It was a daring move, and it almost didn't happen. For years, he'd been exiled in Hollywood – making movies instead of touring, as the Beatles blew up and rock got bigger than ever – so the show was a long-overdue return to pure performing for the singer. The hour-long broadcast, then dubbed Elvis and now known as the '68 Comeback Special', proved that the then–33-year-old still had swagger. He was dressed head-to-toe in black leather, and best of all, his voice sounded powerful: He wailed 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy' and other hits like it was 1956. When he appeared onscreen, it was with a piercing stare and a curled lip. If Elvis was nervous at all, though, it didn't show. He just had been out of the public eye for a long time'. 'We played a couple of songs, and it got loose after a while, and it turned out fine. Fontana tells Rolling Stone, reflecting on the 1968 television special that relaunched Elvis' career. 'Elvis was hardly ever nervous – but he was then', drummer D.J. Howe and Binder met with Elvis later that week, and told the singer they would prepare all the details of the special, and have them ready by the time he returned from his vacations in Hawaii. A meeting was arranged with Parker, in which Elvis' manager assured that the team would be given full creative control, while he stressed that the publishing rights to the material had to be under Elvis' name. He insisted to work with Elvis, since he thought Binder had similar production methods. Howe met Elvis during the 1950s, while he worked at Radio Recorders as an audio engineer. Initially reluctant to direct the special, Binder was convinced by his associate, Bones Howe. Finkel felt that the addition of Binder would refreshen Elvis' image, and that the director would be able to re-introduce him to the new audiences. Show and worked for NBC in Hullabaloo, as well as for the Petula Clark television special aired by the network. Binder had directed the concert film T.A.M.I. To reflect the new direction Elvis' career was intended to take, Finkel thought of director Steve Binder. He assured Finkel he was ready to produce a new material, different to anything he had previously made, while he remarked his lack of interest in Parker's opinion. Finkel received Parker's approval upon agreeing to his exigences: the show was to be centered only in Elvis, while enough material for a soundtrack album and a Christmas single was to be recorded. Finkel was then able to persuade Singer, NBC and Parker to alter the original concept of the show. He felt it was another scheme by Parker, and was angered by the concept of singing Christmas carols on national television. His opinion started to change after he began talks with the special's producer, Bob Finkel. The US$1,250,000 package included the financing of a motion picture (for US$850,000), its soundtrack (for US$25,000), the television special (US$250,000) and US$125,000 reserved for the costs related to a re-run. The special was included in the frame of the features 'Singer Presents.', sponsored by the Singer Corporation.Įlvis' initial reaction to the special was negative. Parker proposed Sarnoff a deal regarding a Christmas television special. In October 1967, Elvis Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker approached West Coast vice president of the National Broadcasting Company, Tom Sarnoff.
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