Sands Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Sands Hotel was a historic Las Vegas Strip
hotel/casino that operated from December 15, 1952 to June 30, 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister
, the Sands was the seventh resort that opened on the Strip.
During its heyday, the Sands was the center of entertainment and "cool
" on the Strip, and hosted many famous entertainers of the day. Regulars were able to mingle with the stars in the lounge after their late-night shows. In its time, the Sands was located next door to the Desert Inn
. The two adjacent properties were once owned by reclusive businessman Howard Hughes
in the mid-1960s. Today, The Venetian stands where the Sands once stood.
. It was founded by Jakie Freedman of Houston, Texas
, grandfather of Houston socialite Carolyn Farb
. In the late 1950s, Senator
John F. Kennedy
was occasionally a guest of Frank Sinatra at the Sands.
Arguably the hotel's biggest claim to fame was a three-week period in 1960 during the filming of Ocean's Eleven
. During that time, the movie's stars Frank Sinatra
, Dean Martin
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
, Joey Bishop
, and Peter Lawford
performed on stage together in the Copa Room
. The performances were called the "Summit at the Sands" and is considered to be the birth of the Rat Pack
. Sinatra would also own a stake in the Sands for a time.
In the 1950s, (limited) integration
came to heavily segregated
Las Vegas when the Sands allowed Nat King Cole
to stay at the hotel and gamble in the casino. In the 60s, Sammy Davis, Jr. convinced the Sands to hire more African-Americans, and to allow them into the casino.
When Howard Hughes
purchased the hotel in the mid-1960s, architect Martin Stern, Jr added a 500-room circular tower in 1967 and the hotel became a Vegas landmark. Kirk Kerkorian
(MGM) bought the hotel in 1988, and seven months later in 1989 it was purchased by the owners of The Interface Group - Sheldon Adelson, Richard Katzeff, Ted Cutler, Irwin Chafetz, and Jordan Shapiro.
In its final years, the Sands became a shadow of its former self—a throwback to the old days, and it ultimately could not compete with the newer and more exciting megaresorts that were being built on the Strip. The decision was eventually made by its final owner, Sheldon Adelson
, to shut it down and to build a brand new resort. On November 26, 1996, it was imploded and demolished much to the dismay of longtime employees and sentimentalists. The Las Vegas scenes of Con Air
were filmed at the Sands prior to its demolition.
With the Sands gone, its casino chips are now valuable collector's items due to the casino's musical history, with the average $1.00 chip fetching around $30.00. Some rarer chips reach hundreds of dollars, and sometimes over $1,000.00.
of The Cooler
. The climactic plane crash in 1997's Con Air
wound up with the aircraft crashing into the soon-to-be-demolished Sands' lobby.
), Sammy Davis, Jr.
(The Sounds of '66
, That's All!
), Tommy Sands
, Nat King Cole
and Count Basie
(a posthumous set, also recorded during the Sinatra at the Sands stand) were among those who recorded live albums at the Sands. The albums feature credits to many of the musicians who performed on the albums and at the Copa and to band leader, producer, and musical conductor Antonio Morelli
who appeared on hundreds of such albums by these artists throughout the 1950s and 60s.
Morrissey
's b-side track, "At Amber" (1990) takes place at the Sands Hotel, and recounts its by-then aging and somewhat seedy atmosphere.
Stage (the showroom at the Sands, named after the famed Copacabana Club
in New York City
) including Judy Garland
, Lena Horne
, (she was billed at the Sands as "The Satin Doll"), Jimmy Durante
, Pat Cooper
, Shirley MacLaine
, Marlene Dietrich
, Tallulah Bankhead
, Shecky Greene
, Martin and Lewis
, Danny Thomas
, Bobby Darin
, Rich Little
, Louis Armstrong
, Robert Merrill
, Wayne Newton
, Red Skelton
, and along with "The Copa Girls". These were only a few of the legendary entertainers to not only perform at the Sands, but in all the showrooms along the Strip, from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. The public could sit ringside in a showroom holding no more than five hundred, paying as little as three dollars in the 1950s up to $25.50 in the early 90s. Much of the musical success of the Copa Room is credited to the room's band leader and musical conductor Antonio Morelli
. Morelli not only acted as the band leader and musical conductor for the Copa Room during the Hotel's Rat Pack
heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, he also played that role on hundreds of recorded albums by those same entertainers who graced the stage of the Copa including Frank Sinatra
, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett
, Dean Martin
, and many others. Oftentimes the festivities would carry over after hours to Morrelli's home in Las Vegas
, nicknamed "The Morelli House
", which was eventually relocated and sanctioned an historical landmark by the State of Nevada
.
The Sands is also the place where Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys performed the Rock 'n' Roll-song "Hound Dog
", and they were seen by Elvis Presley
. After Presley saw that performance at The Sands, he decided to record the song himself, and it became a hit for him.
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
hotel/casino that operated from December 15, 1952 to June 30, 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister
Wayne McAllister
Wayne Douglas McAllister was a Los Angeles-based architect who was a leader in the Googie style of architecture that embraced the automobile and the Space Age. Inspired by tail fins and gleaming chrome, he elevated the drive-in restaurant and the theme hotel to futuristic works of art...
, the Sands was the seventh resort that opened on the Strip.
During its heyday, the Sands was the center of entertainment and "cool
Cool (aesthetic)
Something regarded as cool is an admired aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance and style, influenced by and a product of the Zeitgeist. Because of the varied and changing connotations of cool, as well its subjective nature, the word has no single meaning. It has associations of...
" on the Strip, and hosted many famous entertainers of the day. Regulars were able to mingle with the stars in the lounge after their late-night shows. In its time, the Sands was located next door to the Desert Inn
Desert Inn
The Desert Inn was a Paradise, Nevada, hotel/casino that operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by noted New York architect Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip. The property included an 18-hole golf course. Locals nicknamed the resort "The D.I."...
. The two adjacent properties were once owned by reclusive businessman Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
in the mid-1960s. Today, The Venetian stands where the Sands once stood.
History
The hotel first began as just a casino with a few hundred rooms. The hotel was designed by architect Wayne McAllisterWayne McAllister
Wayne Douglas McAllister was a Los Angeles-based architect who was a leader in the Googie style of architecture that embraced the automobile and the Space Age. Inspired by tail fins and gleaming chrome, he elevated the drive-in restaurant and the theme hotel to futuristic works of art...
. It was founded by Jakie Freedman of Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, grandfather of Houston socialite Carolyn Farb
Carolyn Farb
Carolyn Farb is a successful professional fundraiser, self-styled as "The First Lady of Philanthropy." Farb has raised more than 35 million dollars for numerous charitable causes. She is a resident of River Oaks, a neighborhood in Houston, Texas, U.S.A....
. In the late 1950s, Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
was occasionally a guest of Frank Sinatra at the Sands.
Arguably the hotel's biggest claim to fame was a three-week period in 1960 during the filming of Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Eleven (1960 film)
Ocean's 11 is a 1960 heist film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring five Rat Packers: Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop....
. During that time, the movie's stars Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
, Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
, and Peter Lawford
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
performed on stage together in the Copa Room
Copa Room
The Copa Room was an entertainment nightclub showroom at the now-defunct Sands Hotel on The Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada.It was noteworthy for the large numbers of popular entertainers who performed there, including members of The Rat Pack, Count Basie, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Jimmy...
. The performances were called the "Summit at the Sands" and is considered to be the birth of the Rat Pack
Rat Pack
The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
. Sinatra would also own a stake in the Sands for a time.
In the 1950s, (limited) integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
came to heavily segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
Las Vegas when the Sands allowed Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
to stay at the hotel and gamble in the casino. In the 60s, Sammy Davis, Jr. convinced the Sands to hire more African-Americans, and to allow them into the casino.
When Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
purchased the hotel in the mid-1960s, architect Martin Stern, Jr added a 500-room circular tower in 1967 and the hotel became a Vegas landmark. Kirk Kerkorian
Kirk Kerkorian
Kerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian is an American businessman who is the president/CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian is known as one of the important figures in shaping Las Vegas and, with architect Martin Stern, Jr...
(MGM) bought the hotel in 1988, and seven months later in 1989 it was purchased by the owners of The Interface Group - Sheldon Adelson, Richard Katzeff, Ted Cutler, Irwin Chafetz, and Jordan Shapiro.
In its final years, the Sands became a shadow of its former self—a throwback to the old days, and it ultimately could not compete with the newer and more exciting megaresorts that were being built on the Strip. The decision was eventually made by its final owner, Sheldon Adelson
Sheldon Adelson
Sheldon Gary Adelson is an American casino magnate. Adelson is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center...
, to shut it down and to build a brand new resort. On November 26, 1996, it was imploded and demolished much to the dismay of longtime employees and sentimentalists. The Las Vegas scenes of Con Air
Con Air
Con Air is an Academy Award–nominated 1997 American action-thriller film directed by Simon West and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It stars Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich...
were filmed at the Sands prior to its demolition.
With the Sands gone, its casino chips are now valuable collector's items due to the casino's musical history, with the average $1.00 chip fetching around $30.00. Some rarer chips reach hundreds of dollars, and sometimes over $1,000.00.
Film history
The 1960 film Ocean's 11 was filmed here. Footage of the demolition also appeared in the closing creditsClosing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
of The Cooler
The Cooler
The Cooler is a 2003 romantic drama film directed by Wayne Kramer. The original screenplay was written by Kramer and Frank Hannah. In gambling parlance, a "cooler" is an unlucky individual whose presence at the tables results in a streak of bad luck for the other players.- Plot :Unlucky Bernie...
. The climactic plane crash in 1997's Con Air
Con Air
Con Air is an Academy Award–nominated 1997 American action-thriller film directed by Simon West and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It stars Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich...
wound up with the aircraft crashing into the soon-to-be-demolished Sands' lobby.
Musical legacy
Dean Martin ("Live At The Sands - An Evening of Music, Laughter and Hard Liquor") Frank Sinatra (Sinatra at the SandsSinatra at the Sands
Sinatra at the Sands is a 1966 live album by Frank Sinatra, accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra, conducted and arranged by Quincy Jones, recorded live at the Copa Room of the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas....
), Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
(The Sounds of '66
The Sounds of '66
The Sounds of '66 is a 1966 live album by Sammy Davis, Jr., accompanied by the Buddy Rich Big Band.The album was recorded at the Sands Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.-original LP:Side A:# "Come Back to Me" – 2:56...
, That's All!
That's All!
That's All! is a 1966 live album by Sammy Davis, Jr., recorded at the Sands Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.-Track listing:# "Ain't I" – 1:02# "With a Song in My Heart" – 2:45...
), Tommy Sands
Tommy Sands
Tommy Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor.-Early life:Born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, Sands' father was a pianist and his mother a big-band singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana...
, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
and Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
(a posthumous set, also recorded during the Sinatra at the Sands stand) were among those who recorded live albums at the Sands. The albums feature credits to many of the musicians who performed on the albums and at the Copa and to band leader, producer, and musical conductor Antonio Morelli
Antonio Morelli
Antonio Morelli was a producer, arranger, bandleader, movie producer, and conductor most well-known for serving as orchestra leader for the infamous Sands Hotel Copa Room in its Rat Pack heyday from 1954 through 1971. He was music director, band leader, and friend to some of the biggest names in...
who appeared on hundreds of such albums by these artists throughout the 1950s and 60s.
Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
's b-side track, "At Amber" (1990) takes place at the Sands Hotel, and recounts its by-then aging and somewhat seedy atmosphere.
Legends of the Copa Room
The greatest names in the entertainment industry graced the Copa RoomCopa Room
The Copa Room was an entertainment nightclub showroom at the now-defunct Sands Hotel on The Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada.It was noteworthy for the large numbers of popular entertainers who performed there, including members of The Rat Pack, Count Basie, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Jimmy...
Stage (the showroom at the Sands, named after the famed Copacabana Club
Copacabana (nightclub)
The Copacabana is a famous New York City nightclub. Many entertainers, among them Danny Thomas, Pat Cooper and the comedy team of Martin and Lewis, made their debuts at the Copacabana. The 1978 Barry Manilow song "Copacabana" is named after, and is about the nightclub. Part of the 2003 Yerba...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) including Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, (she was billed at the Sands as "The Satin Doll"), Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
, Pat Cooper
Pat Cooper
Pat Cooper is an American actor and comedian. Cooper is primarily known for his stand-up routines, where he often makes reference to his Italian heritage from Mola di Bari, Italy...
, Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
, Shecky Greene
Shecky Greene
Shecky Greene is a comedian known for his nightclub performances in Las Vegas, where he has been a headliner for more than thirty years...
, Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
, Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
, Rich Little
Rich Little
Richard Caruthers "Rich" Little is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. He has long been known throughout the world as a top impersonator of famous people, resulting in his nickname, "The Man of a Thousand Voices"....
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill was an American operatic baritone.-Early life:Merrill was born Moishe Miller, later known as Morris Miller, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, to tailor Abraham Miller, originally Milstein, and his wife Lillian, née Balaban, immigrants from Warsaw, Poland.His mother...
, Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
, Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
, and along with "The Copa Girls". These were only a few of the legendary entertainers to not only perform at the Sands, but in all the showrooms along the Strip, from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. The public could sit ringside in a showroom holding no more than five hundred, paying as little as three dollars in the 1950s up to $25.50 in the early 90s. Much of the musical success of the Copa Room is credited to the room's band leader and musical conductor Antonio Morelli
Antonio Morelli
Antonio Morelli was a producer, arranger, bandleader, movie producer, and conductor most well-known for serving as orchestra leader for the infamous Sands Hotel Copa Room in its Rat Pack heyday from 1954 through 1971. He was music director, band leader, and friend to some of the biggest names in...
. Morelli not only acted as the band leader and musical conductor for the Copa Room during the Hotel's Rat Pack
Rat Pack
The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, he also played that role on hundreds of recorded albums by those same entertainers who graced the stage of the Copa including Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, and many others. Oftentimes the festivities would carry over after hours to Morrelli's home in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, nicknamed "The Morelli House
Morelli House
Morelli House at 861 East Bridger Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada is listed on both the city and state registers of Historic Places. Built in 1959, it is a classic example of mid-century modern construction.- History :...
", which was eventually relocated and sanctioned an historical landmark by the State of Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
.
The Sands is also the place where Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys performed the Rock 'n' Roll-song "Hound Dog
Hound Dog (song)
"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best-known...
", and they were seen by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. After Presley saw that performance at The Sands, he decided to record the song himself, and it became a hit for him.