Elvis Presley - Complete ’68 Comeback Special

Comeback’s comeback comeback not so special

Yes yes yes… it was Elvis’ comeback: not the Christmas special they envisioned, but a rollicking mix of set pieces and informal jams with Presley’s first band that, one year after the Summer Of Love, reminded the world of Elvis’ importance. Let loose in a leather suit cribbed from Jim Morrison, the ’68 Comeback Special returned the slipping crown to Elvis’ bonce as the hippies threatened to bury it in an ever-convoluted late 60s psych grave.

SonyBMG aren’t ones to let us forget this, either. In 1998 they gave us a 2-CD set of the full broadcast show and outtakes; 2004 a 3-DVD set of the two recorded “sit down” and “stand up” shows, and every burp and fart in between; 2006 a single DVD giving us the essentials again. Enough already… But 40 years since its original broadcast, the marketing possibilities won’t let them leave off. Now we have the aforesaid shows: broadcast, “sit downs”, “stand ups”, plus two rehearsals on CD. Lovely. Thanks. Heard it. Go buy some true outtakes from the Follow That Dream label and, as you’ll probably have the 3-DVD set, just pop it on in the background and go about your daily business while waiting for the inevitable Aloha From Hawaii equivalent.

2 stars 2 stars

SonyBMG | tbc

Reviewed by Jason Draper
<< Back to Issue 354

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