I recently saw the Netflix documentary about the '68 Comeback Special. Some great cameos by Bruce Springsteen, which was expected, and Conan O'Brien and Billy Corgan, which was unexpected. The most moving for me was from Robbie Robertson, he was clearly quite ill, but who perked up when talking about how great Elvis was. The most tantalizing bit was when Robbie said that he got together with Dylan to watch the the Comeback Special when it originally aired...and then the director cuts to another clip! I was hanging on Robbie's every word--knowing that he'll never speak another--and waiting to hear what he and (especially) Dylan thought in the moment. But it fell on the cutting room floor. Ah well, we still have "Baby What You Want Me To Do" and "If I Can Dream" from the Comeback Special, which tells us all we really need to know about why Elvis matters so much to so many, then and now.
Still need to watch that documentary! Sounds like a frustrating moment with the edit, but I like the mystery of not knowing what they thought of the film! That's hilarious. Yeah that version of Baby What You Want Me To Do is really something
Memphis round 2? 🫢🤞🏻🙂↕️
Let's do it!
https://open.substack.com/pub/johnnogowski/p/there-was-only-one-king-elvis?r=7pf7u&utm_medium=ios
Thanks for sharing this, John! I really enjoyed reading it
There was no kind of music he couldn't sing with conviction, and no message in his songs more obvious than here.
Completely agree with all of this!
My intro to Elvis was through his films. I was obsessed by him and Ann-Margret. I recently rewatched The Comeback Special. Just incredible. Thanks
They can get quite a bad rap, really, can't they, but there's a lot of fun to be had with his movies and they're such a magnetic pairing!
I recently saw the Netflix documentary about the '68 Comeback Special. Some great cameos by Bruce Springsteen, which was expected, and Conan O'Brien and Billy Corgan, which was unexpected. The most moving for me was from Robbie Robertson, he was clearly quite ill, but who perked up when talking about how great Elvis was. The most tantalizing bit was when Robbie said that he got together with Dylan to watch the the Comeback Special when it originally aired...and then the director cuts to another clip! I was hanging on Robbie's every word--knowing that he'll never speak another--and waiting to hear what he and (especially) Dylan thought in the moment. But it fell on the cutting room floor. Ah well, we still have "Baby What You Want Me To Do" and "If I Can Dream" from the Comeback Special, which tells us all we really need to know about why Elvis matters so much to so many, then and now.
Still need to watch that documentary! Sounds like a frustrating moment with the edit, but I like the mystery of not knowing what they thought of the film! That's hilarious. Yeah that version of Baby What You Want Me To Do is really something
The first artist I remember, too, and foundational to all that would come after. Love this.
Glad you liked it. No wonder we've both found music to be so important in our lives when Elvis was our starting point!
Oh this is lovely ❤️
Thank you so much!