When describing Elvis and his indelible aura as an American Icon, words somehow cannot properly encapsulate the man, the myth, the legend. You either get it or you don't and if you don't that's your loss. Reading Greil Marcus's article Elvis: Presliad was a wonderful reminder of what made Elvis Presley just "Elvis." And its the passage detailing what would be known as Elvis 1968 comeback special that was absolutely riveting A couple years ago when they released the Elvis miniseries, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers it coincided with the remastered release of the Elvis 68' special and Elvis Aloha from Hawaii TV special from the70's both of which my family had to have, which were absolutely wonderful. But knowing the magnitude of pressure that was on Elvis in 68' makes re watching that specific special truly magical. Knowing how utterly controlling Col Tom Parker was and his iron clad grip on Elvis's career makes knowing how difficult it was for Elvis and television producer Steve Binder to say "no" and steer the show away from a hackneyed Christmas special. Marcus outlines how much truly was at stake for Elvis at this time in his life, The ten year absence from performing live, the endless parade of maudlin films, and how with this one show he was "putting everything on the line, risking his comforts, and trying to start over." Elvis himself realized that he had become a parody of himself, a bad joke, and that if this show failed, it would be the end of his career. The very notion of so much hanging on one show, is something that will never happen for any performer again. Not in the age of infinite media outlets, cable, Internet, etc. No single performer could ever rise above it all and single handily resurrect their career in such a spectacular fashion. It will never happen again. What Marcus so eloquently points out is how that special humanized Elvis. Siting in the round with his band mates, playing stripped down raw versions of of his songs, Elvis was able to talk joke, and let years worth of "resentments pour out." Poignant is Elvis's recollection of how in 1955, in Florida he was forced to sing without moving, so as not to rile up the teenagers. So he sang moving only his little finger, and even though he joked about it, you could see in his eyes the pain and sorrow it caused him. Never before have I seen anything on TV or otherwise that comes close to presenting a celebrity in such an honest, unpretentious manner.
Another high point in the article is Marcus acknowledging the one Christmas song Elvis did sing which wasn't a standard by any convention which was Blue Christmas. "Elvis sings low and throaty, snapping the strings on his guitar, until one of his pals cries out "Play it Dirty,." Playing it dirty on a Christmas song. Only Elvis could do that and get away with it.
By the end of the special Elvis comes out wearing white, and he begins to sing If I Can Dream. For myself I interrupted this as Elvis essentially being reborn. Wearing black leather Elvis took the viewer on a rough and tumble journey of his past, only to come out purged of his past, embracing the realities of the future and acknowledging the most tumultuous year in Americas history as well. And through the course of him singing you feel that he was coming to terms with himself and his own legend, in a perfect moment in time where whatever happened in the past or whatever would happen in the future didn't matter. And by the end you realize that you were witness to something perfect in sense.
