Much of 1974 and 1975 was spent either on tour or in Las Vegas, performing over 100 concerts each year, despite being hospitalised twice in 1975.
When Elvis turned forty on January 8, 1975, he is reported not to have left his upstairs suite in Graceland for a period of several days and was hospitalised for over two weeks at the end of January and beginning of February.
After recovering, Elvis recorded material for the “Today” album in RCA’s Studio C in Hollywood in early March, before resuming his concert schedule, beginning in mid-March in Las Vegas. Elvis’s Las Vegas contract with the Hilton Hotel had been re-negotiated for 1975 and 1976, with residency cut down to two weeks, twice a year, for the same amount of money. Instead of using the shortened Las Vegas schedule to add extra rest periods, it seemed to free up more dates for the more lucrative tours.
Elvis took ill again during the early part of his summer season in Las Vegas in 1975, complaining of abdominal problems, resulting in the engagement finishing and Elvis having a third period in the hospital since October 1973. He returned to Las Vegas to make up for the lost performances in mid-December.
Elvis did not normally perform over the Christmas and New Year Holiday period, but December 31, 1975, was the first exception to this since 1955. He performed to his largest single audience ever, 62,500, at The Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, earning a world-record-breaking $800,000 for a single performance. This equates to over $4.5 million today. It was a record that would stand for many years.
There was a third level to the stadium, featuring hospitality suites and additional seating that the Colonel Parker opted not to use, as it was felt that fans would be too far away, so it was used to hold balloons, which were released as 1975 turned to 1976.
Elvis performs on a raised round stage in the centre of the stadium, with his band on a lower level. The stage is connected to the dressing room via a 70-yard (64m) tunnel.
Elvis was not comfortable with the arrangement and had to move to the lower level to dish out scarves. At one stage, Elvis was unable to hear the band properly from the top level because the sound system developed an echo. Elvis also had to change jumpsuits after the performance of “Polk Salad Annie”, due to a split developing in the “Rainfall” suit.
Despite some of the glitches, as noted by the Detroit press, “Adoring Fans Gush Over King Elvis”, with the report quoting one fan, Barbara Kliczeck, 20, from Pontiac, as saying, “I think he’s just a part of the heritage of the country.”
Elvis’s father had suffered a heart attack in February 1975, ending up in hospital alongside Elvis at that time, but recovered sufficiently to attend the show. Also, seven-year-old Lisa Marie was with her Dad that night. Elvis introduced both of them to the audience.
