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Elvis biography - 1968
February 1, 1968
Priscilla gives birth to Lisa Marie Presley, their only child, nine months to the day after her marriage to Elvis. It is a time of great happiness.
March 1968
"Stay Away, Joe" opens to mixed reviews and doesn't do well at the box office, though like all of Elvis's films, it makes a profit
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Soundtrack recording and filming for Elvis's twenty-eighth movie, "Live a Little, Love a Little". It is a sexy, more adult kind of comedy/melodrama. It, like "Stay Away, Joe" is a real departure from the typical Presley film. It is yet another breath of fresh air.
June 1968
"Speedway" is released nationally and doesn't do very well. The soundtrack album goes only as far up the chart as number 82.
Mid-to-Late June, 1968
Elvis rehearses for the taping of his 1968 television special. A press conference is held on June 25th. Videotaping is done June 27, 28, 29, and 30. This is Elvis's first performance before a live audience since the U.S.S. Arizona benefit in March 1961. The name of the show is "Elvis", but it would come to be known as the "'68 Comeback Special".
In the '68 special, in a studio and before a live audience, what are known as the BURBANK SESSIONS, Elvis is reunited with two of his original fifties band members, guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana (Bill Black had died.). They sit together on stage in the round, along with s everal other friends and associates of Elvis for an informal jam session. Parts of this session are woven throughout the special. There are also sequences of Elvis taking the stage alone and performing many of his greatest hit rock and roll songs and ballads, such as "Hound Dog", "Don't Be Cruel", "Jailhouse Rock", "All Shook Up", "Love Me Tender", and "Can't Help Falling in Love" Along with singing the old hits, Elvis introduces a new song that would become another classic, "Memories." One can speculate that he poured years of frustration into the performance of these songs, along with the nervous energy of appearing live for the first time in so long. His natural talent, charisma, and sensuality had not been diminished by Hollywood or by the passage of time. In fact, he looked, sounded, moved, and grooved better than he ever had. At 33, he was better than he had ever been. Better than anybody in the business. For most of the show Elvis wears a two-piece black leather outfit specially designed for the special, a look evocative of the era of James Dean, of Marlon Brando type motorcycle films of the fifties, and of Elvis' early days, the era when he had first been proclaimed the "king of rock and roll."
In the jam session segment, Elvis speaks of the gospel origins of rock and roll. This segues into the gospel music portion of the show, which has Elvis wearing a two-piece burgundy suit, singing "Where Could I Go But to the Lord" , "Up Above My Head", and "I'm Saved", backed by the black female group, The Blossoms, and accompanied by a troupe of dancers - all of this for a rousing gospel production number.
Toward the end of the special Elvis appears in a lengthy production number that, through song, dance, karate, and various situations, traces a young man's journey from a struggling guitar player, through all the challenges, dangers and compromises on the path to his dreams of success and superstardom. Something is lost along the way. Once the dream is achieved, the man realizes that he remains unfulfilled, that he has abandoned his true self. He decides to return to his roots, where he was happiest. The parallels to Elvis's own life are clear and deliberate, and his doing the '68 special represents his own return to his true self, to his roots.
At the end of the special, Elvis appears alone, wearing a simple white two-piece suit, standing in front of the towering backdrop of red lights that spell Elvis, and sings a brand new song, specially written for the show, called "If I Can Dream". The writers had created the song based on conversations with Elvis about his own thoughts about what was happening in the turbulent sixties, his feelings about life, and his hopes for mankind. It represents one of the few times Elvis would sing a "message" song, and it stands as one of the most brilliant moments of his singing career. It is yet another classic, and the lyrics are as timely today as they were in 1968.
July/August, 1968
Elvis records the theme and does filming for his twenty-ninth movie, "Charro!", a dramatic western, again a very different kind of role. Elvis grows a beard for this. The theme song will be heard over the opening credits, but there will be no other Elvis songs used. This will be the first and only film in which Elvis does not sing on camera.
October-November 1968
Elvis records the soundtrack and does filming for his thirtieth movie,"The Trouble with Girls". He sings in this one, but in very natural situations for a change. It is quite a bit different from the typical Elvis films.
"Live a Little, Love a Little" opens in the U.S. in October and doesn't do very well.
"If I Can Dream", from the soon-to-be aired '68 special hits number 12 on the pop singles chart in November, making it Elvis's biggest single since 1965.
December 3, 1968
"Elvis", the 1968 television special first airs on NBC-TV on December 3, 1968 and is one of this biggest television hits of the year, receiving rave reviews from the public and the critics alike. The soundtrack album will go to number eight on the pop chart. Elvis' career is to take a dramatic and exciting turn.
This proved a decisive moment in his career. He abandoned his sound of the last few years and decided to be the King of Rock 'n' Roll once again. This Elvis TV Special has since become legendary as one of the most celebrated moments in pop broadcasting history. The show was not merely good but an absolute revelation, with the King emerging as if he had been frozen in time for 10 years. His determination to recapture past glories oozed from every movement and was discernible in every aside. With his leather jacket and acoustic guitar strung casually round his neck, he resembled nothing less than the consummate pop idol of the 50s who had entranced a generation. To add authenticity to the proceedings he was accompanied by his old sidekicks Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana.
There was no sense of self-parody in the show as Presley joked about his famous surly curled-lip movement and even heaped passing ridicule on his endless stream of bad movies. The music concentrated heavily on his 50s classics but, significantly, there was a startling finale courtesy of the passsionate 'If I Can Dream' in which he seemed to sum up the frustration of a decade in a few short lines. The critical plaudits heaped upon Elvis in the wake of his television special prompted the singer to undertake his most significant recordings in years.
December 1968
Elvis wraps shooting on "The Trouble with Girls".