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Author Topic: Elvis Presley  (Read 111427 times)
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« Reply #175 on: October 24, 2018, 06:13:46 AM »

Here's the tracklist for the '68 Comeback Box:


CD 1: Original album (1-7) and bonus cuts

    Trouble/Guitar Man (Opening)
    Medley: Lawdy, Miss Clawdy/Baby, What You Want Me To Do; Dialogue; Medley: Heartbreak Hotel/Hound Dog/All Shook Up/Can’t Help Falling In Love/Jailhouse Rock; Dialogue; Love     Me Tender
    Medley: Dialogue; Where Could I Go But To The Lord/Up Above My Head/Saved
    Medley: Dialogue; Blue Christmas; Dialogue; One Night
    Memories
    Medley: Nothingville/Dialogue; Big Boss Man/Guitar Man/Little Egypt/Trouble/Guitar Man
    If I Can Dream
    It Hurts Me (splice/edit of part 1 – take 7, part 2 – take 7 & part 1 – take 6)
    Let Yourself Go (splice/edit of part 1 – take 1 & part 2 – take 2)
    Memories
    If I Can Dream

CD 2: First “sit-down” (1-15, 6/27/1968) and “stand-up” (16-26, 6/29/1968) black leather shows

    That’s All Right
    Heartbreak Hotel
    Love Me
    Baby, What You Want Me To Do
    Blue Suede Shoes
    Baby, What You Want Me To Do
    Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
    Are You Lonesome Tonight?
    When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
    Blue Christmas
    Trying To Get To You
    One Night
    Baby, What You Want Me To Do
    One Night
    Memories
    Heartbreak Hotel
    Hound Dog
    All Shook Up
    Can’t Help Falling In Love
    Jailhouse Rock
    Don’t Be Cruel
    Blue Suede Shoes
    Love Me Tender
    Trouble
    Baby, What You Want Me To Do
    If I Can Dream

CD 3: second “sit-down” (1-16, 6/27/1968) and “stand-up” (17-27, 6/29/1968) black leather shows

    Heartbreak Hotel
    Baby, What You Want Me To Do
    Introductions
    That’s All Right
    Are You Lonesome Tonight?
    Baby, What You Want Me To Do
    Blue Suede Shoes
    One Night
    Love Me
    Trying To Get To You
    Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
    Santa Claus Is Back In Town
    Blue Christmas
    Tiger Man
    When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
    Memories
    Heartbreak Hotel
    Hound Dog
    All Shook Up
    Can’t Help Falling In Love
    Jailhouse Rock
    Don’t Be Cruel
    Blue Suede Shoes
    Love Me Tender
    Trouble/Guitar Man
    Trouble/Guitar Man
    If I Can Dream

CD 4: Rehearsals in Elvis’ dressing room – 6/24 (1-10) and 6/25/1968 (11-21)

    I Got A Woman
    Blue Moon/Young Love/Oh, Happy Day
    When It Rains It Really Pours
    Blue Christmas
    Are You Lonesome Tonight?/That’s My Desire
    That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
    Peter Gunn Theme
    Love Me
    When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
    Blue Christmas/Santa Claus Is Back In Town
    Danny Boy
    Baby, What You Want Me To Do
    Love Me
    Tiger Man
    Santa Claus Is Back In Town
    Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
    One Night
    Blue Christmas
    Baby, What You Want Me To Do
    When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
    Blue Moon Of Kentucky

CD 5: The Wrecking Crew Sessions

    Nothingville (Guitar Man’s Evil #1) – takes 5 & 6
    Guitar Man (Guitar Man’s Evil #1) – take 2
    Let Yourself Go, part 1 (Guitar Man’s Evil #2) – take 5 & 7/M
    Let Yourself Go, part 2 (Guitar Man’s Evil #3) – take 7/M
    Guitar Man (Escape #1, fast) – takes 1, 2 & 5
    Big Boss Man (Escape #3) – take 2
    It Hurts Me, part 1 (Escape #4) – take 5
    It Hurts Me, part 2 (After Karate #1) – take 3
    Guitar Man (After Karate #2) – take 1
    Little Egypt (After Karate #2) – take 6
    Trouble/Guitar Man (After Karate #3) – take 2
    Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child/Where Could I Go But To The Lord (Gospel #1) – rehearsal & take 1
    Up Above My Head/Saved (Gospel #2) – takes 4 & 7
    Saved (Gospel #3) – takes 2 & 4
    Trouble/Guitar Man (Opening) – takes 6 & 7
    If I Can Dream – take 1
    If I Can Dream – takes 2, 3 & 4
    Memories – takes 3 & 4/vocal overdub #1
    Let Yourself Go (closing instrumental)

Blu-ray 1

    Elvis NBC TV Special originally broadcast on December 3, 1968
    Black Leather Sit-Down Show #1 – June 27, 1968
    Black Leather Sit-Down Show #2 – June 27, 1968
    Black Leather Stand-Up Show #1 – June 29, 1968
    Black Leather Stand-Up Show #2 – June 29, 1968

Blu-ray 2

    Trouble/Guitar Man TV Show Opener – June 30, 1968 – All Takes and Raw Components
    If I Can Dream TV Show Closer – June 30, 1968 – All Takes
    Huh-Huh-Huh Promo – June 30, 1968
    Elvis Closing Credits Without Credit Roll – June 30, 1968
    If I Can Dream Special Music Video 2004 – June 30, 1968
    Gospel Production Number – All Takes and Raw Components
    Guitar Man Production Number – All Takes and Raw Components
    Blu-ray Special Feature Re-Cut




Source: https://theseconddisc.com/2018/10/if-i-can-dream-elvis-comeback-special-receives-box-set-treatment-for-50th-anniversary/
« Last Edit: October 24, 2018, 06:14:57 AM by Rocker » Logged

a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

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To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #176 on: October 24, 2018, 10:25:03 AM »

There are now videos online for promoting this boxset:


Elvis Presley - '68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary Edition) (Teaser)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Us-Ip1EO8U


Elvis Presley - That's All Right ('68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary HD Remaster))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZe_8u-rGWE


Baby, What You Want Me To Do ('68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary HD Remaster))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCCFOJSfWRw


Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas ('68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary HD Remaster))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwdI-gbm5kE


Opening Production Number ('68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary HD Remaster))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FkyeO_PRlw
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

- Jack Rieley
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« Reply #177 on: October 25, 2018, 01:32:41 AM »

The Searcher is nominated in two categories for the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards (info found on the FECC messageboard):


BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES

America to Me (Starz)
Dirty Money (Netflix)
Elvis Presley: The Searcher (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television)
Flint Town (Netflix)
One Strange Rock (National Geographic)
The Fourth Estate (Showtime Networks)
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO)
Wild Wild Country (Netflix)



BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

Bad Reputation – Director: Kevin Kerslake (Magnolia Pictures)
David Bowie: The Last Five Years – Director: Francis Whately (HBO Documentary Films)
Elvis Presley: The Searcher – Director: Thom Zimny (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television)
Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow – Director: Stephen Kijak (Showtime Networks)
Quincy – Directors: Alan Hicks, Rashida Jones (Netflix)
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Director: Stephen Nomura Schible (MUBI)
Whitney – Director: Kevin Macdonald (Roadside Attractions, Miramax)



Source: http://www.criticschoice.com/2018/10/third-annual-critics-choice-documentary-awards-nominations-unveiled/
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

- Jack Rieley
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« Reply #178 on: October 29, 2018, 05:58:01 AM »

Saw this link on the FECC messageboard:


Baz Luhrmann is All Set to Direct an Elvis Presley Biopic

Hot on the heels of Freddie Mercury, another rock icon is about to become the subject of a big-screen biopic. According to a report in Discussing Film, Baz Luhrmann will direct the Elvis Presley biopic next spring.

https://www.news18.com/news/movies/baz-luhrmann-is-all-set-to-direct-an-elvis-presley-biopic-1832383.html
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

- Jack Rieley
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« Reply #179 on: November 10, 2018, 10:49:38 AM »

Elvis Presley to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
The King “remains an enduring American icon four decades after his death,” Trump administration says of posthumous honor

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/elvis-presley-presidential-medal-of-freedom-754501/
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

- Jack Rieley
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« Reply #180 on: December 01, 2018, 09:03:34 AM »

Director Steve Binder Recalls How Elvis Presley’s ’68 Comeback Special Came to Be
By Ken Sharp on November 30, 2018

https://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2018/11/30/elvis-presley-68-comeback-special-steve-binder-interview-anniversary/
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #181 on: December 03, 2018, 06:55:34 AM »

So, today marks the 50th anniversary of the origina brodcast of Elvis' '68 Comeback Special, called "Elvis". Since it's only fitting, here's "Blue Christmas" from the second sit down show:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwdI-gbm5kE&fbclid=IwAR2utTYSMynF22zn1TG6vjrFXJl1mtd4-2HCAnMpzbtiAW7ywzV1HV6C1W8
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

- Jack Rieley
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« Reply #182 on: December 06, 2018, 01:01:00 AM »

Here's more about the tribute show:

‘Elvis All-Star Tribute’ Gets NBC Premiere Date; Marks ‘Comeback Special’ 50th Anniversary

https://deadline.com/2018/12/elvis-all-star-tribute-premiere-date-68-comeback-special-anniversary-nbc-blake-shelton-1202513073/




Oh well....  Roll Eyes
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #183 on: December 13, 2018, 02:46:13 AM »

Here's something really nice. A fan collected snippets about the Comeback Special from different sources and edited them into one documentary. Really well done for what it is:


https://vimeo.com/296733256
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

- Jack Rieley
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« Reply #184 on: December 13, 2018, 03:23:51 AM »

Rocket, I am getting into comeback and 1970s Elvis!
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And production aside, I’d so much rather hear a 14 year old David Marks shred some guitar on Chug-a-lug than hear a 51 year old Mike Love sing about bangin some chick in a swimming pool.-rab2591
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« Reply #185 on: December 13, 2018, 04:39:58 AM »

Sometimes I think that from 1968 to around 1974 might have been Elvis's overall best period.
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« Reply #186 on: December 14, 2018, 09:43:12 AM »

Rocket, I am getting into comeback and 1970s Elvis!


 Smokin




I think Elvis had several "best periods" but 1968-1971 definitely made for great expectations for the future. But something happened in '71 (probably drugs) and from then on it went downwards, not without some highlights in between. But what one saw during those years was and still is really incredible imo.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2018, 09:44:38 AM by Rocker » Logged

a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

- Jack Rieley
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« Reply #187 on: December 14, 2018, 09:50:59 AM »

From Elvis in Memphis... Cool
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And production aside, I’d so much rather hear a 14 year old David Marks shred some guitar on Chug-a-lug than hear a 51 year old Mike Love sing about bangin some chick in a swimming pool.-rab2591
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« Reply #188 on: December 15, 2018, 06:36:18 PM »

Rocket, I am getting into comeback and 1970s Elvis!
Elvis only gets better with age. Gets better as I age.
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« Reply #189 on: January 10, 2019, 05:29:43 AM »

This link was posted by someone on the FECC messageboard:

BBC Radio 4

Elvis Presley Comeback Special

Paul Morley tells a parallel story of Elvis and America, from the vantage point of the King's finest hour in 1968.

"I've got to do this sooner or later," Elvis says sheepishly, "so I may as well do it now."

And so the 1968 Comeback Special begins: his quiff defying gravity and his leather jumpsuit chafing, as he bursts into an elemental rendition of Heartbreak Hotel. It had been one of his first singles thirteen years before, initially recorded when he was still a teenager living in the Jim Crow South at the beginning of rock and roll.

Much had happened in the meantime: JFK, the Beatles, the hippies and Detroit soul. And Elvis had become a different person, depressed, addicted and increasingly irrelevant.

So by 1968, after his stint in the army, the uninspired films and the years of absence from the stage, the Comeback Special was an opportunity to resuscitate Elvis's career, to claw back his status as a powerful, credible force.

And it did, fleetingly. He was fabulous, and his discography is never better showcased than on that day.

But it also marked the point at which it became clear that the King was fragile.

He was thirty-three, a new father, and he would never be this good again.

Paul Morley believes the 1968 Comeback Special shows us Elvis at his best. But also that it offers a vantage point from which to look backwards, forwards and outwards to a changing America - remembering where the hillbilly kid had come from and poignantly aware of where he would end up.

Featuring historian Mary Frances Berry, filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, writer Luc Sante and theatre artist Greg Wohead.

Producer: Martin Williams.




https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001cwc
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #190 on: January 10, 2019, 05:47:53 AM »

Also found via FECC:





When Elvis was up for a ’68 challenge

By Gillian G. Gaar


One day in May 1968, Elvis Presley entered the offices of Binder/Howe Productions at 8833 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, to discuss a proposed television special, with the show’s potential director, Steve Binder. At one point, Elvis asked Steve to assess the current state of his career. Steve’s response was blunt and to the point: “What career?”

Laughing, Elvis took the answer in stride, and asked Steve what he meant. “Well, I haven’t seen you on the record charts in quite a few years with any hit records,” Steve replied. “And I know your movies have dried up. You need a career boost.”

Such criticism had to cut deep. But Steve wasn’t saying anything Elvis himself didn’t already know, and he appreciated the frank talk. “I think that very first meeting set the tone for everything,” Steve says. “I was brutally honest with him, and I told him that as far as I was concerned, he was no longer a hit rock ‘n’ roll star. And I think those kind of conversations hit home. He even said later on that he totally trusted me because I was giving him straight answers.”

Elvis confessed that the very idea of doing a television show made him nervous; he was more comfortable in the record studio. Steve agreed doing a TV show was a gamble, telling him, “Television gives you instant results. If you do this special, the next morning   you’re either going to be the biggest hit in this country or you’ll be the biggest disaster.” Was Elvis up to the challenge?

He was. The resulting Elvis special, which aired on December 3, 1968 on NBC, became the top rated show of the season and NBC’s biggest success of the year. There was chart success too; the show’s soundtrack gave Elvis his first Top 10 album hit in three years; the accompanying single, “If I Can Dream,” was his first to crack the Top 20 in two years. It set the stage for his accomplishments in the year to come; the release of the hit records “In the Ghetto,” “Suspicious Minds,” and From Elvis in Memphis, and his triumphant return to live performance in Las Vegas. The gamble paid off, and the Elvis show provided just the shot in the arm his career had needed.

As a result, the program is today more commonly known as the “Comeback Special.” And the 50th anniversary of the show’s original broadcast is being celebrated in a number of ways: in Steve’s new book, Comeback ’68: Elvis, the box set ’68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary Edition) and a two-hour television tribute scheduled to air in January 2019.

The special was officially announced on January 12, 1968. Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, felt the show should be a conventional Christmas program, with his star singing various carols. But Bob Finkel, the show’s executive producer, found that idea too mundane. The show’s primary sponsor, the Singer Sewing Company, agreed, and Singer representative Alfred DiScipio suggested a more interesting approach would be to explore Elvis’ contributions to contemporary culture. And Elvis, who’d been stuck making an increasingly bland series of films in the 1960s, told Finkel he wanted the special to show just what he could really do as a performer.

Finkel took Elvis’ words to heart, and tapped a young maverick, Steve Binder, to direct. Steve had an impressive list of credits, having directed The T.A.M.I. Show (“Teenage Music International”), one of the first rock concert films, and the rock variety series Hullabaloo. He was also a bit of a rebel. On his recent Petula TV special, starring Petula Clark, he’d refused to remove a sequence in which the white performer took African American guest star Harry Belafonte by the arm while the two performed her anti-war song “On The Path Of Glory.” And Steve was just three years older than Elvis, which Finkel felt would make Elvis more comfortable.

But Steve initially turned down the offer. He’d never been interested in Elvis’ music, and was focusing his energies on a possible film project. But his partner, Dayton Burr “Bones” Howe, urged him to reconsider. Bones had served as an engineer on Elvis’ L.A.  sessions in the ‘50s, and felt the two would hit it off. “You and Elvis are going to turn out to be great friends,” he assured Steve. “You’ll love working with him and vice versa. Don’t turn him down.”

So Steve called Finkel back, saying before a final agreement he’d like to meet Elvis on his own; “I don’t want any Colonel Parker, I don’t want any entourage.” Finkel agreed, though Steve and Bones still had to meet with Parker first. Parker was adamant that the show be a Christmas special, a suggestion Steve had no intention of following. And after his meeting with Elvis, Steve felt the two of them could create something much more original—and meaningful.

After a vacation, Elvis next met with the production team on June 3. Steve had been searching for an underlying narrative for the show. “When I approached specials I wanted an ‘A theme,’ which is, does it have a beginning and does it have an ending?” he explains. “It’s not just music and sets and scenery and costumes. There has to be a story. Because people get involved in stories.”

Elvis put in his two cents as well, stating, “Well, I’ll tell you one thing I don’t want it to be—I don’t want to be a goody goody (expletive) singing mechanic anymore!” “Those were his exact words,” Chris Bearde, one of the special’s writers. “I’m not going to forget those words! So we immediately pounced on that and said, ‘No, what we want to do is we want you to sing; we want you to shake it and break it and do your thing.’ When we got to close the door and it was just the creative people and Elvis, I could see how he absolutely loved that. This was away from all that stuff from his past. So basically, that’s how the show got started.”

And what Chris calls the key moment came on the night of June 4, when Elvis was at the Binder/Howe offices. A television set broadcasting Senator Robert Kennedy’s speech at L.A.’s Ambassador Hotel played in the background; the presidential hopeful had just won California’s state primary. Minutes later, Kennedy was shot (he died 26 hours later on June 6). And the assassination provoked a cathartic reaction in Elvis.

“From the moment that was on, for the rest of the night, we sat in that room and Elvis started to tell us his life story,” says Chris. “And he played the guitar for all that time himself. And we sat there enthralled. He told us all these stories about his life in Memphis, and his mom and his dad, he told the story of how he got started, and the people that used to try and hit him because they wanted to hit Elvis Presley. And he sang all these songs. And that’s when Steve and all of us said, ‘This is what the show’s gotta be. It’s gotta be you doing all this.’”

Accordingly the special compared and contrasted what Bearde described as “both the real story of Elvis sitting on the stage, and a sort of ‘fantasy Elvis’ story where we can get these big production numbers in as well.” The “real Elvis” opened the show, singing “Trouble” and “Guitar Man” in front of scaffolding featuring a phalanx of young men with guitars. The “fantasy Elvis” sequence was based around the the song of the itinerant traveling “Guitar Man,” and which poked gentle fun at his movie career, as Elvis is seen rising from his humble roots to fame and fortune. “Elvis knew what a satire the production number was,” says Chris. “He understood that it was our way of saying ‘This is Elvis in satire.’”

There was also a gospel sequence, reflecting Elvis’ love of that genre. The show’s closing number, “If I Can Dream,” also had a gospel feel in its plea for brotherhood at the end of a very turbulent year in America. Over Parker’s objections, Steve had enlisted the show’s choral director, W. Earl Brown, to write a song that spelled out “what Elvis stands for, what his philosophy is.” “Earl may have written, ‘If I Can Dream,’” says Steve, “but all he did was interpret what we heard back from Elvis while working with Elvis. Those lyrics are what came out of Elvis’ mouth.”

But the special’s most compelling performances came about purely by chance. Elvis had moved into the Burbank studios during production, and Steve was entranced watching him play guitar in his dressing room after the day’s work was done, entertaining his friends. He immediately wanted to put in a similar improvisational sequence in the show, and eventually got Parker’s grudging approval.

It was these performances that would make the show iconic. Elvis, attired in a form-fitting black leather suit, never looked better. He taped two sets on June 27, sitting among friends including his original sidemen from the 1950s, guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer DJ Fontana, and two more formal sets on June 29, standing up this time, backed by a band and orchestra.

There were a few other hiccups (Parker insisted a rough version of “Blue Christmas” from the second June 27 show be included, so there would be at least one holiday number, and a brothel scene in the “fantasy Elvis” sequence was cut). But Elvis was thrilled by final show, telling his director, “Steve, I’ll never sing a song again that I don’t believe in, I’ll never make a movie again that I don’t believe in.” Straight-talking as always, Steve was openly skeptical, telling him, “I hear you Elvis, but I’m not sure you’ll be strong enough when the time comes.”

“Elvis rediscovered himself on that special,” Steve says today. “He had lost confidence, and probably thought, ‘I wouldn’t be as successful as I am without the Colonel and without RCA’s publicity machine.’ Then he started to realize, especially during the improv shows, ‘Hey, it’s not the Colonel, it’s not the RCA publicity machine—I’m really that special, that talented.”

Yet Steve also feels Elvis was ultimately held back by “his naïve sense of loyalty and not realizing he’d paid the Colonel off years before I ever got to him. And he just couldn’t break that pattern. So he just followed directions. I think the reason he never challenged anybody, or said ‘I don’t want to sing that song’ or ‘I don’t want to do this’ was strictly what he had been taught from the time he met the Colonel, and whatever pact they had between them.

“The tragedy is, I knew Elvis was chomping to go all over the world and meet his fans. What he told me at the end was the true Elvis, but he never was strong enough to follow his own direction. And it was really a tragedy. I don’t think he died of drugs; I think he died of boredom, being stuck in Las Vegas while the Colonel gambled away all of his money.” Despite being given Elvis’ private number, and going to see two of his shows in Las Vegas, Steve was never able to speak with him again.

Steve’s original 90-minute edit of the show was cut for the hour-long broadcast. After Elvis’ death, the 90-minute edit was mistakenly aired as part of a television tribute, and numerous other edits of the show have since been released, or aired on television. In 2004, the ’68 version (complete with the brothel sequence) was released in a deluxe edition DVD set, followed by a 94-minute “special edition” edit in 2006. Steve says the 2006 edit, which was shown in theaters this past summer, is “very close” to his original edit.

“Elvis will always rank as very, very special to me,” says Steve. “When I saw it this past summer, I looked at the screen and said, ‘Did I do that?’ I look at it as a window of time for me. I don’t care about what happened before, I don’t really care what happened after. I just know I had an incredible time working with him and knowing him.”




https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/when-elvis-was-up-for-a-68-challenge
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« Reply #191 on: February 07, 2019, 08:25:29 AM »

Here's some footage of the recording of the tribute show. I gladly say that it doesn't look as bad as I had thought.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=8oaS1rdsHs4
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« Reply #192 on: February 19, 2019, 05:39:58 AM »

Yet another short feature about the Comeback:


Gates of Graceland: Secrets of the '68 Special

https://youtu.be/IZuVaRJZwcY
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« Reply #193 on: March 01, 2019, 11:53:54 AM »

Record Store Day 2019 will see an unreleased live show by Elvis from 1969 - arguably his most rocking season.







Here's the tracklist:

Opening Theme / Blue Suede Shoes
I Got A Woman
All Shook Up
Love Me Tender
Jailhouse Rock / Don’t Be Cruel
Heartbreak Hotel
Hound Dog
Memories
Mystery Train / Tiger Man
Elvis Talks About His Career (Monologue)
Baby What You Want Me To Do
Runaway
Loving You (excerpt)
Are You Lonesome Tonight?
Yesterday / Hey Jude
Introductions Of Musicians And Backup Vocalists
In The Ghetto
Suspicious Minds
What’d I Say
Can’t Help Falling In Love



Following his triumphant comeback special for NBC at the end of 1968, Elvis Presley made a highly-publicized return to live performance in 1969, booking an exclusive engagement at The International Hotel in Las Vegas. Elvis treated audiences to a raucous rock set inspired by the recent sessions to his just-released studio album From Elvis In Memphis, backed by vocal groups The Imperials and The Sweet Inspirations as well as an early version of his famed TCB Band. Live In Las Vegas 1969 showcases this incredible, important phase in Elvis' career with a previously unreleased set from the first of many engagements at The International Hotel.



Source:
https://recordstoreday.co.uk/releases/rsd-2019/elvis-presley/
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« Reply #194 on: March 08, 2019, 06:39:20 AM »

A digital single for the RSD release is coming out!






A-Side:

Suspicious Minds (Live in Las Vegas, NV - August 1969 - Single Edit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U3OmvCExBA



B-Side:

Mystery Train / Tiger Man (Live in Las Vegas, NV - August 1969 - Single Edit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alm0u0dfsro
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« Reply #195 on: March 08, 2019, 01:40:13 PM »

Great news! Cool
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And production aside, I’d so much rather hear a 14 year old David Marks shred some guitar on Chug-a-lug than hear a 51 year old Mike Love sing about bangin some chick in a swimming pool.-rab2591
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« Reply #196 on: March 13, 2019, 07:33:59 PM »

A digital single for the RSD release is coming out!






A-Side:

Suspicious Minds (Live in Las Vegas, NV - August 1969 - Single Edit)
hoping there will be a vinyl single, too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U3OmvCExBA



B-Side:

Mystery Train / Tiger Man (Live in Las Vegas, NV - August 1969 - Single Edit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alm0u0dfsro
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« Reply #197 on: March 14, 2019, 02:56:19 AM »

Quote
hoping there will be a vinyl single, too


Maybe for RSD or later for promotion for the boxset but I'm not sure.
Played the two tracks yesterday a couple of times again and it really is fun. Cool stuff!
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« Reply #198 on: March 29, 2019, 08:55:56 AM »

Tom Hanks to Play Elvis Presley’s Manager in Baz Luhrmann’s Next Film




Tom Hanks is in negotiations to play Elvis Presley’s iconic manager Colonel Tom Parker in Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Warner Bros. biopic about the legendary musician.

Luhrmann will direct the movie. He also penned the script with Craig Pearce.

Parker discovered Presley when he was just an unknown and quickly moved in as his lone representation. Parker was responsible for various milestones, including Presley’s record deal with RCA and his successful acting career.

While Luhrmann always envisioned a star for Parker’s part, he wants a newcomer for the role of Presley. The director has begun meeting with talent for the part.

Insiders say a budget is still being ironed out, but Hanks’ commitment will urge the studio to push the project forward. Luhrmann hopes to get the pic into production sometime this year.

Hanks is no stranger to portraying real-life figures like astronaut Jim Lovell in “Apollo 13,” Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee in “The Post,” airline captain Chesley Sullenberger in “Sully,” Captain Richard Phillips in “Captain Phillips,” Walt Disney in “Saving Mr. Banks,” and Mister Rogers in Sony’s upcoming biopic “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” Besides the Mister Rogers movie, Hanks can next be seen in the World War II drama “Greyhound” and as Woody in “Toy Story 4.”

He is repped by CAA.




https://variety.com/2019/film/news/tom-hanks-elvis-presley-manager-baz-luhrmann-1203121035/?fbclid=IwAR2540U9KssmjcNL45sMD53ZjfYS_lzqFsnDRHz7pmpfN6xEeYq4AZK2MPc
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To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #199 on: April 11, 2019, 01:44:06 AM »

Elvis Presley - Live at the International Hotel - Unboxing Record Store Day 2019 RSD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_2gwxwSyTU
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a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

- Jack Rieley
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