Transcripts For CNNW Vegas 20240704

Fred, your country . Lend me your eyeball las vegas has always been able to grab you by the lapels and pull you in. Thats glitz and glamour and rotamer gambling. Its a place thats like no other time on your hand and money to spend your thoughts major the las vegas by the late 60s, vegas steric to figure out what else can we bring here . Thank you. There elvis was like an alien, like thing. He was so unique, so charming and so hot they saw that Section Debauchery cells so lets do six in the bathroom luck, be a lady tonight tonight luck, if you ever were a lady to begin with luck, be a lady tonight luck, be a Ladyyyyyy Toniiiiiight The Stars of the las vegas shows may be Frank Sinatra, dean martin, and wayne newton, but for years, the fantasy and the Razzle Dazzle came from the famous longlegged showgirls. The las vegas showgirl was a unique specimen. She was very tall, minimum of 59, and to be hired, your body had to be, i mean, perfect. Schwartz a lot of things went into being a showgirl. It wasnt just about being able to dance. It was being able to wear the costumes. They were incredibly elaborate affairs lots of feathers, lots of sequins. Mckee i had some headpieces that would be about 20 pounds. I wore headdresses that it took two people to carry backstage to put on me. Little that was a way to open up a show having a bunch of girls come out in skimpy little costumes and get everybody excited and then bring out the headliner. Woman in this business, you have to make it while you can, because once you reach the age of 30, they automatically bring somebody younger in. Weatherford las vegas probably hung onto its sexism longer than a lot of places, and definitely longer than it should have. Reporter these women are outraged at the cliches and stereotypes that hold women to be creatures of inferior intellect. They resent the way women are portrayed as sexual playthings, conditioned to believe that their sole reason for existence is to snare and service men. Green in the early 60s, you are seeing women fighting for their rights, but thats leading people to look at las vegas and say, well, the only women you get to see in las vegas, if they arent showroom stars, are showgirls showing most or all of themselves. What does this say about las vegas . Schumacher you look at the cultural movements of the 1960s in america, las vegas was not a leader because whatever was good for the economy was good for las vegas. Culturally, las vegas missed the boat. When i was 16, i was working in paris in the moulin rouge, and then i got a contract for the Casino De Paris at the dunes. We landed in vegas. It was 3 00 in the morning, december 7th, freezing cold, and we had to get into our costumes and do a dance on the tarmac. I thought they were crazy. I said, This Is Vegas . Schwartz some of the showgirls wore all the sequins, some of them wore fewer sequins. At the time, most American Entertainment was still fairly conservative. In your town, women dont walk around on the stage topless, but here, they do. So it had this kind of countercultural appeal. Mckee we had a lot of power. I could get whatever i wanted whenever i wanted because of how i looked and the position that i had in vegas. You were kind of on a pedestal. It was such an honor to be a showgirl. Do you know how few showgirls there were . I mean come on, to be a showgirl . Ugh. Gill it could have been very exploitative if you couldnt Stand Your Ground and say no. I did a strip in the show. I said, look, i want to make it classy, sophisticated, and elegant. I took the stockings off and took my shoes off, but i said, i dont want to wind up with just a gstring on. I said, i dont mind taking these things off, but im gonna put my shoes back on cause it made you finished and elegant. It wasnt the whole, oh, well, lets see boobs. It all was glamour and sophistication, done with class. Binkley i think that when we hear former showgirls saying that they felt empowered, that you have to hear that in the context at the time that they experienced that. I dont think theres a doubt that that era of showgirls in las vegas was exploitative. But that doesnt mean that they werent being exploited better there than they might have been exploited someplace else. Mckee whenever i would go out to the casino, there were always men that wanted me to come over and bring em luck. And then if theyd win, theyd give you chips, theyd give you money. I was making more money than my father was making working his whole life in detroit. Without the women, i dont think you would have had the money in vegas. The richest men in the world were in that audience. We got to a point where the long stem roses would come in, never met the guy, and if the box did not rattle with jewelry, we didnt open it. Binkley they were paid really well, but i dont think that in the post metoo era that we look at that kind of experience as empowered. Hey, young man, if you want an autograph, would you stand in the back there . But im i dont care who you are. Everybody want im im im im Elvis Presley. Elvis presley [ Women Screaming ] from 56 to 58, elvis was the hottest thing in show biz. He changed show business. He changed rock n roll. And then, at the height of his stardom, he gets drafted. Announcer the king of rock n roll no longer has that rock n roll beat. The tempo is, hut, two, three, four for private presley. Hes at camp chaffee, arkansas, beginning his twoyear army hitch courtesy of the memphis draft board. Schilling but even though elvis wasnt performing the whole time he was in the army, he was still on the charts, and elvis came back to a career. And he came back in a big way. He was on the Frank Sinatra special. Man there he is, folks [ cheers and applause ] we work in the same way, only in different areas. [ laughter ] weatherford it adds an extra layer of irony for vegas buffs with this special that welcomed him back. You had the outgoing and the future kings of vegas there on the same tv show. I love you man, thats pretty. [ laughter ] and i always will [ Women Screaming ] zoglin vegas became elvis retreat, his place to go for rest and relaxation. Elvis and his friends from memphis would travel around the town at night going from show to show, and some smart newspaper columnist dubbed them the memphis mafia. Vegas was perfect. It was a place where elvis could have freedom as a star amongst stars that he could not have even in hollywood. If we wanted to go to see a lounge act at 2 00 in the morning, we did that. It was our kind of life. Zoglin after 1960, colonel tom parker, his manager, didnt think that rock n roll was gonna last, so he decided that elvis would do no more live performing. He would just do recording and make movies. One of his best films from the 60s was Viva Las Vegas. Can you help me, please . Can we help you . Yes, maam. Well, then, id like you to check my motor. It whistles. I dont blame it. What did you say . Zook in Viva Las Vegas, you have Elvis Presley and annmargret together. They have this incredible chemistry. Annmargret turned the tables on the Traditional Vegas Chanteuse that was always a secondary role or window dressing. Hold on for a second. You cant do that to me zook in Viva Las Vegas, she speaks her mind. She doesnt take a lot of guff from elvis. Shes a very Strong Female character. That was appealing to a lot of the female audience back in the mid60s. It was a film that probably gives you the best picture of las vegas in that era. Vegas was always indebted to elvis for putting it on the map. Schumacher it made it look fun. It made it look sexy. It glamorized the place. Viva Las Vegas Viva Las Vegas Viva, Viva Las Vegas schumacher who didnt want to come to las vegas after seeing that movie . Announcer this Rock N Roll Group has taken over as the kingpins of musical appreciation among the younger element. You guessed it the beatles. The beatles actually made a stop in las vegas on their first us tour. Zook the beatles had come in 1964. They wanted to see las vegas. When the beatles came here, they played the convention center. Of course, it was a mob scene. But it was a whirlwind. They came through one day, and left. [ cheering ] schumacher the beatles were a bit of an anomaly because las vegas wanted to capitalize financially on whatever was going on, but when you look deeper, las vegas was resistant to rock n roll. It was resistant to the counterculture that was happening all over the country. Reporter how would you compare this beatlemania to the idol worship around Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley . To my mind, those of us who are an older generation, of course, think the beatles, you know, they dont appeal to us at all. Zoglin as the 60s went on, the Counterculture Revolution was happening, vietnam, the whole rock n roll revolution, and vegas was oldfashioned. Vegas was your parents entertainment. Charles they didnt want the party people. They wanted gamblers. They wanted people who were adult and successful enough to spend a lot of money on the tables. Takes a worried man to sing a worried song takes a worried man to sing oh, hold it. Hold hold it. Who the hells worried . They were much more interested in this nostalgic form of music that would appeal to that wider base. Man ladies and gentlemen, wayne newton. [ cheers and applause ] hello, my honey hello, my baby hello, My Ragtime Gal wayne newton was sort of the cultural bridge between elvis and Frank Sinatra. He was doing a sinatratype show with that veneer of class. Danke schoen darling, danke schoen thank you for all the joy and pain i was comfortable in the kind of music that frank did. Loved the ballads, loved to be able to sing that way. Zook wayne newton started out performing in the lounge at the Fremont Hotel in downtown las vegas. Hed have to go sit in the coffee shop and drink a coke in between shows [chuckles] cause he was way too young to be anywhere in the hotel other than the stage or the coffee shop. Newton the gentleman who was auditioning us listened to two songs. And he got up to leave and i thought, well, back to school. And he said, if we can get you a work permit, then ill hire you for two weeks. The twoweek engagement turned into a fiveyear contract. Fly me to the moon let me sing among the stars i think the time has come and gone that a singer can just stand and sing. You have to do more things than just sing. You have to be a performer. Then its a little easier to achieve some kind of longevity. In other words, i love you listen to that, george. Youre all talkin. I can tell you if i learned anything about show business, it came from those five years in the lounges. The discipline that it taught me, the rapport with the audience that it taught me i couldnt even begin to articulate all the things that that five years has meant to my life. I said, in other words i love you yeah, i do. You can make money the hard way as a bullfighter or a human cannonball. Or save money the easy way, with xfinity mobile. Existing customers can get a free line of our most popular unlimited plan for a year not only will you save hundreds but youll also be joining millions who have connected to americas most reliable 5g network. Sure is a lot safer than becoming a stuntman for money. Get a free line of unlimited intro for a year when you buy one unlimited line. Visit xfinitymobile. Com today to learn more. Announcer las vegas has its own strange aristocracy. Many people in gambling here have criminal backgrounds elsewhere, but thats forgiven. For the mafia, las vegas is an open city. Schumacher in the 60s, the mobs still involved in a number of casinos on the las vegas strip, but in the State Government in nevada, there was this feeling that this was a way for this state and for this city to grow. The casinos were gonna be good for the economy. Anka they were running a great business. They knew how to do it, they knew how to cater to people, and it was a great place to work. Zoglin Frank Sinatra definitely had connections with the mafia going back into the 40s. Exactly how close it is is always a little bit of a question. Schumacher Frank Sinatra was a jazz crooner, right . And all these nightclubs were owned by the mob. So he had this inevitable interaction with mobsters all over the country. Schwartz Frank Sinatra was trying to fit into many different worlds at once. One, he always liked to pal around with the mob guys from his youth. You know, two, hes trying to make it as a political figure with jfk. So imagine youre going to see Frank Sinatra and dean and sammy at the copa, and youre sitting there and all of a sudden in the middle of a show, sinatra gets up and says, hey, wait. We have somebody in the audience. The brightest man in the political world in this country or any other country today, say hello to john kennedy from the great state of massachusetts. [ cheers and applause ] bow follow that, joey. [ laughter ] you son of a gun, you got the jewish vote. [ laughter ] schwartz originally, sinatra and jfk got along very well. Sinatra had been one of his biggest supporters. The mob guys, its been alleged, were also his supporters. The mob really was excited about john kennedy becoming president because they thought he was one of them. What they didnt anticipate was that he was going to appoint his brother bobby to be the attorney general. I was seriously concerned with Organized Crime before i took office. I have become even more aware of how far racketeering has infiltrated our society. The mafia thought they were pretty much protected with helping jfk get elected, but when Bobby Kennedy came in, things started to evolve where the heat was too intense. Where we have seen illegal gambling operate, it has not been a very happy picture so far. Senator have you found, then, that legalized gambling actually attracts this element of society into its midst . It does, senator. Schwartz so Bobby Kennedy gets it into his head that the mob is using las vegas, basically, to wash all their money. He wants to come and shut down all the casinos and kick the mob out. It is my firm belief that new laws are needed to give the Federal Bureau Of Investigation increased jurisdiction to assist local authorities in the common battle against the rackets. Schumacher The State Of Nevada was constantly vigilant about doing whatever it took to keep the feds out. One of the ways they could do that is to show that they, in fact, were regulating the casinos here and doing a good job of keeping Organized Crime out. The state of nevada decided to create the list of excluded persons. It became nicknamed The Black Book. The black book was created in 1960, and its called The Black Book because, believe it or not, it was in a black binder. They couldve been more creative. They made a list of people who could not set foot in a casino. Schumacher it really was a facade to say, you know what . Were really doing something, you dont need to bother with nevada right now. Anka when the boys ran las vegas, youd see them sitting at ringside. If that spotlight went off the performer and went into the front rows, guys were jumping under tables. [ chuckling ] they didnt want to be seen. Man stand back, please. Please stand back. Reporter can we just have a word with mr. Sinatra . Sorry. Im sorry. Can we please have a word with mr. Sinatra . Schumacher when Frank Sinatra started investing in casinos here and in northern nevada, thats when things got a little bit screwy. Im sorry well, when can we get a word [ Voices Distort ] sinatra in theatrical work and nightclub work and concerts and restaurants, you meet all kinds of people. But then came the ridiculous accusations and statements that i was consorting with mobsters and gangsters. The fact that i used to be involved was a legitimate business reason. Schwartz he entertained sam giancana, who allegedly was the boss of the chicago mob at his lake tahoe casino, the cal neva. Schumacher when this was discovered, he was forced to relinquish his ownership of that casino. Green at the end of the day, Bobby Kennedy didnt succeed in clearing out the las vegas mob, but he made them nervous. He put las vegas more squarely in the sights of Law Enforcement generally, but critics said the mob will find a way around it. They were right. Democrats agree. Conservative republican steve garvey is the wrong choice for the senate. Our republican opponent here on this stage has voted for donald trump twice. Mr. Garvey, you voted for him twice. As your own man, what is your decision . Garvey is wrong for california. But garveys surging in the polls. Fox news says garvey would be a boost to republican control of the senate. Stop garvey. Adam schiff for senate. Im adam schiff, and i approve this message. What do i see in peter dixon . I see my husband. The father of our girls. I see a public servant. A man who served under secretary clinton in the state department. Where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. I see a fighter, a tenacious problemsolver. Who will go to congress and protect Abortion Rights and our democracy. Because he sees a Better Future for all of us. Im peter dixon and i approved this m ssage. Follow me. Ladies and gentlemen, the dynamic checkmates [ cheers and applause ] [ scatting ] weeeedalala lalaloraybam, bam bam mama, baby love all right Baaaby Charles as a kid in the 50s watching television, they would have all of these las vegas acts. Those are the people i grew up idolizing, and, in 1963, i got a chance to play here. cause iii, i feel blue we ended up getting a job at a place called the pussycat a gogo. It was five of us three black guys, two white guys. One of the first integrated bands to play the city, as a matter of fact. Man they call themselves the checkmates. And everybody says theyre going to be big stars. And if versatility is any criteria, theyll make it. The checkmates were what i call the backbone of the business. The ones that are always there working, working. Charles we would start at midnight, and wed finish at 8 00 in the morning. Elvis, Frank Sinatra, and sammy davis and all those people would come over, and the place would be packed the whole time. [ applause ] wed heard the whole thing about the mob involvement here, and you didnt want to make those guys angry. They sat us down and they said, these are the rules. You do your shows, and then you go to your Dressing Room and you wait til your next show. You dont go out and mingle with the audience. And we said, but we got two white guys. That doesnt get you in. [ laughs ] mckee black people really werent welcomed. Even though the laws had changed, the peoples attitude hadnt changed. Charles one saturday night, it was raining, and we had black people waiting in line, and there were open seats in the white area. And we said, wait a minute, these people are standing in the rain, theres open seats. Were not going on until you bring them in. The greatest group that youve ever heard, the checkmates. Lets hear it. Two, three you get to the point that you can make those demands. So it changed. Once the bosses saw that we werent going to run away business by mixing, then they just relaxed a little bit and let it happen. Thats when they had the article in the paper saying, checkmates integrate the strip, which you cannot find that article anywhere anymore. [ cheers and applause ] man witness a memorable moment that is about to take place in this luxury of roman architecture, of italian marble and roman statues. White in 1966, Caesars Palace opens with Two Black Cocktail Waitresses and a black bartender working in those highpaying, frontofthehouse jobs. And in so many ways, Caesars Palace is just a bit ahead of the game. Man his name is jay sarno. He dines alone, as is often his custom, in the Bacchanal Room of his Caesars Palace hotel in las vegas. The wine girls were handpicked by him. Theyre a necessary part of his life and his image. Oh, my god. Jay sarno changed las vegas. And he had ideas that matched nobody elses. Sarno comes on and its, lets imitate ancient rome. [ chuckling ] you know, lets run around in togas. Schwartz in the 60s, vegas started to get a lot bigger, and really, you needed more than just the entertainment to draw people. So now the hotel becomes the main attraction. The timing was so perfect for a mega resort. And everything about it, from the bellman to the busboy to the entertainment, were simply the best there was. When caesars was really going, caesars was here, and the rest of us was all down here. Theres never been a place like caesars. Binkley Caesars Palace was the first themed hotel. It was literally an ode to hedonism. Sarno brought to las vegas this idea of bringing you into the fantasy by having characters throughout the casino. Man in las vegas now, there is yet another new gambling casino. The gambler is in, under, and surrounded by a circus. Circus circus, Gambling And Circus acts 24 hours a day, one on top of the other. At least 10,000 people daily actually pay admission in a town where admission to practically anything is unheard of. [ Circus Music Playing ] schumacher sarnos next project was circus circus, and circus circus was as thoroughly themed as Caesars Palace. It was a wild place. Gill and they had the trapeze artists, and they had that wonderful elephant, tanya. And she had no qualms about going up to the crap table and sticking her trunk out there and throwing the dice. I mean, it was fabulous. Binkley jay sarno was a playful person who could pull together a lot of money and pull these things off. He saw something that you could do that really didnt exist in las vegas. So he was both ahead of his time and setting a model for things that would follow. [ cheers and applause ] liberace youve been a beautiful audience. Bless you. [ bell dinging ] but now, i must fly. [ cheers and applause continue ] [ crowd exclaims ] mary poppins, eat your heart out. Liberace was an embodiment of this crazy, Glitzy Loveliness that las vegas wanted to be. Mcbride he recognized that the audience he was playing to were people who came from small towns around the country to las vegas. He wanted to be sure that he gave them a show. [ Playing Piano ] [ cheers and applause ] the saying was that what mattered in the showroom was whether you attracted the whales, the big gamblers. Sinatra did. Liberace really didnt, but he attracted their wives. Hi so the joke was that he was the best of both worlds. The wives went to see liberace while the gamblers went to gamble. Yeah, i love yours. Its gorgeous. Thats a big stone. I love it. My stones arent large, but i didnt have to do anything to get mine. [ laughter ] woman yes, you did [ laughs ] [ applause ] nicholson do you think that being a bachelor has kept you free to express yourself as you wanted to . Well, i think my career has been, uh. Perhaps the most interrupting thing, because most of the people ive gotten involved with romantically dont want to play second fiddle to a piano. Gillis i worked at the riviera with liberace, and we all knew. He was gay. Nobody spoke of it, but we all knew. That was 1955, by the way. Mcbride it was like this elaborate game. I know youre gay, you know i know youre gay, but im not going to say anything about it and youre not going to say anything about it. He was absolutely deep, deep in the closet. Binkley that was the way it worked then. They didnt tell you and you didnt discuss it. Mcbride nevada had always been a state pretty much behind the times. Because of religious influence from the mormons and conventional sexuality from the mob, being gay was tantamount to a death sentence. If liberace had come out and said im gay, it was a felony, you could be thrown in jail. His career would have been over. Certainly tragic on one hand, ridiculous on another. And so liberace managed to stay deeply in the closet while being absolutely busting out of the closet his whole life of entertainment. [ cheers and applause ] the great misconception about las vegas is that it was a liveandletlive, partyandletparty place to be. And that might be true. If you were a straight, white guy. Man ladies and gentlemen, tonight, live from Caesars Palace in las vegas, this is tom jones. [ cheers and applause ] zook tom jones arrived in las vegas in 1968. til the moon deserts the sky it was like a breath of fresh air on the las vegas strip. Weatherford Tom Jones Brought The Male Sex Appeal to las vegas. Brought the sweat and the unbuttoned shirt and the chest hair to vegas. The women adored him, they were throwing their intimate apparel at him on stage. Mcbride he wore those really, really, really tight polyester pants with his basket sticking right out there and swiveling in a way that even Elvis Presley never did. You have loud music, outlandish clothes, and a more raw kind of sexuality than you ever had in the 1950s or in the early 1960s. Geran the fact that he was from wales, we thought of him as having an international appeal, but that wooly hair used to always get us. We used to go is he black or is he white . You know . He started bringing a crossover appeal. Well, well, well, well i couldnt stop for A Million Bucks ooh, no i love you so hold me tight and dont Let Go Schwartz you really do have this Generational Shift In Vegas where you go from sinatra to tom jones. Singers are getting a little bit more dangerous. Its just a much different vibe. Anka that was a real sensational change because sexuality became the key ingredient to success. Annmargret is another case in point. She was perfect. With her dancing, with her films, and her popularity, vegas started to realize they could broaden the base of entertainment. Zoglin annmargret became a pretty big vegas star. She did a show in the late 60s that caught the counterculture, hip, psychedelic feeling. It was very visual and fast. One more time, big time. Im Gonna Make The Scene make the scene zook she rode a harley out on stage. She was just this very flamboyant, sexual performer. It was like, that cant be annmargret. Yeah, it can be annmargret. Mcbride and thats when you started getting annmargret almost in a gstring with ropes and ropes of rhinestones and lots and lots more bare skin. That was a total change. And in las vegas, you began to see more and more of that kind of thing on the stage. [ cheers and applause ] when i was your age, we never had anything like this. What . Wifi . Wifi that works all over the house, even the basement. The basement. So i can finally throw that party. And invite shannon barnes. Dream do come true. Xfinity gives you reliable wifi with walltowall coverage on all your devices, even when everyone is online. Maybe well even get married one day. I wonder what i will be doing . Probably still living here with mom and dad. Fast reliable speeds right where you need them. Thats walltowall wifi on the xfinity 10g network. Come help us build a sand castle. A House Of Sand is an empty work of art one little slip, and it tumbles down one lost step, and it crumbles all around zook in the 1960s, elvis was making a string of musicals basically playing the same character over and over and over. Sidney elvis made a lot of bad movies. Not bad, but just stupid boy finds girl, girl finds boy stupid movies. Zoglin imagine that the entire 1960s go on, and everything thats happening in rock music, the beatles, Rolling Stones, and poor elvis is just doing movies and recording. Hes not doing any live performing. His career really needed a reboot. Quiet, please. Roll sound. [ bell dings ] take one. Elvis went to see tom jones First Vegas Show in 1968. He went backstage, and he told tom, this is really exciting me, and ive really got to get back to live performing. So he signed a deal with nbc to do a special event. Man welcome to nbc and the Elvis Presley special [ cheers and applause ] well, since my baby left me well, i found a new place to dwell well, its down at the end of Lonely Street at Heartbreak Hotel where ill be, ill be so lonely. Zook he looked incredibly handsome, and the audience was seated around him, and suddenly, people remembered why they liked Elvis Presley. My black cat comes arunnin and the hound dogs, they get way back way back, way back, way back there aint no end to this song, baby. [ women scream ] most of Elvis Presleys early music contemporaries are now merely footnotes in the history of rock n roll. Thats because they didnt have the one thing that Elvis Presley had colonel tom parker. Zoglin after the success of the elvis comeback special, the colonel decided, okay, now is the time for elvis to come back to live performing. And the colonel decided that to make a splash, las vegas was the place to do it. Schumacher and when that was announced, the country was excited, and the notion that he was going to perform in las vegas gave a lot of people that did not come to las vegas on a regular basis a new excuse to come. Zoglin it so happened that the International Hotel was just being completed. It had 2,000 seats, twice as large as any showroom in las vegas, and they were looking for a suitably big star to open the hotel, and they wanted elvis. But the colonel said, elvis will play your hotel, but he doesnt want to be first. The hotel was still being completed, he wanted to make sure that all the sound system was right, there werent any glitches. He said let somebody else be first, well come in second. So the hotel went to their second choice. Barbra streisand opened the hotel in july 1969. Colonel parker had in mind a traditional kind of vegas show with Dancing Girls and stuff. Elvis said, im doing it my way or im not doing it. Man i think youre aware that this is called elvis summer festival. I feel that we, as members of the International Hotel, should put forth our efforts in making sure that this is the greatest engagement of elvis career. The entire town was just elvis, elvis everywhere. There were balloons, there were posters. You went in the grocery market, elvis is coming. Man i know he hasnt been on the stage in 10 years, and everybodys waiting to see it. Its like a championship fight, but i know hes going to be the winner. Mckee every movie star, every celebrity you could think of. Your hearts pounding, and youre getting this buildup. Schilling before the show, its kind of quiet, and people are getting stuff ready, and its a little tension. [ cheers and applause ] mckee when he walked out on that stage, wearing that white jumpsuit, and you saw him, and this was the first time i had seen him live, i get goose bumps just thinking about it. Zook my dad saved all his money and took my mother and myself to see Elvis Presley, and he knew how to play to the crowd. He was at the top of his game again. Were caught in a trap i cant walk out because i love you too much, baby zoglin the Climax Of That Vegas Show was one big sevenminute number that nobody had heard before he had recorded it but hadnt released it yet suspicious minds. We cant go on together with suspicious minds suspicious minds Rolling Stone called the shows his own resurrection. It was an amazing endorsement by all the rock critics and the audiences, too. Gill i mustve seen him close to 200 times, and i loved it every time. I would come out exhilarated and on cloud nine. Because i love you too much zoglin in the late 60s, vegas was trying to get hip. What elvis proved was that vegas could be welcoming to rock n roll, that rock n roll wasnt just a little sideline in the lounge, but it could be big, big entertainment on the main vegas stage. And that was something new. Howard hughes was the starting point for the corporatization of las vegas. He was helping to build modern las vegas as we know it. Reporter a Federal Grand Jury looking into the links between Organized Crime and Las Vegas Casinos handed down an indictment. When elvis was in vegas, the city was on fire. I noticed a decline in elvis appreciation of being on stage. I think he had this fear of getting older and being relevant, and then it got out of hand