1966: SHINDIG'S TRIBUTE TO THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KING

[Hard Rocker]

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On May 5, 1965 the American music show Shindig! devoted an entire episode to Elvis Presley, with all guests performing a cover of a popular Elvis song. The occasion was the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley “zooming to international stardom”.

Among the stars paying tribute to Elvis were Glen Campbell, Sonny and Cher, and Ray Peterson. It’s fair to say that some performances haven’t aged well (or weren’t up to much to begin with), but there are some strong renditions of the Elvis classics. A pre-fame Glen Campbell certainly gets into the spirit of the occasion, as does Jerry Lee’s sister Linda Gail. Joey Cooper also does well with the rockers.

Glen Campbell had played guitar on Elvis’ version of “What’d I Say” recorded in August, 1963 for the movie “Viva Las Vegas.” Campbell was one of the LA session musicians who were known as the Wrecking Crew.
Look out for James Burton playing lead guitar on “That’s All Right Mama.” Burton became lead guitarist in Elvis’ TCB band in 1969.
The Blossoms would later work with Elvis on his 1968 television special.

Ray Peterson had the original hit with “The Wonder of You” in 1959. Elvis’ version from 1970 was a huge hit in the UK, staying at number one for six weeks.
Linda Gail Lewis is the sister of Jerry Lee Lewis and she still performs to this day. She was just 17-years-old when this Shindig! appearance was recorded.

Jimmy Boyd had been married to Yvonne Craig, who co-starred with Elvis in the movies “It Happened at the World’s Fair” and “Kissin’ Cousins.”

Sonny and Cher had one top ten hit behind them in May 1965, but hadn’t yet had their massive hit with the classic “I Got You Babe” and were still relatively unknown. The duo were the original choice to star in the movie Speedway (1968), but the project was dropped when their first film failed at the box office. The lead roles were taken by Elvis Presley and Nancy Sinatra.

Joey Cooper was a regular member of the Shindig! house band known as the Shindogs. The band was put together by guitarist James Burton, who would later lead Elvis’ TCB band. Future TCB Band pianist, Glen D. Hardin, was also a member of the Shindogs.
Shindig! was produced by Jack Good who would later direct the West End stage show “Elvis the Musical.”

Joey Cooper – “Blue Suede Shoes”
The Blossoms – “Got A Lot O’ Livin’ To Do”
Glen Campbell – “Big Hunk O’ Love”
The Wellingtons – “I Need Your Love Tonight”
Sonny & Cher – “I Got Stung”
Chambers Brothers – “Hard Headed Woman”
Delaney Bramlett – “That’s Alright Mama”
Chambers Brothers, The Wellingtons & The Blossoms – “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck.”
Ray Peterson – “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
Linda Gail Lewis – “Don’t Be Cruel”
Willy Nelson – “Hound Dog”
Maria Ghava (Shindig dancer) – “Hey Memphis.”
Joey Cooper – “Mean Woman Blues”
Sonny and Cher – “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear”
Jimmy Boyd – “Hot Dog”
Ray Peterson – “It’s Now or Never.”
Chambers Brothers – “Jailhouse Rock”
The Shindig dancers – “Party”
Joey Cooper – “Crawfish”
Sonny and Cher – “All Shook Up.”
Glen Campbell – “Trouble”
Ray Peterson – “Heartbreak Hotel”
Cher – “Wooden Heart”
The Blossoms – “Shake Rattle & Roll.”
Jimmy Boyd – “Poor Boy”
Sonny and Cher – “Treat Me Nice”
Glen Campbell – “Surrender.”
Linda Gail Lewis – “Crying in the Chapel”
The Shindogs – “King Creole”
Joey Cooper – “Blue Suede Shoes.”

http://www.classicpopicons.com/shindig-tribute-to-elvis-presley/

[SenseiHoots]

This is really cool! I wasn't even aware that this was a thing haha. Thanks for posting!

[Elvis Fan70]

Awesome... hadn't watched that in years. Thanks for the wonderful
"flashback". b]

[cs2003]

I wonder if this special affected Elvis record sales. Did he have any chart re-entries after this show ?

[Hard Rocker]

Was the opening section the inspiration for the opening of the NBC Special in '68?

[jurasic1968]

Great show. Thanks a lot, Hard Rocker. What about a DVD in high quality with this show?

[Hard Rocker]

You are welcome my friend. I would be surprised if a DVD came out but I agree that it would be good to see.

[jurasic1968]

Maybe it's a silly question, but 10 years later (when Elvis was close to 40 years old) were broadcasted on TV some shows like this?

[r&b]

I remember seeing this when it aired and thought it was great Shindig did this. I also was hoping that maybe Elvis would step out on the stage or have a filmed segment saying thank you. The rumor at the time was that Jack Goode ( I think he was the producer) had tried to get Elvis for the anniversary but of course we all know that was never going to happen. As for DVDs, years ago various Shindig performances were put out on VHS (not this one) not complete shows but grouped by genre or performer(Brit Invasion, Jackie Wilson, Jerry Lee, etc). None of the Shindig shows have ever made it to DVD and thats a shame. They had some great performances on that show, all live if I remember correctly. No lip-synching.

[Juan Luis]

Was the opening section the inspiration for the opening of the NBC Special in '68?

I did a double take for a split second I thought...!

[elvis-fan]

Very cool... really liked Glen's version of Trouble... loved the old commercials too!

[drjohncarpenter]

1966: SHINDIG'S TRIBUTE TO THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KING

This "Shindig!" broadcast, a "Salute to Elvis' 10th Year in Show Business," did not air in 1966, but a year earlier:

5-05-1965 (Wed) from 8:30pm - 9:30pm on ABC-TV.

I'll wager Elvis watched, too. Note that two members of the Shindogs, the program's house band, were James Burton (guitar) and Glen Hardin (electric piano).





James Burton playing "That's All Right - ABC-TV's "Shindig!" - Wednesday, May 5, 1965



For me, the implication of this "Shindig!" episode is "Where did you go, Elvis? We miss you a lot, please come back to us." There is not a single piece of Elvis music from 1962-1965 in the program. Evidently, Presley did not listen to their pleas. Interestingly, one newspaper preview noted how Elvis was "conspicuously absent":





St. Petersburg Times - Wednesday, May 5, 1965



Also interesting is that the Chambers Brothers, the soul group who sang "Jailhouse Rock" in the show, worked two months later on Bob Dylan's sessions in New York for Highway 61 Revisited. They sang harmonies on an unreleased version of "Tombstone Blues."

"Shindig!" featured many top acts of the day but only lasted from September 1964 to January 1966. It's a shame this treasure trove of rock 'n' roll is not officially available.

[brian]

I was aware of this tribute but I remembered it being on Hullabaloo for some reason. It would've been cool if Elvis had appeared on shows like Shindig and the Hollywood palace during the mid 1960's as a musical guest. Thanks for posting this Hard rocker. P.S. Linda Gail Lewis sings Crying in the chapel.

[drjohncarpenter]

I was aware of this tribute but I remembered it being on Hullabaloo for some reason. It would've been cool if Elvis had appeared on shows like Shindig and the Hollywood palace during the mid 1960's as a musical guest. Thanks for posting this Hard rocker. P.S. Linda Gail Lewis sings Crying in the chapel.

Segments of the program are on YouTube, but this latest upload seems to be the entire program. Hope it stays up for a while.

[brian]

Maybe it's a silly question, but 10 years later (when Elvis was close to 40 years old) were broadcasted on TV some shows like this?

They still had some variety shows on television during 1974 and 1975.

[drjohncarpenter]

Maybe it's a silly question, but 10 years later (when Elvis was close to 40 years old) were broadcasted on TV some shows like this?

They still had some variety shows on television during 1974 and 1975.

Whatever shows were on the air in 1975, I doubt anyone was thinking of a "Salute to Elvis' 20th Year in Show Business." Again, the 1965 "Shindig!" broadcast feels very much like the music world begging Elvis to come back and be great again. Not a single song performed from the 1962-1965 period is just so telling. Ten years later, no one was begging anymore.

[brian]

Oh Jurasic meant tributes to Elvis. No.

[mike edwards66]

Excellent work finding this, Hard Rocker. Funny, not one of 'em can touch Elvis on his songs. You'd have thought they would have knocked it out of the park, but quite tame.

[brian]

I don't know whenever they have had these type of tributes to Elvis mainly after he died they always tend to skew towards his earlier work. It's true that Elvis wasn't having much success by 1966 but I look at it as a nice lighthearted tribute. It would have been nice if Elvis had some more recent hits at that time besides ''Crying in the chapel'' but even if he did those songs could have been ignored in favor of his earlier influential work.

[brian]

It was something different for this show to do covers of album material instead of just the hit singles. I liked that.

[Hard Rocker]

Again, the 1965 "Shindig!" broadcast feels very much like the music world begging Elvis to come back and be great again.

Fortunately, the Comeback was gearing up and would soon be underway. But what the show demonstrates is that the position some hold that Presley had somehow fallen off the planet and had been forgotten/no longer respected is typical bunkum. But we already knew that.

[drjohncarpenter]

It was something different for this show to do covers of album material instead of just the hit singles. I liked that.

Hmm. I agree, although it wasn't a whole bunch. The majority performed were hit singles recorded between 1954 and 1961.

"Where did you go, Elvis? We miss you a lot, please come back to us."

The 7 LP cuts heard on the show, out of 28 total Presley tunes:

Blossoms “Got A Lot O’ Livin’ To Do”
Joey Cooper “Mean Woman Blues”
Jimmy Boyd “Hot Dog”
Shindig Dancers “Party”
Joey Cooper “Crawfish”
Jimmy Boyd “Poor Boy”
Shindogs “King Creole”

Note that all of these tracks also appeared on 7" RCA EPs, which on occasion landed on the singles charts.

And, again, notice that nothing from the 1962-1965 period is done, not even "Do The Clam," which some insist was "a number one smash for The King in Japan back in '65."

[brian]

They could have had someone perform ''Return to sender, Devil in Disguise and maybe Ask me.

[Mike Windgren]

Hi there!! .

Nice tribute and shown in 1965 an important year in Elvis career, he was everywhere: TV, Cinemas, press etc! . Bye for now .

RCA proudly claim in a 1966 New Year's Day telegram to the Colonel that 1965 had been Elvis' best year to date beating out even 1956.

[brian]

RCA was full of crap.