Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

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poormadpeter

Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124094

Post by poormadpeter »

Pete Dube wrote:Peter, while I tend to enjoy reading the vast majority of your posts (even those that I may disagree with) when you start bringing in Justin Beiber as a comparison to Elvis you're entering the realm of the absurd. I've got nothing against the kid, but in the Grand Scheme of popular music he doesn't amount to a pimple on Elvis' a$$!
I'm not bringing him in as a comparison to Elvis, I am bringing him as possibly the most famous young singer of today.
Brian wrote:

I don't think Beiber or any of todays stars worked nearly as much as Elvis did when you factor everything in.
What are we meant to factor in here?



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Matt Ashton
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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124102

Post by Matt Ashton »

poormadpeter wrote:Well, I can only he hope he sang better after shows than he did during them, or the experience would have been miserable for all concerned.

Even so, in 1976 Elvis performed approx 125 shows. Let's add in to that the time spent doing the jungle room sessions. That still means he got over 200 days off that year. In 1974 he was doing 2 shows a day for the most part - but was only on stage for less than a hundred days. That's 250 days off. He wasn't in the studio, he rarely rehearsed.

Of course acts today don't generally perform that much, but then their time in the studio is often much longer because of the way the recording process is done now, they certainly rehearse for their tours, they do TV chat shows, guest appearance, make videos, and they tour the world not just the USA. While they may only record one album every two years, they still have to do all the publicity events for that album in each country as it comes out.

While Justin Bieber is performing on about 65 dates between now and august, that involves travelling to 18 countries, and no doubt a number of television guest spots, chat shows, radio interviews, press interviews in each country, and maybe even tv specials. It's pretty certain his days off over the next eight months will be very few. It also goes without saying that each show will be rehearsed in each venue, and will be considerably longer and energetic than any show Presley did.
Great post succinctly put.

Some would have you believe that Elvis worked harder, faster & better than the good lord himself! No matter what evidence or reasonable theory you put forward these guys will simply not agree smt136


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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124106

Post by Pete Dube »

Matt, the point I've been trying to make isn't that Elvis worked harder than anyone else. It's that, in the years 69-72 the standard was different! When you talk about the Elvis of 76-77 nobody would argue that isn't the man at his worse. But you can't compare the Elvis of 69-72 (let alone the Elvis of 76-77) to Bruce or Macca of today. You've got to compare him to the major artists of that period: The Stones; CCR; Neil Diamond; Tom Jones (arguably the most valid comparison). How long were the shows of these artists in these years? Heck, toss in Lennon at the Garden in '72. Those are the reasonable comparisons. Look, I witnessed Springsteen on the 1978 Darkness On The Edge Of Town tour, arguably the greatest live shows by a rock & roll artist ever. I say unequivacally that on that tour Bruce Springsteen was the king of rock & roll. But it would be invalid to compare Bruce on that tour to Elvis in 69-72 because by 1978 the standard had changed! (And Springsteen was largely responsible for changing it.)




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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124111

Post by likethebike »

If Elvis didn't rehearse then where the hell did all these rehearsal tapes come from?

As for the show, it never gets through the bubble because facts can't interrupt a good story, but about a third of the show did change from year to year. The structure of the show remained the same not all the songs. That's a big point.

As far as Elvis having 200- 250 days off, you don't just materialize in the place where you perform. You have to travel to get there and you're living away from home in hotels, often right after the job you're moving out. That takes a toll.

And to compare it to today which is ridiculously artist friendly is nonsense. Artists record once every two to five years depending on how well the record does. They only tour when that new record is out. And while they may do publicity, stopping by say hello to Jon Stewart before the tour starts is not exactly back breaking work. What's more the publicity component on an LP today is much more important for second tier acts than first tier acts.

Again we're seeking these spiritual or moral answers to a very simple problem to solve. Elvis developed a drug addiction and that drug addiction impacted his ability, in any circumstance to give the live performances he desired (whether he knew it or not) and that he was once capable of delivering.

Listen to New Haven '76 a very revealing show. There is effort in that show. There is thought in that show. There is arguably even passion in that show. What is lacking is Elvis' ability to deliver.




poormadpeter

Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124116

Post by poormadpeter »

likethebike wrote:If Elvis didn't rehearse then where the hell did all these rehearsal tapes come from?

As for the show, it never gets through the bubble because facts can't interrupt a good story, but about a third of the show did change from year to year. The structure of the show remained the same not all the songs. That's a big point.

As far as Elvis having 200- 250 days off, you don't just materialize in the place where you perform. You have to travel to get there and you're living away from home in hotels, often right after the job you're moving out. That takes a toll.

And to compare it to today which is ridiculously artist friendly is nonsense. Artists record once every two to five years depending on how well the record does. They only tour when that new record is out. And while they may do publicity, stopping by say hello to Jon Stewart before the tour starts is not exactly back breaking work. What's more the publicity component on an LP today is much more important for second tier acts than first tier acts.

Again we're seeking these spiritual or moral answers to a very simple problem to solve. Elvis developed a drug addiction and that drug addiction impacted his ability, in any circumstance to give the live performances he desired (whether he knew it or not) and that he was once capable of delivering.

Listen to New Haven '76 a very revealing show. There is effort in that show. There is thought in that show. There is arguably even passion in that show. What is lacking is Elvis' ability to deliver.
LTB, many many people travel for work, live away from home, whatever. But they would give their eye teeth to have half the year at home with no work to do - which is essentially where Elvis was in his last years. And to say that an artist only tours when a record comes out once every two years is ridiculous - the record comes out at different times around the world, and so they go there to promote it and tour with it when the time is right.

As for Pete wanting to compare Elvis's work with those of his contemporaries. Fine. Let's look at Tom Jones, who was star of a weekly TV series during the period, and guest on many other TV shows during the period. Or Johnny Cash - again, star of his own TV show, touring the world (not just America), guesting on other TV shows.

And as for the comment about "all these" rehearsal tapes. So far we have three. The two recent ones from FTD and the one from August 74. They prove Elvis rehearsed for about 2 hours. What a devoted man he must have been to do that. Did he attend the soundchecks in each venue? no. Did he rehearse in each venue? no. Did he include most of the new songs he "rehearsed" in his shows? no.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer 70s Elvis to the other periods, particularly when he is on form on stage, or the studio recordings which are considerably more consistent that many lead us to believe. But to argue that Elvis worked hard either on stage or off in his final half decade is just lunacy.




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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124117

Post by brian »

Fine.

Elvis was such a lazy bastard.




elvisalisellers

Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124122

Post by elvisalisellers »

brian wrote:Fine.

Elvis was such a lazy bastard.
:lol:




poormadpeter

Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124123

Post by poormadpeter »

brian wrote:Fine.

Elvis was such a lazy bastard.
Well, perhaps you can prove otherwise. By in the final five years, what I have written is absolutely true.




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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124129

Post by Pete Dube »

First of all Peter, Jones was at the hottest point of his career when he did that T.V. show - which, when he started with the show, was only 4 years into him being an international star. In fact, after the show ended, his record sales nosedived. In '69 Elvis had been an international star for 13 years. Jones was also younger than Elvis, closer in age to the Beatles generation artists.

Secondly, Elvis was still giving good to great shows through - 72, so the 5 year bit is overstating things a bit.

Thirdly, where is the rule that says an artist has to work themselves to the bone onstage? Elvis was from a different generation - he lived through the depression. Whether talking about Elvis or the Rat Pack artists from that period had experienced tough times in their early lives, so when they became successful they kicked back a bit. That was the American dream for artists from that period. They knew hard times in their youth, they worked their way to success in the entertainment field, then the money and success enabled them to enjoy life and not have to work so hard. And there's not a damn thing wrong with that!

It seems that Elvis can't win. On the one hand people say he let Parker run him into the ground. On the other hand people say he didn't work hard enough. Personally, I think it's way past time to stop this glass is half empty attitude sh*t towards the man. I'm hardly a rose-colored glasses fan, his career can certainly be criticized, but it often seems as if the jury here views him as guilty until proven innocent.




poormadpeter

Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124136

Post by poormadpeter »

On the contrary, while we might say that Parker worked him too hard, this was quite clearly during the years when he was clearly not well enough to be doing what he was meant to be doing. But he certainly was not ill or depressed through hard work. Parker might well have bored him to death with the endless Vegas contract and the never-ending touring, but to say he was overworked is simply ridiculous when you realise he wasn't recording regularly, wasn't changing his show, wasn't making films etc. To suggest that a man who works for less than half of the year is over-worked is just plain bizarre.

People talk of Elvis as if he was old (Tom Jones was not as old as Elvis etc). For goodness sake, Elvis was 40, not 70. What he clearly needed was something to stimulate him in some way, and working less was certainly not the answer for Elvis. He was faced with no challenges after Aloha (and in that he hardly exerted himself) and instead of revitalising his show, he just meandered along. Yes, he changed the show once in 1974, and then supposedly changed it back again because of the lukewarm reception - although the lukewarm reception (if indeed it was lukewarm) was probably more to do with the appearance on stage of an Elvis who was much changed from that on TV just a year earlier

You say he was still giving great shows in 1972. Indeed he was. But his time on stage was even less in that year than in the ones that followed. The point of this conversation was not to do with quality of shows, but quantity and whether or not 2 shows a night was too much. The comparison of his workload compared with artists today, and other artists of the time is therefore perfectly apt. Cash was older than Elvis, not younger, and yet managed to tour extensively, write music, do a TV series and record music as if there was no tomorrow. The fact that Elvis only did the stage shows and little else would suggest that he was having it relatively easy. The difference is that Cash and others chose where they performed and when, but Elvis seemingly didn't make those decisions - but whose fault is that?




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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124153

Post by brian »

poormadpeter wrote:
brian wrote:Fine.

Elvis was such a lazy bastard.
Well, perhaps you can prove otherwise. By in the final five years, what I have written is absolutely true.
I don't think there is any doubt that you've aptly proven that Elvis could have learned something about work ethic from the likes of Justin Beiber.



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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124190

Post by Joe Car »

It's funny, no comments on the Beatles doing 20-30 minute concerts. Anyway, Elvis' last five years of his life are being used as the measuring stick for his work ethic when he suffered from bouts of depression and a major addiction to prescription meds as well as a painful divorce, during this period. That's not fair to him. When healthy, he worked extremely hard, whether it'd be concerts, movies, rehearsals, recording albums, whatever. He never shirked his responsibilities and honored every contract and obligation prior to getting ill. Fact is, he needed time off during these years to somehow get healthy and there were moments when he shouldn't have been working at all. Yet some people are criticizing his work ethic his last five years and say he should have been working more!



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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124196

Post by KiwiAlan »

Must have been a drag working 3 hours a day


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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124201

Post by rjm »

People are different. Even when Elvis was barely more than a boy, there were two incidents where he passed out, one in '55, another in '56. Once, directly in front of Bill Black, another with the Carter Family. I believe in both cases, he was hospitalized. (He tried to minimize the incident with the Carters, but the hospital kept him, and they paid the bill. It's in Helen Carter's book.) Perhaps he was just wasn't constitutionally strong enough for that kind of work. It really is a very different kind of work than other "manual labor," and the stress of being on stage is a major factor. The stress of being in front of large numbers of people can be quite extreme, and very draining. And it depends on the person, as to how they deal with it physically, and emotionally.

I've taught since the '80s, and there's a MAJOR difference in doing essentially the same thing without "an audience" (small groups in an office, for instance), than in getting in front of a large group of people, especially at night. You're totally hopped up for hours afterwards, and also completely drained. After you get used to it, you calm down and it's much easier to sleep, but it's still very draining. The stress hormones flow and flow, and you can fly through anything, and then when it's over, boom! It's not like "bricklaying" or whatever. Ask anyone who does such work, and they'll describe it to you. But, of course, people are different.

In his case, though that's part of it - since he did always have quite a bit of stage fright, I'd say it's true that not-working is worst of all. And is more energy-draining than anything. And when you start to repeat yourself, that's a kind of "not-working," and it's really a spirit-killer. And "spirit" is what one needs to get up there in front of people to do one's thing. People can be very good at things that they are just not "wired-up" for, physically, psychologically, emotionally.

rjm (Look at my current avatar: ever feel like Elvis looks there? Like he's reached the end of the steps, and then just slumps down by the wall? He looks overwhelmed.)
Last edited by rjm on Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:19 am, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124205

Post by jurasic1968 »

Let's count 1976 and 1977 from march 1976 to june 1977: in this period Elvis did close to 200 concerts. Except January 1977, Elvis was on tour every month. He was a very sick man but the Colonel put him in a frenetic schedule and overworked him. These are facts from statistic, not personal views.




zolderopruiming1

Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124221

Post by zolderopruiming1 »

jurasic1968 wrote:Let's count 1976 and 1977 from march 1976 to june 1977: in this period Elvis did close to 200 concerts. Except January 1977, Elvis was on tour every month. He was a very sick man but the Colonel put him in a frenetic schedule and overworked him. These are facts from statistic, not personal views.
Elvis working in 1976 and 1977:
(source: All shook up, Elvis day by day 1954-1977 by Lee Cotten and not from the mind of people who are programmed to say The Colonel overworked Elvis)

January 1976: no work
February 1976: recording for 5 days at Graceland, remainder of the month no work, just fun
March 1976: concert tour, the first since July 1975, from March 17 to March 22. Remainder of the month no work, just fun.
So the first quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 10 days out of 90.

April 1976: concert tour from April 21 to April 27 plus opening at the Sahara Tahoe on April 30. This month Elvis worked 8 days out of 30.
May 1976: Sahara Tahoe opened April 30 and ended May 9. Touring from May 27 onwards. Elvis worked 15 days out of 31.
June 1976: Tour ended June 6, new tour starts on June 25. Elvis worked 12 days out of 30.
Second quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 35 days out of 91.

July 1976: touring continued until July 5. Next tour started July 23. Elvis worked 14 days out of 31.
August 1976: touring continued until August 5. Tour number 6 starts August 27. Elvis worked 10 days out of 31.
September 1976: touring continued until September 8.
Third quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 32 days out of 92.

October 1976: touring from October 14 to October 27. Sessions at Graceland on October 30 & 31. Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.
November 1976: touring from November 24 to November 30. Elvis worked 7 days out of 30.
December 1976: Las Vegas shows from December 2 to December 12 plus touring December 27 to December 31. Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.
Fourth quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.

In 1976 Elvis worked 93 days.

January 1977: no work!
February 1977: touring from February 12 to February 21. Elvis worked 10 days out of 28.
March 1977: touring from March 23 to March 30. Elvis worked 8 days out of 31. There was a concert scheduled for March 31 but Elvis flew back to Memphis being ill.
First quarter 1977 Elvis worked 18 days out of 90.

April 1977: touring from April 21 to April 30. Elvis worked 10 days out of 30.
May 1977: touring continued from May 1 to May 3. Another tour from May 20 to May 31. Elvis worked 15 days out of 31.
June 1977: touring continued from June 1 to June 2, Final tour from June 17 to June 26. Elvis worked 12 days out of 30.
Second quarter of 1977 Elvis worked 37 days out of 91.

July 1977: no work!
August 1-16: no work!

In 1977 Elvis worked 55 days out of 227 days.

Please let me know where and when Elvis was overworked!?!



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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124225

Post by promiseland »

rjm wrote:People are different. Even when Elvis was barely more than a boy, there were two incidents where he passed out, one in '55, another in '56. Once, directly in front of Bill Black, another with the Carter Family. I believe in both cases, he was hospitalized. (He tried to minimize the incident with the Carters, but the hospital kept him, and they paid the bill. It's in Helen Carter's book.) Perhaps he was just wasn't constitutionally strong enough for that kind of work. It really is a very different kind of work than other "manual labor," and the stress of being on stage is a major factor. The stress of being in front of large numbers of people can be quite extreme, and very draining. And it depends on the person, as to how they deal with it physically, and emotionally.

I've taught since the '80s, and there's a MAJOR difference in doing essentially the same thing without "an audience" (small groups in an office, for instance), than in getting in front of a large group of people, especially at night. You're totally hopped up for hours afterwards, and also completely drained. After you get used to it, you calm down and it's much easier to sleep, but it's still very draining. The stress hormones flow and flow, and you can fly through anything, and then when it's over, boom! It's not like "bricklaying" or whatever. Ask anyone who does such work, and they'll describe it to you. But, of course, people are different.

In his case, though that's part of it - since he did always have quite a bit of stage fright, I'd say it's true that not-working is worst of all. And is more energy-draining than anything. And when you start to repeat yourself, that's a kind of "not-working," and it's really a spirit-killer. And "spirit" is what one needs to get up there in front of people to do one's thing. People can be very good at things that they are just not "wired-up" for, physically, psychologically, emotionally.

rjm (Look at my current avatar: ever feel like Elvis looks there? Like he's reached the end of the steps, and then just slumps down by the wall? He looks overwhelmed.)
Best post of the entire topic.



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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124229

Post by eligain »

Matt Ashton wrote:
poormadpeter wrote:Well, I can only he hope he sang better after shows than he did during them, or the experience would have been miserable for all concerned.

Even so, in 1976 Elvis performed approx 125 shows. Let's add in to that the time spent doing the jungle room sessions. That still means he got over 200 days off that year. In 1974 he was doing 2 shows a day for the most part - but was only on stage for less than a hundred days. That's 250 days off. He wasn't in the studio, he rarely rehearsed.

Of course acts today don't generally perform that much, but then their time in the studio is often much longer because of the way the recording process is done now, they certainly rehearse for their tours, they do TV chat shows, guest appearance, make videos, and they tour the world not just the USA. While they may only record one album every two years, they still have to do all the publicity events for that album in each country as it comes out.

While Justin Bieber is performing on about 65 dates between now and august, that involves travelling to 18 countries, and no doubt a number of television guest spots, chat shows, radio interviews, press interviews in each country, and maybe even tv specials. It's pretty certain his days off over the next eight months will be very few. It also goes without saying that each show will be rehearsed in each venue, and will be considerably longer and energetic than any show Presley did.
Great post succinctly put.

Some would have you believe that Elvis worked harder, faster & better than the good lord himself! No matter what evidence or reasonable theory you put forward these guys will simply not agree smt136
No it's not.

Why are we arguing about who puts on the most energetic show or works harder? I started this thread and it was about the wisdom of having Elvis do 2 shows a day on tour, not because of the physical demand of it but more about the psychological toll it probably took getting up for a show then coming down only to have to get up for a show again. It also fueled his drug intake.

I don't think Elvis was a natural performer. He admitted in EOT that he has stage fright before every show so it probably took a lot out of him after every show.



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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124283

Post by Joe Car »

promiseland wrote:
rjm wrote:People are different. Even when Elvis was barely more than a boy, there were two incidents where he passed out, one in '55, another in '56. Once, directly in front of Bill Black, another with the Carter Family. I believe in both cases, he was hospitalized. (He tried to minimize the incident with the Carters, but the hospital kept him, and they paid the bill. It's in Helen Carter's book.) Perhaps he was just wasn't constitutionally strong enough for that kind of work. It really is a very different kind of work than other "manual labor," and the stress of being on stage is a major factor. The stress of being in front of large numbers of people can be quite extreme, and very draining. And it depends on the person, as to how they deal with it physically, and emotionally.

I've taught since the '80s, and there's a MAJOR difference in doing essentially the same thing without "an audience" (small groups in an office, for instance), than in getting in front of a large group of people, especially at night. You're totally hopped up for hours afterwards, and also completely drained. After you get used to it, you calm down and it's much easier to sleep, but it's still very draining. The stress hormones flow and flow, and you can fly through anything, and then when it's over, boom! It's not like "bricklaying" or whatever. Ask anyone who does such work, and they'll describe it to you. But, of course, people are different.

In his case, though that's part of it - since he did always have quite a bit of stage fright, I'd say it's true that not-working is worst of all. And is more energy-draining than anything. And when you start to repeat yourself, that's a kind of "not-working," and it's really a spirit-killer. And "spirit" is what one needs to get up there in front of people to do one's thing. People can be very good at things that they are just not "wired-up" for, physically, psychologically, emotionally.

rjm (Look at my current avatar: ever feel like Elvis looks there? Like he's reached the end of the steps, and then just slumps down by the wall? He looks overwhelmed.)
Best post of the entire topic.
Just to add to this excellent post, remember in the 68 comeback when he sang If I Can Dream, on completion of that brilliant performance he was absolutely drained, barely being able to speak. Not everybody is the same!!



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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124284

Post by Joe Car »

zolderopruiming1 wrote:
jurasic1968 wrote:Let's count 1976 and 1977 from march 1976 to june 1977: in this period Elvis did close to 200 concerts. Except January 1977, Elvis was on tour every month. He was a very sick man but the Colonel put him in a frenetic schedule and overworked him. These are facts from statistic, not personal views.
Elvis working in 1976 and 1977:
(source: All shook up, Elvis day by day 1954-1977 by Lee Cotten and not from the mind of people who are programmed to say The Colonel overworked Elvis)

January 1976: no work
February 1976: recording for 5 days at Graceland, remainder of the month no work, just fun
March 1976: concert tour, the first since July 1975, from March 17 to March 22. Remainder of the month no work, just fun.
So the first quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 10 days out of 90.

April 1976: concert tour from April 21 to April 27 plus opening at the Sahara Tahoe on April 30. This month Elvis worked 8 days out of 30.
May 1976: Sahara Tahoe opened April 30 and ended May 9. Touring from May 27 onwards. Elvis worked 15 days out of 31.
June 1976: Tour ended June 6, new tour starts on June 25. Elvis worked 12 days out of 30.
Second quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 35 days out of 91.

July 1976: touring continued until July 5. Next tour started July 23. Elvis worked 14 days out of 31.
August 1976: touring continued until August 5. Tour number 6 starts August 27. Elvis worked 10 days out of 31.
September 1976: touring continued until September 8.
Third quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 32 days out of 92.

October 1976: touring from October 14 to October 27. Sessions at Graceland on October 30 & 31. Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.
November 1976: touring from November 24 to November 30. Elvis worked 7 days out of 30.
December 1976: Las Vegas shows from December 2 to December 12 plus touring December 27 to December 31. Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.
Fourth quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.

In 1976 Elvis worked 93 days.

January 1977: no work!
February 1977: touring from February 12 to February 21. Elvis worked 10 days out of 28.
March 1977: touring from March 23 to March 30. Elvis worked 8 days out of 31. There was a concert scheduled for March 31 but Elvis flew back to Memphis being ill.
First quarter 1977 Elvis worked 18 days out of 90.

April 1977: touring from April 21 to April 30. Elvis worked 10 days out of 30.
May 1977: touring continued from May 1 to May 3. Another tour from May 20 to May 31. Elvis worked 15 days out of 31.
June 1977: touring continued from June 1 to June 2, Final tour from June 17 to June 26. Elvis worked 12 days out of 30.
Second quarter of 1977 Elvis worked 37 days out of 91.

July 1977: no work!
August 1-16: no work!

In 1977 Elvis worked 55 days out of 227 days.

Please let me know where and when Elvis was overworked!?!
You are talking about a period of Elvis' life when arguably he shouldn't have been working at all. He needed time off, not to work more!




poormadpeter

Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124286

Post by poormadpeter »

Joe Car wrote:
zolderopruiming1 wrote:
jurasic1968 wrote:Let's count 1976 and 1977 from march 1976 to june 1977: in this period Elvis did close to 200 concerts. Except January 1977, Elvis was on tour every month. He was a very sick man but the Colonel put him in a frenetic schedule and overworked him. These are facts from statistic, not personal views.
Elvis working in 1976 and 1977:
(source: All shook up, Elvis day by day 1954-1977 by Lee Cotten and not from the mind of people who are programmed to say The Colonel overworked Elvis)

January 1976: no work
February 1976: recording for 5 days at Graceland, remainder of the month no work, just fun
March 1976: concert tour, the first since July 1975, from March 17 to March 22. Remainder of the month no work, just fun.
So the first quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 10 days out of 90.

April 1976: concert tour from April 21 to April 27 plus opening at the Sahara Tahoe on April 30. This month Elvis worked 8 days out of 30.
May 1976: Sahara Tahoe opened April 30 and ended May 9. Touring from May 27 onwards. Elvis worked 15 days out of 31.
June 1976: Tour ended June 6, new tour starts on June 25. Elvis worked 12 days out of 30.
Second quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 35 days out of 91.

July 1976: touring continued until July 5. Next tour started July 23. Elvis worked 14 days out of 31.
August 1976: touring continued until August 5. Tour number 6 starts August 27. Elvis worked 10 days out of 31.
September 1976: touring continued until September 8.
Third quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 32 days out of 92.

October 1976: touring from October 14 to October 27. Sessions at Graceland on October 30 & 31. Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.
November 1976: touring from November 24 to November 30. Elvis worked 7 days out of 30.
December 1976: Las Vegas shows from December 2 to December 12 plus touring December 27 to December 31. Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.
Fourth quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.

In 1976 Elvis worked 93 days.

January 1977: no work!
February 1977: touring from February 12 to February 21. Elvis worked 10 days out of 28.
March 1977: touring from March 23 to March 30. Elvis worked 8 days out of 31. There was a concert scheduled for March 31 but Elvis flew back to Memphis being ill.
First quarter 1977 Elvis worked 18 days out of 90.

April 1977: touring from April 21 to April 30. Elvis worked 10 days out of 30.
May 1977: touring continued from May 1 to May 3. Another tour from May 20 to May 31. Elvis worked 15 days out of 31.
June 1977: touring continued from June 1 to June 2, Final tour from June 17 to June 26. Elvis worked 12 days out of 30.
Second quarter of 1977 Elvis worked 37 days out of 91.

July 1977: no work!
August 1-16: no work!

In 1977 Elvis worked 55 days out of 227 days.

Please let me know where and when Elvis was overworked!?!
You are talking about a period of Elvis' life when arguably he shouldn't have been working at all. He needed time off, not to work more!
Elvis took nearly three months off prior to the first tour of 76, and had a similar amount of time off prior to december 75, and again prior to March 75. If Elvis was ill, it was due to drugs, not what Jurassic calls a "frenetic schedule". The problem here wasn't how much Elvis was performing, but the boredom of performing in the same places.

Returning to the original post, 2 shows a day was not crazy. It was the norm at the time - most artists of Elvis's ilk did the same.



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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124290

Post by Joe Car »

poormadpeter wrote:
Joe Car wrote:
zolderopruiming1 wrote:
jurasic1968 wrote:Let's count 1976 and 1977 from march 1976 to june 1977: in this period Elvis did close to 200 concerts. Except January 1977, Elvis was on tour every month. He was a very sick man but the Colonel put him in a frenetic schedule and overworked him. These are facts from statistic, not personal views.
Elvis working in 1976 and 1977:
(source: All shook up, Elvis day by day 1954-1977 by Lee Cotten and not from the mind of people who are programmed to say The Colonel overworked Elvis)

January 1976: no work
February 1976: recording for 5 days at Graceland, remainder of the month no work, just fun
March 1976: concert tour, the first since July 1975, from March 17 to March 22. Remainder of the month no work, just fun.
So the first quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 10 days out of 90.

April 1976: concert tour from April 21 to April 27 plus opening at the Sahara Tahoe on April 30. This month Elvis worked 8 days out of 30.
May 1976: Sahara Tahoe opened April 30 and ended May 9. Touring from May 27 onwards. Elvis worked 15 days out of 31.
June 1976: Tour ended June 6, new tour starts on June 25. Elvis worked 12 days out of 30.
Second quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 35 days out of 91.

July 1976: touring continued until July 5. Next tour started July 23. Elvis worked 14 days out of 31.
August 1976: touring continued until August 5. Tour number 6 starts August 27. Elvis worked 10 days out of 31.
September 1976: touring continued until September 8.
Third quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 32 days out of 92.

October 1976: touring from October 14 to October 27. Sessions at Graceland on October 30 & 31. Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.
November 1976: touring from November 24 to November 30. Elvis worked 7 days out of 30.
December 1976: Las Vegas shows from December 2 to December 12 plus touring December 27 to December 31. Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.
Fourth quarter of 1976 Elvis worked 16 days out of 31.

In 1976 Elvis worked 93 days.

January 1977: no work!
February 1977: touring from February 12 to February 21. Elvis worked 10 days out of 28.
March 1977: touring from March 23 to March 30. Elvis worked 8 days out of 31. There was a concert scheduled for March 31 but Elvis flew back to Memphis being ill.
First quarter 1977 Elvis worked 18 days out of 90.

April 1977: touring from April 21 to April 30. Elvis worked 10 days out of 30.
May 1977: touring continued from May 1 to May 3. Another tour from May 20 to May 31. Elvis worked 15 days out of 31.
June 1977: touring continued from June 1 to June 2, Final tour from June 17 to June 26. Elvis worked 12 days out of 30.
Second quarter of 1977 Elvis worked 37 days out of 91.

July 1977: no work!
August 1-16: no work!

In 1977 Elvis worked 55 days out of 227 days.

Please let me know where and when Elvis was overworked!?!
You are talking about a period of Elvis' life when arguably he shouldn't have been working at all. He needed time off, not to work more!
Elvis took nearly three months off prior to the first tour of 76, and had a similar amount of time off prior to december 75, and again prior to March 75. If Elvis was ill, it was due to drugs, not what Jurassic calls a "frenetic schedule". The problem here wasn't how much Elvis was performing, but the boredom of performing in the same places.

Returning to the original post, 2 shows a day was not crazy. It was the norm at the time - most artists of Elvis's ilk did the same.
He was ill, you know this and not just from drugs. Either way, Elvis never complained about doing the two a days. As a matter of fact, he did 3 shows to close the August-Sept 1972 Vegas season.




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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124301

Post by poormadpeter »

Joe Car wrote:
He was ill, you know this and not just from drugs. Either way, Elvis never complained about doing the two a days. As a matter of fact, he did 3 shows to close the August-Sept 1972 Vegas season.
Two a day was NORMAL for what he was doing. It wasn't like he was doing something different to everybody else. What you are suggesting is that Elvis never complained for doing normal working hours for his trade. How ludicrous does that sound?



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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124306

Post by Tony Trout »

I agree...let it GO!!! Does the original poster think he could have done sny better if he were trying to manage Elvis Presley. Shoot, two shows (and sometimes three or four) are commonplace for some artists nowadays.


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"If the songs don't go over, we can do a medley of costumes!" - Elvis Presley (August 10, 1970 backstage in his dressing room before the first show of the August, 10, 1970/September 8, 1970 season in Vegas).

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Re: Elvis doing 2 shows a day on tour was crazy.

#1124315

Post by Tony Trout »

Wiebe wrote:
Tony Trout wrote:I agree...let it GO!!! Does the original poster think he could have done sny better if he were trying to manage Elvis Presley. Shoot, two shows (and sometimes three or four) are commonplace for some artists nowadays.


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Are you talking full shows or a performance of a few songs? Because I really wouldn't know any artist nowadays. Could you give an example?


Actually, I may have misled my own self. I was referring to full shows. The only one I could think of that MIGHT pull off doing three shows a day would be someone like Garth Brooks (who just recently finished a run in Las Vegas before Tim McGraw and Faith Hill came there with their shows. I apologize.......


"If the songs don't go over, we can do a medley of costumes!" - Elvis Presley (August 10, 1970 backstage in his dressing room before the first show of the August, 10, 1970/September 8, 1970 season in Vegas).
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