GEORGE KLEIN BOOK

Hi Ivan! I just got thro reading GKs book as well... although very enjoyable it is a bit of a fluff piece. He totally glosses over talk of any drug use, which is understandable but still.... I also just finished reading Dr. Nicks book which is a total whitewash as far as im concerned! Lastly I also read for the first time Thompson/Coles book "The Death of Elvis" strangely enough i thought this book was a very good read, it basicly reads like a well written detective novel HIGHLY recomended!

JEFF d
EP fan

I can imagine Elvis' pride kept him from acknowledging where his career really was in 1968 and that he would hate hearing The Special referred to as "The Comeback Special."

Sure. No one likes being reminded of their artistic folly. But the sobriquet is well-deserved.

You mean all of those money making movies that millions of people have been thoroughly entertained watching? I have to look up the other thing that you said?

Elvis' artistic decline in the 1960s is a matter of historical record. So is his rebirth in late 1968.

Hope this helps.

I'm just finishing reading Careless Love... the last few chapters have been pretty depressing. I may get this book... hopefully it's a little more uplifting.

The ending is the same, unfortunately.

I wasn't aware that the 1968 'Singer Presents Elvis' TV show was ever referred to as "The Comeback', during Elvis's lifetime ; though, from what has been written above, it seems the word 'comeback' must have been used in some context, if not the expression "68 Comeback Special".

Yes, it was called the "Comeback Special" while he was alive. I never heard that he didn't like the term. It really shouldn't have been taken as a insult. It was a comeback in many different ways. It was a comeback to television after 8 years. It was a comeback to live performing, it was a comeback to singing his 50's hits and it was a comeback to his raw roots and singing true rock and roll again.

Yes he was still churning out several movies a year and still putting out records that sold but he was totally isolated from the public and this was his comeback to the public.

Hi Ivan! I just got thro reading GKs book as well... although very enjoyable it is a bit of a fluff piece. He totally glosses over talk of any drug use, which is understandable but still.... I also just finished reading Dr. Nicks book which is a total whitewash as far as im concerned! Lastly I also read for the first time Thompson/Coles book "The Death of Elvis" strangely enough i thought this book was a very good read, it basicly reads like a well written detective novel HIGHLY recomended!

JEFF d
EP fan

Hi Jeff! I'll look for that death of elvis book. I know the George Klein book has its shortcomings...but I still enjoyed many stories there

I wasn't aware that the 1968 'Singer Presents Elvis' TV show was ever referred to as "The Comeback', during Elvis's lifetime ; though, from what has been written above, it seems the word 'comeback' must have been used in some context, if not the expression "68 Comeback Special".

Yes, it was called the "Comeback Special" while he was alive. I never heard that he didn't like the term. It really shouldn't have been taken as a insult. It was a comeback in many different ways. It was a comeback to television after 8 years. It was a comeback to live performing, it was a comeback to singing his 50's hits and it was a comeback to his raw roots and singing true rock and roll again.

Yes he was still churning out several movies a year and still putting out records that sold but he was totally isolated from the public and this was his comeback to the public.

Do you (or does anyone else) have evidence to this effect ? I don't think it was officially available on video until after Elvis had died - some years after, I seem to recall. Home video recorders were still in their relative infancy back in 1977 in terms of how many homes had them. Equally, I don't think the Special had quite taken on its legendary status while Elvis was still alive - apart from on its initial broadcast, and repeat in the following year (USA) - mainly because it was not easily available to view.

I wasn't aware that the 1968 'Singer Presents Elvis' TV show was ever referred to as "The Comeback', during Elvis's lifetime ; though, from what has been written above, it seems the word 'comeback' must have been used in some context, if not the expression "68 Comeback Special".

Yes, it was called the "Comeback Special" while he was alive. I never heard that he didn't like the term. It really shouldn't have been taken as a insult. It was a comeback in many different ways. It was a comeback to television after 8 years. It was a comeback to live performing, it was a comeback to singing his 50's hits and it was a comeback to his raw roots and singing true rock and roll again.

Yes he was still churning out several movies a year and still putting out records that sold but he was totally isolated from the public and this was his comeback to the public.

Do you (or does anyone else) have evidence to this effect ? I don't think it was officially available on video until after Elvis had died - some years after, I seem to recall. Home video recorders were still in their relative infancy back in 1977 in terms of how many homes had them. Equally, I don't think the Special had quite taken on its legendary status while Elvis was still alive - apart from on its initial broadcast, and repeat in the following year (USA) - mainly because it was not easily available to view.

Others may have documented evidence but I was alive in 68 and remember it being called the "Comeback" special in the press and in books about Elvis and by fans through out the 70's. The special had taken on legendary status quite soon after it's last airing because it was talked about so much as far as Elvis's performing was concerned. It actually took on a mythical status. I think the Vic Calona bootleg "The 68 Comeback" was released when Elvis was still alive. Before video, film copies of the special were sold through bootleg dealers. I saw the special for the first time since it aired on TV in 1976 when our fan club screened a film copy of the special. It was pretty poor quality. I think someone had just filmed it from the TV years earlier. I also remember it just being called: "The Singer Special". I was only 7 when it aired on TV for the first time but I have a clear memory of watching it and liking the "leather parts". I really wasn't an Elvis fan yet so I just watched it with my family the way you watched any special.

Do you (or does anyone else) have evidence to this effect ? I don't think it was officially available on video until after Elvis had died - some years after, I seem to recall. Home video recorders were still in their relative infancy back in 1977 in terms of how many homes had them. Equally, I don't think the Special had quite taken on its legendary status while Elvis was still alive - apart from on its initial broadcast, and repeat in the following year (USA) - mainly because it was not easily available to view.

In Variety's Presley obituary (17 August 1977) they refer to the show as the 1968 "comeback" special, which might indicate that it was known by that name prior to that date.

Do you (or does anyone else) have evidence to this effect ? I don't think it was officially available on video until after Elvis had died - some years after, I seem to recall. Home video recorders were still in their relative infancy back in 1977 in terms of how many homes had them. Equally, I don't think the Special had quite taken on its legendary status while Elvis was still alive - apart from on its initial broadcast, and repeat in the following year (USA) - mainly because it was not easily available to view.

In Variety's Presley obituary (17 August 1977) they refer to the show as the 1968 "comeback" special, which might indicate that it was known by that name prior to that date.

That's what I was looking for, George, thanks.

Jokerlola - thanks for your comments. I thought I should say that I wasn't trying to disprove your previous comments in any way. I was 21 when the Special first aired on BBC TV (NYE 1969) but I had already seen it in Paris at a special fan club screening in the summer of that year. Having been an Elvis fan for 50 years, now, it's not always easy to be specific or accurate about certain events.

Jokerlola - thanks for your comments. I thought I should say that I wasn't trying to disprove your previous comments in any way. I was 21 when the Special first aired on BBC TV (NYE 1969) but I had already seen it in Paris at a special fan club screening in the summer of that year. Having been an Elvis fan for 50 years, now, it's not always easy to be specific or accurate about certain events.

Considering that the OEPFC screening of the Singer Special, at De Montfort Hall in Leicester on Sunday, September 21, 1969, did not happen, it is astounding to discover that Paris fans were successful that same summer. When and where in Paris did this screening occur? And how did it escape the attention of Rex Martin and all the members of the OEPFC?