[ bell dings ] ♪ holmes: it was my home away from home. i made a few million dollars in las vegas. mcbride: las vegas always sold the illusion that you can indulge in any way you like, and the only way you find out what you can't do is if you do it. in the '70s, you start to sense the old days are over. you could just see that las vegas lost its mojo. reporter: howard hughes asked for permission to buy another gambling casino, this one in reno. charles: when howard hughes came in, corporate mentality took over. elvis: i like to get there and fool with an audience. if you can do that, it works. elvis was caught in a trap, and he couldn't get out. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ luck be a lady tonight ♪ ♪ luck be a lady tonight ♪ ♪ tonight ♪ ♪ luck, if you ever were a lady to begin with ♪ ♪ luck be a lady tonight ♪ ♪ luck be a ladyyyyy ♪ ♪ tonight ♪ [ jazz music playing ] ♪ binkley: the purpose of las vegas was to forget what was happening in the rest of the country and leave it behind. people in las vegas were certainly aware of what was going on in the '60s, but no casino was going to have a bunch of hippies coming through protesting against the vietnam war. so you start to see a transition period. now you've got people and fresh minds that are really interested in las vegas coming in. ♪ reporter: las vegas. it was to here, four years ago, that howard hughes came. hughes, the sportsman and pilot, engineer, eccentric, but most of all billionaire. in 1966, howard hughes is a longtime aviation pioneer, he'd had a career in movies. he's also one of the richest men in america. he also desperately wants to avoid any kind of publicity and any kind of attention. so he decides to move to the las vegas strip. reporter: he liked vegas. perhaps the sheer glare of it all enabled him to become anonymous. up there in the penthouse suite of the desert inn hotel, he cut himself off from the rest of the world. total, absolute seclusion. barbutti: when howard hughes was staying at the desert inn, they told him, "we're gonna need the room," and howard told them, "no, i don't want to leave." so they called again and said, "mr. hughes, maybe you don't understand. you can come back in after the next week, and we'll comp it all for you." they offered him everything. and so it got to the point where they said, "we're going to have to evict you." and with that, hughes bought the hotel. ♪ zoglin: that started a buying spree. and suddenly, he was the biggest hotel owner in las vegas. ♪ gill: he had the frontier and the castaway and the silver slipper, and he had the sands and the desert inn, and he had the landmark. i mean, one person bought all these hotels. reporter: here at the sands, sammy davis jr. described howard hughes as "the only man who plays monopoly with real buildings." ♪ binion: he put a lot of money into the town, to the point they said, "you know, maybe this is getting to be close to a monopoly or something." and they asked my dad what he thought. he said, "nobody with money hurts the game." ♪ he brought a certain respect with him at a time when the fbi was starting to say, "we gotta clean this place up." he was helping to build modern las vegas as we know it. ♪ green: hughes cashes out several mob-owned casinos, and there's a thought that he's getting rid of organized crime. he really isn't, but las vegas is clearly trying to move away from that. hughes was a billionaire. the mob is not going to control him. mckee: howard hughes was at the desert inn on that top floor for the entire time that i was there -- those first early years, '66, '67, '68. a lot of times, we would go over to the desert inn, and we'd always think we were going to maybe see howard hughes. everybody wanted to see howard hughes. that was what we were waiting for. nobody ever did. you were described as a 6-foot-tall man, weighing only 94 pounds, with a beard to his chest, hair to the middle of his back, and fingernails and toenails from 6 to 8 inches long. [ chuckles ] ♪ newton: i worked for mr. hughes for 14 years, and i remember when he would send me a note about, "i'm glad you're doing great. i'm enjoying the shows." which meant that he had cameras up watching the shows over in his suite at the desert inn, you know? little: he'd send word down, "get rid of him," or, "this guy's great. give him more bookings." you know, so howard hughes was a phantom, but he -- he was always watching, always watching. zoglin: howard hughes was the sort of starting point for what i call the corporatization of las vegas. it was a more business-like approach to running a las vegas hotel/casino. up until 1967, the person running the casino really was controlling the action. when hughes comes in, he starts the age of the accountant, which shifts everything. charles: everything now was the corporate mentality, as opposed to the mob guys. if one of the mob bosses liked you, then they'd go, "give these guys a $1,000 raise." you got it. you can't do that with corporate. barbutti: corporate moved in, and of course they brought in their bean counters. they say sinatra was getting the top dollar, whether he did one show or two. it didn't matter. and so, they had a meeting, and they said, "that doesn't seem equitable," although the casino drop opening night was over a million. gill: after howard hughes came in and bought all of this and bought all of that, it's really never been the same since, and it never will be. ♪ schumacher: even more so than howard hughes, kirk kerkorian was someone who helped usher in a new era in las vegas. binkley: kirk kerkorian was a poor armenian kid who had about four careers before he came to las vegas. and by the time he got to las vegas, he'd made his money. they didn't come any better than kirk kerkorian. a great, great businessman. he brought a dream of what he wanted to control. and with his vision, he did what he dreamed. green: kerkorian buys the flamingo about the time hughes is getting into action. and there's a story that the state called him in and said, "we have never seen such revenue from the flamingo before. how did you do it?" and the answer is he wasn't skimming. anka: he knew the town. and he knew how to manifest and look at growth and look at business. he knew what he was buying, who he'd hire to go in and build it. but he never went past the front door. binkley: before kerkorian, casinos had been relatively intimate places. he was not an idea man. he just wants to be big, and he liked glitz and wealth. and he actually did build the biggest hotel in the world. ♪ announcer: in las vegas, the newest and biggest hotel is the international, a fantastic place with a unique rooftop recreation area and magnificent showrooms. anka: there was no other hotel in town like that, and they all said, "oh, he ain't gonna make it." in he walks and made it better. he was making a fortune. zoglin: here were the corporate players who were coming in and really taking an organized, methodical approach to maximizing the profits out of las vegas. ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ they weren't shelling out quite as much money for the entertainment, and it was a different atmosphere. and a lot of the old timers thought it was the beginning of the downfall of las vegas. but vegas had a different idea. ♪ ♪ schumacher: as the 1970s progressed and the corporations came in, las vegas lost its mojo a little bit. they weren't as creative with the entertainment. it was an impersonation of las vegas rather than the las vegas of the rat pack. schwartz: a couple things happen to end the rat pack's era in vegas. howard hughes and sinatra did not get along. green: sinatra owned the sands in the sense that it was his playground. hughes bought it, cut off his credit line, and there's an incident where sinatra says some things he shouldn't to carl cohen, the casino manager. zook: sinatra ended up throwing carl cohen's breakfast into his lap, they got into a brawl, and carl cohen punched sinatra in the mouth. and sinatra retaliated by running a golf cart through the plate glass windows in the front of the sands, and then he went to the airport and said he was never going to play vegas again. but never say never. anka: you start to sense the evolution of vegas. they started to realize that the rat pack was not what it was. schwartz: the entertainment started to shift, and that star really went away and was replaced by other people. elvis: one, two, three. ♪ ♪ we've got to patch it up, baby ♪ ♪ before we fall apart at the seams ♪ when elvis was in las vegas, the city was on fire. this was a place that was electric for those weeks that he was here in a way that it wouldn't be with any other performer. when he was here, it was his town. ♪ patch it up with a whole lotta love ♪ noff: well, when you speak of the impact of an entertainer on las vegas, there's no match for elvis. every time he plays las vegas, the town assumes almost a new spirit. charles: he just turned the town on its ear when he came here. he'd finish his midnight show, and we'd go back to the dressing room and hang out with him until 3:00, 4:00 in the morning. and he'd just talk to you like you were just a buddy of his. he was a really, really cool guy. i liked elvis. zoglin: elvis' comeback show was a huge success. before elvis, the standard vegas show was an intimate sort of nightclub encounter. elvis was in a 2,000-seat auditorium that was really like a rock concert. elvis was pointing them in that new direction. elvis was also the first performer to create a regular schedule in las vegas. he came twice a year, for four-week stints each time. before elvis, people came to vegas to come to vegas. with elvis, people came to see elvis. then they might go see other shows, and they might gamble. but elvis was the attraction. so people could kind of plan their vegas excursions around elvis. ♪ binkley: he had a big following in older americans that remembered when he was young and sexy and groundbreaking and all of those things, maybe a little more working class. zoglin: these were people who were not necessarily big gamblers. it was middle america. and this was the audience that vegas would start to move toward as the years went on. reporter: las vegas -- where all the girls are beautiful and all the men are rich. or that's what they would have you believe. a beacon in the night to all the suckers adrift in the world. ♪ in the '70s, you then have economic changes. there is stagflation, the oil crisis. these have an impact on las vegas. schwartz: it really does represent the shifting face of capitalism in the united states. now it's not just about keeping your customers happy, it's about driving shareholder value. binkley: at that time, you start to see the early part of what we recognize today as a very corporate las vegas. the feds were coming down on organized crime. so the '70s in las vegas represents a period where, on the one hand, it's starting to become okay to actually do business there, and on the other hand, outside of elvis, las vegas isn't so cool anymore. ♪ i can't stop this feeling, deep inside of me ♪ schumacher: las vegas didn't recognize that it should be looking for ways to appeal to the youth culture. las vegas aged and its demographics of its visitors aged. ♪ weatherford: the people that were performing in the vegas showrooms were, you know, people like roy clark or tony orlando, people you saw on variety tv. up, up, up! up on your feet! come on! up! up! okay! ♪ tie a ribbon 'round the ole oak tree ♪ ♪ those yellow ribbons ♪ the rockers wanted nothing to do with that. they thought playing vegas would kill their career. las vegas didn't quite realize that it had become kind of a punchline. green: the glitz and glamour are giving way, in a lot of people's minds, to something that looks a little tawdrier, kitschier... polyester. ♪ charles: and the next thing you know, all of that classy nightlife stuff that we saw back in the '60s was now gone. mckee: before, it was glamorous. you walked in the casino, you saw women dressed to the nines. but in the '70s, things just changed. reporter: people jet to this remote desert city with hopes of jetting home with lucky winnings. but they know that luck is elusive and that they probably will lose. ♪ ♪ binkley: by the early '70s, it was clear in las vegas that the balance of power was shifting. it hadn't completely shifted. nobody operating in las vegas thought the mob was gone. but it was starting to look safer to other people. ♪ green: it's a period where there's some restructuring going on, you might say recalibrating. the corporations are coming in, and kerkorian sold his two hotels, the flamingo and the international, to hilton. schumacher: that was a big deal for las vegas because there was a respectability associated with hilton that las vegas aspired to. when you were able to attract somebody as respectable as the hilton family, we were getting somewhere. [ machinery beeping ] barbutti: kerkorian sold the international, made a lot of money, and then he went to mgm movie corporation, said, "i'd like to build an mgm hotel." ♪ binkley: he saw that people were building fantasies and doing crazy things. he saw caesars palace, and he wanted to do those kinds of things himself. ♪ green: this is something totally different on the strip. he puts in a movie theater, they show old mgm movies. barbutti: it was like $100 million. and it was 2,000 rooms. they said, "you're crazy. you can't build a hotel that big." and they built the hotel, and they had their money back in less than a year. it was the hugest success. [ inaudible chatter ] ♪ he made large resorts that, you know, felt more like cities than hotels. kirk kerkorian made building a bigger resort fashionable. ♪ schumacher: in the early to mid '70s, corporations started this process of nudging the mob out of las vegas, but they didn't just disappear overnight. today a federal grand jury looking into the links between organized crime and las vegas casinos handed down an indictment. it followed a two-year fbi probe and may embarrass the las vegas gambling industry, which claims that any substantial mob involvement was a thing of the past. schumacher: the chicago mob was the controlling interest behind four casinos in las vegas -- the stardust, the hacienda, the fremont, and also the marina. and in each case, chicago was skimming off the top from these casinos, sending the money back home. they installed tony spilotro as the street enforcer, who was supposed to make sure that nobody caused any trouble. if they did, he was going to take care of it. reporter: federal investigations now reveal that anthony spilotro was profiting himself from the ill-gotten casino money instead of sending it back to chicago. additionally, spilotro did not fit the profile of a mob overseer. instead of being low-key, spilotro kept a high profile in the community and even ran a small-time burglary ring which became known as the hole in the wall gang. schumacher: they were burglarizing homes and businesses. and one of their methods was to punch a hole in the wall rather than going through the door or a window, which might have a, you know, an alarm that would be triggered. so they became known as the hole in the wall gang. gill: i saw him back then. i didn't know who he was. and we hung out and we had a couple drinks at the chateau vegas. i introduced him to sean connery. i didn't know who he was, you know? "oh, come and meet tony," you know? "oh, and that's lou beans over there." [ sighs ] i didn't know. i was, like, naive. i had never really discussed all of this with anybody. schumacher: he could be a ruthless killer. he was very tough, very hot-headed, and had a reputation that preceded him. so people kind of knew that if they went crossways with tony spilotro, something bad might happen. ♪ i knew to stay away from spilotro and, like, you know, to stay away from -- from things that are not your business. you know, just... you know, mind your business, that's all. ♪ anka: ultimately, it evolved into the great film "casino." all of the characters you saw in "casino," they were at my club. ♪ binkley: that movie tied together all of the fabulous fantasies that we have about mobbed-up las vegas. and they got a lot of it right. ♪ little: they showed a part of vegas that a lot of people knew existed, but had never really seen. ♪ schumacher: it allowed las vegas to take a deep breath and accept its mob past. and not only to accept it, but kind of embrace it. ♪ "we're going to own it. this is part of our past. there are a lot of bad things that happened, but that's part of how we built this city." ♪ here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. ♪ join the millions of people taking back their privacy schumacher: in the 1970s, outside of elvis, las vegas did not have the entertainment magic that it had captured previously with the rat pack and other performers of the '50s and '60s. ♪ las vegas had so many different entertainers now. you could tell they were stretching. ♪ hey! ♪ it was almost like vegas was having an identity crisis and trying to figure out, where, how, what, when, what's going to work now? weatherford: by the middle of the '70s, as vegas got away from that tuxedoed crooner, wayne newton sort of inherited their audience and some would say had it all to himself. ♪ i can face all the madness this world has to give ♪ ♪ but i won't last a day without you ♪ anka: when there was a knock on vegas and everybody poo-pooed it to come there, he was part of that makeup that everybody wanted to knock, but wayne newton's fans were with him all the way. schilling: going to see a wayne newton show, you got your money's worth and more. i think wayne became the resident elvis of las vegas. newton: i have a true desire to entertain. you know, they can walk out saying that they didn't like wayne newton, but they couldn't walk out saying that i didn't work hard enough for them. little: he used to do a three-hour show sometimes, and the management didn't like that because they want to get people out there and get them gambling, but he didn't care. the audience just loved him because he worked so darn hard, and he became known as "mr. las vegas." newton: yeah. ♪ this is the moment ♪ ♪ my once in a lifetime ♪ ♪ when i can explore a new... ♪ i don't know how i got the name "mr. las vegas," but with it comes a great deal of responsibility. i never walk on stage anytime in my life that i don't learn something, even if it's what not to do again. and every time, i say to myself, "you now have to step up and be everything you can be, because the people who are paying for those tickets need it. they need to get away from all the stuff that they're hearing in the news. they need to come here and have fun, because that's what vegas is." could you give me some sexy lights? ♪ thank you, that's perfect. ♪ schwartz: he becomes the quintessential las vegas performer. maybe somebody sold more tickets than him, maybe somebody performed more shows than him, but i don't think anyone got more standing ovations than wayne newton in vegas. ♪ with changes in the country, there are changes happening in las vegas. and the city also faces competition from outside. so las vegas constantly reinvents itself or finds new ways to reach you, and it has to, to be successful. announcer: and now we come to a very rare category. it's the rare art of female impersonation. ♪ hello, you little dolls. i'd like to do a medley of my greatest hit. ♪ ♪ hello, dolly ♪ mcbride: there was always a huge contingent of gay people in the entertainment industry, the showboys, the showgirls, but the mob made absolutely sure there were never any gay bars on the strip. schumacher: when you look at the gay movement in america, las vegas was not exactly a leader, it was a follower. ♪ mcbride: when stonewall happened in 1969, the local newspapers ignored it completely. it really was not until gay people from other parts of the country, who were ahead of what was going on in nevada, moved here and brought that consciousness with them. [ knock on door ] let's go, kids. it's showtime. keep your pants on! [ all muttering ] alright, but sinatra's in the audience. announcer: for just $4.95, and you don't have to buy a drink unless you want one, you can see "boy-lesque '78" at the silver slipper! mcbride: one of the first significant drag shows in las vegas was "this is boy-lesque." there had been smaller drag shows even as early as the 1930s, but kenny kerr, a female impersonator, a drag queen, who had done shows all up and down the circuit, gave the gay community in las vegas a jump. you have arrived at "boy-lesque." ♪ ♪ we'll dance and we'll sing ♪ ♪ we'll do a little... ♪ woman: how do you keep your figure? how do i keep my figure? mostly to myself. and i get laid three times a day. [ laughter ] mcbride: it was the first time and the safest way that the straight public could be introduced to a gay community and not feel threatened and retaliate. it was probably kenny kerr and "boy-lesque" that, more than anything, gave the gay community in las vegas that last push to go forward. ♪ ♪ [ applause ] you know something? vegas is a lot of fun. and a lot of people come here for conventions, meetings, or just to have a good time. but don't ever get sick in this town, under any circumstances, or you'll find yourself at their only medical facility -- the silver sequin general hospital and casino. [ laughter ] you can't miss it. you can see the names of the doctors in big lights on a marquee out front. [ applause ] las vegas was a great town for comedians. people wanted to laugh, and, you know, they just love them. so you got a great reaction from them. and you got to see some of the all-time greats. surely many of us remember this, huh? ♪ the evening breeze caressed the trees tenderly ♪ and i'd like very much to play it for you on my broom. [ laughter ] to everybody who was a comic, this was the big time. the casino could afford to pay them more than they could make anywhere else. ♪ plus, you had great audiences because they were in a festive mood. i called my wife back in pennsylvania, and i said, "get on the train and get the kids and get out here. this is paradise." binkley: comedians bust people up, they have a good time, they enjoy themselves. and people wanted to have a good time. comedians could pull you out of whatever your real world was back home, and just pure entertainment for the evening. and then go out to dinner. is this the wife? yes. [ laughter ] what'd you have for dinner? fish? [ laughter ] newton: people don't come here to hear problems. they come here to forget theirs. and if we can't do that as performers, then we're not doing our job. you know, arabic or jew, we are brothers. arabic or jew, it doesn't matter to me, sir. we're all human beings. god bless you, really. [ applause ] [ laughter ] schumacher: for some reason, when we talk about entertainment in las vegas, we turn our attention to frank sinatra and liberace and elvis, but comedy has a long history in las vegas, and what las vegas has done in its evolution is created spectacles. you would come specifically to las vegas for that one event, and where that really started was with boxing. it is another one of those big -- oh, you wanna do that? -- big nights in sports tonight. there's been a great deal of talking about this fight. it's a fight that two billion people around the world will be watching, the fight tween muhammad ali and larry holmes. it is a battle of hard hitters in a city of high rollers. announcer: muhammad! schilling: muhammad ali, larry holmes in las vegas. there was excitement. people were coming from all over the world, not just america. announcer: if larry gets lazy with his left jab, which he's been known to do, he can... holmes: vegas was paying more. they would out-negotiate the madison square garden, people like that. because they wanted to be known as the place to be. announcer: that's it! they stopped the fight. a tko! boxing became another form of entertainment in las vegas. if there was a title fight, it was going to be here. and you knew you were getting people who spend money. barbutti: i would see at those fights the most beautiful women i've ever seen in my life wearing designer dresses, $60,000 furs. you never saw them at a show. they only went to the fights. there was something about the fights that drew this crowd out. ♪ any sport like that is amazing for the entertainment capital of the world. they come and they gamble and they spend money... ...where normally you would never get that many people with that much interest in something as you do with boxing. wynn: years ago, fight promoters used to rent a hall somewhere and print the tickets and do the press and do the advertising and put together a deal, and for this they took a big cut out of the fight purse. today, it's altogether different. we provide the tickets, we provide the advertising, we provide the personnel, we provide the arena. ♪ schumacher: when there's a big fight in las vegas, it really transforms the town. there's really an energy surrounding these kinds of spectacles that emanates throughout the valley. announcer: a playground for flamboyant high-rollers. and a dramatic arena for the super bowls of boxing. tonight, from caesars palace on the strip of las vegas, nevada, hbo sports presents "world championship boxing." ♪ leonard: larry holmes has been through major wars, and the fact that he faced muhammad ali here, and that was a very significant fight. i don't think he's gun-shy. announcer: introducing, in the red corner, the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, larry holmes! holmes: when i fought gerry cooney, he was the number-one contender. he was a white boy, and they wanted a white guy to be heavyweight champion of the world. it was marketed as the great white hope. [ laughs ] [ bell dings ] announcer: in the blue corner, introducing "gentleman" gerry cooney. the basic reason for this multimillion-dollar extravaganza is that just as blacks identify with heroes like muhammad ali, white people occasionally invest in a gerry cooney. i think it's fair to say that this impulse is more racial than racist. but that impulse has projected gerry cooney into this rich opportunity despite the fact that he's never faced a legitimate contender and that he hasn't fought anyone for more than a year. holmes: i'm the champ, and you got a white guy coming in here and trying to take over my position. you see, i became the enemy. shake hands. now, let's get it on! gonna be a good fight. holmes: they wanted gerry to win. i was the underdog. but it did sell tickets. how much money do you think las vegas made that night? that's how you look at it. announcer: right-hand. holmes knows he has his man in trouble. then another right-hand. and that eye's really opened up. combinations of punches thrown by the champion against gerry cooney. this one is all but over, cooney against the ropes... holmes: but, you know, i pay it no mind. i knew what i had to do. and i had to keep him from winning my title. and i did. announcer: and still the wbc heavyweight champion of the world, larry holmes! anka: we've seen fights in other cities, we've seen them in other countries, but it doesn't draw the influx of people. so, vegas became the boxing capital of the world. ♪ ♪ [ "suspicious minds" plays ] ♪ ♪ we're caught in a trap ♪ gill: in the early '70s, elvis loved performing. and it was so evident. so evident. ♪ because i love you too much, baby ♪ for the first year or two after his vegas comeback in 1969, elvis did great shows. he was packing audiences across the country and concerts all over. newton: it was christmas. santa claus is here. that's what the town felt like when elvis finally showed up, headlining at the international. man: nobody among the entertainers in las vegas ever had the drawing power that elvis did, or stirred up things the way he did. zoglin: he was at the peak of his powers. i mean as a singer, he was never better. but he did the same thing over and over. he came back twice a year. it started to get old for him. ♪ weatherford: with elvis, it's like all good things. you can just squeeze it too dry and take it too far. and he was trapped on this hamster wheel. ♪ zoglin: strangely enough, he never toured outside the u.s., partly because his manager, tom parker, didn't have a passport. elvis needed to do new things. schilling: there were other problems, but not before the creative disappointments. you cannot take a genius and give them mediocrity. [ applause ] schumacher: he was being pushed to the limit. he just should not have been performing as much as he was, both in las vegas and around the country. elvis needed help. schilling: "why didn't anybody do anything?" that question comes up. well, i can say i did. and i went to vegas. when i got over there, he was really in bad shape. and i had a confrontation with the doctor. i said, "i better never see this man like this again." of course, next day, he went to elvis, and i go there, and elvis is really upset with me. "when you get your damn medical degree, you tell my doctors..." ♪ sidney: in his last years, he was just going down, you know? he was grossly overweight. he was sweating, and... i felt badly for him. he was declining. it's like my husband said, "showbiz is the greatest business in the world if you're on top. anything below that, it's not very good." ♪ don't be cruel ♪ ♪ to a heart that's true ♪ ♪ yeah ♪ newton: i noticed a decline in elvis' appreciation of being on stage. i could see that his heart was not in the same place and that he was hurting. ♪ anka: you knew that he was going through many things. he'd come and sit with me in my dressing room at caesars, and we would talk about a lot of things. i think he had this fear of getting older and being relevant, and then it got out of hand. ♪ ♪ we're caught in a trap ♪ ♪ good evening. elvis presley died today. he was 42. apparently, it was a heart attack. reporter: he was a man who influenced millions of lives, but couldn't control his own. reporter #2: president carter today described presley as "a symbol of the vitality, rebelliousness, and good humor of his country." ♪ why can't you see ♪ ♪ reporter #3: pandemonium has broken out here on elvis presley boulevard. reporter #4: police estimated that as many as 80,000 mourners gathered to pay their last respects to the dead singer. ♪ i just can't believe he's dead. all i feel is just hurt. i hurt all over. ♪ we can't go on together ♪ gill: although a lot of people could see it coming, elvis' death hit people like a ton of bricks. i still can't believe it. i still can't believe it. ♪ and we can build our dreams ♪ schilling: what i saw, down elvis presley boulevard on that four-mile drive, i realized that he had accomplished what he set out to do, because lined up on that street there were black people, there were white people, there were asian people, there were bikers, there were people in suits, and they all were standing there paying their respects, together. ♪ here we go again ♪ against all odds, everybody loved him. ♪ asking where i've been ♪ charles: i had to stop. i had to pause for a minute, because he was a big part of my reality. elvis and frank and all of those people were just part of it. and when he died, that was the end of that era. ♪ we can't go on together ♪ you don't think rock 'n' roll is dying? in 1956, when i first started out, i was hearing the same thing, that rock 'n' roll was dead or dying out. i'm not saying that it won't die out, because it may be dead tomorrow, completely. i don't know. i wish i did know. ♪ ♪ oh, let our love survive ♪ newton: it's not something that i can even take lightly to this day, when you love someone as a friend, that elvis was to me. ♪ let's don't let a good thing die ♪ anka: he was an important force. there's nobody like him. and he wound up in vegas at a time when they needed him, and, sadly, it ended with vegas. ♪ you know i'd never lie to you ♪ ♪ mmmmmm-mmm ♪ ♪ zook: elvis' death was a huge blow. he would fill the town, and now that was gone. we need to find somebody to replace elvis. woman: casinos can't afford star salaries. they've simply priced themselves out of the market. las vegas really needed an attraction. the city that thrives on replacing itself all the time. zoglin: this was the beginning of vegas as a disneyfied entertainment zone. ♪