Elvis – ’68 Comeback Special Edition

Elvis – ’68 Comeback Special Edition / 2006 RCA / 94 Minutes / http://www.elvis.com / http://www.rca.com /

Not being born until fifteen years after this television special was aired, it becomes kind of hard for me to gauge the impact that “’68 Comeback” had on the fans of Elvis, and more importantly, all individuals that were able to watch it during its original airing. There are quite a few extras that individuals can view on this DVD. For those fans that need everything to be the same as it was back in 1968, the original version of the DVD is free to watch.

For those individuals that need to have everything Elvis, there is a new “remix” of the original show. Pieces that were edited due to time constraints are placed back into the special and a full view of what the director of the special had in mind is shown to Elvis fans for the first time ever. More so, there are a few other special things that individuals can dig when they put the DVD into their player; the video footage present in the bonus section seems more like a behind the scenes more than anything. I understand that this special was played on network TV, but the audio still holds up to what is put up on television in 2006. The audio may be almost forty years old, but all the power and nuance in Elvis’ voice shines through. I understand that the original mix was remixed in stereo, but there is only so much audio information that the audio engineers had to work with.

To make each note of Elvis’ voice sound so fresh and vibrant shows that there was something done right when the original show was recorded. Another strength to this DVD has to be a printout of what tracks are where, and what section these tracks were originally in. Individuals do not need to go and search through the DVD to find their favorite songs. Sony really has made it easy to love this DVD. Individuals can have all of the Elvis records and yet not have the retooled versions that were played during “’68 Comeback”. For example, the version of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” is given a fullness by the infusion of sixties styles of orchestration and backing choruses. The smart thing that was done with the original special was cutting down the length of the tracks performed. By putting them all into a ninety to a hundred twenty second length, the energy of the performance is made even more impressive. Another strength to this DVD (and the original show) is not overdubbing some of the flubs that Elvis has during eir performances. For example, the very audible flub during “Jailhouse Rock” shows that (however good that ey was), Elvis was a human. By screwing up here, the impressive nature of eir voice is made even more impressive by the fact that ey was not perfect. This is the Elvis DVD that one needs to pick up to see some of the live allure of Elvis right when ey was at the high point of eir creative life.

Rating: 7.0/10