Book Review-Elvis in Vegas by Richard Zoglin

I read this good book about Las Vegas and Elvis Presley. I figured it would be about his 1970 shows. It was, but so much more.

The theme of the book is second acts and reinvention. Las Vegas was a out in nowhere desert playground for wanna be cowboys from the coasts. When investors from the East Coast came in, they brought glitz and different entertainment. The Frontier with stuffed animal heads on the walls were replaced with gin and suits. 

Frank Sinatra was past his prime and looking like a relic of the past. He went to Vegas and was deemed “cool.” He swaggered and drank and told off-color jokes. His friends like Dean Martin and Sammy Davis joined him. They joined him on stage and around town. Bland rock stars of the pre-Beatles days went to Vegas to sold out shows. The options were small halls or the showrooms of a casino. They took the showroom for prestige and the crowds. Vegas became a high roller entertainment center. 

To the outside world, they were still past their prime. Sinatra was a bullying pain. Dean Martin played the same shtick for the rest of the decade in movies and television. The entertainers strutted around, gambled, and ate every where.

The cigarette and card game drinking days stopped bringing in money as the 1960s went on. Corporations came in and accountants stopped the over extended credit. Sinatra left the Sands. Current musicians wouldn’t be bothered with Las Vegas. Vegas needed to reinvent.

Elvis Presley made low budget movies and hadn’t had a hit in years. He needed a reinvention. He started his return to live shows at Las Vegas. He didn’t go there to be the next Sinatra. He brought his old hits, a talented band, no showgirls, no alcohol on stage. Insult comics were out. His first series of shows got good press from the rock press that forgot him in the movies. Presley didn’t bring cigarettes and middle age gamblers, but they played slot machines. The Presley crowd spent money in the city not just one casino. 

The author makes the connection to modern Las Vegas from those Presley shows. Those middle age, middle income people reinvented Las Vegas again. Excalibur wouldn’t have happened in the pre-Elvis 1960s. Treasure Island came later. Presley opened the door for Tina Turner and Cher to reinvent before they came back big In the 1980s. 

Reinvention all over the pages. 

Elvis in Vegas- How the King reinvented the Las Vegas Show

IsBN: 1501151193