Music Minute: '68 Comeback Special

Welcome back to Music Minute! This time we're going to deal with one artist instead of a genre of music.

No discussion of American music would be complete without talking about Elvis. Elvis Presley is the #2 selling artist of all time, second only to The Beatles. It's time for us to tackle this musical icon in our tour of American music.

So what exactly did Elvis do to become so popular? You might have heard him called "the King of Rock and Roll." and that's pretty close to the truth. Elvis was one of the inventors of rockabilly music—a mixture of country and rhythm-blues music you've heard from Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and even Johnny Cash. If you've ever heard of something called a "backbeat," well, that's rockabilly. Most music scholars say that rockabilly is the precursor to rock and roll music. But that's not all Elvis did. He released gospel, rock and roll, rockabilly, country, and pop songs. He starred in movie after movie in the 1950s and 60s.

In 1956, he completely scandalized the nation by appearing on television on the Ed Sullivan Show, despite the fact that Sullivan had earlier called him "unfit for family viewing." Presley was reportedly shot only from the waist up to hide his crazy, hip-swinging dancing, which was seen as scandalous back then—at one point, a judge in Jacksonville, Florida ordered him to tame his act! (It's hard for us to understand the enormous amount of influence Elvis had on pop culture. Compare this with a typical awards-show performance now and you'll see just how much broadcast standards have changed.)

Besides causing an uproar over his dancing and working in nearly every genre of American popular music, yet another music phenomenon can be directly linked to Elvis. You've seen footage of screaming, crying, swooning girls in a concert audience. Elvis' state fair concerts were some of the first to use security guards to keep unruly, frenzied audiences in line.

Despite all these successes, Elvis' life had its share of tragedy, too. By the end of Elvis' life, his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was taking close to 50% of his earnings and is widely seen as both instrumental to Elvis' career and an utter crook. After his 1968 TV program (often called the "Comeback Special") aired on December 3, 1968, his musical career picked up, but by 1973, Presley's personal life was in ruins. Divorce and an addiction to prescription painkillers led to several drug overdoses, and he became paranoid and plagued by health issues. He died on August 16, 1977 at his Graceland residence in Memphis.

How about a playlist? Leaf through these songs and you'll hear what made Elvis so amazing as a performer and singer. Ten songs can't cover his whole career, but I hope a few songs from each decade will give you an idea.

1. That's All Right Mama: one of Elvis' first-recorded songs, from July 1954 at Sun Studios in Memphis. Notice how sparse musically the song is, but it's never boring.

2. I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine: Note the addition of reverb to Elvis' vocals, although the scrubby beat and guitar remain very similar.

3. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone: Country music fans will recognize this as an early example of songs based on clever wordplay. This song slows down the beat and uses a little more guitar...and sounds country. That's how close rock and roll and country music once were.

4. Hound Dog: A live performance from Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. Notice his jerky, awkward movements that somehow look cool. (If you don't think they are awkward, mute the sound and watch for a minute.) You can tell how nervous he is at the beginning...and that big finger snap is just kinda strange and cool all at the same time.

5. Heartbreak Hotel: A rockin' Elvis classic from 1956.

6. Return to Sender: An example of how Elvis changed his sound for the 60s movies he appeared in.

7. Blue Christmas: Elvis' performance of this famous Christmas song from the '68 Comeback Special.

8. Peace In The Valley: A good example of one of Elvis' gospel songs.

9. Suspicious Minds: A classic from 1970; by now, Elvis performed in his signature jumpsuits.

10. An American Trilogy: Later in his career this was one of Elvis' signature medley performances. It combines three classic American 19th century songs: Dixie, All My Trials, and The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Despite the jumpsuit and 70s musical stylings, this song was considered a classic. (Somebody you know remembers seeing this performed on TV, but I won't say who.)