ELVIS: CAUGHT IN A TRAP
The Story Behind The Book
by Arjan Deelen
One of the first
Elvis books I ever bought was one of those typical hastily thrown
together tribute books published shortly after his death in
August, 1977. What made this book stand out from the others
was a selection of amazing shots of Elvis on stage in Las Vegas
in August and September 1973. Some of them were downright bizarre:
Elvis entering the stage on the back of Lamar Fike? Elvis rocking
through his opening numbers with a toy monkey on his back? They
fascinated me no end, although at the time I couldn't make much
sense out of them. The other photos from that series were just
as amazing (albeit in a less bizarre way!), as they really captured
the drama and excitement of Elvis on stage.
Shortly before Christmas
2000, I decided to locate the photographer, and after rummaging
through numerous old fan magazines I finally found his name:
Laurens van Houten. I also learned that much of his excellent
rock photography had been published in Holland's biggest newspaper
"De Telegraaf", so I contacted them, and they were
kind enough to provide me with his telephone number. During
our initial conversation, Laurens and I talked for more than
two hours, and at the end of the conversation he was just as
excited about the idea of a book as I was. Not long after that,
I visited him together with Peter Haan, President of the Dutch
"It's Elvis Time" Fan Club. Believe me, it was quite
a thrill to be sitting there with the original negatives of
the very photographs that had fascinated me for all those years!
Whilst going through all the negatives, we noticed that many
of them had never been published before. We are therefore very
proud to present this unique collection of photographs in the
forthcoming book "Elvis: Caught In A Trap".
The title of this book is a reference
to 'Suspicious Minds', one of Elvis' greatest hits from the
final stage of his career ("We're caught in a trap, I can't
walk out...").
We felt that it was a good description of the situation that
Elvis was in when these shots were taken. The
photos in this book capture Elvis at a very crucial point in
his life and career. Since his stage comeback in Las Vegas on
July 31st , 1969, he had become one of America's
hottest live attractions. His popularity reached even greater
heights with the hugely successful "Aloha From Hawaii"
satellite concert on January 14th , 1973, which at
the time was regarded as the absolute top of superstardom. Elvis'
management should have followed this up by setting up a world
tour, or by fulfilling Elvis' life-long wish of doing a serious
movie. Colonel Parker and his staff must have been aware of
the fact that Elvis got easily bored of doing "routine"
work, and for the sake of the well-being of their artist, they
should have presented him with new and exciting challenges regularly.
Instead, he had to go back to the same old routine with more
tours around the U.S.A., and more Las Vegas engagements. According
to insiders from his entourage, Elvis found it very depressing
to go back to Vegas again after the great 'high' of the Aloha
show. His disinterest and boredom was apparent at some of the
1973 shows, and reflected negatively on the quality of these
performances. This was also the case with a few of the shows
from the August / September 1973 Las Vegas engagement, which
was his ninth stint there since 1969. It was clear that both
Elvis and his musicians were tired of these marathon one-month
engagements. They were too much of a strain for them. This engagement
opened on August 6th , and ended on September 3rd,
and by that time Presley and the band had given a total of 58
concerts! The agreement with the Hilton was renegotiated shortly
after this Vegas season, and both parties agreed to reduce them
to two-week engagements, effective as per the January / February
1974 engagement.
Elvis' boredom was further compounded by the fact that he felt
that he was at a standstill musically. Elvis wanted to explore
new directions, but time and again it became clear that his
audience came to hear the old hits. For a creative artist like
Elvis, this must have caused a great deal of concern. His insecurity
about changing his set-list became apparent during the August
/ September 1973 season. He had rehearsed at least ten different
songs for this engagement, but only four of them were actually
performed on Opening Night, two of which were filtered out of
his repertoire one day later. The same would happen one year
later, in August 1974. He had made some radical changes by removing
most of the usual songs, which were replaced with some very
unusual and challenging material. But on Opening Night he felt
so uncomfortable with the changes, that he went back to the
same old routine one day later. By August 1975, it seemed like
he had finally given up. A request box was located near the
entrance of the showroom, so that the fans could write down
their requests, and Elvis would then perform songs from that
box. Not surprisingly, the songs that were requested were all
the old favorites like 'Hound Dog', 'Blue Suede Shoes' and 'It's
Now Or Never'... So it's
clear that Elvis was 'caught in a trap' professionally, but
the situation was not much better in his private life. He had
been separated from Priscilla since February 1972, and he finally
agreed to a divorce in January, 1973.
The divorce was finalized on October 9, 1973. Many people from
Elvis' inner circle say that he was deeply hurt by the divorce,
and they cite 1973 as the year when they first noticed that
he was losing control. He was suffering from severe mood swings,
his weight was going up and down, and his addiction to prescription
medication was beginning to take hold. To make matters worse,
his relationship with his manager Colonel Parker reached an
all-time low with their famous argument after the Closing Show
on September 3, 1973. The two men refused to speak with each
other for two weeks, and although they finally settled the argument,
their relationship would never be the same as it was. But there
were some bright spots in Elvis' life, most notably his daughter
Lisa Marie and his girlfriend Linda Thompson. Linda was a beautiful
and intelligent woman who truly loved him, and who really tried
to understand Elvis and his needs. Considering
the problems he was experiencing, it's perhaps surprising that
the August / September 1973 engagement is now regarded by many
fans as one of his finest. He carried a few extra pounds around
the waistline, but other than that he looked really good and
healthy, and the extravagant jumpsuits that he wore looked dazzling
on him. Some observers noted that he appeared to be enjoying
himself much more than during the January / February 1973 engagement,
and his joking and interplay with the audience made many of
the shows very memorable. The looseness of the shows also resulted
in many unusual songs being performed "off the cuff",
like, for instance, 'It's A Matter Of Time', 'Crying Time',
and 'Make The World Go Away'. Mary Rettig ('Fabulous Las Vegas')
wrote: "The phenomenal superstar, used to capacity crowds,
carries on as casually as if he were singing to friends in his
parlor. This charming attribute, coupled with a sense of fun,
are least mentioned Elvis assets but important ones. As he sings
a program ranging from popular tunes to many of his many, many
hits, he adlibs and clowns a bit, throws in a dash of karate,
kisses girls and lets them pluck an endless supply of scarves
from his famous neck, acting as if he is having as much of a
ball as the audience". But
what really made this season so memorable was Elvis' voice,
which was in excellent shape.
Elvis had sounded a bit weak at times during the "Aloha"
show, but by now his voice had fully recovered, and the power
and brilliance of his singing impressed even non-fans like Laurens
van Houten. Elvis' repertoire for this season included several
vocally challenging songs (e.g. 'What Now, My Love', 'An American
Trilogy', 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'It's Now Or Never',
'How Great Thou Art' and 'My Boy'), but he had no difficulty
whatsoever handling them. In particular, 'How Great Thou Art'
and 'My Boy' received great dramatic readings with Elvis' voice
really soaring on the high notes, and both songs got him many
standing ovations during this engagement. The
fact that Elvis, even in such a difficult period in his life,
could perform such exceptional concerts is a tribute to his
artistry, and "Elvis: Caught In A Trap" is a testament
to that.
You can now order this fantastic
hardback book from Elvis
International Shop. "Elvis: Caught In A Trap"
contains 135 photographs, 80 of which are in full color. These
photos were taken from the original negatives, and most of them
are unpublished. There's great shots of Elvis in his ultra-rare
"Black Spanish Flowers" and "Light Blue Flowers"
jumpsuits, as well as the spectacular "Memphis" suit.
TCB band buffs will be interested
to hear that these photos document one of the very few occasions
where leadguitarist James Burton does not play his famous "Pink
Paisley" Telecaster, but instead plays a blonde fender!
Another point of interest is that there are several very clear
shots of bass-guitarist Emory Gordy, who played with Elvis from
April till September 1973. Laurens
van Houten's photographs are complemented by his detailed account
of seeing and photographing Elvis in Las Vegas, fascinating observations
from Elvis' musicians about the Vegas years, and an
insightful introduction by Elvis' piano-player and arranger
Glen D. Hardin. The book also contains memorabilia
relating to these concerts, like original reviews and clippings,
advertisements for the shows, Las Vegas Hilton Menus, original
Hilton reservations for the shows, various Dutch magazine covers
from the 70's featuring Laurens van Houten's Elvis photography,
and more. This is one Elvis book you don't want to miss!
(Publication date: April 28th,
2002)
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