THE KING'S COMEBACK
TWO EXHAUSTIVE DVD SETS CAPTURE A MATURE ELVIS PRESLEY IN PEAK FORM
By Steve Marinucci
Published July 2, 2004, San Jose (CA.) Mercury News
OK, here's a little test: Picture in your mind your most familiar image of Elvis Presley.
. . .
No doubt, some of you are recalling the ''Hound Dog'' Elvis, as Presley looked in 1956 when his raw power and sex appeal had just been discovered. Others see the GI Elvis, in uniform just after his discharge from the Army, as he appeared on Frank Sinatra's 1960 TV show. Still others picture the ''Blue Hawaii'' (1961) Elvis, draped in leis and flanked by palm trees and hula girls. A few probably see the bloated Elvis from the 1977 CBS-TV special, just before his death.
But it's likely that a lot of Presley fans imagine the leather-clad Elvis from the 1968 NBC-TV ''Comeback Special'' or the jumpsuited Elvis from the 1973 ''Aloha From Hawaii'' show, which was broadcast all over the world.
Now, both these shows are available in deluxe-edition DVD sets from BMG Strategic Marketing. Priced at $49.98 for the ''Comeback Special'' and $29.98 for ''Aloha From Hawaii,'' they are must-haves for Elvis collectors and some fans.
Each set includes a huge collection of outtakes, a bit of footage never before released and other footage that has circulated in low-quality copies among collectors.
The three-disc ''Elvis '68 Comeback Special -- Deluxe Edition'' runs a marathon seven hours and includes the televised material, outtakes, false starts, dramatized musical numbers and alternate stagings of musical numbers. There's no commentary, however.
Taped at NBC's Burbank studios, the special was assembled from five sources: two shows in which the black-leather-clad Elvis performed alone in the round with an enthusiastic studio audience; two other shows in which Elvis and longtime musician buddies such as D.J. Fontana and Scotty Moore performed seated, also surrounded by an audience; and several staged production numbers.
The DVD offers all these shows, as well as outtakes from the footage for ''Trouble/Guitar Man'' and ''If I Can Dream,'' and unused material from a gospel production number and ''Guitar Man.''
The two-disc ''Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii -- Deluxe Edition'' runs more than four hours and includes the broadcast in its expanded and re-edited form, as presented by NBC on April 4, 1973; the complete Jan. 14 show from which the live TV special was taken; and the full rehearsal concert from Jan. 12, 1973. It also offers lengthy footage (a bit of which was used in the TV special) of Elvis arriving in Hawaii and greeting fans, plus five songs performed in an empty arena on Jan. 14, after the initial show; excerpts were included in the American TV broadcast. According to press materials, the set will also contain a booklet with rare pictures and text.
For collectors, these sets are a dream come true. Casual fans may find them to be too much of a good thing. Though the outtakes give an interesting look at the creative process, some from the ''Comeback Special'' are highly repetitive.
Which of the shows offers a more definitive look at the King? The ''Comeback Special'' presents Presley as a sexually dynamic rocker returning to his roots. ''Aloha From Hawaii'' gives us a more mature Presley and, as some critics argue, Elvis at his most commercial. He performed in ''Comeback Special'' mode only once. He kept repeating versions of the ''Aloha'' concert until his death.
Still, for this viewer, the Elvis from the ''Aloha'' concert is the more adult and more interesting performer, his range of material wider and more diverse.
When you compare the ''Comeback'' Elvis of 1968 and the ''Aloha'' Elvis of 1973 with what he had become by the time of his death in 1977, it's sad thatthe mighty King could fall so far. Fortunately, these DVDs show him at the top of his game -- and that's the way the King should be remembered.
CAPTION: PHOTO: FILE PHOTOGRAPH
Elvis Presley performs during the filming of his 1968 ''Comeback Special.''
