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Elvis Presley | New Years Eve | December 31, 1975

Elvis Presley : New Years Eve, December 31, 1975.

Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker | New Years Eve, December 31, 1975

This may very well be the last picture of Elvis and Colonel Parker together, taken on New Year's Eve 1975 shortly before Elvis went on stage for his first new Years Eve concert since 1955.

This show would become the highest attended Elvis concert EVER! Grossing over $800,000

Unfortunatly there were some problems with the stage set up that Elvis wasnt happy with, such as the TCB band and Orchestra being on a different level to him and the sound system set up being atrocious.

[In 1955, December 31st fell on a Saturday, and so that night Elvis worked his regular gig on the Louisiana Hayride, broadcast out of Shreveport, Louisiana.]

After the show Elvis flew back to Memphis with his entourage, which incuded Vernon, countrty singer T.G. Sheppard and his wife, Lisa Marie, and Linda Thompson to celebrate the new Year in his bedroom, watching tapes of old Monty Python shows. Elvis would make his third & final New Years Eve concert the following year.

Elvis Presley : New Years Eve, December 31, 1975.

Concert Date: December 31, 1975 (8:30 pm). Pontiac, MI. Pontiac Stadium

Elvis Still Shakes 'Em Up

by Mike Maza : Detroit News : January 1, 1976

New York City can keep Guy Lombardo and Times Square. with Elvis at Pontiac Stadium, Detroit has the beginning of a really wild New Year's Eve tradition. ask Nancy Fluegge

the time was 10 pm, New Year's Eve, as Lombardo and his Royal Canadians were warming up for their 45th annual New Year's toot at the Waldorf. Nancy Fluegge was waiting for Elvis - and for the other 27 women ahead of her in line outside a ladies room at the stadium.

The 47-year-old West Bloomfield mother of three pulled a lacy shawl tighter around her backless chartreuse dress. She shivered, and said: 'I love it. I love every minute of it. I love Elvis. I love all these people here - how many, 60,000? I just wish they all weren't in line in front of me'.

That's the way it went all night. A generally good-humored crowd waiting to see the son of a banana truck driver from Tupelo, Miss, perform for them - Elvis' biggest live audience ever, he says.

There was, of course, the usual traffic jam coming and going to the stadium. It wasn't as bad as some of the football games, or last month's Who concert, Pontiac police said. But inconvenient just the same.

Inside the stadium, there were some hassles over tickets. a few fans complained of duplicated seat numbers. others, most of them$15 stadium floor seat ticket holders who were unprepared for the booming acoustics of the arena, complained about the sound. Others weren't happy about their distance from the stage, but many Elvis fans seemed content to watch 1976 come in through a pair of binoculars

An unseen announcer said, 'A limited number of Elvis souvenirs are set aside for tonight's show, don't be disappointed'. and every 100 feet people lined up at Elvis-item concession booths. they paid $3 for 12-picture programs. Autographed scarves ('available in baby-blue and Southern mansion white', the announcer points out.) went for $5. But the hottest item seemed to be three-inch Elvis picture buttons at $1. Women pinned them everywhere, including on the front of mink jackets.

Presley will be 41 a week from today. but his appeal still appears to transcend age.

Several white-haired women and a 11 year-old boy were among the Elvis fans who shoved programs at John Mole and begged, 'Elvis, I love you', or 'Please sign this'.

Mole, 26, of Brighton, works as a polisher at the Ford Wixom plant. He looks a little bit like the star. So he copied the Elvis outfit and strolled around the stadium in his white jumpsuit dotted with hundreds of gold doodads (it cost him $500, he said) 'I've been following Elvis for 20 years - he's my idol', Mole explained 'I hope maybe this will get me enough attention so I can get to meet the man'.

Wreatha Shook Of Chesterhill, Ohio, said she and her husband, Claude, drove 'through really bad fog from Columbus' to see Elvis. 'I've been listening to him since I was making mud pies and I'm not about to miss my chance to see him', she said.

George Anson drove in with his wife and two teen-aged children from Evansville, Ind. Randolph Harter and his wife paid $35 each for a bus charter package from London, Ontario. Presley brought his whole Las Vegas crew along. Starting at 8:45 pm, just 15 minutes late, a comic and contingents of bluegrass, rock, gospel jazz and soul musicians took the stage in succession to warm up the audience.

Presley hit the 50-yard line stage - a platform 10 feet off the stadium floor, surrounded by speakers and connected to his dressing room by a 70-yard tunnel - at 11:10 pm. Women in glittery dresses and billowing pantsuits joined kids in a rush toward the stage. Lots of screaming. Everything flickered as a generation of flashcubes meets oblivion. Tossing scarves to the fans between songs. Presley ran through more than a dozen numbers. His oldies got the biggest reaction - 'All Shook Up', 'Don't Be Cruel', 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Love Me Tender' and of course '(You Ain't Nothing But a ) Hound Dog'.

Almost midnight: A 10-second countdown ends to cheers ... spotlights swirl and balloons float down from the empty upper tier as Elvis and his fans sing, 'Auld Lang Syne'

Elvis Presley : New Years Eve Concert : December 31, 1976

January 4, On the spur of the moment Elvis decides to fly to Colorado for a vacation. After checking into a Denver Hotel, Elvis dispatches Joe Esposito and two Denver Police officers, Jerry Kennedy and Ron Pietrafeso to Vail to find enough rental accommodation for the group. Read more, including a great story about Elvis.

March 1975

Elvis Presley Las Vegas | March 30, 1975

April

Elvis Presley Macon Coliseum | Macon, Ga April 24, 1975
Elvis Presley Jacksonville Florida | April 25, 1975
Elvis Presley 'The Omni' Atlanta GA: April 30, 1975

May

June

Elvis Presley Cleveland Coliseum, Richfield, Oh June 1, 1975
Elvis Presley Houston, Texas | June 5, 1975
Elvis Presley Mid-South Coliseum | Memphis Tennessee | June 10, 1975

July

August

Interview with Elvis Presley by radio broadcaster Harold Johnson August 9, 1975

Elvis Presley Las Vegas | Opening Night | August 18, 1975

Elvis Presley Las Vegas | August 19, 1975

September

Elvis Presley Graceland | September 10, 1975
Elvis takes Memphis spin on funmobile | Sept 15, 1975

December

Elvis Presley Las Vegas | December 13, 1975 | Midnight Show
Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker | New Years Eve, December 31, 1975

CDs | DVDs | Books

Buy Elvis Presley CD, DVDs and Books at ...

Elvis Presley Vail, Colorado January, 1976

Elvis on Holiday, Aspen Colorado

Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD

Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD

Never before have we seen an Elvis Presley concert from the 1950's with sound. Until Now! The DVD Contains recently discovered unreleased film of Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. + Plus Bonus DVD Audio.

This is an excellent release no fan should be without it.

The 'parade' footage is good to see as it puts you in the right context with color and b&w footage. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people. Highly recommended.

Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD Video with Sound.