Behind ‘The Comeback Special’

Thirty summers ago, I was in Los Angeles, on the writing staff of a CBS TV special about Rolling Stone. The director was Steve Binder, who’d also directed the “Comeback Special,” as Elvis’ NBC show, which aired on December 3, 1968, was widely known. It’s one of my all-time favorite, and it was a bonus to be able to hear, from the director himself, about that landmark program.

It really was a comeback. Elvis was mired in mediocre movies and their attendant mediocre music, and he went against the advice of his protective manager, Col. Tom Parker, to dress the way he did (in tight black leather suit) and to do what he did, roaming a boxing ring of a stage, jamming with his old musical sidekicks, and singing to his fans, up close and personal.

Binder told me that Elvis, who’d become an anomaly of sorts in the era of the Beatles and the late ‘60s rock scene, was “totally frightened” while doing the show, but that he loved the results. “He said the experience was like a breath of fresh air. He told me it re-inspired him creatively, that he would never record another record or make another movie unless he totally believed in it.”