The '68 Elvis Comeback Special

The actual name of this landmark television special was Elvis.
Taped in June 1968, it first aired the following December 3rd on NBC-TV.
It stands as one of the great television moments in rock music history
and a stunningly brilliant milestone in Elvis' career.

It's no secret, especially a quarter-century after his untimely death,
that Elvis Presley was not particularly well served
by the machinations of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
It was in 1968, however, that Elvis broke free from his spell,
if only for a short while, defying Parker's vision of Elvis' adult years and,
in the process, engineering rock music's most stunning (and satisfying) comeback.

NBC and sponsor Singer (of the sewing machines) had long wanted to present
an Elvis Christmas special, and the King had no problem delivering
some of his big Xmas hits, particuarly "Blue Christmas."
With the assistance of director Steve Binder, however,
Presley began to envision the hour-long TV special
as a way to reclaim his rightful place atop pop music's throne,
one he'd largely forfeited after his return from the Army in 1960.
Years of mediocre-to-horrible films, their equally suspect soundtracks,
and the ongoing progress of popular music had left Elvis in the dust,
both creatively and commercially.

The special changed all that immediately, re-establishing the King
as a fine interpretive singer, a sexual presence
(that black leather suit has practically become an icon all its own),
a performer par excellence, and a real musician to boot.
That last was especially borne out by the intimate jam session filmed for the special;
some still believe it to be the finest set of music he ever played.
Taken along with the special that surrounds it,
it stands as one of the most amazing career resurrections in entertainment history.

There's a rousing gospel segment, a semi-autobiographical production number, and,
as the finale, Elvis' passionate performance of "If I Can Dream".
The voice. The energy. The moves. The look. The charisma. The attitude.
To many, this show represents Elvis Presley at his very best.

If I Can Dream

There was heated discussion over the closing number.
The Colonel wanted "I'll Be Home For Christmas",
followed by a brief benediction from Elvis.
Binder and Howe wanted something a little more daring.
They had hired Walter Earl Brown to do the vocal arrangements
and write special material for the show.
Brown, incidentally, had been an RCA recording artist
some years before Elvis as a member of the Skylarks.
Knowing that he had to have a powerful piece of original material
to avoid "I'll Be Home For Christmas",
Binder remembers telling Brown to go home
and write the greatest song he would ever write.
"The next morning at seven o'clock", he told Jarry Hopkins,
"Earl woke me up and said, "I've got it".

That song was "If I Can Dream".
Coming in the wake of the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King,
it was a prayer for peace and reconcilliation at a time
when the country seemed intent on rending itself apart.
Brown played it six times before Elvis,
who had never made a political pronouncement or sung a message song,
agreed to do it.

As a measure of how far he was pushing his personal boundaries,
it's worth remembering that exactly one year earlier he had been recording
"Five Sleepy Heads" and "He's Your Uncle Not Your Dad" for the Speedway soundtrack.
"If I Can Dream" was overtly political;
it simply subscribed to the benevolent spirituality to which Elvis himself subscribed.
It was uplifting but not unsettling, and thus a natural show-closer.
Elvis placed two vocals tracks on the song.
The first, recorded on June 23, was eventually released as a single;
the second, recorded a week later at a soundstage taping,
was used in the show itself.

As he listened to the playbacks,
Elvis told Steve Binder
that he would never do another song or movie he didn't believe in.
If the Colonel had misgivings, they were allayed by the fact
that Elvis was displaying a level of commitment he hadn't shown in years,
and by the fact that Brown's song could be acquired for their publishing company,
which "I'll Be Home For Christmas" could not.

If I Can Dream
(W. Earl Brown)

There must be lights, burning brighter somewhere
Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue
If I can dream of a better land,
where all my brothers walk hand in hand
Tell me why, oh why, oh why can't my dreams come true,
oh why

There must be peace and understanding, sometime
Strong winds of promise that will blow away,
all the doubt and fear
If I can dream of a warmer sun,
where hope keeps shining on every one
Tell me why, oh why, oh why won't that sun appear

We're lost in a cloud, with too much of rain
We're trapped in a world, that's troubled with pain
But as long as a man has the strength to dream
He can redeem his soul, and fly

Deep in my heart, there's a trembling question
Still I am sure that the answer,
answer's gonna come, somehow
Out there in the dark, there's a beckoning candle, oh yeah
And while I can think, while I can walk
While I can stand, while I can talk
While I can dream, please let my dream, come true, oooh
Right now, oh really come true right now, ooooh yeah



When the Colonel returned home to Palm Springs at the conclusion of videotaping,
he was astonished to discover the letters that had spelled out E-L-V-I-S
on the show assembled in a giant display on his own front lawn.
"I had the letters sent down with a generator,
and when he got there, they were flashing",
according to Bob Finkel.
 

~Made with Love!~