The Night Flies In Lake Tahoe May 1974

Dedicated To Yogi (The Best Pal A Man Could Want)

I'm back with another retrospective, this time we will look at Elvis's Lake Tahoe Engagement in May of 1974. This was Elvis's third stint at Del Webb's Sahara Tahoe, first in 1971 and then again in 1973. His '73 engagement was cut short due to sickness missed a handful of shows. Ironically, none of the missed shows were made up during this stint, instead, they were made up in October. Here, however, Elvis had just come off a brief California tour, trying out songs like You Can Have Her and Big Boss Man, the latter sticking in the setlist, and unlike Las Vegas, had more fun with the crowd, but was still stuck with the hour-long format.

Opening Night followed the final show in San Bernardino with songs like Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel but was removed after that night in favor of You Don't Have To Say You Love Me. Steamroller Blues was also dropped after a few shows. Uniquely was the songs that did pop up during the engagement. How Great Thou Art had an awesome one-off performance, as well as Help Me Make It Through The Night. Three songs found their way into the setlist. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face from Vegas, I'm Leavin' (not done since the previous summer), and The Wonder Of You, which had not been seen since November of 1972. Also appearing was Spanish Eyes, I'll Remember You (also not done since the last summer), with off-the-cut versions of It's Now Or Never, not done since September and My Way, not done since August and after an aborted attempt in Omaha later that year, would not reappear until December of 1975.

While Elvis was not at his highest like he was in March, Elvis still proved he had what it took to stay at the top. Here are the best recordings of each known song done during the engagement with some lovely banter in the middle. Enjoy.

Setlist:
2001 Theme / See See Rider / I Got A Woman - Amen / Love Me / Trying To Get To You / All Shook Up / Teddy Bear - Don’t Be Cruel/ Love Me Tender (Intro banter spliced in) / You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me / Johnny B. Goode / Steamroller Blues / I’m Leavin' / Hound Dog + 2 Reprises / Fever / Polk Salad Annie / Why Me Lord? + Reprise / You Gave Me A Mountain / Suspicious Minds / Band Introductions + Celebrities / I Can’t Stop Loving You / Help Me / Help Me Make It Through The Night / Bridge Over Troubled Water + Reprise (Different Night) / An American Trilogy / Let Me Be There + Reprise (Audience) / The Wonder Of You / Spanish Eyes / The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Matrix) / Big Boss Man + Reprise (Audience) / My Way / I’ll Remember You / Funny How Time Slips Away + Reprise / Heartbreak Hotel / How Great Thou Art / It’s Now Or Never/ Can’t Help Falling In Love / Closing Vamp