The fact that Elvis Presley needed a “comeback special” in 1968 signaled that something had gone wrong. Under the management of Tom Parker, one of the most egregious businessmen in show business, Presley’s career was spinning down the drain after a succession of increasingly unpopular, bad to worse movies. The King of Rock and Roll had been reduced to a clown. In 1968 he dug in his bootheels. Presley said no to Parker’s notion of an Elvis TV Christmas special and insisted that he’d only do the show if it was different from anything he’d ever done.
What resulted was a sensational restart to a fizzling career, beautifully packaged in an elaborate Blu-ray/CD box set, ‘68 Comeback Special 50th Anniversary Edition. The set includes a profusely illustrated booklet that fills in the back story with a timeline and interviews with participants. Compromises occurred. However, Presley was fortunately handed off to a creative team that understood something fundamental: the King would look foolish if he tried to emulate 1968 (hippie Elvis?) yet couldn’t pretend that the world hadn’t turned since 1958. The program they produced dynamically refurbished his image without losing his roots and became a more-or-less timeless artifact.
The Elvis Special was staged in several formats. Elaborately choreographed numbers followed scenes of Elvis alone in the round, prowling a small stage like a caged panther as an unseen orchestra played the hits. For rock and roll fans, the best scenes featured Elvis and a small combo in the round, the audience barely inches away, with an amplifier the size of a suitcase and no drum kit. The percussion consisted of tambourine and sticks played against a solid surface.
The visual direction was superb. The principal colors were red and black—like the black leather jacket and tight trousers Presley wore in many scenes. Elvis was trim and fit, fully in command of his voice and material. The presentation was a good representation of Elvis’ diverse roots in gutbucket blues, gospel solemnity and show business hoopla. He was obviously enjoying himself. He even made a crack about the bad movies in which he was forced to play.
