Prog Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson has never been one to succumb to peer pressure. Still, it was August 1969 – and at that time, when Elvis Presley summoned you, you went. The King Of Rock’N’Roll was in the midst of a lucrative four-week residency at Las Vegas’ International Hotel, where he received a stream of awestruck visitors before and after shows.
No one said no to an audience with Elvis. No one, that is, except Ian Anderson. “We were playing in Las Vegas around the time of the record,” he tells .
"We were dragged by the scruff of the neck to some casino where he was appearing. I was never really a big Elvis fan, but I suppose the first couple of songs that he ever recorded were part of my childhood fascination with music.“ Anderson wasn’t impressed with what he saw: “I was just appalled by the commerciality and the triteness of it all.
And he was clearly out of his box. He was slurring his words; he didn’t know where he was. He would stop the band halfway through his song.
It just wasn’t the way to see Elvis.” But the King had heard that this hotshot new Limey band with crazy hair and a flute were in the audience, and he wanted to meet them. Or at least that was the message Anderson got from the Elvis camp.
“They said, ‘Elvis would like to see you in his dressing room. I replied, ‘Tell Mr Elvis that it is a really great honour to have been here tonight, but we've got a show tomorrow, we’re a bit tired and we need an early night.’ �.