Regular readers of I Remember JFK know where I stand on the subject of Elvis. He had as much performing talent as any one individual who was ever born, but unfortunately, he also had the naiveté to put his trust in a manipulative individual who saw nothing but dollar signs as far as his client was concerned. The result was that Colonel Tom Parker stifled the man's talent to an extent that we may never know. During most of the 60's, instead of recording more and more great rock and roll like he cranked out during the 50's, he was in movie studios. Disposable, forgettable dreck was the overwhelming result. Each bad movie came out with a bad soundtrack. Lots of money was made, but untold quantities of God-given talent was tragically, permanently wasted.
But in late 1968, Elvis, backed by TV producer Steve Binder, dug in his heels against Parker and starred in a December NBC special that reminded the world of what all of the excitement was about ten years earlier.
Parker wanted Elvis singing Christmas tunes. Binder, who had previously stood up to Chrysler over Petula Clark touching Harry Belafonte's arm during a duet on her own 1968 special (Chrysler didn't feel the world was ready for a white woman to touch a black man on broadcast TV), was not intimidated by Elvis's doltish manager. The result was one of television's greatest moments, and a revitalization of the King's career.
The special consisted of staged songs on a set intermixed with live recordings.
There was all sorts of controversy. For example, one song was to be performed in a bordello! The network squawked, Binder held, and the scene was included.
Surprisingly, one of the strongest voices against the live segments was that of Elvis himself. His last live appearance, thanks to his Hollywood-obsessed manager, was in 1961. The Tupelo, Mississippi-born kid had stage fright after years of performing in front of movie crews instead of screaming fans.
Again, Binder stuck to his guns, and Elvis was convinced to get behind a microphone before applauding fans.
Thus, that summer, the King sat down on a Burbank stage before four different audiences in four different sessions, and history was made. Live performances would comprise the bulk of the rest of his career, definitely a positive move for the man and (sigh) unfortunately, the manager, too.
Elvis quickly got over his stage fright. Only a small portion of the live scenes were used in the show, but they had an impact. Plus, bootlegs were leaked onto the market of the four sessions. The lucky ones who got their hands on the boots were blown away by this man who had captured the imaginations of their parents and older siblings.
And fortunately, for us old goats, you can now obtain the four-CD set of the Comeback Sessions on the legal market. You can feel the passion of this man who was born to put soul into music finally getting his wish after so many years.
The next year, Elvis released an album in keeping with his newfound spirit. From Elvis in Memphis put the wasteland of the 60's far, far behind. The man who had been coerced into taping stuff like Girls! Girls! Girls! was now belting out an R&B classic (Any Day Now), country fare (I'm Movin' On, a harbinger of his future career path), and bold social commentary (In the Ghetto).
From Elvis in Memphis was justifiably given a place as one of the 500 greatest rock and roll albums ever created in the opinion of Rolling Stone magazine. I strongly agree.
Elvis was taken from us at too young an age, but how wonderful that his later career received a shot in the arm thanks to him and gutsy TV producer Steve Binder standing up to Colonel Tom Parker in 1968, and turning what was supposed to be 90 minutes of Christmas songs into a public reminder of just how much talent the King possessed.
Comments (3)
I was never an Elvis fan...I was a Beatles fan and still am.
Smiles,
Sharon/Baby Boomer Queen
Posted by Sharon/Baby Boomer Queen | March 7, 2010 9:58 AM
Posted on March 7, 2010 09:58
Several things came to mind as I read this. First the crassness of the entertainment industry, who cares not about good quality music or movies with good story lines and some meaning. Its just about money and shaping social attitudes and values.
As well, Elvis had a great sense of music and was adored by the public. But oddly, despite all the success, Elvis never actually had a lot of confidence and was rather insecure. I read a book by 3 of his former body guard aback around 78, not long after Elvis died, just before he was to play in my city of Portland Maine, Aug 16, I believe. Elvis was always scared about comebacks and always needed assurance. He always feared the public was not going to like him now.
Elvis was influenced by Roy Orbison, for obvious reasons, and dyed his hair black like Orbison. But Orbison could not rock like Elvis and did not have the charisma and stage presence that Elvis had, but Elvis never believed in himself completely. Elvis was first offered the part in A Star Is Born with Streisand, but Col. Tom nixed it. Elvis was excited, motivated, hopeful, working out and all. But after Tom said no, the guards said Elvis went downhill fast. A Star is Born was out about what, 75? 76? Elvis was dead by Aug 77.
Elvis had lots of money but not reason for living or doing something worthwhile. Col. Tom was a spirit crusher as I see it. But beyond this, I see a decade or 2, at least, where our society was so split and hung up. It gave a little bit of credence to hippies who promptly used it as an excuse for excess and complete abandon, but there were many valid points as well. But these they left behind in the 80s.
And on the other hand, you had the previous generation who were so out of touch and many were scarred of Elvis and the reactions he got. And that you know what music. Godless, they said. It was just music and pretty good, too. Today, we might even say many of those people were racist. Maybe. But they were quite narrow minded and had lots of silly ideas in their heads and were ignoring much of what was not quite right in our world. This inflamed the kids or at least it was an excuse to be inflamed.
But looking back and seeing how much we lost, I ponder as to whether we learned anything from all of it. Are the young still just looking for an excuse to ignore everything that came before? Are the older ones still sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring things that cry to be dealt with?
Anyway, Elvis never really got a chance to show the world what he could do. The time was not right. The world was not ready. The 60s and 70s would finally change it but not without casualties, Elvis being one of them. I think Brian Epstein did well it helping the Beatles to look less threatening, while still changing the music, though even then, as energetic and delightful as early Beatles were, they were not as rock n roll as Elvis 2 or 3 times was or even Little Richard. From the Beatles would come others to take it even further. But musicians continued to get used and abused by the Music Industry. Some things never change.
But on the other hand, all the great new music made the 60s and 70s one of the most memorable and loved periods in all USA history if not the world. The music won out and conquered all. It could not be stopped. Fools tried and failed. I am so glad I got to experience that great time, even if I was a little young when if first began. I caught enough from 65 onward to catch lots of impressions and memories. 59 was a great time to be born ;-)
Posted by Scott Irv | March 7, 2010 1:13 PM
Posted on March 7, 2010 13:13
Hmmmmm! I myself loved the early rockabilly years. True, the Elvis movie era was not the best, but looking back now, I kinda like some of those old movies. And I like a lot of the music on them. I have the album when Elvis returned. It's ok! He certainly looked cool in the black leather! The Elvis in the 70s til his death didn't impress me to much, but he was still an icon to me. But for me, Elvis between 56 and 68 was my favorites. Yes the movies were corny, but had a feeling of just fun and carefree for me. Of course my favorite movie was Jailhouse Rock! King Creole had some good stuff too!
Posted by Rivers End | April 24, 2010 10:13 PM
Posted on April 24, 2010 22:13