Elvis in Vegas

How the King of Rock 'n' Roll Reinvented the Las Vegas Show

De: Richard Zoglin

Narrado por: Gibson Frazier

"Outstanding pop-culture history." (Newsday)

The "smart and zippy account" (The Wall Street Journal) of how Las Vegas saved Elvis and Elvis saved Las Vegas in the greatest musical comeback of all time.

Elvis’ 1969 opening night in Vegas was his first time back on a live stage in more than eight years. His career had gone sour - bad movies, mediocre pop songs that no longer made the charts - and he’d been dismissed by most critics as over-the-hill. But in Vegas, he played the biggest showroom in the biggest hotel in the city, drawing more people for his four-week engagement than any other show in Vegas history. His performance got rave reviews; "Suspicious Minds", the song he introduced there, gave him his first number-one hit in seven years; and Elvis became Vegas’ biggest star. Over the next seven years, he performed more than 600 shows there, and sold out every one.

Las Vegas was changed, too. By the end of the ‘60s, Vegas’ golden age - when the Rat Pack led a glittering array of stars who made it the nation’s premier live-entertainment center - was losing its luster. Elvis created a new kind of Vegas show: an over-the-top, rock-concert extravaganza. He set a new bar for Vegas performers, with the biggest salary, the biggest musical production, and the biggest promotion campaign the city had ever seen. He opened the door to a new generation of pop/rock artists and brought a new audience to Vegas - not the traditional well-heeled older gamblers, but a mass audience from Middle America that Vegas depends on for its success to this day.

At once "a fascinating history of Vegas as gambling capital, celebrity playground, mob hangout, [and] entertainment Valhalla” (Rolling Stone) and the incredible "tale of how the King got his groove back" (Associated Press), Elvis in Vegas is a classic feel-good story for the ages.

©2019 Richard Zoglin (P)2019 Simon & Schuster Audio

Elvis will alway be the KING of Rock and Roll.

This was one of the best books that I ever read about Elvis Presley. I learned a lot about him giving concerts in Las Vegas.

History of Vegas

Lot’s of good information about Las Vegas & Elvis’s influence there. Well presented and interesting. I enjoyed listening and would recommend to anyone who likes historical information.

History of Vegas with Elvis thrown in.

Very enjoyable with great narration. Informative history of Vegas, the mob, the Rat Pack and Elvis. Enjoy.

Not Bad But Misleading

This book is a fun read about the history of entertainment and entertainers in Vegas but has little to do with Elvis overall. The first 60% of the book he is only mentioned in passing.

the history of las vegas

it was very very informative telling how vegas was in the early years brought back memories

Wonderful Story & I love the ending with Pat Gill

Living in Las Vegas is hard. it is a transitional city which the book describes.

It's Really a History of Vegas Entertainment

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. For the fist 3/4 of the book, the author sets forth a very complete history of entertainment in Vegas. Much is written of the fifties and sixties -- the Sinatra/Rat Pack years. It's all very interesting to me. About the final 1/4, the book shifts to Elvis and how he became the King of the Strip for about five years (1969-74) and how his style of shows changed the entertainment model for the next years in Las Vegas.

I enjoyed the book. It was fascinating to me!!

Should've been called Vegas with Guest Elvis

Awful awful impersonations by narrator. Makes Elvis sound like Yogi Bear. Accents are laughable.