"Elvis" - Fifty Years

Fifty years ago this month, Elvis Presley's comeback TV special aired on NBC in the United States, a year after the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour TV film did not. :-D (The anniversary date is December 3; sorry for talking about this so late, I was caught up in current events at the time.)

The TV special showed Elvis at the top of his game, with four distinct production numbers displaying his love for rock and roll, country and western, the blues, and gospel, with help from singer Darlene Love in the gospel number.  For many viewers, the most memorable segments were the performances with a backing group that included members of his old band, guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana, and his rousing closing number, "If I Can Dream," a song about hope for a brighter future after the tough year the U.S. had endured.

It could have been different.  Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, wanted Presley to appear in a tuxedo and sing Christmas carols.  Steve Binder, the show's producer, wanted nothing to do with that, and neither did Presley, who wanted to return to live performances after making so many horrible jukebox movies.  Binder, who began working with Elvis on the special in May 1968 at the NBC studios in Burbank, California, was able to win Elvis's trust in a most peculiar way; he got Presley and his buddy Joe Esposito to join him on a walk down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, without bodyguards.  On a nice late-spring day, the trio walked down the street and blended in with the other pedestrians.  In other words, no one recognized Elvis.  Thereafter, Elvis only pretended to respect Parker's wishes but allowed Binder to gain the upper hand in the show's production.  

My favorite part of the special was the rock and roll performance in the round, where Elvis, clad in a black leather suit, played some old rock and roll favorites along with Moore, Fontana and two other musicians - all dressed in beet-colored Nehru jackets.  It was inspired by impromptu jamming during rehearsals. Though Binder would keep some of the standard production numbers in the special, the idea of having Elvis just play music for his and his audience's pleasure was too good too pass up.   

The special was a huge success, and it marked the beginning of the end of Elvis's movie career - and by the beginning of the 1970s, Presley was back on the stage performing for live audiences.  Unfortunately, Colonel Parker was able to resume control over his career, and Elvis turned into a parody of himself once again, leading to the drug dependency and health problems that in turn led to his fatal heart attack in 1977.  But the 1968 TV special remains solid evidence of how great Elvis was and how greater he could have been with the Colonel getting in the way.