in early 1971 peaked at numbers 12 and 6 on the Pop Albums chart and Top Country Albums chart, respectively. Production In early 1972, Parker and MGM began the negotiation process for a new documentary film to be shot in Las Vegas. The project, originally titled Standing Room Only, was planned to be released with its respective soundtrack album. MGM agreed to pay Parker and Presley $250,000 (). Following the terms of the new contract signed between the singer and his manager in February 1971, Presley received two-thirds of the income generated by his appearances, while Parker received one-third. The concept of the film was changed to show Presley as he toured arenas throughout the United States. Presley would appear in fifteen cities during his spring tour. For the tour, concert promoters paid Presley's usual fee of $1 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Jack Haley Jr., then vice president of MGM, approached Robert Abel and Pierre Adidge. Abel and Adidge had worked previously on the documentary Mad Dogs & Englishmen that followed Joe Cocker's 1970 tour of the United States. After his experience with Cocker, Abel expressed his disinterest, but Adidge convinced him to travel to Las Vegas to see Presley in concert. After the show, the two met the singer backstage. Presley convinced the still reluctant filmmakers to take on the project. The directors told Presley that they did not like Elvis: That's the Way It Is, as they felt he was acting for the cameras. They warned Presley they would only work on the project if he acted naturally; Presley agreed he would. Adidge and Parker visited the tour locations while Abel made arrangements for the equipment and crew. The directors planned to use small, unobtrusive cameras. They would edit the footage later to increase the image resolution to that of a 70 mm film. Upon meeting Presley, Pierre and Abel felt he was too bloated and pale. They worked with the lighting to hide Presley's appearance. The team had eleven Eclair cameras equipped with eleven-minute film rolls. To avoid loss of continuity, the cameras were cued to a tape deck that collected the video and sound from all the sources. In March 1972, Presley traveled to Los Angeles for rehearsal filming on March 30. For the sessions at RCA Records's Hollywood studio, Presley sang the numbers he prepared for the tour and performed Gospel jam