." section, Elvis mutters "Son of a b..." into the microphone and then sings out loud, ""Cause honey. You know how I hate this damn song." After this point in the song, Elvis' voice mostly fades into background noise and the band seems unsure as to how to play the last half of the song due to Elvis' unpredictable behavior. Suspicious Minds ends underwhelmingly.
Band Introductions begin. Elvis tells Charlie Hodge to get on the microphone and sing. Besides that, Elvis surprisingly plays the introductions pretty straight. He even introduces some celebrity guests in the audience and promotes their upcoming shows. He also introduces his manager, Colonel Tom Parker; his Father, Vernon; and His Girlfriend Linda Thompson.
Elvis continues the show with My Boy, introducing it as a song that was sung by "What's his name." Despite his lack of memory over who sang it, Elvis performs a very solemn and strong version of the song. He remembers all the words and plays it straight the whole way through; no laughing from anyone this time. He ends the song forcefully, which is incredibly refreshing and a far cry from the performance so far. The only error was the band not really knowing when the song ended, but it was wrapped up nicely regardless.
Elvis introduces Charlie Hodge, saving him for last "because he's the least." Elvis then claims that Charlie has been singing harmony with him for 13 years.
Elvis immediately jumps into I Can't Stop Loving You. He starts by purposely forgetting a lyric and then muttering something unintelligible ending in "...every goddamn thing." However, he performs the song well. He plays the rest of it straight and puts some needed power into his words. He finishes off the song with an incredibly loud and resounding howl that rings throughout the showroom, signing, "...in dreams of yester... yester... wer-her-er-er-dayyy." Up to this point, the end of I Can't Stop Loving You is Elvis' best vocal performance of the night.
Burton's guitar queues once again for An American Trilogy; which is usually the apex of the shows in which it is performed. Tonight, it would not be. Elvis begins, "Oh I wish I was, in the land of cotton... I wish you were too..." He continues, "Look away, look away, look away Disneyland... wish I was in Disney..." Then Elvis sounds like he angrily hits his microphone a couple time before purposely stuttering. Then he gets serious. On "Glory, Glory..." he put a lot of oomph into the song, and it resounds and echos throughout the showroom. Elvis ends the song emphatically but cannot hold the last note of the song for very long.
Elvis then jumps into A Big Hunk O' Love. He plays the song surprisingly straight. He gets through the song without making any crude jokes or ruining the song entirely. Regardless, the weakness in his voice shows due to the speedy pace of the song. However, it is still an improvement from Elvis' unprofessionalism throughout the night.
Elvis then talks about American Trilogy, congratulating flute player, Jimmy Mulidore, for doing 144 flute solos for that song with them. He then praises the trumpet players. He then says that as long as he can entertain people, he'll be a "happy ole' son of a b..."
Elvis launches into The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Again, Elvis plays the song straight and his voice does not sound as weak as before. His voice still falters at times, but much less frequently than in other songs throughout the night. Any mistakes he does make with this song are more genuine than any he's made so far, with genuine attempts to vocally correct himself throughout the song. He tells the audience afterwards that he likes the song. This was a good performance.
Elvis then speaks. He said he was given a necklace by the hotel for doing a third show yesterday. Then, the most infamous part of the show ensues. Elvis talks of a guy who works at the Italian restaurant at the hotel named Mario. Elvis was fond of this waiter named Mario and says that "[The Hilton] are gettin' ready to fire him as soon as I leave. And I don't want him to go, I think he needs a job, and I think the Hilton's are bigger than that." It would be unknown to the audience at the time, but Elvis and his Colonel Tom Parker would become embedded in a yelling match after the concert that would culminate in Elvis firing the Colonel. The Colonel would be upset about Elvis calling out his employer and the general way in which he carried himself causing Elvis to lose his temper and fire him. This led to Parker agreeing to part with Presley, on the condition that Parker was paid over two million dollars; this is what he believed he was owed by Elvis Presley Enterprises. Eventually, the two would make up and continue working together. Elvis' ability to think clearly and willingness to use his executive faculties dwindled as the years progressed, enabling Parker to continue to financially exploit Presley.
The concert continues. Elvis starts the Mystery Train/ Tiger Man medley. Elvis performs the Mystery Train section relatively well and plays it straight. Though he sounds quite high pitched while signing, he only seems to be winded a handful of times. Then at the end of the guitar solo, he says "This next song is dedicated to the hierarchy, the staff of the Hilton Hotel." in reference to his friend Mario. Elvis launches into Tiger Man, emphatically pronouncing "man" and "hand" at the end of the few lines he sings. The intensity of the song catches up to him and he sounds more breathless than he did in Mystery Train. However, the rendition isn't bad, just mediocre.
This next song is the pinnacle of the show. The show has been poor, however, Elvis gives the most effort, heart, and strength to How Great Thou Art than he does to any other song all night. He begins the song solemnly and performs the whole song as such. Not a joke is made nor is a laugh uttered. When Elvis gets to the chorus he sings with passion, and he sings clearly. He howls the word "soul" with all he has left. When he gets to the conclusion of the song, Elvis sings loud, really loud; but he doesn't sing too loud. He lets out a long and powerful "...how great thooouuu aaarrrttt!" He is finally able to hold the note, any note all the way through and finally gets a well-deserved applause from his adoring onlookers. He then repeats the chorus two more times, each one culminating in a powerful "...how great thooouuu aaarrrttt!" Each rendition of the chorus is better than the last, thus Elvis has finally found a diamond in the rough to cling to. Not all hope is lost for the king.
Elvis jumps into Help Me Make It Through The Night. This version is not at all bad. You can hear him doing some crowd work, handing out scarves as the women in the crowd scream and cheer for him. He giggles every once in a while, and forgets the words once or twice, but he gets through the song mostly unscathed. This is a decent version.
The penultimate "performance" of the concert is pretty anticlimactic. Elvis tells the story of man in Florida who was dying of cancer and who was in a coma. His wife was by his bedside and fell asleep. At the same time that she fell asleep, he started to die. Elvis then whispers a small part of the song As I Leave You Softly into the microphone. It is understandable that he didn't perform another song though; he has been on stage for almost an hour and 15 minutes and is already in rough shape. The quicker he gets off stage, the better.
Glen D. Hardin queues the piano and Elvis begins Can't Help Falling In Love. Elvis begins going around handing out scarves and giving out kisses. At the end, Elvis puts the sliver of strength he has left in his voice into the song. This version is pretty decent but nothing special at all.
Ronnie Tutt bangs on the drums; the closing riff plays and the fades out very quickly due to how the album was cut.
(c) Thomas Carmen - April 2024
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