Elvis: '68 Comeback Special Deluxe Edition DVD Review

"Wait a minute, wait a minute - there's something wrong with my lip. You remember that, don't you? I got news for you, baby, I did twenty-nine pictures like that." - Elvis on his jittery lip sneer in "Elvis: '68 Comeback Special"

Elvis: '68 Comeback Special Deluxe Edition DVD Review

By Jonathan Boudreaux

In the mid-1950s and early 1960s, Elvis Aron Presley, a simple country boy from Tupelo, Mississippi, became a cultural phenomenon and a rock and roll icon. With the help of his hit songs and his equally popular films, Elvis was an international superstar. By 1968, however, his glory days seemed to be behind him. Sub-par song choices had led to a decrease in record sales. His films were roles worse - even Elvis seemed to be embarrassed by them. Plus, the singer relied on album sales and films for revenue, having not performed before an audience in over half a decade. Elvis' career needed a jump start, and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, decided that a Christmas special on NBC just might do the trick. Elvis and the show's creative team had other plans. His career had declined in part because of the Colonel's focus on the bottom line rather than on artistic expression. Rather than performing "Silent Night" and other Christmas standards, Elvis would instead simultaneously reinvent himself with Broadway-style production numbers and reclaim his history with a return to the hip swiveling, hard rocking, slightly wild persona of his youth. Elvis, informally known as The '68 Comeback Special, was born.

A recently released DVD boxed set presents, for the first time ever on home video, the entire special as it was originally broadcast. Well, almost. But more on that later. The three disc set also contains almost every minute of the existing complete, uncut, raw footage shot for each and every sequence in the special. Elvis fans, start your DVD players.

The special starts with a close-up on Elvis performing Leiber and Stoller's "Trouble" on a darkened soundstage. It is immediately apparent that this dangerously sensuous Elvis is a far cry from the one showcase in such flaccid movies as Frankie and Johnny. This is the smoldering, sexed up Elvis of the Jailhouse Rock period. As the opening riff of Jerry Reed's "Guitar Man" starts up, the camera pulls away and lights in the background pop on to reveal hundreds of silhouetted Elvises striking one of the King's famous poses. It's a blisteringly good start - "comeback" indeed.

Even better is the next segment, the justifiably legendary "sit down" jam session in which Elvis, clad in his now-iconic black leather outfit, performs with original band members lead guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana. They perform cool, unselfconsciously hip versions of Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" and Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me to Do." The setting is intensely intimate: the band and several of Elvis' friends sit on a boxing ring-like stage surrounded on four sides by a group of adoring women. Having been away from live audiences for many years, Elvis was extremely nervous about filming this segment and about his ability to engage in stage patter. One of Elvis' friends was in charge of prompting him to speak, which leads to Elvis' story of how he was once censored in Florida.

The "sit down" jam session footage alternates with "stand up" footage of Elvis alone on the same stage. Still in his leather outfit, Elvis prowls the stage like a feral panther, his black mane of hair falling carelessly into his face. He performs a "Heartbreak Hotel"/"Hound Dog"/"All Shook Up" medley, "Can't Help Falling in Love," and "Jailhouse Rock," alternately flirting, strutting, and striking rock god poses. This is Elvis at his mid-career best: improbably thin, sexy, in control, and totally engaged with the material and his audience. After borrowing a handkerchief from a delighted fan and complaining about how hot his suit is, Elvis breaks into a somewhat joke-y rendition of "Love Me Tender." The "sit down" footage returns for a brief snippet of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" followed by Elvis' explanation that, to him, all rock springs from gospel.

Elvis' comments act as a bridge to the special's big gospel production number. A lone dancer performs an interpretive dance to "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" before Elvis shows up in a burgundy suit to sing "Where Could I Go But to the Lord." Elvis performs "Up Above My Head," and the Leiber and Stoller gem "Saved" as dancers gyrate ecstatically around him. Unlike the timeless appeal of the opening number and the "sit down" and "stand up" performances, the gospel number is hopelessly stuck in 1968. Still, Elvis' performance of "Saved" helps to raise it up a few levels.

The "sit down" jam session returns with a mostly instrumental reprise of "Baby, What You Want Me to Do." Because Elvis was sold as a Christmas special, the Colonel insisted that some Christmas material be included. The result? A version of "Blue Christmas" that provokes squeals of delight from the female audience. Elvis turns his quest for a guitar strap into a version of Dave Bartholomew's "One Night" with joke lyrics before launching into a serious, scorching version of the same song. Elvis ends this segment by sitting in the audience and singing the wistful Mac Davis/Billy Strange ballad "Memories."

The "Guitar Man" production number is up next. Using a medley of "Guitar Man," "Nothingville," "Let Yourself Go," "Big Boss Man," "It Hurts Me," "Little Egypt," and Trouble," along with various set pieces and a large retinue of dancers, this sequence uses song and dance to relate the cautionary tale of a small town singer who heads to the city to find both success and trouble. This segment is kitschy (Elvis' kung fu-inspired dance sequence) yet fun.

This production number is the only portion of the special that is different than what was originally broadcast on NBC. The network's censors approved a sequence set in a bordello, but it was cut from the broadcast when sponsors voiced their objections. Elvis: '68 Comeback Special Deluxe Edition restores that footage. It should be noted that the bordello footage was also added to previous home video releases, but those releases were missing other footage that had to be cut due to music rights issues. Those issues have now been resolved, thus making this the only time the complete special has been released on home video.

The special ends with Elvis performing "If I Can Dream," a blandly inspirational song that he somehow is able to elevate into high art simply by the intensity of his performance. It is a stirring, fitting end to the King's re-coronation.

Elvis aired on December 3, 1968. It was a hit, earning a forty-two percent share of the viewing audience. The special invigorated its star, who began to record a higher quality of music while simultaneously starting the next big stage of his career. Gone were the terrible movies. Now Elvis would go back to where he belonged - in front of live audiences.

Elvis: '68 Comeback Special Deluxe Edition spans three discs. (Did we mention that there are a few extras?) The discs are housed in a foldout package backed by hefty, book-like cardboard. The design of the set is simple, elegant, and effective. A highly detailed booklet, housed in its own folder pocket, comprehensively explains every aspect of the materials found in the boxed set.

The menus, which effectively exploit the special's opening song "Trouble" and the large "ELVIS" sign, are pretty terrific. Viewers can play all of the contents on the discs or can choose individual segments.

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