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Elvis and Las Vegas 1 of 2
Elvis' first engagement in Las Vegas was a two-week run in the Venus
Room of the New Frontier Hotel. April 23 - May 6, 1956. Perhaps in
deference to the atomic testing sites in the nearby desert, he
received billing as "The Atomic Powered Singer". A cutout of Elvis
standing 24 feet high greeted guests outside the casino.
On the first night of the engagement Elvis' set was the closing act
after the headlining Freddy Martin Orchestra,
which consisted of seventeen players and twenty-eight singers,
dancers and ice skaters. The little four-piece group of Elvis,
Scotty,
Bill and DJ had become used to performing in front of hundreds of
screaming teenagers and often being unable to even hear one another
on stage.
Suddenly they found themselves in a quiet showroom of older, more
reserved listeners - no youth allowed.
The audience didn't quite know what to make of the young singer and
his musical style.
Elvis didn't let the less than enthusiastic crowd get the best of
him. Memphis reporter Bob Johnson wrote, "Elvis, who has played hard
audiences before, kept right in there busting guitar strings and
shaking his legs and the rafters..... And the ice began to break."
Visitors to the shows included his friend Judy Spreckels, Hal Wallis
(who had just signed Elvis to his first movie deal) and entertainers
Ray Bolger, Phil Silvers and Liberace. Elvis and Liberace were
photographed cuttting up with each other for the press.
Even if Las Vegas hadn't yet come to love Elvis Presley, Elvis loved
Las Vegas. The city that never closes and the many lounge acts he
could see there suited Elvis very well. He and his friends visited
the local amusement park almost daily, went to movies and flirted
with showgirls. One of the acts Elvis saw a number of times was
Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. He was fascinated with their
male-perspective performance of the Leiber and Stoller composition,
"Hound Dog", which, with its original female-perspective lyrics, had
been a hit for Big Mama Thornton.
Elvis quickly added the song to his own act and, in July 1956, made
his own recording of it.
Elvis' manager Colonel Tom Parker arranged for a Saturday matinee
for teenagers at The New Frontier on April 28,1956, the very same
day that Elvis' recording of "Heartbreak Hotel" hit #1 on the
Billboard pop singles chart. The show was, of course, a "screaming"
success and the $1.00 admission charge raised funds for lights in a
youth baseball park. One of the casino owners gifted Elvis with a
watch with diamonds.
His first engagement in Las Vegas brought mixed reviews. Although he
didn't return to perform there again until 1969,
Elvis enjoyed visiting Las Vegas in the years after his 1956
engagement. In the years following resounding triumph of his 1969
engagement,
Elvis and Las Vegas became permanently linked in the public
consciousness.
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