For Elvis CD Collectors

Bobby's last Las Vegas show was on August 5th, 1973 at the Hilton. This was always thought to be the final show of his career, but we now know (thanks to my research) that he was performing in Lake Tahoe in early September. Either way, an audience recording of Bobby's last Vegas show is now available on YouTube - the first time it's been heard outside of a Facebook group, posted in celebration of his birthday today, May 14th.

Even at this stage, the show was still changing. Get Me To The Church On Time is the opener - probably a reference to his recent 2nd wedding, and there's a wonderful version of Let The Good Times Roll and and Motown-like arrangement of I've Got You Under My Skin. Sadly, there's a lot of talking and joking, as was normal by this stage due to his health. But there's also Beyond the Sea, Mack the Knife, an epic Midnight Special, If I Were a Carpenter, a parody of I walk the Line, and his finale of a rollicking Splish Splash/Roll Over Beethoven.

This was always going to be his last Hilton show, as he was due to move to the MGM Grand. Poignantly, he returns to the stage after the show and says the following:

"I’m moving on from this particular hotel to another place next January or February, when I'll be over at the [MGM] Grand Hotel. I want to say something. The Grand Hotel is being constructed right now, and it’s not quite ready. It might take a couple of years, but they tell me it will be open soon. In any event, what I want to say is what I really feel inside me. I have been here for quite a number of weeks over the last couple of years and I must say I have played this town since 1959 quite regularly, and I don’t ever remember being treated more nicely by everybody who is part of the staff, whether they be lighting, sound, band, backstage fellas, security guards, waiters, waitresses. I just want to thank these people and it makes me kind of emotional, and I’m not very good at that too often, to say goodbye, but I do say it knowing that I’ll always have friends here and anytime you need me for anything, just call."