Elvis Presley - Sit Down Concert, NBC Studios, Burbank, CA, 6-27-1968, Late Show

I haven't really posted any Elvis Presley music (other than some songs on my "Covered" series) up until now because it seems every thing he ever did has been officially released. Heck, there's even an album consisting of just his talking between songs - no kidding. But some things need highlighting. I feel this is something he did that needs more attention.

Here's the story behind it. In the 1960s, Presley's idiotic manager Colonel Tom Parker steered Presley away from performing concerts in favor of starring in low budget, musical B-movies. As a result, Presley didn't give a single concert for seven solid years. Worse, Parker generally saddled him with subpar songs to record, because he didn't want to pay the usual royalty rates. As a result, Presley's career went downhill and the hits were fewer. Musical trends were changing fast. By 1968, with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, and the Doors in the charts, Presley seemed like a relatively forgotten has-been. 

Thankfully, Presley got fed up, and wanted to get back to performing concerts. The idea was he'd be reintroduced to the public with a TV special. This December 1968 special, called "Singer Presents... Elvis," was the first time he'd been seen extensively on TV in many years. (Again, thanks to this mismanagement of Parker. Given how massively popular Presley was, the mind boggles to think how much more popular he could have been with smart management.) The special was a huge critical and commercial success. It revived his career in a big way.

The special had a few different parts to it, including highlights of a sit down, acoustic concert, as well as a stand up concert with orchestra. I think the really interesting part was the sit down concert. Arguably, it was one of the very first "unplugged" concerts, which was a format he almost never did. It was done in front of a small studio audience, with just Presley and his five-piece backing band, including his long-time guitarist Scotty Moore. It was an exciting performance. Especially if you watch video footage of it, you can see Presley had tons of charisma and musical talent. 

The 1968 comeback special has been officially released many times, in many different forms. The problem, in my opinion, is that there never has been a release of just one of the sit down concerts. And I say one, because he did two on the same night. They were very similar. I picked the late show to present here, because it contained all the songs from the early show, plus two more. And his performance was better, probably because he warmed up with the early show. Some official releases only had parts of the two sit down shows. Another release in 2018, "The Complete '68 Comeback Special," contained all of both sit down shows, but also with a bunch of other stuff that made up an entire box set.

I think it's great to just hear this concert on its own, complete, and without the nearly identical early show. So that's what I have here.

If you want to know more about the comeback special, this webpage lays the story out very well:

Elvis's '68 Comeback Special: The story of the greatest comeback gig of all time - Gold (goldradiouk.com)

Note that this includes two versions of the song "Baby What You Want Me to Do." I'm guessing he felt unhappy with the first version, so he tried it again. At the time, he was assuming only parts of the concerts would be shown in the special, not the whole thing.

This album is 50 minutes long.

01 talk (Elvis Presley)
02 Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis Presley)
03 Baby What You Want Me to Do (Elvis Presley)
04 talk (Elvis Presley)
05 That's All Right, Mama (Elvis Presley)
06 Are You Lonesome Tonight (Elvis Presley)
07 talk (Elvis Presley)
08 Baby What You Want Me to Do (Elvis Presley)
09 talk (Elvis Presley)
10 Blue Suede Shoes (Elvis Presley)
11 talk (Elvis Presley)
12 One Night (Elvis Presley)
13 talk (Elvis Presley)
14 Love Me (Elvis Presley)
15 talk (Elvis Presley)
16 Trying to Get to You (Elvis Presley)
17 Lawdy, Miss Clawdy (Elvis Presley)
18 talk (Elvis Presley)
19 Santa Claus Is Back in Town (Elvis Presley)
20 Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley)
21 Tiger Man (Elvis Presley)
22 talk (Elvis Presley)
23 When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again (Elvis Presley)
24 Memories (Elvis Presley)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15835746/ElvisP_1968_SitDwnConcertNB_StdiosurbankCA__6-27-1968_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is taken from the very sit down concert featured here (though I don't know if it's from the early show or late one).