Elvis: Las Vegas April - May 1956

Von Paul Berlard stammt das 235 Seiten starke Buch "Elvis: Las Vegas April - May 1956" und es wird mit folgenden Worten angekündigt:

"On April 23, 1956. Elvis and his band - Scotty Moore, Bill Black and DJ. Fontana - began a two week engagement at the New Frontier Hotel in Los Vegas. Freddy Martin and his orchestra had been scheduled for a while, as was comedian Shecky Green. Elvis was a belated added attraction.

He was referred to as the "Atomic Powered Singer", since Nevada was where the first atomic bombs were developed. Elvis' manager probably thought the name would be catchy? What he had not figured on was how an older nightclub crowd react to Elvis.

It has been widely reported that Elvis bombed in Las Vegas, even that his contract was canceled after a week. That the middle-aged audience that could afford to visit Las Vegas at the time reacted coolly to Elvis is true enough, but his contract was never broken. Elvis dutifully soldiered on for the contracted two weeks, closing with his last performance on May 6, 1956.

It was Elvis' manager who bombed, proving early on that he had no clue about what made Elvis so popular. "Heartbreak Hotel" was a number one hit, his first album Elvis Presley was on its way to becoming a million seller. Still what escaped Parker was the reality that the single and the album were not bought by the people who come to see an orchestra playing tunes from the Broadway show 'Oklahoma' or a comedian's shlick."

Quelle: Elvis-Express.Com