Elvis/Vegas Link

[Ickerboo]

Why is Elvis so often associated with Las Vegas?

[andy hughes]

After his stint in the army, Elvis was booked into a long-running series of caberet shows in Las Vegas by his manager 'Colonel' Tom Parker. Parker was unable to allow Elvis to tour outside the U.S. because as an illegal imigrent, he (Parker) ran the riisk of being unable to get back into the country. Parker reasoned that this expensive shows provided maximum return for minimum investment, and Elvis continued to evolve into a parody of his former image, with giant jump suits and extravegant stage shows. Even when Elvis' weight ballooned, he was still able to live of his repuation, as a pale bloated shadow of the star he was - fortunately, his voice never deserted him, to the end. Elvis impersonators usually choose the 'Vegas' image as opposed to the snake-hipped blonde bombshell that exploded into life in the 1950's. Most fans regard the post-army Vegas Elvis as the sad decline of a great entertainer. John Lennon, on being informed that Elvis had died, said "Elvis died when he went in the army." and there are plenty who would agree with that.

[Aschenbach]

He also sang 'Viva Las Vegas'.