Menu

Elvis Presley’s Groundbreaking ’68 NBC-TV Comeback Special Celebrated with Definitive 50th Anniversary Box Set Release

October 23, 2018

Deluxe 5CD, 2 Blu-ray Disc Set Collects All-Known Audio and Video from The Special in One Package For The First Time

Available Friday, November 30

The 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s groundbreaking 1968 NBC-TV “comeback” special will be commemorated with the release of a deluxe box set by RCA/Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, on Friday, November 30. The set arrives just days before the anniversary of the world premiere broadcast of the original special on December 3, 2018.

Elvis Presley – ’68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary Edition) is the definitive chronicle of one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll performances ever televised: Elvis Presley at the peak of his powers. For the first time ever, all previously-released audio and newly-restored video from the taping of the special will be available in one package – including unused performances and studio outtakes that spotlight the real Elvis.   The package contains an entire disc showcasing the legendary sessions for the special recorded with Elvis and the Wrecking Crew.

The box set is available for pre-order now: https://Elvis.lnk.to/68ComebackSpecialPR

Fans who pre-order ’68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary Edition) from Shop Graceland will receive an exclusive gift with purchase; a ’68 Comeback Special 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Coin (while supplies last). Pre-order from Shop Graceland here: https://Elvis.lnk.to/68ComebackSpecialPR/graceland

This 5CD, 2 Blu-ray disc deluxe package also includes an 80-page book featuring rare photographs and ephemera and a new oral history on the special, crafted from interviews conducted for Thom Zimny’s 2018 documentary, “Elvis Presley: The Searcher.” The newly-restored Blu-ray video was also overseen by Zimny. The content from the box set will be released digitally as separate audio and video products on November 30th.

Also, being released on November 30th is the 2LP vinyl presentation of The King In The Ring. Originally released on vinyl for the first time earlier this year in a limited edition run for Record Store Day, this 2LP set showcases the standout, intimate “sit down” sets from the ’68 special. These laid-back live performances were recorded in the round before a small audience and featured a powerful ensemble, including guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana, both part of Elvis’ original classic backing band.

The anniversary of this electrifying moment in rock n’ roll history will continue into 2019 when NBC and Ken Ehrlich Productions team up for a 2-hour primetime television tribute to the original special.

The 50th Anniversary of the Elvis Comeback Special will feature an all-star group of music superstars recreating the spectacle – even the staging – of that legendary night of song. In addition to the musical performances, the production will include rare Elvis footage, outtakes and interviews from those involved in the original ’68 Comeback Special.

The ’68 Comeback Special (at the time titled “Singer Presents…ELVIS”) aired on December 3, 1968 and was a pivotal broadcast event that upped-the-ante on Elvis’ career, the evolution of pop culture and the history of television. By 1968, prior to the broadcast, Elvis was no longer seen by the mainstream as the atomic-powered rock and roll pioneer. Since his discharge from the United States Army in 1960, Elvis’ career path careened through a string of low-budget (though often successful) formulaic films while the rock music scene was exploding with innovation, experimentation, and an urgency to complement the turbulent era. Elvis hadn’t performed in public since 1961 and hadn’t appeared on television since 1960.

The special, recorded over several sessions in June 1968, presented Elvis in a variety of settings, from spectacular production numbers (“Nothingville,” “Saved,” “Guitar Man,” “Little Egypt,” “Big Boss Man,” “Let Yourself Go”) to the intimate “sit-down” performances of classic Elvis hits, reuniting the artist with Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana, the guitarist and drummer who’d played alongside Elvis on his earliest records and shows.  The black leather “sit-down” and “stand-up” sequences provided a retrospective of Elvis’ career to that point, highlighted with the new song “Memories,” written by Mac Davis specifically for the show.  The special’s transcendent closing number was Presley’s now-classic, emotionally fueled performance of “If I Can Dream,” an anthemic new song penned especially for Elvis and the special by W. Earl Brown.

The special was the most-viewed television program in America the week it aired and firmly reestablished Elvis as a major musical and cultural force.  “I think the ’68 Special gave him the confidence to get on the road again, knowing that people accepted him,” said Priscilla Presley.  “That show was so successful that he just knew this is what he wanted to do, go back and be with an audience.”

The success of the ’68 Special reignited Presley’s career in a major way.  Shortly after the special aired, Elvis entered American Sound Studio in Memphis for the sessions that generated “Suspicious Minds,” one of his most enduring #1 hits, and his country-soul masterpiece From Elvis In Memphis (which included the chart-topping “In The Ghetto”). 1969 saw Elvis return to live performance with a record-breaking engagement at The International Hotel in Las Vegas, kickstarting a regular run of live shows that lasted for the rest of his career.

For an in-depth behind the scenes look at the making of the ’68 Comeback Special, Director/Producer Steve Binder has written the new book, “Comeback ’68 / Elvis: The Story Of The Elvis Special.” Now available at ShopElvis.com.  According to Binder, “The only time in network history, I think, that in prime time a variety special for a star like Elvis had no guest stars. He was the star, period.”

“I never saw Elvis perform,” said Priscilla Presley.  “I only saw him for the first time in the ’68 Special. And I could not believe what I saw. It was like, oh my gosh, I get it. I get it. To actually see him on stage, walk out there, and own that stage. I’d never seen anyone control an audience like that in my life, with his magnetism, his energy, his look. It was like he rehearsed that show all his life.”

For millions of fans, including a young Bruce Springsteen, the Elvis 68 Comeback Special was a life-changing event.  “I remember I waited for weeks for the ’68 Special,” Springsteen recollected recently. “I knew it was coming. I can remember exactly where our TV was set up in the dining room, the exact place I was sitting.  I mean, it’s one of those things that’s imprinted on my memory forever.”

www.elvisthemusic.com
www.elvis.com
www.legacyrecordings.com

Elvis Presley – ’68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary Edition)
CD1: ELVIS (NBC-TV Special) original album and outtakes
CD2: First “sit-down” and “stand-up” shows – June 27 and 29, 1968
CD3: Second “sit-down” and “stand-up” shows – June 27 and 29, 1968
CD4: First and second rehearsals in Elvis’ dressing room – June 24 and 25, 1968
CD5: The Wrecking Crew Sessions: studio outtakes from the special – June 20-23, 1968
BD1-2: Original and extended cuts of television special, complete “sit-down” and “stand-up” shows and outtakes

ELVIS PRESLEY – ’68 COMEBACK SPECIAL (50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
CD 1
The Original Album

  1. Trouble / Guitar Man (Opening)
  2. Medley:

Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
Baby, What You Want Me To Do
Dialogue; Medley: Heartbreak Hotel / Hound Dog / All Shook Up
Can’t Help Falling In Love
Jailhouse Rock
Dialogue; Love Me Tender

  1. Medley:

Dialogue; Where Could I Go But To The Lord / Up Above My Head / Saved

  1. Medley:

Dialogue; Blue Christmas (5:34)
Dialogue; One Night

  1. Memories
  2. Medley:

Nothingville / Dialogue; Big Boss Man / Guitar Man / Little Egypt / Trouble / Guitar Man

  1. If I Can Dream

Bonus Cuts

  1. It Hurts Me (splice/edit of part 1 – take 7, part 2 – take 7 & part 1 – take 6)
  2. Let Yourself Go (splice/edit of part 1 – take 1 & part 2 – take 2)
  3. Memories
  4. If I Can Dream

 

CD 2
First “Sit Down” show

  1. That’s All Right
  2. Heartbreak Hotel
  3. Love Me
  4. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  5. Blue Suede Shoes
  6. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  7. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
  8. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
  9. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  10. Blue Christmas
  11. Trying To Get To You
  12. One Night
  13. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  14. One Night
  15. Memories

 
First “Stand Up” show

  1. Heartbreak Hotel
  2. Hound Dog
  3. All Shook Up
  4. Can’t Help Falling In Love
  5. Jailhouse Rock
  6. Don’t Be Cruel
  7. Blue Suede Shoes
  8. Love Me Tender
  9. Trouble
  10. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  11. If I Can Dream

 
CD 3
Second “Sit Down” show

  1. Heartbreak Hotel
  2. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  3. Introductions
  4. That’s All Right
  5. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
  6. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  7. Blue Suede Shoes
  8. One Night
  9. Love Me
  10. Trying To Get To You
  11. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
  12. Santa Claus Is Back In Town
  13. Blue Christmas
  14. Tiger Man
  15. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  16. Memories

 
Second “Stand Up” show

  1. Heartbreak Hotel
  2. Hound Dog
  3. All Shook Up
  4. Can’t Help Falling In Love
  5. Jailhouse Rock
  6. Don’t Be Cruel
  7. Blue Suede Shoes
  8. Love Me Tender
  9. Trouble/Guitar Man
  10. Trouble/Guitar Man
  11. If I Can Dream

 

CD 4
First rehearsal

  1. I Got A Woman
  2. Blue Moon / Young Love / Oh, Happy Day
  3. When It Rains It Really Pours
  4. Blue Christmas
  5. Are You Lonesome Tonight? / That’s My Desire
  6. That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
  7. Peter Gunn Theme
  8. Love Me
  9. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  10. Blue Christmas / Santa Claus Is Back In Town

 
Second rehearsal

  1. Danny Boy
  2. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  3. Love Me
  4. Tiger Man
  5. Santa Claus Is Back In Town
  6. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
  7. One Night
  8. Blue Christmas
  9. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  10. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  11. Blue Moon Of Kentucky

 
CD 5
The Wrecking Crew Sessions

  1. Nothingville (Guitar Man’s Evil #1) – takes 5 & 6
  2. Guitar Man (Guitar Man’s Evil #1) – take 2
  3. Let Yourself Go, part 1 (Guitar Man’s Evil #2) – take 5 & 7/M
  4. Let Yourself Go, part 2 (Guitar Man’s Evil #3) – take 7/M
  5. Guitar Man (Escape #1, fast) – takes 1, 2 & 5
  6. Big Boss Man (Escape #3) – take 2
  7. It Hurts Me, part 1 (Escape #4) – take 5
  8. It Hurts Me, part 2 (After Karate #1) – take 3
  9. Guitar Man (After Karate #2) – take 1
  10. Little Egypt (After Karate #2) – take 6
  11. Trouble / Guitar Man (After Karate #3) – take 2
  12. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child / Where Could I Go But To The Lord (Gospel #1) – rehearsal & take 1 (5:23)
  13. Up Above My Head / Saved (Gospel #2) – takes 4 & 7
  14. Saved (Gospel #3) – takes 2 & 4
  15. Trouble / Guitar Man (Opening) – takes 6 & 7
  16. If I Can Dream – take 1
  17. If I Can Dream – takes 2, 3 & 4
  18. Memories – takes 3 & 4/vocal overdub #1
  19. Let Yourself Go (closing instrumental)

 

Blu-ray Disc 1:
Elvis NBC TV Special originally broadcast on December 3, 1968
Black Leather Sit-Down Show #1 – June 27, 1968
Black Leather Sit-Down Show #2 – June 27, 1968
Black Leather Stand-Up Show #1 – June 29, 1968
Black Leather Stand-Up Show #2 – June 29, 1968

Blu-ray Disc 2:
Trouble/Guitar Man TV Show Opener – June 30, 1968 – All Takes and Raw Components
If I Can Dream TV Show Closer – June 30, 1968 – All Takes
Huh-Huh-Huh Promo – June 30, 1968
Elvis Closing Credits Without Credit Roll – June 30, 1968
If I Can Dream Special Music Video 2004 – June 30, 1968
Gospel Production Number – All Takes and Raw Components
Guitar Man Production Number – All Takes and Raw Components
Blu-ray Special Feature Re-Cut

Musicians
Vocal & guitar: Elvis Presley

June 20-23 & 29
The Wrecking Crew:
Guitar: Tommy Tedesco
Guitar: Mike Deasy
Guitar: Al Casey
Bass & keyboards: Larry Knechtel
Bass: Charles Berghofer
Piano: Don Randi
Drums: Hal Blaine
Percussion: John Cyr
Percussion: Elliot Franks
Bongos: Frank DeVito
Harmonica: Tommy Morgan
The NBC Orchestra conducted by Billy Goldenberg

June 20-23
Vocals: The Blossoms: Darlene Love, Fanita James, Jean King
Vocals: Julie Rinker, B. J. Baker, Frank Howren, Bill Lee, Gene Merlino, Thurl Ravenscroft, Bill Brown, Joe Eich, Elaine Black, Dean Parker, Jack Gruberman, Sally Stevens, Jackie Ward, Ronald Hicklin, Tom Bahler, Mitch Gordon

June 24 & 25
Guitar: Elvis Presley
Guitar: Scotty Moore
Percussion: D. J. Fontana
And friends

June 27
Guitar: Elvis Presley
Guitar: Scotty Moore
Guitar & Vocals: Charlie Hodge
Guitar case used as Drums: D. J. Fontana
Percussion: Alan Fortas
Tambourine: Lance Legault

ELVIS PRESLEY – THE KING IN THE RING 2LP
Disc 1, Side A

  1. That’s All Right
  2. Heartbreak Hotel
  3. Love Me
  4. Baby What You Want Me To Do
  5. Blue Suede Shoes
  6. Baby What You Want Me To Do
  7. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy

 
Disc 1, Side B

  1. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
  2. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  3. Blue Christmas
  4. Trying To Get To You
  5. One Night
  6. Baby What You Want Me To Do
  7. One Night
  8. Memories

 
Disc 2, Side C

  1. Heartbreak Hotel
  2. Baby What You Want Me To Do
  3. Introductions
  4. That’s All Right
  5. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
  6. Baby What You Want Me To Do
  7. Blue Suede Shoes
  8. One Night

Disc 2, Side D

  1. Love Me
  2. Trying To Get To You
  3. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
  4. Santa Claus Is Back In Town
  5. Blue Christmas
  6. Tiger Man
  7. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  8. Memories