Elvis Presley: The Searcher (2018) Movie Script

Priscilla Presley:

Elvis was a searcher.

It's a part of him

that never left.

♪ ♪

Announcer:

The following program

is brought to you

in living color, on NBC.

Singer presents Elvis,

starring Elvis Presley

in his first TV special,

his first personal performance

on TV in nearly ten years.

(blues music playing)

♪ If you're lookin'

for trouble ♪

♪ ♪

♪ You came to the right place ♪

♪ ♪

♪ If you're lookin'

for trouble ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Just look right in my face ♪

♪ ♪

♪ I was born standin' up ♪

♪ ♪

♪ And talkin' back ♪

♪ My daddy was

a green-eyed mountain jack ♪

♪ Because I'm evil ♪

♪ My middle name is Misery ♪

♪ Well, I'm evil ♪

♪ Ah, so don't you

mess around with me ♪

♪ ♪

Priscilla:

In '68, he was

a nervous wreck.

Nervous because he didn't know

if his audience was

going to accept him.

People had not seen him

perform in so long.

It felt like his record career

was over as well.

It was intense.

The '68 Special,

it was either the beginning

or the end of his career.

Tom Petty:

You know, God bless him.

He was a light for all of us.

We all owe him

for going first into battle.

(Petty laughs)

He had no road map,

and he forged a path

of what to do

and what not to do.

We shouldn't

make the mistake

of writing off

a great artist

by all the clatter

that came later.

We should dwell in what he did

that was so beautiful

and everlasting,

which was that

great, great music.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ Yes, my baby left me ♪

♪ Never said a word ♪

♪ Was it something I done ♪

♪ Something that she heard? ♪

♪ My baby left me,

my baby left me ♪

♪ My baby even left me ♪

♪ Never said a word ♪

♪ Lord, I stand at my window ♪

♪ Wring my hands and cry ♪

♪ I hate to lose that woman ♪

♪ Hate to say goodbye ♪

♪ You know, she left me ♪

♪ Yeah, she left me ♪

♪ My baby even left me ♪

♪ Never said a word ♪

♪ Play it blues, boy ♪

♪ ♪

(film projector whirring)

♪ ♪

Jerry Schilling:

Elvis always remembered

what it was like

to have nothing,

and to have no respect,

to be looked down upon.

Priscilla:

Elvis never forgot

the experience

of being in poverty, ever.

It stuck with him

all his life.

♪ ♪

When I look at photos of Elvis

when he was young,

I see that little boy in him,

that playfulness,

the curiosity in his eyes.

But I also see how he felt

responsibility for his mother.

♪ ♪

Bill Ferris:

Elvis was born

in a shotgun house.

The poorest of the poor

lived in those houses.

His twin brother

did not survive birth.

And it's said that

his mother would tell him

that if he sang when

the moon was full at night,

his twin brother

could hear him.

Priscilla:

Gladys was a doting mother,

but she could be

quite firm as well.

Always very protective of him.

He was her only child.

She lived for him, and...

he lived for her.

When Elvis was

three years old in 1938,

his father was sentenced

to three years in prison

for forging a check.

The check was to buy food

to put on the table.

Gladys would take him

to see his father.

Vernon was so embarrassed.

John Jackson:

Thankfully, he doesn't have

to spend the three years.

He only spends

six months in prison.

But what it does is

it starts a pattern

of Vernon being away

and Elvis and Gladys being

left to their own devices.

And they move around and live

in different boarding houses.

Schilling:

This was the end

of the Depression.

Vernon, after that experience

at Parchman Prison,

he had a hard time

finding jobs.

Priscilla:

Elvis told me that his father

really lost his spirit.

And his mother had to work

really hard during that time.

Man:

Yes, that's it.

(guitar playing)

Ready here for the slate. 802.

(music continues)

(clapping)

♪ ♪

Steve Binder:

When I first got

the phone call

to get involved with Elvis...

my partner at the time,

Bones Howe,

who was a very successful

record producer,

was really flabbergasted

when I said no.

And he came over to me

right after I hung up

the phone,

and he said,

"Steve, I engineered

an Elvis Presley album.

I know Elvis Presley,

and I think you guys

would hit it off great."

♪ ♪

(playing continues)

Bones Howe:

Elvis was a guy

who sang from his gut.

This is something

you're born with.

You're born with that

commitment to the music.

♪ ♪

The one thing I remember

that stuck with me

all these years,

was Binder said,

"People need to see him

the way he really is.

"He had to dig back

to find his real self,

and it was like looking

back into the past."

(gospel music playing)

(wind howling)

(gospel music continuing)

Red West:

Vernon and Gladys

heard this loud roar,

half in their sleep.

They picked Elvis up.

Thought they were putting

him out a window

to get him away

from the train

that was coming.

Threw him right into a wall,

and he bounced off

and fell on the floor.

(laughs)

His cryin' woke them up,

and they saw it was no train.

It was a tornado

that went through Tupelo.

Ferris:

Southern religion

reminds its believers

that we're here

for a short time.

If you lost your life

or you were spared,

it was because

of divine providence.

The loss of life,

the destruction of property,

it was a reminder

of the fragility of life.

(piano playing on record)

Priscilla:

Going to church

with his parents,

hearing gospel music,

being a part of people

getting in touch,

moving with the music,

getting lost in the music.

Record:

♪ I've got that

old-time religion ♪

♪ Got that old-time religion ♪

♪ That is why I'm satisfied ♪

Larry Strickland:

If you lived in a rural area,

there wasn't much else

but the music and the church.

It wasn't like you'd be

going there and sitting back

and crossin' your legs

and relaxing.

You know, you get very involved

and very energetic.

It's as much a feeling

as it is a hearing.

Elvis Presley:

I've always liked music.

My mother and dad

both loved to sing.

They'd tell me that when I was

about three or four years old,

I got away from

them in church

and walked up

in front of the choir

and started beatin' time.

Man:

♪ Have you seen ♪

♪ Where the Lord's gone? ♪

♪ Tell me now ♪

♪ Where he's gone ♪

(singing continues, indistinct)

Ferris:

The hymns were more

than religious.

They were fundamental

building blocks of music.

Rhythmic, hard-hitting,

you had the foundation

of rock and roll bands,

playing in churches.

♪ When I sit down ♪

♪ Lord, sit down ♪

♪ Something will be over ♪

♪ Lord, sit down ♪

♪ When I sit down ♪

♪ Lord, sit down ♪

♪ Gonna say come over here ♪

(screaming)

(indistinct excited speaking)

(inaudible)

Man: I'm so glad!

I'm working over here!

Ferris:

People came to be excited,

and taken out

of their daily experience.

♪ ♪

Elvis was like

Huck Finn exploring.

At night, he would slip

in to black churches.

He would listen

to gospel music

and to the sermons.

♪ ♪

Priscilla:

Gladys let him

pursue the music

that he could

surround himself with.

Petty:

Elvis was very different.

Color lines were

rarely crossed.

You just didn't find

white people

that tuned into black music

and stayed there

and found it interesting

and studied it.

David Porter:

A time where the country

was into racism

and segregation,

and here was a young kid.

He was not afraid to go

and be exposed to it,

so he could learn

even more about it.

Schilling:

He was doing what

he enjoyed doing.

I don't think

it was conscious,

but he absorbed

everything that he saw.

Man:

♪ That's all right ♪

Jackson:

He would seek out people

in his neighborhood

who could play music

or had records,

or had a radio.

Man:

♪ Any way you do ♪

Bruce Springsteen:

You could turn a dial

and hear gospel.

♪ Well, my mama,

she done told me ♪

Springsteen:

Turn a dial

and hear country.

Turn a dial and hear blues.

Turn the dial and hear

Sunday Night Creatures,

you know?

I mean, it was all just there

in the Southern atmosphere

he grew up in.

♪ That's all right now, mama ♪

♪ ♪

(Elvis humming)

Elvis:

♪ If today ♪

♪ Was not an endless highway ♪

♪ If tonight ♪

♪ Was not an endless trail ♪

♪ If tomorrow ♪

♪ Wasn't such a long time ♪

♪ Then lonesome

would mean nothing ♪

♪ To me at all ♪

♪ Yes, and only ♪

Elvis:

I always felt that

someday, somehow,

something would happen

to change everything for me.

And I'd daydream

about how it would be.

♪ If I could hear her heart ♪

(music fades)

(traffic honking)

Priscilla:

Once he moved to Memphis,

everything started

opening up for him.

He was 13.

♪ ♪

Ferris:

As BB King once said,

when he moved to Memphis,

"It was like moving to Paris."

It was a different culture,

and a sense in which

things were connected

and happening,

that someone like Elvis

could not even

imagine in Tupelo.

The wealth, the affluence,

the scale of buildings,

the power of that river

flowing by.

Jackson:

Memphis is

a very diverse city,

not an integrated city,

but a very diverse city.

So you had a lot

of people moving there

after the war.

Man:

♪ Well, you know

I love my baby ♪

Jackson:

It was really the hub

for people from that Southern

cotton plantation area

to either stay or use it

as a stepping stone

to go somewhere else.

Ferris:

Like many Southern families,

the Presleys moved

to the big city

seeking a little better

opportunity.

Portia Maultsby:

Memphis developed a very

vibrant entertainment district,

'cause, you know,

people brought with them

their music, their culture.

Petty:

You've got that spill

there of the blues,

of gospel, pop music,

country music.

All those things,

they cross over each other,

and radio definitely

had to play

a big role in his influences,

because I don't think he was

carrying the kind of dough

to have an enormous

record collection.

(Petty chuckles)

Porter:

WDIA, it was a 50,000 watt

African-American radio station

that artists like

Bobby "Blue" Bland

were being played

'cause the whole emphasis

was black music.

Black music was just beginning

to take root in our area,

and there's no doubt in mind

that Elvis Presley

listened to WDIA.

Percy Mayfield (on radio):

It's a real pleasure

to invite you

to keep your radio

dial turned to 1070.

That means WDIA.

That's 50,000 watts

of powered entertainment

for your pleasure.

(children chattering)

West:

We were both just

above the poverty level.

I lived in one housing project,

and he lived in

Lauderdale Courts

about three or four

miles away.

We grew up the hard way.

(children chattering)

Alan Light:

The apartment

in Lauderdale Courts

that the Presleys moved into

was part of the early

New Deal housing program.

It was affordable,

but it was bigger than

anything they were used to.

They gave him everything.

They let him sleep

in the big bedroom.

They saved what

little money they had

so that he could buy a guitar,

he could buy a record player.

And they gave him that

same sort of independence

to go out in the city

and be exposed to other musics.

(jazz playing)

♪ Train I ride ♪

Priscilla:

He loved the bright lights.

He loved the music in the city.

He loved hearing people

in the street.

He loved listening to music

coming from the bars.

And he'd study them.

Porter:

Elvis was a student.

As a kid, I would go

to the Flamingo Room,

myself and Elvis would hang

at the Flamingo Room.

When you realize that Elvis

knew where Beale Street was,

and knew what that all meant,

you could sense

that he was different.

♪ ♪

You walk in the Flamingo Room

on a Saturday night

or a Friday night,

you're in another world.

It's like a Mardi Gras

celebration,

except the music is soulful.

♪ ♪

There was so much color

in clothing, in dress, in vibe,

and the music

was tremendously upbeat.

♪ Comin' on 'round the bend ♪

You're not seeing

that for one night.

You're seeing that

everytime you go there.

Rufus Thomas:

Beale Street was

the black man's haven.

When he'd come here,

everything lit up.

Lit up like a slot machine.

Everything was fired up!

Beale Street was the place.

Porter:

You'd go out

on your weekend night,

and you were

an African-American,

at that time,

you're making small wages.

You were in a racially

prejudiced time,

and you had to have an escape.

And the legitimacy of the

Flamingo Room experience,

and the Beale Street

experience,

was something

that took your mind

totally away

from those things.

But if you had

the right kind of personality

and spirit about you,

regardless of who you were,

you could come in

and check out the music.

♪ ♪

♪ Train, train ♪

Preston Lauterbach:

BB King, Rufus Thomas,

Johnny Ace,

Bobby "Blue" Bland.

You know, these giants

were playing

little neighborhood

juke joints.

Porter:

Looking at that,

you would see

how powerful it would be

connecting to an audience.

♪ Oh-oh,

stop your train, darlin' ♪

♪ Let a ♪

♪ A poor boy ride ♪

♪ Why don't you hear

me cryin'? ♪

♪ Woo-hoo ♪

Porter:

If you're a young kid,

a black kid or a white kid,

you were not

analytical about it,

but you certainly knew

the difference

between feeling

and not feeling.

And you heard it,

and you felt it.

Ike Turner:

Elvis, he would park his truck

in the alley behind the club,

and he used to come around

to the back of this place,

and he would watch me play

the old upright piano.

When you see him stand up

and he'd be doing his legs,

when he'd be playing

with the guitar,

all this came

from back in those days

when we used to do it.

Howlin' Wolf:

♪ Don't you hear me

talkin' to you, woman? ♪

♪ Whoo-hoo ♪

♪ Whoo-oo ♪

♪ Since I've been gone ♪

Schilling:

Elvis picked up everything.

He was the most

eclectic human being

I have ever been around.

He would pick up something

from another singer,

or he would pick up something

from a guy

walking down the street,

and say, "Jerry,

look at that walk.

I'm gonna use that walk."

Warren Zanes:

He's looking around

for pockets of expression

and putting together

his version of himself

based on these

highly expressive models

that are often quite different.

You know, the Dean Martins

of the world,

the Mario Lanzas,

the black church.

♪ ♪

Jackson:

At this point,

Elvis and his parents

are going to a lot

of gospel services,

musical events around

the town in Memphis,

both black and white.

(up-tempo piano playing)

♪ Rock my soul

in the bosom of Abraham ♪

Tony Brown:

Quartets were the alter ego

of the Christian people

back in those days.

♪ In the bosom of Abraham,

Oh, rock my soul... ♪

Brown:

'Cause they wore

really tight, cool suits,

and they had slick-back hair

and sideburns.

♪ Rock my soul

in the bosom of Abraham ♪

Brown:

We looked at those people

like they were our

pop stars in a way,

which is what Elvis

really wanted to do.

You know, he wanted to be

in the Blackwood Brothers.

Petty:

Elvis, he longed to be

a great gospel singer.

I think he wanted to be

in a gospel group.

He wold have been

a great tenor.

♪ I'm glad I've got ♪

♪ That old-time religion ♪

♪ It helps me on my journey... ♪

Bill Malone:

Those Pentecostal preachers

were pretty dynamic

individuals, you know.

Back and forth

across the stage

and shouting

and raising their hands

and being very theatrical.

♪ Oh, I couldn't get along ♪

♪ Without Jesus ♪

♪ I couldn't sing my song ♪

♪ Without Jesus ♪

♪ I wouldn't know

how to pray ♪

♪ Without Jesus ♪

♪ I wouldn't know

what to say ♪

♪ Without Jesus ♪

♪ Joy bells couldn't ring ♪

♪ Without Jesus ♪

♪ Angels couldn't sing ♪

♪ Without Jesus ♪

♪ My life wouldn't

mean a thing ♪

♪ Without Jesus ♪

♪ I couldn't reach my goal ♪

♪ Without Jesus ♪

♪ With no one to keep

my soul ♪

♪ Hey, tell me,

what can I do without... ♪

Springsteen:

Front man is something

that was derived from preacher,

you know, fronting

the choir in church.

So whether you're

James Brown or Elvis

or anyone out there,

your position, basically,

is always proto-religious,

you know?

Those are its roots.

♪ Oh, tell me what

would I do without Jesus ♪

♪ In my life ♪

(applause)

♪ ♪

Jackson:

Elvis always was

seeking a way

to manifest his musical

interest in some way.

Elvis:

And I went to Humes

High School in Memphis.

I was taking music.

I flunked music.

Just flat, man. Whew!

"F." The only thing

I ever failed.

West:

They had a little

talent show every year.

People would sing,

dance, whatever.

(Elvis speaking)

West:

I had a little

four-piece band,

I was playing the trumpet.

And Elvis had a guitar,

and he got up

and he sang, "Old Shep."

Red Foley's sad song

about his old dog that died.

Elvis:

♪ And one day ♪

♪ The doctor looked at me ♪

♪ And said ♪

♪ "I can do no more

for him, Jim" ♪

Petty:

I think that's the moment

where the school

sort of throws down and goes,

"That's what this

weird kid's about."

The moment that

applause broke through,

that's probably the first

real validation that he's had.

West:

Singing that tearjerker,

he put emotion into it.

Sang the heck out of it,

and he won first place!

And my little band

didn't do shit.

Petty:

That's a big step

for a young man.

At that moment, he had to see

the power of the material.

He had to go,

"This is what I am.

This is what

I'm going to do."

Elvis:

It was amazing how--

how popular I became

in school after that.

(chuckles)

♪ ♪

♪ Just walking in the rain... ♪

(Elvis speaking)

James Tipler:

When he wasn't

driving the truck,

he'd help the electricians

pull wire

or whatever they

needed him to do.

Gladys Tipler:

He had long hair.

It was real thick,

and looked like it was

pasted down really.

James:

We all laughed at him

about that.

(Elvis speaking)

Gladys:

He just what

he wanted to do

is to get in some

kind of business

where he could make

his mother a living,

where she would not have

to struggle for it anymore.

♪ Shake their heads... ♪

Ernst Jorgensen:

At that time,

The Prisonaires had

recorded their big hit,

"Walking in the Rain."

Jackson:

The Prisonaires

were a group

that Sam Phillips

was recording.

Sam Phillips, he grew to be

one of the most famous

and celebrated

record producers of all time,

but at first,

he started his own label.

Schilling:

The Prisonaires.

They were brought out

with handcuffs

into Sun Records to record.

Light:

To even conceive of that

as a possible source

for great music

that people should hear,

there's just a

democratization of...

of art,

of the possibilities for art.

♪ Walkin' in the rain ♪

♪ ♪

Ferris:

What happened in

Memphis at that time

was a convergence

of forces.

The emergence of radio,

deejays, and artists.

And then you add

to that concoction,

the genius of producers

like Sam Phillips.

Lauterbach:

There wasn't much

in the way of rhythm and blues,

black music recording

infrastructure.

It was very much

a do-it-yourself,

mom-and-pop business.

Maultsby:

Sam Phillips loved the blues,

and he was interested

in recording

as many blues

performers as he could.

Schilling:

Elvis was aware

of what Sam had recorded

at Sun Studios.

Rufus Thomas.

Ike Turner.

The Prisonaires.

Petty:

I really believe Sam Phillips,

for a long time,

had the idea of finding

a white singer

that could bring black music

into the white mainstream.

For a lot of noble reasons,

not just commercial.

Schilling:

Everybody thinks that Sam

was looking for a white boy

to do black music.

But Elvis was looking

for Sam Phillips.

Sam Phillips:

I had seen him go by

in his Crown Electric truck

a number of different times,

'cause we had

an open storefront.

He'd go by and go back,

and go by and go back.

This guy would not

come in the studio

and ask me to audition him

for nothin'.

Elvis had never

been in a studio.

Jorgensen:

There was a newspaper story

about how you could

get lucky at Sun Records,

and Elvis just went for it.

(Elvis speaking)

Elvis:

♪ If you ♪

♪ Find your sweetheart ♪

♪ In the arms of a friend ♪

Schilling:

Elvis went in to do

what he thought

he should do

to get a record deal.

West:

He had this beautiful voice,

a high voice, singing

slow love longs, ballads.

Schilling:

And he sang Dean Martin.

He sang Ink Spots--

black but white-accepted music.

There was nothing

that was exciting Sam.

Phillips:

I didn't want that.

It had to have a feel.

(feedback whines)

I did have the feeling

that this guy had

something in the raw

that we could

do something with

if we even knew

what the hell we were doing.

Brought in Scotty Moore,

he was working at his

brother's dry cleaning plant,

and Scotty played the guitar

and was not afraid

to experiment.

Bill Black, I knew could

play a good slap bass.

Black was working

in an appliance store

repairing appliances.

And I said,

"Go and woodshed, boys."

Scotty Moore:

Sam said, "All I need is just

a little background noise.

"You don't have

to worry about

arrangements or anything.

"Don't need the whole band,

just a little rhythm stuff."

I knew Sam was looking

for something,

but he couldn't tell you

what he was looking for,

you know? (chuckles)

Phillips:

This day we had wound up

just about ready to give up

on having any success

on a session.

About ready to bag up

the instruments and go home.

I knew Sun Records

had to make it

on something that

was a little bit

out of the ordinary

or we may as well forget it.

Jackson:

Things aren't going well.

Elvis is nervous.

Moore:

We'd been there

two, three hours,

and it was starting

to get late

and we were getting tired.

And, uh, we stopped

and had a Coke or something.

Jackson:

Elvis was just about

a year out of high school,

19 years old.

Moore:

He wanted to please Sam,

and he knew he had

to prove himself.

Robbie Robertson:

It was in that moment

that the world changed.

(up-tempo music playing)

Moore:

Elvis sets his Coke down,

picks up the guitar,

starts just frailing,

you know, fire out of it.

I mean, he was beating

his rhythm thing.

Well, Bill picked his bass,

started slapping,

playing along with him.

Just-- just all rhythm.

Guitar was leaning up

on the amp and I picked it up

and started just kinda

vamping along with him.

Elvis:

♪ Well, Mama,

she done told me ♪

♪ Papa done told me too ♪

♪ "Son, that gal

you fooling with ♪

♪ She ain't no good for you" ♪

♪ Well, that's all right ♪

Phillips:

Although Elvis knew

a lot of blues,

country and pop,

it shocked me,

because here is

a classic blues number,

and here is a white cat

not imitating

or mimicking or anything,

but just putting

his feel into it.

Blew me away!

Springsteen:

You hear performers

in the thrall

of the beauty of invention,

not knowing quite

where they're going to go,

not knowing exactly

what they're doing.

Elvis:

♪ I'm leaving town, baby ♪

♪ I'm leaving town for sure ♪

Springsteen:

Just discovering it

and doing it

literally as the music

is being played.

You're out on the frontier,

and it's a very pristine

and exciting place to be.

Elvis:

♪ That's all right now, mama ♪

♪ Any way you do ♪

(scatting to rhythm)

♪ That's all right ♪

♪ It's all right ♪

♪ That's all right, now, mama ♪

♪ Any way you do ♪

One more time, baby.

One more!

Ha!

♪ ♪

(women screaming)

♪ Yeah, baby ♪

♪ Well, my Mama

she done told me ♪

♪ Papa done told me too ♪

♪ They said, "Son,

this gal you foolin' with ♪

♪ She ain't no good for you" ♪

(screams)

♪ ♪

♪ That's all right,

little mama ♪

♪ Any way you do ♪

Give it all, baby!

(scatting to rhythm)

♪ That's all right ♪

♪ That's all right,

little mama ♪

♪ Any way you do ♪

(scatting)

(screams)

(song ends)

Whoo!

(cheers, screams)

Moore:

We knew it was

a little different.

We didn't know

what it was really.

There was no mention

of, you know,

get this out or anything,

'cause we didn't know.

(up-tempo piano playing)

♪ Write me a letter ♪

(Dewey Phillips

speaking indistinctly)

Just flat fixin' to bring you

the hottest thing

in the country.

Red, Hot, and Blue coming

to you, WHBQ,

in Memphis, Tennessee

and it's Friday night.

Tomorrow's payday

and bath day.

That's a good deal.

Schilling:

Growing up in Memphis,

I'd been listening

to Dewey Phillips

and his Red, Hot,

and Blue show

for two years

before Elvis came on.

DJ Fontana:

He was the number one jock

in Memphis at the time.

Schilling:

When Elvis was played,

it was just different.

It wasn't really

rhythm and blues,

and it wasn't country.

Moore:

Dewey's program,

he started playing it

and phones was

ringing off the wall.

In fact, they went,

took Elvis out of the movie

he was at,

and told him that, uh,

that Dewey wanted

to talk to him on the radio.

Schilling:

He came on,

did the interview.

He was nervous

and he stuttered.

Phillips:

"That's All Right, Mama"

was a hit

in Memphis, Tennessee,

overnight.

Moore:

It was quite

phenomenal, really,

getting that kinda response

off a local radio station.

Fontana:

Dewey played it on the air,

just the one side,

and Sam got

ahold of us, and,

"Gotta get back in here.

We got to have another

side for this record."

Phillips:

I said, "Do you know

anything else

that's as wild as that?"

♪ ♪

Man:

♪ Blue moon of Kentucky ♪

♪ Keep on shining ♪

♪ Shine on the one

that's gone ♪

♪ And proved untrue ♪

Elvis:

♪ Blue moon ♪

♪ Blue moon

keep shining bright ♪

♪ Blue moon, keep on

shining bright ♪

♪ You're gonna bring me

back my baby tonight ♪

♪ Blue moon ♪

♪ Keep shining bright ♪

Ferris:

That one record

summed up his roots--

the very best of

both black blues

and white bluegrass.

Elvis:

♪ Blue moon of Kentucky

keep on shining ♪

Petty:

He knew the blues.

He knew Arthur Crudup,

Bill Munroe.

He knew that stuff by memory.

Elvis:

♪ Stars shinnin' bright ♪

Phillips:

The elements there

that came together

were things that I had

prayed for so long:

To record a black low-down

almost gut-bucket blues,

and turn around

and put a classic,

classic bluegrass number,

"Blue Moon of Kentucky,"

on the other side.

It didn't have

to have a color.

It didn't need a color.

Petty:

I don't know if Elvis

was looking at it

all in that noble of a light.

It was just music he liked.

Elvis:

♪ Oh, well, I said,

blue moon of Kentucky ♪

♪ Just keep on shining ♪

Petty:

"Blue Moon of Kentucky,"

he has got this entirely

original take on the bluegrass

and it transforms into

what would later

be called rock and roll.

Elvis:

♪ Shine on the one

who's gone and left me blue ♪

(Sam Phillips talking)

(laughter)

Emmylou Harris:

There's no one that

creates music in a vacuum.

We're all influenced

by what we've heard

and what has come before.

But occasionally, you have

those crossroads moments

when something

completely new is born.

Petty:

It was a beautiful,

beautiful thing.

It was high art,

in the greatest degree,

you know, this is Picasso.

I mean, this is really

taking your influences

and going somewhere with them,

to a place that's new.

West:

Now, Elvis had a hit record,

and he was touring

every night somewhere,

each night a different place.

Jorgensen:

The basic mistake

people make about Elvis

was that he came along

and got lucky.

No, he didn't get lucky.

He worked hard

and he created the music

with great musicians.

He had a drive

that motivated him,

and it was there

from day one.

Elvis:

♪ Well, what a fool I was ♪

♪ To think that you

could love me too ♪

Bill Malone:

In those early days,

whether it was Slim Whitman

or Jim Reeves

or Elvis Presley,

if they wanted to survive,

they had to hit the road.

Springsteen:

It's an old-fashioned

experience

in the sense that he was

part of a touring band.

Which meant that

night after night,

he was putting on his act.

And there's something

that happens

through extensive touring

that you can't

get anywhere else.

Jackson:

You look back at the

calendar of his dates,

and he's literally playing

dates every single night.

The circuit that

they're working

is probably one

of the most thankless

and low-paying,

just grind-of-a-circuit

that you could imagine.

Springsteen:

There's a depth of craft

that's attained

through simply constantly

doing it night after night,

having to satisfy all

different types of audiences.

West:

You know, you have

the stereotype

of the bass being

tied on top of the car.

That was true.

They really did that.

Man:

May I ask, where did you

pick up your style?

Elvis:

My very first appearance

after I started recording.

I was on a show

and I was scared stiff.

And I came out and I was

doing a fast type tune.

Everybody was hollering,

and I didn't know what

they were hollering at.

Everybody was screaming

and then I came offstage,

and my manager told me

that they was hollering

because I was

wiggling my legs.

I was unaware, and so

I went back out for an encore,

and I did a little more.

And the more I did,

the louder they went.

♪ ♪

Jackson:

Sam Phillips was able to get

Elvis on the Opry in Nashville,

which was massive.

I mean, you don't just

get on the Grand Ole Opry.

The Opry, you had to be

a member, be in this club,

the traditional

Nashville establishment.

You had to dress the way

that they wanted you to dress

and sing the way

they wanted you to sing.

The Opry was very,

very segregated.

♪ ♪

Moore:

This was an older audience.

They had their artists

that they went to see.

And here's a kid

dressed funny,

coming out, doing one

of their idols' songs

in a blasphemous way.

They didn't get up

and cheer and holler.

Phillips:

Now, if you are fainthearted,

you're gonna

give up in a hurry

on a situation like that.

We were not fainthearted.

But we certainly didn't know

whether we would win it.

We knew in time

that something this great

could not be kept

under a bushel.

Ferris:

You cannot understand Elvis

apart from country music,

but he was pulling it away

from the traditional

Grand Ole Opry sound

and shaping it as a new,

bluesier version.

While country music

could recognize it,

they also knew it was

a threatening sound

that would ultimately

destroy the power

of the Grand Ole Opry.

Jackson:

So four months after

the release

of the first single,

they play their first

Louisiana Hayride show.

(man speaking)

(Elvis speaking)

(man speaking)

(Elvis speaking)

(feedback whines)

Elvis:

♪ Tweedle, tweedle,

tweedle, dee ♪

♪ ♪

♪ I'm as happy as can be ♪

Fontana:

The Louisiana Hayride was

strictly a country show.

Webb Pierce, Faron Young,

Nat Stuckey, George Jones,

just about everybody

played the Hayride.

Robertson:

The Louisiana Hayride

was really the place

where country music and blues

hit one another and exploded.

Ferris:

It was a critical moment

in his career.

The radio broadcasts

had an enormous

impact in Memphis,

but the Louisiana Hayride was

a whole different audience.

Malone:

Hayride could be heard

all through the western

part of the South,

so it had a pretty wide

geographical audience.

Ferris:

That was a kind of

testing of his ability

to reach audiences

beyond his own home

in Memphis.

♪ ♪

Malone:

The Louisiana Hayride

did send out

road tours

to surrounding towns.

The entire show would move.

Jackson:

They'd start to build

these touring routes

that bring them back

to Shreveport once a week.

That's a big turning point,

not only from

a financial perspective

but also from

a exposure perspective.

Jorgensen:

Elvis played a lot

of these first shows

with Jim Ed and Maxine Brown,

Bud Deckelman,

uh, Betty Amos--

successful country artists,

but not on a real top level.

Zanes:

Those performers are

competing with one another.

Somebody wants to leave there

feeling like they won.

And being on bills like that,

you are amongst people

who are gonna

teach you things.

And that's a big part

of what made Elvis

in those early becoming years

was that he had

an antenna that was up,

and he was stealing tricks,

he was learning lessons.

He was bringing it all in

without it seeming like

he was just doing

somebody else's act.

Fontana:

He could go out there,

and the audience

wouldn't be on his side

for maybe five minutes.

But all of a sudden,

somehow or another,

he'd turn 'em around.

Moore:

He could read

an audience very well.

He could tell

if it didn't seem

like he was going

or just right,

he'd do something,

something you wouldn't

even expect.

Jorgensen:

He often started

a song by like a wail

and then left it

hanging there,

so people were like,

"What's going on?"

He would stop

in the middle of a song

and turn around

or walk away,

and then go back,

or do something with

a microphone stand.

Schilling:

And he would grab

that microphone,

and he would drag it

across the stage.

He was so

sophisticated already

about making contact

with an audience.

If the audience reacted

a lot to something he did,

he did it again.

(distant screaming)

He just had this look,

like a wild, captured animal.

Shook his head and his hair

was down in his face,

and just to watch him

walk from that curtain

to the microphone,

you felt a part of it.

Jorgensen:

He gets presence

on the charts,

and his records

kept doing well,

and eventually, he gets voted

the Most Promising New Artist.

Fontana:

And he finally got a Cadillac.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

And when I was

driving a truck,

every time a big,

shiny car drove by,

it started me

sorta daydreaming.

I'd daydream...

about how it would be.

And the first car

I ever bought

was the most beautiful car

I've ever seen.

It was secondhand,

but I parked it

outside of my hotel

the day I got it.

Elvis:

I sat up all night

just looking at it.

And the next day,

well the thing caught fire

and burned up on the road.

Uh, I've got a lot of cars,

but none of 'em would take

the place of that first one.

♪ ♪

Zanes:

The story that we hear

about early rock and roll

is that the major labels,

in the main,

passed on rock and roll.

And so the indie

labels took it up,

and it took the

major labels a while

to see that rock and roll

wasn't going away.

Man:

♪ Now if you've got a woman ♪

Victor Linn:

The RCAs, the Capitols,

the Columbias, the Deccas,

they were called the majors.

All the other people,

these were independent

businessmen

who sold records to stores.

Phillips:

I have a small

record company,

been in business five years,

worked the lower

of my anatomy off,

peddling days of me

on the road

to the tune of

70,000 miles a year.

Linn:

When we say "independent,"

Sam was connected to no one

at the major labels

in any way.

He would produce what

he wanted to produce.

♪ Dog that bite your hand ♪

It means record it.

It means edit it.

They went into the lab

and did the mastering.

Packaging was already done,

and then they put a bunch

of singles in the car,

and got on the road

and went into the hills

of Tennessee.

And this is really a very

traditional way of doing it.

♪ I went down to the river ♪

Linn:

Now what the record company

would like to see happen

is they could spread

that regionality,

get it from northern

Georgia to Alabama,

and from Alabama

across to Mississippi.

You know, then they've got

national distribution.

Phillips:

I knew, really, so little

about the business

when it came

to merchandising records

and this sort of thing.

The main thing that

did more for us

than anything else

was it created excitement

amongst the major labels.

A lot of hard work

went into this thing,

both on the part of Elvis

and the part of Scotty,

and Bill, and myself.

Schilling:

Elvis, when he was

19 years old,

he knew what he had to do

to get where he wanted to.

He was a very driven man.

Every two months,

he was releasing

another single

at Sun Records.

Robertson:

Sam knew what to ask for,

what to push for,

and all of those pieces,

the way they fit together,

it was like Sam Phillips

was the other member

of that group.

(train whistle blows)

Springsteen:

The Sun space was

pretty indicative

of most small recording

studios of the era.

You know, they were intimate.

They were small.

You were up close

with everybody and everything.

Harris:

And those early records,

they almost knock you

off your heels,

because all that big sound

is coming from so little.

Springsteen:

I think people

make the mistake

that when they think

of rock and roll,

they think of drums.

Elvis:

♪ Oh, baby, baby, baby ♪

Springsteen:

If you listen to a lot

of the early rock and roll,

rhythm came out

of the slap bass,

rhythmic hitting

of the guitar,

and the swing

of the singer's voice.

Elvis:

♪ Come back, baby,

I wanna play house with you ♪

Jon Landau:

There was only a couple

of microphones.

It was-- it was pretty

straightforward.

Elvis:

♪ You may have

a pink Cadillac ♪

♪ But don't you be

nobody's fool ♪

♪ Now, baby, come back ♪

Porter:

You could feel the true

artistry in that period,

because there was not

a lot of recording equipment

to sonically make records

sound a certain kind of way.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ I say meet me in a hurry

behind the barn ♪

Lauterbach:

Elvis listened to everything

that came his way.

Sam was the same way,

only he was...

he was into

the technical aspect of it,

but very much a natural.

Elvis:

♪ I heard the news ♪

Lauterbach:

He didn't want to

overproduce anything.

He wanted to capture raw sound.

♪ ♪

In Elvis, he found

a combination

of rawness with that vision.

The drive of the black music,

you can hear just as well,

the twang on the

white side of music.

♪ ♪

Landau:

Scotty Moore,

he and Bill Black

and DJ Fontana

were an enormous

blessing for Elvis

and the coherence of the

records they made together.

Elvis:

♪ Well, if I had

to do it over ♪

Moore:

I tried to play what

I thought would fit

the way he was

singing the song.

Tried to do solos

and fills that--

that made sense

on that song.

Elvis:

♪ Baby, trying to get to you ♪

Petty:

Scotty is brilliant,

one of the great

musicians of all time.

Never plays

unless it's necessary.

Elvis:

♪ Could keep me

away from you ♪

♪ When your

loving letter told me ♪

Petty:

Bill Black, the bassist,

the way he pops the strings,

it's him plucking

the bass string,

rather than just striking it.

(Petty imitates bass strumming)

Pretty fierce stuff.

(laughs)

Elvis:

♪ Brought me through ♪

Robertson:

But the basic setup,

when it was just

Elvis, Scotty, Bill

and a beautiful

echo tape delay,

it was all you needed.

With that voice,

you could do anything.

♪ ♪

Elvis (echoing):

♪ Blue moon ♪

♪ You saw me standing alone ♪

♪ Without a dream in my heart ♪

Springsteen:

Elvis's early recordings are

marked by, one of the things,

the freedom of not having

heard yourself very often.

So, they're very,

very un-self-conscious.

Elvis:

♪ Blue moon ♪

♪ You knew just

what I was there for ♪

♪ You heard me saying... ♪

Springsteen:

Elvis's voice has

plenty of space

and beautiful

geography to it.

Elvis:

♪ Someone I really

could care for ♪

Springsteen:

And the way he was

recorded by Sam Phillips

is tremendously pure.

(Elvis vocalizing)

You know, there's a looseness,

as there usually is,

in your early recordings.

You're excited about

a sudden discovery of self...

of your powers,

your abilities,

and what you can

do with them.

Elvis:

♪ You saw me standing alone ♪

♪ Without a dream

in my heart ♪

♪ Without a love of my own ♪

Springsteen:

I hear all that on

the Sun sessions.

(Elvis vocalizing)

Elvis:

♪ Without a love of my own ♪

(song fades)

(man speaking)

(Elvis speaking)

(man speaking)

(Elvis speaking)

(typewriter clacking)

(typewriter bell dings)

Vernon Presley:

In 1955,

Colonel Parker was booking

shows down through Florida.

People like Hank Snow,

Marty Robbins.

(audience cheering)

(Colonel Tom Parker speaking)

(audience screaming)

Mike Stoller:

He knew he had

something very special

and he knew from

the audience reaction.

He promoted him.

He dropped his other artists

and devoted himself

entirely to Elvis.

Elvis:

♪ Keep my eyes on you ♪

Schilling:

The Colonel, he's a very

hard guy to understand.

His past was complicated.

I think there was

a real respect

between Elvis

and the Colonel,

but he was a promoter,

he wasn't a creative guy.

He was a brilliant promoter.

Jorgensen:

There was a big tour

in February '55.

Hank Snow was the headliner,

and Colonel Parker

had managed

as a favor and a plot,

to get Elvis on as

an extra added thing.

Being on a Hank Snow show

was a real big step forward.

The Colonel planned it

to be a big step forward.

He wanted to see

how far Elvis could go.

Elvis:

♪ Gimme, gimme, gimme

all the love you got ♪

Jorgensen:

Just three months later,

they realized that

the star, Hank Snow,

couldn't close

the show anymore.

After Elvis had performed,

people left.

From June of '55,

you know, basically a year

into Elvis's stay at Sun,

people are making offers

to buy Elvis's contract.

The Colonel was afraid

that if Elvis became

much more successful

than he already was,

that he was eventually

not gonna be able

to take over his management.

He would be so big

that he was no longer needed

to bring it further.

So over the next month,

he actually starts

manipulating everything.

And after that,

it became obvious

between the management

of Bob Neal

and Sam's little independent

record company,

they couldn't

push a record

the way the big

companies could.

Elvis starts worrying

about that element.

Mae Axton:

A lot of my listeners

have seen you

and they've heard

your records,

and they think

they're very wonderful.

And of course, you really

skyrocketed to fame

on "That's All right, Mama,"

wasn't that the one?

Elvis:

Well, yes, ma'am.

That was the one

that got me on my way

and everything.

I wasn't very

well-known down here.

I mean, you know,

I'm just with a small company,

and, uh, my records

don't have the distribution

that they should have,

but, uh...

Axton:

Oh, of course that--

that's coming, you know.

It takes a little bit

of time for that

and to get distribution

all over the United States,

but I think you are one of

the fastest rising young stars

perhaps in the field.

Do you know what

I can't understand,

is how you keep that leg

shaking just as-- just at...

Schilling:

Elvis, he knew,

"I've got to make a choice."

He and Sam spoke the same

language creatively.

And they loved each other.

But he knew

that Colonel Parker

was about national,

about movies,

and about television.

And that if he chose

Colonel Parker,

Sam would be gone.

Priscilla:

Sam Phillips saw in Elvis

what Elvis dreamed of

and no one else

could understand.

West:

Elvis was still underage,

under 21.

The Colonel set up

an appointment

with Vernon Presley

and Gladys and talked to 'em.

"I'd like to buy

his contract from Bob.

I think he has

a lot of potential."

They were suspicious

of everybody,

and they should've been

suspicious of the Colonel,

but the Colonel filled 'em

with all kinda hope.

They said, "Well, okay."

Jorgensen:

In that whole

scenario here,

we have the Colonel

locked in on the idea

that he wanted RCA.

Because he knew RCA

from Hank Snow,

and he even puts up

money of his own

as an opening

to the dealings with RCA,

which he would lose

if he didn't bring in

the RCA contract.

He really believed

in Elvis's potential.

Linn:

When I got into

the music business

in, uh, November of 1956,

in those days,

most of the-- most, not all,

but most of the records

that were being recorded

were ballads.

♪ Just walkin' in the rain ♪

(whistling)

♪ Getting soaking wet ♪

(whistling)

♪ Torture in my heart ♪

Linn:

You know, they weren't stuff

like Elvis was doing.

It wasn't what, unfortunately,

had the nomer of "race music"

and rock and roll,

and they released as little

of it as they possibly could.

They felt they had

the shareholders

of the company

to worry about.

They had distributors

to worry about.

They had stores

to worry about.

They had radio stations

to worry about.

They said, "Our whole world

is tied up in white music."

♪ People come to their windows ♪

♪ They always... ♪

Linn:

They were very,

very reluctant

to expose black music

until such times they

couldn't avoid it anymore.

Elvis:

♪ You know what it takes,

you got it, baby ♪

♪ ♪

♪ You are the only one

I've chose ♪

♪ Don't leave me here

with all these heartaches ♪

Jorgensen:

After a lot of going

back and forth,

eventually the Colonel

pushes RCA

to buy the contract,

and all the recordings

that were made,

both that were released

and those that weren't.

Elvis:

♪ When it rains,

it really pours ♪

Linn:

I think he's the test object

for the majors to really

get in the game,

and it worked.

Phillips:

People have asked

me repeatedly,

"Do you regret

selling Elvis Presley?"

Elvis:

♪ I got a feeling

for you, baby ♪

Phillips:

I do not.

Elvis:

♪ And you're the only one

who knows ♪

♪ About my troubles,

troubles, troubles ♪

Man: It'll just be

one second, Elvis.

All right.

(audience chuckles)

Elvis:

My boy, my boy,

got my guitar.

Man:

Uh, Steve?

Can we have a lot of gain

on this playback?

Steve: More gain.

Man: Right.

Are we on television?

Binder: Huh?

Are we on television?

Just a minute.

Binder: One day

in the middle of taping

a production number...

(playing guitar)

...we're called into

Colonel Parker's office.

Elvis:

♪ I'll have a blue ♪

♪ Christmas ♪

Binder: Colonel says,

"It's been called

to my attention

that we don't have a

Christmas song in the show."

♪ And when those blue ♪

Binder:

"Elvis wants a Christmas

song in the show.

Don't you, Elvis?"

Man: Aw, yeah!

♪ You'll be doing... ♪

Binder:

His hands cross,

his head goes down,

and I hear Elvis

mumble, "Yes, sir."

I watched Elvis

cower to Parker.

Elvis:

♪ Blue, blue Christmas ♪

(women scream)

I said, "If that's

what Elvis wants,

that's what I'll do."

The Colonel says, "Okay,

then we're all in agreement."

Elvis walks out the door.

♪ ♪

Head goes up, lot of energy,

and he jams me in the ribs,

and says, "Fuck him."

(chuckles)

♪ Blue, blue, blue Christmas ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Decorations of red ♪

♪ On a green Christmas tree ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Won't be the same dear ♪

♪ If you're not here with me ♪

♪ And when those blue ♪

♪ Snowflakes start fallin' ♪

♪ ♪

♪ That's when those blue ♪

♪ Memories start callin' ♪

♪ ♪

♪ You'll be doin' all right ♪

♪ With your Christmas of white ♪

(song fades)

Petty:

Elvis was one of

the first artists

that actually

produced himself.

By the time he lands at RCA,

he's in charge.

They're a rock and roll band,

and Steve Sholes

didn't know

how to make

one of those records.

Elvis did.

Light:

Elvis was a very

different person

and a very different artist

going in to make

the first RCA record

than he was walking in

as an absolute rookie at Sun.

He'd been out touring

and playing in front of people

for those months in-between.

He had experience

in the studio.

He had had the inspiration

of Sam Phillips,

watching, pick the songs

and the arrangements

and all of that.

Petty:

You can hear

"Heartbreak Hotel"

has got echo chamber,

because he's clearly

asking for echo.

And they don't know

how to give him the slapbacks,

so they're turning up

the chamber,

and he's just like,

"Okay, I'll make this work."

And he does.

(laughs)

Petty (imitating Elvis):

♪ Heartbreak Hotel,

where I will be ♪

♪ So lonesome, baby ♪

♪ I'll be so lonely, baby ♪

Elvis:

♪ They're so lonely,

they could die ♪

♪ Now, the bellhop's

tears keep flowing ♪

Howe:

My function was in the booth.

But I always spent a lot

of time out in the studio.

What you saw from Elvis

was that being in

a recording studio

or being on stage was

exactly the same thing to him.

Elvis:

♪ They're so lonely ♪

Howe:

He was always a real

organic part

of the music physically.

Extremely animated

when he sang.

He never stood still.

Elvis:

♪ Take a walk down

Lonely Street to♪

♪ Heartbreak Hotel ♪

♪ Where you will be,

you will be so lonely ♪

Howe:

And the guys, they just

shifted right into that mode

that Elvis was in.

Elvis:

♪ So lonely, you could die ♪

♪ ♪

Howe:

If something wasn't

working right

or it was too slow

or too fast,

they all looked to him,

and then he would

move to the music.

If the music was right,

he was a show out there.

He was a captivating person,

and nobody made

suggestions to Elvis.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ Although it's always crowded ♪

♪ You still can find some room ♪

♪ For brokenhearted lovers

to cry when they're blue ♪

♪ Where they'll be so ♪

♪ They'll be so lonely, baby ♪

♪ Well, they're so lonely ♪

♪ They'll be so lonely

they could die ♪

♪ ♪

Springsteen:

Elvis's music was shot

through with the blues,

which he played

quite a bit of.

But he was always

mixing genres.

Zanes:

Elvis, by the

first RCA record,

is already showing

that he can pull in

a wide range of genres,

but they all come out Elvis.

Petty:

He didn't invent

rock and roll, per se.

I mean, you've got

Little Richard and Joe Turner

and all these people

on that tip,

but what Elvis did isn't that.

(laughs)

You know what--

What he did is different.

It's bringing

the country music in,

bringing white

gospel music in,

and it becomes pop music.

Maultsby:

Most of Presley's

first recordings

were basically covers

of black singers.

(piano playing)

Little Richard, Arthur Crudup,

Joe Turner, Lloyd Price.

♪ ♪

Lloyd Price:

♪ Well, now, lawdy,

lawdy, lawdy, Miss Clawdy ♪

♪ Girl, you sure

look good to me ♪

♪ Please don't

excite me, baby ♪

♪ Know it can't be me ♪

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ Because I give you

all of my money ♪

♪ Yeah, but you just

won't treat me right ♪

Springsteen:

Elvis and Elvis's music

pointed to black culture

and said,

"This is something that's

filled with the force of life."

If you want to be a complete

and fulfilled person,

if you want to be

an American,

this is something

you need to pay attention to.

♪ ♪

Petty:

The American teen

just knew it rocked.

No white music

had ever done that.

Plenty of black music had.

♪ Tell my mama ♪

♪ Lord, I swear to God,

what you been doin' to me ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell everybody... ♪

Porter:

Elvis was able

to bring a value

to the presentation

of black music,

African-American artists,

at a period that

they were being ignored

by the great artists,

in a credible way,

because he learned it

from the source.

♪ Girl, I don't be

comin' no more ♪

♪ Goodbye to little darlin' ♪

♪ Down the road I go ♪

Can't stop me now, man.

We can't stop.

Man:

All right, all right.

♪ I said, bye ♪

(cheers)

♪ Bye, bye, baby ♪

(screaming)

♪ Girl, I won't... ♪

Jorgensen:

In the Colonel's view,

whatever the songs were,

whoever played on it

didn't matter.

It was Elvis.

It was, in his mind,

about the merchandise.

He always called it

"the merchandise."

And that's what it was

to him and to RCA.

♪ ♪

Announcer:

We think tonight

that he's going to make

television history for you.

We'd like you

to meet him now.

Elvis Presley!

West:

Colonel knew how to do it,

and had the contacts

with the--

the show in New York,

the Tommy Dorsey Show.

Jorgensen:

RCA didn't seem to be able

to secure TV performances,

and eventually,

Colonel Parker secures

Elvis for shows

to coincide with the release

of the record in January.

♪ ♪

Light:

The earliest shows,

he doesn't have that much

material to draw from.

What he's doing really

are the-- the covers.

These songs

initially recorded

by black songwriters,

black performers:

"Shake, Rattle, and Roll"

and "Money Honey"

and "Flip, Flop and Fly."

♪ ♪

Petty:

He was an

incredible performer

in that his body

really picked up

all the intricacies

of the rhythm.

It's so lighthearted,

but it's so deep

and meaningful

at the same time.

♪ ♪

It's such a magical

thing to see.

He looks really supernatural,

'cause of the kinescopes,

just the way

it distorts the image.

There's some beautiful thing

going down there,

you know, and it must

have been really incredible

to see it with no warning.

♪ ♪

(scatting)

(audience cheering)

♪ I'm like

a Mississippi bullfrog ♪

♪ Sittin' on a hollow stump ♪

♪ ♪

♪ I'm like

a Mississippi bullfrog ♪

♪ Sittin' on a hollow stump ♪

♪ ♪

♪ I got so many women ♪

♪ I don't know

which way to jump ♪

♪ Well, I said

flip, flop and fly ♪

♪ I don't care if I die ♪

♪ I said flip, flop and fly ♪

♪ Don't care if I die ♪

♪ Don't ever leave me,

don't ever say goodbye ♪

♪ ♪

(applause and cheers)

West:

He just did all those

Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey shows.

That was nationwide TV.

And it all went through

the roof from then on.

Robertson:

That's when

we saw somebody

that could sing better

than other people,

could move better

than other people,

had style that was better

than other people.

In the pop world,

when this came along

it broke glass.

Elvis:

♪ You ain't nothin'

but a hound dog ♪

♪ Cryin' all the time ♪

♪ You ain't nothin'

but a hound dog ♪

Springsteen:

When you look at those

television performances,

you see the band

watching Elvis.

They all got their

eyes on Elvis.

♪ Well, they said

you was high class ♪

Springsteen:

That was essential

to the way the band swung.

Elvis is simply

swinging your world

with the way

he's swinging his hips

and moving his legs

and his shoulders.

He's pushing and pushing

his musicians.

♪ You ain't nothin'

but a hound dog ♪

(screams)

♪ Cryin' all the time ♪

♪ You ain't nothin'

but a hound dog ♪

Fontana:

We were doing

The Milton Berle Show,

and we was doing "Hound Dog."

Right at the end,

we usually go out.

♪ You ain't

no friend of mine ♪

Fontana:

All of a sudden, he went

into this half-time bluesy

"You ain't nothin'

but a hound dog," slow.

(screaming)

And we had never

did it that way.

We all looked at each other.

"What do we do now?

We'd better follow him."

♪ You ain't nothin' but a... ♪

Fontana:

I just figured, well,

I better catch his blues licks

and his legs and arms

and do everything I can.

It was like every man

for himself, actually.

♪ Well ♪

Fontana:

Everytime he'd move

a finger, a leg, an arm,

or run across the stage

like a machine gun.

(Fontana imitates drumming)

Just every lick

I could catch, you know?

♪ ♪

Priscilla:

My parents are watching it.

They don't know

I'm watching it.

They're looking,

and... (laughing)

My mother's saying,

"That's disgusting!"

♪ Crying all the time ♪

♪ Well, you ain't never

caught a rabbit ♪

♪ You ain't no... ♪

Petty:

As a little kid,

I can remember

the living room discussion.

His appearances on TV

were of a sexual nature.

He had really

stepped over the line

of what's decent

on television.

Priscilla:

After that, our parents

wouldn't let us see him.

The ministers, reverends

told our parents,

"Keep him away

from your children.

He's the devil."

So, he's forbidden fruit.

(flashbulbs popping)

Man:

On your personal

appearances,

you create

a sort of mass hysteria

amongst your audiences

of teenagers.

Is your shaking

and quaking in the nature

of an involuntary response

to this hysteria?

Elvis: Involuntary?

Man: Yeah.

Uh, well, I'm aware

of everything I do at all times,

but, uh, it's just

the way I feel.

Man:

And do you think

you've learned anything

from the criticism

leveled at you?

Elvis: No, I haven't.

Man: You haven't, huh?

Because, uh, I don't--

I don't feel I'm doing

anything wrong.

Man:

Do you read the stuff?

Nik Cohn:

One of the paradoxes

with Elvis is

how could a boy

so in love with God,

so obsessively in love

with his mother,

so decent,

and "yes, ma'am,"

and "yes, sir"

and all of that,

how could he be so

unconfined on the stage?

How could he do this?

Maultsby:

That was just totally

unacceptable,

because the mid '50s being

the beginning of the

civil rights movement,

the biggest fear that

most Southerners had

was so-called race mixing.

♪ ♪

Ferris:

Elvis's first television

appearances

were earth-shattering.

He sang at a moment

in the history of the South

in the early '50s,

when his music was truly

a revolutionary sound

that bridged the black

and white musics

of Southern worlds

in a way that had

never been heard before.

Petty:

I don't think

he was, necessarily,

trying to shake

the world in that sense,

but I think he...

he knew what he was onto.

He knew it

made him feel great,

and he knew there was

a rebellious streak in it.

He had to know that,

and it made him powerful.

They're clearly

afraid of him...

(Petty laughs)

...to some degree.

Zanes:

If you see a large social

anxiety on the horizon,

there's probably issues

of bodies in control involved.

Young people,

whether they were

physically mixing

black and white or not,

they were culturally

mixing black and white,

the way they were

expressing themselves,

the movements in space

as that mixing happened

were sexual in nature.

♪ ♪

Zanes:

And I think,

in the case of Elvis,

the fearful response,

it had a racial component

and a sexual component.

You know, it's all about

fear and the body.

Cohn:

I and millions of other

kids growing up,

we all had this feeling

that Elvis was,

sort of, sent to us,

to lead us out of the darkness

of our own confusion,

sexual confusion,

social confusion,

ineptitude.

♪ ♪

Robertson:

Here's what it was for me.

Elvis came along,

and this soundwave came out

that ran right through me.

♪ ♪

Priscilla:

You felt like

he was looking at you.

I mean, he had these eyes,

and he was connecting

with his audience.

As teenagers,

it was liberating.

Now we had something

to claim for ours.

Light:

I don't think there

was any context

for the kind of shift

that Elvis represented.

I don't think there was

any-- any possible way

to know that that

was going to resonate

and shake young people

to their core

in such a profound way.

Steve Allen:

The reason I booked him,

I recognized right away

that he had something,

a cuteness.

It was chiefly his face,

but a beautiful sound,

he really never had.

Landau:

The thing is that it was

well-known that Steve Allen,

who fancied himself

a major songwriter,

hated rock and roll.

And his purpose

in having Elvis was,

first and foremost,

he needed the ratings,

but secondly,

to be sarcastic

and condescending to Elvis

and to the music

he openly despised.

Elvis:

♪ You ain't nothin'

but a hound dog ♪

♪ Cryin' all the time ♪

♪ You ain't nothin'

but a hound dog ♪

♪ Cryin' all the time ♪

Dave Marsh:

Steve Allen, he was out

to humiliate an entire culture

of what he would've

called "hillbillies."

It was all a sneer.

Priscilla:

It's a control thing.

It was humiliating.

After that, he didn't

like Steve Allen at all.

♪ Well, that was just a lie ♪

Marsh:

As a child,

I was deeply offended.

There was something

wrong there.

Elvis, why are you

letting him do this to you?

♪ ♪

Ferris:

We can look at Elvis

as a Southern trickster figure.

You deal with power

by yes-ing them to death,

and that's what Elvis did.

Very polite, very deferential,

but with his eye

on the sparrow.

He was basically

a good-natured Southern kid,

but he was on a mission

to deliver this music.

Schilling:

By 1956,

Elvis was coming

into his own.

The RCA singles were enormous.

"Hound Dog,"

"Don't Be Cruel."

They sold

three million copies.

Light:

When Elvis's

first album came out,

that sold 300,000 copies.

"Heartbreak Hotel" topped

all three Billboard charts:

country, pop, and R&B.

This was now a career

that was going to these

unimaginable heights.

Petty:

I often wonder

if there had ever

been a 21-year-old

that had that power,

that could mobilize

millions of youths

with the wave of his hand.

♪ ♪

Priscilla:

His mother worried

so much about him.

He always wanted

to be a good son,

mostly to his mom,

and didn't want

to give her fears.

They would talk

every single day,

and he was comforting her

that he'd be okay

and not to worry so much.

(screaming)

Light:

By the time Elvis made

the first appearance

on The Ed Sullivan Show,

it was already something

everybody was waiting for,

watching for.

There was all kinds

of pressure

and all kinds of expectation.

The Sullivan Show

was the crown jewel,

that was the biggest

game in town.

Priscilla:

It was almost like,

okay, you know,

"I'll do these shows,

I'm doing my song,

I'm doing my thing."

But he's not letting go

of his roots.

Elvis:

♪ Well, the morning's

so bright ♪

♪ And the lamp... ♪

Gordon Stoker:

He wanted to do

"Peace in the Valley"

on The Ed Sullivan Show.

They said, "No, we've

never had a religious song

on this show,

and you're not going

to sing one now."

Priscilla:

That's one of the songs

his mother loved

was "Peace in the Valley."

He fought for that song.

No one wanted him

to do that song.

Elvis:

♪ There will be peace ♪

♪ In the valley ♪

♪ For me ♪

Priscilla:

But it was important for him

to sing it for his mother,

to his mother,

and keep his roots intact.

Elvis:

♪ Peace in the valley ♪

♪ For me ♪

Schilling:

If you really look at Elvis

on the Dorsey shows,

that's the rebel.

But then you see him

doing "Peace in the Valley"

on The Sullivan Show,

that's the good-natured

Southern kid.

♪ Trouble I see ♪

♪ There will be peace ♪

♪ In the valley ♪

♪ For me ♪

Man:

Okay, Elvis, this is

sort of off-the-cuff,

but how does it feel to be

right up there on top,

right with the best of 'em,

since you are

one of that class,

how does that feel?

Elvis:

Uh, it all happened so fast,

so I don't know.

I'm afraid to wake up,

afraid it's liable to be

a dream, you know?

Man:

Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

(man speaking)

(Elvis speaking)

Elvis:

We got a seven-year contract

with Paramount Pictures.

It's a dream come true,

you know?

I've had people ask me

was I gonna sing

in the movies, I'm-- I'm not.

Man: I see you're signed

by Hal Wallis and company,

out of Paramount.

Elvis: Yes.

Man: Can you

tell us anything

about the first movie

that will be made?

Elvis:

We'll have

a movie coming out,

uh, we start making it

in June. It's, uh...

It's a movie

with Burt Lancaster

and Katharine Hepburn

called The Rainmaker.

Schilling:

He didn't get

The Rainmaker.

They talked him into

doing Love Me Tender.

And then talked him

into four songs.

Jorgensen:

I think that Elvis brought

a lot of insecurity with him.

He wanted to be a movie star,

that was much bigger

than being a recording star,

and he was fairly disheartened

when he learned

that he had to sing

for these movies.

Priscilla:

In the first four movies,

you see him so into the part,

and you see him really

taking the role seriously.

He learned everyone's lines.

He thought that's

what an actor did.

Training himself to be

more like a Marlon Brando

or a James Dean

or a Humphrey Bogart.

He respected

these actors very much,

and this is where he thought

his future was going.

Landau:

The movie people

took him very seriously.

These were

carefully made films.

They had scripts.

They had emotion.

King Creole,

Love Me Tender,

Jailhouse Rock.

They assigned him

stellar people.

Michael Curtiz,

who directed King Creole,

is the same Michael Curtiz

who directed Casablanca.

So they treated him

with respect.

Schilling:

King Creole, it was being

prepped for James Dean...

before the fatal crash.

Woman:

♪ Crawfish ♪

♪ Fresh and ready ♪

♪ To cook ♪

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ Crawfish ♪

♪ See, I got 'em ♪

♪ See the size ♪

♪ Stripped and cleaned ♪

♪ Before your eyes ♪

♪ Sweet meat, look ♪

♪ Fresh and ready to cook ♪

♪ Crawfish ♪

♪ Now take Mr. Crawfish

in your hand ♪

♪ He's gonna look good

in your frying pan ♪

♪ If you fry him crisp ♪

♪ Or you boil him right ♪

♪ He'll be sweeter than sugar

with every bite ♪

♪ Crawfish ♪

♪ See I got 'em ♪

♪ See the size ♪

♪ Stripped and cleaned ♪

♪ Before your eyes ♪

♪ Sweet meat, look ♪

♪ Fresh and ready to cook ♪

♪ Crawfish... ♪

Priscilla:

Out of all those movies,

King Creole was

really his favorite.

It was Leiber

and Stoller songs.

It was songs that he loved.

Marsh:

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller,

they were two of the greatest

songwriters in Americas

during the late '50s

and early '60s.

♪ If you're lookin'

for trouble ♪

♪ You came to

the right place ♪

♪ If you're lookin'

for trouble ♪

♪ Just look right in my face ♪

Stoller:

When we first met him,

we hit it off.

We were talking

about different records

that we knew.

♪ My daddy was a green-eyed

mountain jack ♪

♪ That's why I'm evil ♪

Stoller:

Elvis was into blues.

We thought we were

the only white guys

who were into blues.

♪ Well, I'm evil ♪

♪ So don't you

mess around with me ♪

Jorgensen:

In order to control music,

and in order

to make more money,

Colonel Parker set up

music companies

that would deliver songs.

Stoller:

We were given assignments,

but they also went

to all the other writers

who were assigned

to Hill & Range Songs.

Thus the owners

of Hill & Range

controlled

Elvis Presley music.

Elvis:

♪ Flesh, blood and bone ♪

Stoller: Hill & Range was

one of the biggest publishers

in the United States.

And if you wanted

to be on an Elvis record,

you were gonna play ball.

The publisher gets half,

and the writer gets half.

Light:

As Elvis is becoming

an A-list superstar,

he's reaching

a level of success

that nobody had

ever had before.

In fact, several big pop hits

into his career,

he makes a feature film,

and then, very soon

signs a contract

for a bunch of feature films.

Nobody had ever done that.

There's nobody, who

this early in their career,

is given all

of this territory

between the radio,

the television

and the movie screen.

There was no blueprint

for how you navigate

something like that.

(horn honking)

Priscilla:

Actually, it was

Vernon and Gladys

that found Graceland

and showed it to him.

He fell in love with it,

but more than that,

it was to give

a beautiful home to his mom.

And of course, his father too,

but really for his mother,

because he saw her

working so hard.

He wanted to be a great son.

Schilling: He was living

the most hectic time

of his life, career-wise.

This was his

controlled escape.

Springsteen:

Graceland.

Just the name of it itself

pulled directly out

of gospel tradition.

It's an idealized home.

The perfect symbol of someone

who's come up from the bottom

and-- and enjoyed the best

the country has to offer.

It was a huge moment for Elvis

to walk through those doors

and call that place his home.

Ferris:

It had all of the things

that Elvis had never

known as a kid.

It's not a lavish home.

It's not Tara.

But it is everything

that money and fame

could deliver according

to his specifications.

Man:

Yeah, I understand that you

bought a home for your folks.

And even though

your father is only 39,

you've insisted

that he retire.

Is that true?

Uh, yes.

Well, he's more help, I mean,

he's more help at home

than he is anywhere else,

because, uh...

he can take care

of all my business.

He can, uh, look after

things when I'm gone.

Man:

Well, I think that's--

I think that's very smart.

I, of course...

Priscilla:

Elvis gave Vernon

a huge obligation.

"Take care of me."

He had an office.

It gave him a job.

It gave him something to do,

and it was for his son.

They made sure that

they kept everything in order,

because he was really in fear

of not doing the right thing.

Schilling:

Vernon's office,

you can tell,

didn't come from

a sophisticated

business manager.

It came from a poor man

from Tupelo, Mississippi.

Harris:

Elvis had all the

money in the world.

He had anything he wanted.

He built Graceland,

and yet, he had

some sweetness about him

that kind of

breaks your heart.

I mean, really.

I don't think he--

he ever lost that.

(man speaking)

(Elvis speaking)

Priscilla:

Elvis never wanted to go back

to the days

where they struggled,

the days of poverty.

♪ ♪

Light:

In 1958, Elvis was

drafted into the Army.

And no matter how much

he'd been through

on the road

and making movies,

the notion of going

to another continent

away from his family,

was a difficult thing

for him to consider.

Jorgensen:

The idea was, of course,

that Elvis would do his duty,

so he could come back

and be respectable

in the Colonel's new vision

of the future Elvis Presley,

which was a brilliant vision.

He knew exactly where

he wanted to take Elvis.

West:

Colonel said,

"We don't want any favors.

"He's not gonna be

in entertainment.

He's gonna be a soldier."

Reporter:

Elvis, you don't get out

of the Army until 1960.

If rock and roll should

diminish in popularity,

or even disappear,

what would you do?

(chuckles)

Well, uh...

I would probably try acting.

I mean, you know, I, uh...

Priscilla:

Being drafted

was something

he never thought

about happening to him.

Petty:

The Army, which is odd,

because there was no war on.

There's not a lot

of people being drafted.

But Elvis, he goes

along with it.

Zanes:

The biggest star in the world

going into the Army.

You know, from our

historical perspective,

that's a very

strange episode.

But then if you try

to get in to his experience,

having gone through this

profound rise to fame,

there's total uncertainty

as to what

he will return home to,

if he returns.

Springsteen:

Elvis in his 20s,

he was still inventing

all the rules.

In those days,

there was no perception

that a rock and roll musician

could have a long

and lasting career.

People expected

that kind of a career

to be over within moments.

Jorgensen:

RCA panicked.

The pushed the Colonel

to set up recording sessions

before Elvis left,

so they could record

a lot of material.

Light:

The impulse was

to flood the market,

give the fans

as much as possible,

and keep riding this

as hard as you can.

Jorgensen:

And the Colonel works it

the opposite way.

His idea was to have

just enough material

to keep Elvis's name alive.

Priscilla:

He wanted to keep the mystery.

He kept Elvis away

from performing,

serving for his country

like a good soldier.

He had fans waiting

for him to come back.

Man: "I..."

I, Elvis Presley...

"do solemnly swear..."

do solemnly swear...

"that I will bear

true faith and allegiance,"

that I will bear

true faith and allegiance,

"to the United States

of America."

to the United States

of America.

Priscilla:

His mother was concerned

about him going to Germany,

'cause all they heard

at that time was Russia.

She thought

he was going to war.

Her son was leaving

for two years,

and he'd never been

out of the United States.

When he went

to basic training in Texas,

they talked every day.

And kept saying, "Mama,

I'm gonna be okay.

I'm gonna be fighting."

But she just couldn't

get it into her head.

♪ ♪

(wind whistling)

(choir singing)

♪ Oh, by and by ♪

Elvis:

♪ Tempted and tried ♪

♪ We're oft made ♪

♪ To wonder ♪

♪ Why it should be thus ♪

Priscilla:

Before he left

to serve in Germany,

Gladys suddenly got sick

and she passed.

♪ ♪

West:

When those things

happen like that,

you don't do

a lot of talking.

Elvis and his mother,

that's the closest

I've ever seen anybody

as far as that goes.

Sure was.

Priscilla:

She worried about him

night and day,

because he was

such a sensitive boy.

And yes, she was

overly protective,

but because of the loss

of the twin brother,

that protectiveness

really lingered

until the day she--

she passed.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ Farther along ♪

♪ We'll know ♪

♪ All about it ♪

♪ Farther along ♪

Cohn:

Easy to sneer that Elvis

was a mama's boy and so on,

but it wasn't that.

It was one of those relations

between a mother and son

where you could hardly say

where the mother ends

and where the son begins.

And when his mother died,

it left a hole in him.

He was never whole again

as it were.

He deeply feared

not being a good man,

being a godly man.

He needed her there

to say, "I love you,

"and you're doing

the right thing,

and I know you're good."

He needed her. Absolutely.

♪ By and by ♪

Priscilla:

The loss was the most

devastating time in his life.

It was all fun before that.

It was the skating rink,

it was the theater.

It was making a movie,

then going back to Memphis

being with his friends

and playing.

And then, of course,

having Graceland

as the center.

Fixing all that up

for the family,

and so, he matured a lot

because of the loss

of his mother.

It was unbearable

for him during that time.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ Then do we... ♪

Man:

Now, as we're getting

closer and closer

to the time that

they're gonna pull

that gangplank away,

and you'll be on your way.

Since this is probably

the last chance

that you'll have to say

something to your fans,

do you have any

particular message?

Elvis:

Well...

I'm gonna be very

honest about it.

Uh, in spite of the fact

that I am going away

and that I'll be

out of their eyes

for some time,

I hope that I'm not

out of their minds.

And, uh, I'll be

looking forward

to the time

when I can come back

and entertain

again like I did, and...

Man:

All we can do is

wish you a wonderful trip

and all the best

luck in the world

and come home soon.

Elvis:

Well, thank you very much.

I'll do my very best.

Jorgensen:

Elvis hadn't had

much time to himself

between that summer day when

he recorded "That's All Right"

and when he was

shipped to Germany.

Suddenly, on a boat

to Germany,

there was lots of time.

That's where he meets

Charlie Hodge,

and they start talking

about music together.

They start singing.

(guitar playing)

Elvis:

♪ Mona Lisa ♪

♪ Mona Lisa,

men have named you ♪

Light:

Charlie Hodge had

been a gospel singer,

who Elvis had heard sing.

Schilling:

He liked Charlie

because Charlie was

in the music business

and somebody he could

relate to that way.

Elvis was so down that

Charlie would tell jokes

and try to keep him up.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ Do you smile to tempt

a lover, Mona Lisa ♪

Light:

To have somebody who

he felt understood him,

that he could lean on,

and also to be able

to turn to that music

was tremendously important

for him to get

through that time

and everything

that was going on.

♪ Brought to your doorstep ♪

♪ They just lie there ♪

♪ And they die ♪

♪ Are you warm? ♪

♪ Are you real, Mona Lisa? ♪

♪ Or just a cold and lonely ♪

♪ Lovely work of art? ♪

(Elvis vocalizing)

Jorgensen:

When he gets to Germany,

yes, he's--

he's obviously, uh, committed

to, uh, the hours every day,

but there's, again,

a lot of spare time

in an apartment

or at a house in Germany

where he doesn't know anybody.

So there's a lot of time

for reflection.

Petty:

He goes into the Army,

which is where

he gets the, um,

the pep pills

for the first time,

the methadrine,

to stay up on watch.

Priscilla:

That was the beginning.

He started with the uppers

to get him through the Army,

to get him through

the cold days,

to get him through

the lonely nights.

Man:

Do you have any time

for, uh, music anymore?

Elvis:

Well, uh, only at night.

You see, I get off work

at five o'clock

in the afternoon...

(beeps)

...and, uh, I have a guitar

up here in the room,

and I sit around,

and you know, up here.

I don't want to get out

of practice, you know,

if I can help it.

Man:

I sure hope not.

Let me tell you...

Light:

The struggle while

Elvis was in the Army

was a mandate

from Colonel Parker

that he not record

and not make new music

since he wouldn't

be able to promote it.

But what Elvis didn't know

was Parker was not a legal

resident in the United States.

And without

legitimate papers,

any travel that he took

could present

big problems for him

trying to get back in.

The Colonel,

he would come up with

excuses and

explanations to Elvis,

to his family.

Priscilla:

There'd be telegrams

from Colonel Parker

telling him not to worry,

"I've done this,

I've done this."

Parker was releasing

songs for him

every few months

to keep the fans interested.

Light:

But it's not a lot,

and not at the pace

that they were used to

and that the machine required.

This approach to Elvis's career

was preying on

his vulnerability.

This was certainly

an opportunity for the Colonel

to fully seize the role

of parent, mentor.

The one person who could

take him through

this difficult time

and lead him out

the other way.

Priscilla:

Colonel was like

a father figure.

There's no doubt

about that.

And he felt Colonel knew

what he was doing.

I mean, Colonel brought him

to where he was.

Sam Phillips couldn't do

what Colonel Parker did.

He was bright enough

to know that.

So he was gonna follow

what Colonel Parker said.

He'd been right so far.

Elvis:

♪ Oh, rock ♪

♪ Of ages ♪

♪ Hide thou me ♪

♪ ♪

♪ There is no other ♪

♪ Refuge can save... ♪

Schilling:

Anytime Elvis was going

through a really rough time,

he always went

to gospel music.

♪ This old world ♪

Springsteen:

What is gospel?

Gospel is a place where

you go for transcendence,

where you go for peace,

where you go for a

certain type of security.

It's a home.

It's a deep home within

your soul and your body.

♪ Ages ♪

♪ Hide thou me ♪

Priscilla:

We just went to Germany.

My father was stationed there.

Air Force.

And a man came up

to me and said,

"Would you like

to meet Elvis Presley?"

And I thought

he was kidding.

I said, "Sure."

He goes, "No,

I'm really serious."

I told him if I were to--

to meet him,

he'd have to ask my parents,

and my parents

were very reluctant,

and I persuaded them

to at least let me,

you know, meet him.

Elvis:

♪ I will spend

my whole life through ♪

♪ Loving you, loving you ♪

Priscilla:

What does anyone say

to a famous person?

Elvis:

♪ Winter, summer,

springtime too ♪

Priscilla:

Elvis was sitting in a chair,

his legs crossed.

Elvis walked over to me,

and he said,

"Oh, what do we have here?"

He started playing the piano

looking over at me,

and I kind of smiled at him.

The more I looked over,

the more he would

entertain even more.

Three days later,

I get a call

that Elvis would like

to see me again.

And the rest is history.

Elvis:

♪ I'll always be ♪

♪ Loving you ♪

Priscilla:

I learned so much

from Elvis about music.

Songs that he played

when I was in Germany

with him for those six months,

some of 'em

I could hardly connect to.

I was listening

to Frankie Avalon, Fabian.

And his selection of music,

I never heard really.

Elvis:

♪ I'll be true ♪

Priscilla:

The Ink Spots, The Platters,

Faye Adams, "Shake a Hand."

I didn't know

any of these people.

That's when I realized that

music was so much bigger

than what my music was.

Songs of loss,

songs of departing,

songs of hope.

I couldn't really even see him

as a movie star anymore,

that he was so much deeper.

Elvis:

♪ I'll always be ♪

♪ Loving ♪

♪ You ♪

Man:

Do you have any idea when

you'll be traveling back home?

Elvis:

Uh, no, I don't know.

Uh, I wish

I did know, you know.

Uh, how 'bout it?

Do you miss home?

Oh, boy,

you-- you-- (laughs)

I can't hardly talk.

(man laughs)

That's kind of--

kind of a silly question

on my part, I guess.

Elvis:

♪ It's a lonely man ♪

♪ Who wanders all around ♪

♪ Lonely man ♪

♪ It's a lonely man ♪

♪ Who roams from

town to town ♪

♪ Searchin' ♪

♪ Always searchin' ♪

♪ For something

he can't find ♪

♪ Hoping, always hoping ♪

♪ That someday

fate will be kind ♪

♪ It's a lonely man ♪

♪ Who travels all alone ♪

Chorus: ♪ A lonely man ♪

Elvis:

♪ When he has no one ♪

♪ That he can call his own ♪

Man:

Well, Elvis, now

you're really home.

How does it feel?

Elvis:

It's hard to get used

to it, you know?

I mean, I've been looking

forward to it for two years.

That-- that was the

hardest part of all.

Just being away

from show business.

It wasn't the Army,

it wasn't the other men.

It was that.

It stayed on my mind.

I kept thinking about

the past all the time.

Contemplating the future.

♪ It's a lonely man ♪

♪ Who wanders all around ♪

♪ It's a lonely man ♪

♪ Who roams

from town to town ♪

♪ Searchin',

always searchin' ♪

♪ For something he can't find ♪

♪ Hopin', always hopin' ♪

♪ That someday

fate will be kind ♪

♪ It's a lonely man ♪

♪ Who travels all alone ♪

♪ When he has no one ♪

♪ That he can call his own ♪

♪ Always so unhappy ♪

♪ Taking shelter ♪

♪ Where he can ♪

♪ Here I am ♪

♪ Come meet a lonely ♪

♪ Lonely man ♪

Man: All right, we have

a wide shot, so no one

can be in here.

Standing by.

9:12.

♪ ♪

Jerry Schilling:

The ' 68 Special

really showed

Elvis's career in its entirety.

They took Elvis's

original songs

and they made 'em more modern.

Priscilla Presley:

This was bringing him

back to the beginning

but yet going into the future.

♪ Well, I quit my job

down at the car wash ♪

♪ I left my mama

a goodbye note ♪

Schilling:

There was the jam session

with his original musicians.

It had simplicity, spontaneity.

And it also had

the choreographed pieces

that really was

a reflection of the movies

and the post-Army years.

♪ But nobody wanted

to hire a guitar man ♪

♪ ♪

Steve Binder:

The real spine

of the special

came from our writers.

They locked themselves

in their office

and played every Elvis record

you could find.

Chris Bearde:

We wove a story of Elvis

from his beginnings

to being a superstar.

It gave everybody a look

at Elvis as a musician.

♪ I'm hopin' I can

make myself a dollar ♪

♪ Makin' music on my guitar ♪

Priscilla:

It's funny. It's telling

Elvis's story, yes,

in a variety show.

It's got the girls.

It's got him playing guitar.

I look back now...

his life was so big,

I don't know if you can

get it in an hour. (laughs)

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ Yes, I'm gonna walk ♪

♪ On that milky white way ♪

♪ Oh Lord, some of these days ♪

Elvis:

I started out when I was

just out of high school,

I started out

driving a truck,

and, uh, I was training

to be an electrician.

♪ Some of these days ♪

♪ Well, well, well, well ♪

One day at my lunch break,

I went into this

little record company

to make a record.

The guy put the record out,

and overnight, in my hometown,

people were saying,

you know, "Who is he?"

♪ I'm gonna walk

on that milky white way ♪

♪ Oh Lord, some of these days ♪

I started to play

little nightclubs

and little football fields.

Like a year and a half,

I was doing this,

I met Colonel Parker.

♪ My mother howdy,

howdy, howdy... ♪

In 1956, they arranged to,

uh, to put me on television.

So they dressed me

in a tuxedo,

had me singing

to a dog on a stool.

♪ My mother howdy

when I get home ♪

I went to Hollywood

and I did four pictures.

I was really getting used

to the movie star bit.

♪ I'm gonna shake

my mama's hand ♪

Just overnight

it was all-- all changed.

♪ I will shake her hands

that day ♪

I got drafted.

♪ That's when we walk ♪

♪ On that milky white way ♪

♪ Oh Lord, one of these days ♪

Choir:

♪ On some of these days ♪

Warren Zanes:

Returning from the Army,

coming back home,

getting ready to perform again,

it's obviously not the '60s.

Those '60s haven't come yet.

This is pre-civil rights.

Things are happening

in that regard,

but it's not really

coming to a head yet.

I'm sure he was aware

of how much had gone on.

He could've gone

in several directions.

Man:

Well, Elvis, now

you're really home.

How does it feel?

It's pretty hard

to describe, I'll tell ya.

It's hard to get

used to it, you know?

I mean, I've been looking

forward to it for two years,

and, all of a sudden,

here it is.

It's, uh...

It's not easy

to adjust to it.

Man: Elvis, do you think

the music has changed

since you've been

out of the service?

I mean, since you've

been in the service.

Possibly, yes.

I-I... I can't say really.

I haven't been here

long enough to even know.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

The only thing I can say

is if it has changed,

well, I would be

foolish not to...

try to change

with it, you know?

♪ ♪

John Jackson:

When Elvis gets back

from the Army,

he was still

one of the biggest

stars on the planet.

But rock and roll,

that force that happened

between '54 and '59,

basically had evaporated

while he was away.

And you see,

immediately, the results

of the Colonel plotting--

"How do I make him

as widespread as possible

and polish his image?"

Get him on the path

towards being a Frank Sinatra

or a Dean Martin,

pop singers who have

very long careers.

Alan Light:

This was a curious

crossroads in his career.

It was open field to see

what was he gonna do

and where was he gonna go.

The work that he had done

during his time in the Army

broadens the scope

of the music

that he was interested in.

Priscilla:

He didn't wanna

do the same music.

He wanted to grow.

He wanted to evolve in a way

that he could offer something

different in his music.

Ernst Jorgensen: With Elvis,

it was always about

the challenge, the motivation.

He's already in

the recording studio

in Nashville

two weeks after coming home.

He knew what was at stake,

so did the Colonel

and the engineers,

everybody.

There was this

tension in the room:

"What's it gonna be like?"

Man:

You ready?

(guitar plays)

Let's cut one.

LTWB0081, take one.

(train whistling)

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ I just got

your letter, baby ♪

♪ Too bad you can't

come home ♪

Jorgensen:

They all relaxed after

just a few takes

because he's so on top of it.

He's been longing

for this moment--

both to get his

career started

but also to express

a new range of music,

his new understanding of music.

Everything he could do.

Elvis:

♪ I ain't slept a wink

since Sunday ♪

♪ I can't eat a thing all day ♪

Light:

Since the last Ed Sullivan Show

appearance in 1957,

the Colonel decided to take

Elvis off of television.

He didn't want

to give Elvis away

when you could sell tickets

in a movie theater.

Jorgensen:

But in the relaunch,

he wasn't gonna gamble.

He wanted exposure to make

sure they got a head start.

Now it was time to deliver.

Jackson:

The Colonel's plan was

get Elvis on television

in front of as many

people as possible

with the world's

other most famous singer.

Make it fun and exciting,

so that now the career

can continue.

(women screaming)

♪ I know that I ♪

♪ Held nothing ♪

♪ Waa-ooh-waa-ooh ♪

♪ If you should go away ♪

♪ But to know ♪

♪ That you love me brings ♪

Bruce Springsteen:

The Sinatra show,

it was a very conservative

move at the time.

It was just trying

to find his place

after coming out of the Army.

He simply had to believe

in himself,

and that's what Elvis did.

♪ ♪

♪ Fame and fortune ♪

♪ My way ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

(women screaming)

Springsteen:

Elvis put himself forth

as somebody who was not

a flash in the pan

but who was in a long line

of a tradition of American

pop singers.

They were saying there's

a life for Elvis after Elvis.

Elvis...

(screaming continues)

I tell ya something,

it was great!

Jon Landau:

I remember when he appeared

on the Frank Sinatra special.

That show was

very much the opposite

of The Steve Allen Show.

There was

a collegial atmosphere.

Frank Sinatra and Elvis

had two different styles

but were in an incredibly

exclusive club.

♪ ♪

We work in the same way

only in different areas.

(laughter)

♪ Love me tender ♪

♪ Love me sweet ♪

♪ Never let me go ♪

Jackson:

Trading their own hits

with each other

is the big moment

that the Colonel

engineered for him.

♪ Those fingers

in my hair ♪

(women screaming)

Jackson:

You can hear the women

in the crowd start screaming.

Elvis sexes it up a little bit.

♪ That strips

my conscience bare ♪

♪ It's witchcraft ♪

♪ Love me tender ♪

(women screaming)

♪ Love me true ♪

Jackson:

Sinatra, he's fitting

"Love Me Tender"

into that swing thing.

He's born on the beat.

♪ Oh my darling,

I love you ♪

♪ And I always will ♪

♪ It's such

an ancient pitch ♪

(women screaming)

♪ One I wouldn't switch ♪

♪ 'Cause there's

no nicer witch ♪

♪ Than witchcraft ♪

♪ I love you ♪

♪ And I always will ♪

♪ ♪

(harmonizing)

♪ For my darling ♪

♪ I love you ♪

Man, that's pretty.

(laughter)

Both:

♪ And I always will ♪

Jackson:

He's embraced

by the community

that had previously

put him down,

and that signaled

he was now ready

to take on this role

of cultural icon.

Jorgensen:

You get this new Elvis,

the Elvis that

Colonel Parker wanted,

the Elvis that had grown up

exactly the same way

that his core audience

had grown older.

They were gone

from being teenagers

to being young adults.

So for him, it was

the perfect launch.

The public widely

accepted that,

but, obviously,

this was a transition.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ You gave me love to enjoy ♪

♪ Like a bright shiny toy

to a baby ♪

♪ ♪

♪ No matter what

you would do ♪

♪ I depended on you ♪

♪ Like a baby ♪

♪ ♪

Priscilla:

He knew that next album

was important.

He gave it a lot of thought.

Light:

The Elvis is Back! album

reveals new influences,

new interests,

new arrangements.

Jackson:

He had been getting

ready for this mentally

while he was in Germany.

There's a little bit of R&B,

there's a little bit of pop,

ballads, country.

♪ ♪

Light:

New songs that represented

a different vocal approach

than anything

he had tried before that.

Elvis:

♪ I was blind,

'cause I just ♪

David Briggs:

His voice was very much

in tune always,

and that's because he didn't

have to fight the band.

Those guys were soft

and they didn't push him,

and they weren't too busy.

Jorgensen:

The band had the ability

to play all this music

that came from

so many different sources.

Elvis:

♪ Like a baby ♪

Jorgensen:

That was the true magic

of Elvis combining

with this band.

They perfectly

understood each other.

(Elvis vocalizing)

Red West:

Those musicians

were incredible.

Bobby Moore on bass,

Floyd Cramer on piano.

Man, those guys

heard a demo once

and bam,

they were ready to go.

Briggs:

They were a real tight group.

Nobody played anything

that didn't go

with what the other one

was playing.

Elvis:

♪ I need soul ♪

Briggs:

DJ and Scotty

were still there,

but they began to play

a lesser and lesser role

and that made it

a little more sophisticated.

Elvis:

♪ Then I broke down

and cried ♪

Priscilla:

He liked the way

the music sounded.

Technology, it evolved

while he was gone.

Jackson:

RCA Studios got

a three-track recorder.

That immediately adds

a technical professionalism

as recording technology

is moving into the future.

Elvis:

♪ Like a baby ♪

Priscilla:

He started feeling confidence,

because these were

his song choices.

These were songs that

he was singing in Germany.

That's the freedom

that he wanted.

That's what

he was looking for.

Elvis:

♪ Like a baby ♪

Priscilla:

And that's why

it was so successful.

Just blew people away.

Landau:

Elvis, when he came back,

clearly in finding the songs

and making the records,

was very driven.

His vision was very intact,

and I don't think

he could be distracted.

Zanes:

Elvis was so attuned

to the emotional.

He was always on the search

for emotional music.

Priscilla:

I asked him one day,

"What makes you

pick out your songs?"

He said, "I wanna be able

to reach and feel

what we all go through

as human beings."

♪ Ooh ♪

Zanes:

This is the mysterious

part about music.

How do we know when

we're listening to a song

that someone means it?

We just know.

Elvis:

♪ Are you lonesome tonight ♪

Zanes:

And the people who mean it

are generally the ones

who are processing

some kind of loss

through music,

and we can hear them

negotiating their loss,

and we connect to it.

Elvis:

♪ Does your memory stray ♪

♪ To a bright summer day ♪

♪ When I kissed you ♪

♪ And called you sweetheart? ♪

David Porter:

Those who are truly

a recording artist,

you go into

the artistic aspect

of what makes

whatever you're doing

alive and unique

for that song.

So he would lose himself

in an artistic way

in order for people to feel it.

Elvis:

♪ And picture me ♪

Porter:

That's called soul.

Elvis:

♪ Is your heart

filled with pain? ♪

♪ Shall I come back again? ♪

♪ Tell me, dear ♪

♪ Are you lonesome tonight? ♪

Man:

Usually when we chat, Elvis,

we ask you to, uh,

select your favorite song

of all your recordings.

What's the current

favorite of yours?

Elvis:

I think, uh,

"Now or Never."

It's "Now or Never."

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ It's now or never ♪

Jorgensen:

Everything was

a level up on the '50s.

The three singles,

"Stuck on You,"

"It's Now or Never"

and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"

were number one hits.

It was a true triumph

and a whole new ballgame

of what pop music was.

Elvis:

♪ Tomorrow will be too late ♪

Landau:

Rhythmically,

his sense of time,

his phrasing, musicality,

Elvis was impeccable.

Elvis:

♪ When I first saw you ♪

Priscilla:

He loved opera singers.

He loved the range

of an opera singer.

"It's Now or Never"

is very much like that.

Elvis:

♪ My heart was captured ♪

Tom Petty:

What he did that was unusual

was he could slide up the scale

into a tenor voice

and then back down, you know.

And he's just having fun.

He's sliding

all over the scale.

It's so human.

It's so real.

Elvis:

♪ It's now or never ♪

♪ Come hold me tight ♪

Light:

"It's Now or Never" was

adapted from "O Sole Mio,"

the Italian song.

Elvis had always

had this interest

in the Italian crooners.

When he was in the Army

with Charlie Hodge,

they were exploring that

kind of drama in his singing.

That sound, that style

became one of the staples

of Elvis's musical range

from then on.

Elvis:

♪ Just like a willow ♪

Jorgensen:

It's about challenge.

It was the challenge that

made him do that extra thing.

And hitting the high notes

at the end

on "It's Now or Never"

was the challenge.

Elvis:

♪ And sweet devotion ♪

Jorgensen:

He can't really reach it,

and the engineer says,

"We can cut the ending only,"

and Elvis goes back and says,

"No, if I can't sing it

the whole way through,

I'm not gonna do it."

Elvis:

♪ For who knows when ♪

Priscilla:

He challenged himself.

He got a thrill out of

hitting a note so high.

Elvis:

♪ It's now or never ♪

♪ My love won't wait ♪

♪ ♪

♪ It's now or never ♪

♪ My love won't wait ♪

(folk music playing)

♪ ♪

♪ Can't you see

I love you? ♪

♪ Please don't break

my heart in two ♪

♪ That's not hard to do ♪

♪ 'Cause I don't have

a wooden heart ♪

(laughter)

♪ And if you say goodbye ♪

♪ Then I know

that I would cry ♪

Jorgensen:

For Elvis to have

to do G.I. Blues,

reflecting his two years

in the Army

in a way that probably

doesn't compare a lot

to what it was like,

I don't think he really

enjoyed that.

G.I. Blues was

a family type of film

moving Elvis's image

in a completely

different direction

from the very young,

aggressive characters

in the '50s movies.

But he was given the promise

that there would be two films

for 20th Century Fox,

following this,

that were serious roles.

It may have been a reasonable

bargain for Elvis at the time.

Priscilla:

When he found out the songs

that he had to do

in G.I. Blues,

he said, "Baby, I don't know

how this is gonna go.

I'm a little disappointed."

Jorgensen:

The songs they had

to fit into the plot,

but musically, they were

not where Elvis was at.

He makes a compromise.

That was the really

disheartening part for Elvis.

The soundtrack of G.I. Blues,

it was the most successful

album they had made.

It sold much more

than the absolutely

brilliant studio album

that came out

some months before.

Schilling:

Elvis is now a big business.

So instead of going out,

getting the best

songwriters in general,

Hill & Range,

from the Colonel,

were hiring a couple

of songwriters

to write Elvis songs.

Briggs:

They would bring

all of the material,

that was the unspoken rule.

Nobody else was allowed

to bring any music

into the session.

That was very tightly

controlled by the Colonel,

by the publishing company,

and by the record company.

West:

The Colonel eventually

started getting

a percentage of everything.

He was a businessman.

He didn't give a damn

if it was worth a crap.

Schilling:

Elvis could care less

about the songwriting,

publishing in general.

Some of it,

he got and understood,

but he cared more

about good material.

Petty:

It was more about the Colonel

owning the publishing,

which was a huge

stone in his shoes

the rest of his life.

It was this business of

"We must own the copyright

or we don't

want you to do it."

Priscilla:

Elvis said, "I'm starting

to feel the pressure.

"I'm obligated here.

I don't think there's

a way out for me."

And I said, "Well, can't you

talk to Colonel?"

And that's when I think

he started getting

disillusioned.

Basically, Colonel

was part of it.

Already, he's feeling

that he's not in control,

and this is really early on.

Gladys Presley:

♪ Oh, home sweet home ♪

♪ There's no place like home ♪

(song continues)

Priscilla:

I already had a feeling

of what Graceland was like

through Elvis's description.

He told me in Germany,

"I want you to come

and see Graceland."

And he would give me images.

When I came, the first time,

he told me to close my eyes,

and not to open them.

We're driving, and then

he said, "Open them."

The gates of Graceland open up.

It was everything

that he'd described.

It was bigger

than life for me.

His safe haven.

Schilling:

Graceland always represented

something more than

just a house to Elvis.

Light:

Graceland was

something initially

that he had bought

with and for his parents,

and it reminded him

of his mother,

her presence and her

influence in his life,

which didn't end

after she died.

Priscilla:

I opened up a closet

and it was filled

with her clothes.

And I had such a sense of her.

She liked soft fabric.

Her hats, her shoes--

he hung on

to those personal things.

Even though

it had been a few years,

there was still a lingering

scent there, of her.

It really showed me

the love that he had for her.

Elvis:

She never really

wanted anything,

you know, anything fancy.

She just stayed the same

all the way through

the whole thing.

There's a lot

of things happened,

and there are times

when it feels like

I don't know what

I'm gonna do next, you know?

Light:

Once he got back

to Graceland

and wanted to reconnect

with the spirit he was

brought up in

and the memory of his mother,

the best way was

to go back to the music

that he had grown up with.

Zanes:

The theme of return,

and in Elvis's case,

a return to gospel,

is part of how

we all experience music.

There are these

profound experiences

that happen with music

at a younger age.

Through our lives,

we're often chasing them.

If you were raised

in the proximity of gospel,

that's what launched you into

the world of emotional music.

West:

He was getting into

another phase in his life,

and gospel, religious music,

was his favorite,

and that's why he did it.

Jorgensen:

Just on the heels

of G.I. Blues,

he goes in and records

a complete album

of gospel music

with songs from

all his old heroes:

Blackwood Brothers,

Golden Gate,

Statesmen Quartet.

It's a tribute to everything

he came from,

and he does it with a voice

at his best ever.

Elvis:

♪ Why don't you

swing low, sweet chariot ♪

♪ Stop and let me ride ♪

Tony Brown:

It was so close

to those records

that the Statesmen

and Blackwoods were making.

It could've been those records.

Jorgensen:

He had the Jordanaires

as the key element

of developing a gospel feel

with a band feel that

was true to the music

on the Elvis is Back! album.

Elvis:

♪ Let me ride ♪

♪ Rock me, Lord,

rock me, Lord ♪

Jorgensen:

Obviously, it's not

really rock and roll,

but there's drums

and there's saxophones.

There's a lot of swing to it.

♪ Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet ♪

Elvis:

♪ Well, well ♪

Petty:

The way he blended

them together

is an incredibly

original thing to do.

Sometimes, you know,

he wasn't traveling

very far away from the gospel.

I mean, some of it,

it was just about

putting a beat to it.

Elvis:

♪ Wasn't so particular

about the chariot wheel ♪

Petty:

That angle of the two

and the four are

slightly different

than gospel good.

Elvis:

♪ Why don't you swing down,

sweet chariot, stop ♪

♪ And let me ride ♪

Jorgensen:

You have a feeling that

he's truly enjoying this.

It's a very joyous

record to listen to.

Schilling:

His Hand in Mine

was a passion.

The whole gospel influence

was as much a part of him,

and maybe even more so

as the rhythm and blues.

This was just his

opportunity to get it out.

Priscilla:

And it was a mission

to show others,

the listeners, that in these

choices of music

and how it's embellished,

really what Elvis was

looking for as an artist,

to have that freedom.

It's that simple.

Elvis:

♪ Just wanted to lay

down this heavy load ♪

♪ Why don't you

swing down, sweet chariot ♪

♪ Stop, let me ride ♪

Man:

How's Blue Hawaii going?

Elvis:

It's going on very well.

We leave tomorrow

for Kauai, you know.

Yeah.

I think we'll be there

for about 10 days.

Man: Tell us about

Blue Hawaii a bit.

Elvis:

There's about

11 songs in it.

Some Hawaiian tunes?

Yeah.

You got some

special material written

for you for the picture?

Elvis: Yeah, we had

about 10 songs written

especially for the picture.

We do that, you know,

before the picture starts.

♪ ♪

Jorgensen:

The film Blue Hawaii was

an overwhelming success.

That is the point where

it gets real interesting.

Jackson:

The two dramas,

Wild in the Country

and Flaming Star,

they're not as music heavy,

and they actually lose money.

Priscilla:

And that's when

they told him,

"This is proof. This is

what the public wants.

"People just wanna

hear your music.

They wanna hear you

sing in movies."

(crowd cheering)

Schilling:

The last concert he played,

for almost a decade,

was a charity show

near Pearl Harbor.

♪ ♪

(women screaming)

Elvis:

♪ Well, so long ♪

Jackson:

That was like the

ultimate charity show,

because it was

for the building

of the Pearl Harbor

memorial.

Couldn't be more patriotic.

Couldn't have been

more of a cause

that people could get behind.

He's back,

he's served his time.

He's a great patriot.

It was more to build

that piece of the story

that the Colonel

wanted to tell.

He's cleaned up

and he's a good boy.

Elvis:

♪ Let you go ahead on, baby ♪

♪ Pray that you'll come back

home some time ♪

Boots Randolph.

(women scream)

Jackson:

The band that he brings

with him is very interesting.

He has Scotty and DJ,

but he brings

with him his all-star

Nashville, session guy band,

including Boots Randolph,

who was a great

saxophone player.

♪ ♪

(women screaming)

Jackson:

Boots Randolph brings

in a lead instrument

that can balance out

Elvis's singing

in a way that Scotty

playing rockabilly licks

didn't do previously.

So it just becomes

a much more full sound.

♪ ♪

Light:

It's a tragedy that

he didn't continue

to play live

for people at that point.

But the Colonel knew

that the films

got Elvis in front of millions

of people simultaneously

with as little

work as possible.

Landau:

The post-Army films,

I went to them.

They were a separate category

for what happened in the '50s.

He finds himself

in a situation

where he's just

churning out stuff

that he couldn't possibly

have believed in.

Elvis:

♪ I said, take it easy,

baby, I worked all day ♪

♪ And my feet

feel just like lead ♪

♪ You got my shirttails

flying all over the place ♪

♪ And the sweat

poppin' outta my head ♪

♪ She said,

Hey, bossa nova, baby,

keep on workin' ♪

♪ For this ain't

no time to quit ♪

♪ She said,

Go bossa nova, baby,

keep on dancin' ♪

♪ I'm about to have

myself a fit ♪

♪ Bossa nova, bossa nova ♪

Schilling:

The Colonel negotiated

contract after contract.

MGM, Paramount,

United Artists, you name it.

Hal Blaine:

He was inundated with

work, work, work, work.

Elvis:

♪ I can dance with

a drink in my hand ♪

♪ She said,

Hey, bossa nova, baby,

keep on workin' ♪

♪ For this ain't

no time to drink ♪

Blaine:

Everybody was trying

to get every penny they could

out of whatever

they could.

♪ Bossa nova ♪

♪ ♪

Jackson:

He had to make

three movies a year.

So these soundtrack albums

became a big part

of the contractual obligation

to release music with RCA.

Elvis:

♪ Bossa nova ♪

West:

That was not his music.

It was killing his

recording career,

because they were

movie songs, situation songs.

Priscilla: Obviously,

in some of the movies,

you got some hits--

"Viva Las Vegas,"

"Bossa Nova Baby."

They weren't all bad,

but because it was

connected to a movie,

it wasn't like a real record.

The songs had to fit the scene.

Jorgensen:

And the Colonel obviously

knew that the best format

was girls and

beautiful locations.

Robbie Robertson:

I thought it was

terrible direction--

the idea to do a bunch

of corny-ass movies,

Where this is all being led?

It's no-man's-land.

Petty:

He-- he certainly knows

this music is crap.

The movies were

very harmful to his image.

As an innovator,

as a great musician,

they were harmful.

He's very talented.

I mean, he's very present.

It's an incredible

image of him.

But where he had

a nice start in the movies

and did do some

creative things early on,

and you could see

that there was great

potential for this guy,

there was really

no way for him

to become

the huge movie star

that he would've

liked to have been

and the Colonel

keep control of it.

You know, there's too many

creative aspects

gonna come in,

and they're gonna challenge

the Colonel's

carnival mentality.

Colonel Tom Parker:

Well, no, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no.

Far as I was concerned,

I was not involved other

than making the contract.

He had the opportunity to say,

"I don't want to do it

or I'd like to do it."

No one told him

he had to make a picture

that he didn't want to do.

When we had a script,

we'd deliver it to Elvis.

Schilling:

Elvis did refuse

a bad picture.

In comes the Colonel,

in comes the studios,

in comes the record company.

They would say to him,

"You don't fulfill

your contracts,

you won't do anything."

♪ Well, come on everybody ♪

♪ And turn your head

to the left ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Come on everybody ♪

Jackson:

In Viva Las Vegas,

it's the closest he ever

gets to having a true co-star.

♪ Take a real deep breath

and repeat after me ♪

Jackson:

That becomes a problem

for the Colonel,

because he doesn't

want anybody to even

come close to outshining Elvis.

♪ Hey, hey, hey

and my baby loves me ♪

Chorus:

♪ My baby loves me ♪

Chorus: ♪ My baby loves me ♪

♪ My baby loves me ♪

♪ I said, my baby ♪

Ha!

♪ My baby ♪

♪ Loves me ♪

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ann-Margaret (laughing):

Wee-ha!

Binder:

The Colonel did not want

Ann-Margaret in his world

after she got

a lot of press.

Anybody who had influence

on Elvis was a threat.

Landau:

The tragedy of the

old style of management

was to try and maintain

control of the artist

by limiting their

exposure to opportunities.

The Colonel

was not interested

in Elvis becoming

too independent of a thinker.

He needed Elvis to think

that everything good

came from the Colonel

and anything bad came

from imagined enemies.

He kept that con game

going for much too long.

Zanes:

The years spent

chasing the movies,

you know, seven years,

they were very

destabilizing for Elvis,

because music

was always the buoy.

Jackson:

It's clear about halfway

through that period,

he becomes very restless,

and very annoyed

with the whole process.

Schilling:

Elvis didn't have

script approval.

There weren't great budgets.

Priscilla:

The humdrum movies

that he was given--

boy chase girl,

boy gets girl,

they get married,

and it's happily ever after--

that was not Elvis Presley.

He was not that man.

He was much deeper than that.

He had no inspiration

whatsoever.

He knew he had

to make it work.

He knew he was

under a contract,

and he walked through

every one of them.

After a movie,

he felt trapped.

He dreaded the next script,

because he knew

it would be the same thing

over and over again.

But the disconnect,

the disconnect in the two

was really wearing

on his mind--

that Colonel was not taking him

to the place he needed to be.

Petty:

This is what

we'll never understand

is why did

Colonel Parker have

this kind of influence

over him.

Why was he willing

to knowingly humiliate

himself for this man,

or for the money

promised him by this man?

He puts up with it.

Porter:

I have never felt

Elvis was lost.

He knew with all those movies,

as is the case

with every artist,

that they're taking themselves

away from their strength.

Many artists can't get back

to where their strengths are.

Emmylou Harris:

An artist has to

constantly grow,

and to continue creating,

and changing,

and being inspired

by things around him

in a spiritual

or a personal way.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

I'd like to stay

in the same vein.

I-I mean,

I wouldn't like to, uh,

be at a standstill,

you know what I mean?

I'd like--

I'd like to progress.

I'd like to do a lot

of things, but I...

I realize, uh,

that it takes time,

and you can't, uh,

you can't go out of

your, uh, capa--

uh, your limitations.

You have to know

your capabilities, you know.

Like I have people

to say to me all the time,

(stammering)

"Why don't you do

an artistic picture?

"Why don't you do this

picture and that picture?

Why don't you go

do something blah, blah?"

Well, that's fine, but, uh...

Uh, I would like to.

I'd like to do

something someday

where I feel that

I really done a good job.

You know, as an actor

in a certain type role,

if what you're doing

is doing okay,

you're better off

sticking with it until,

you know,

until just time itself

changes things.

♪ ♪

Zanes:

The great irony is that Elvis

was such a significant force

in the launch

of rock and roll,

and the very revolution

that he sparked

carries on without him.

There is a renaissance

that is underway,

and he is, in effect,

in a bubble in Hollywood,

as it passes him by.

Priscilla:

'63, '64, '65, when

all the bands were coming in,

he just didn't really

wanna hear music.

He didn't wanna

hear the songs.

Was there room for him now,

being a solo artist?

Elvis really wasn't interested

in writing his own music,

and all these other

groups coming up,

The Beatles,

Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys,

they all wrote

their own songs,

so they could direct

their careers

in a way Elvis couldn't.

Petty:

There is no road map

at this point

as to what a

rock and roller does

when he gets older.

The Beatles had each other.

You know, they had four people

together to go through it.

And Elvis was totally alone.

There was no one

vaguely his equal.

There was nobody he could

bounce anything off of.

Priscilla:

Elvis really didn't ask

for anybody's advice.

He didn't ask the guys

for their advice.

Oh my gosh, he would never.

I mean, you didn't

tell Elvis what to sing

or what movie

he should be in.

Elvis was truly his own man.

He needed someone

to come in with a game plan

and offer it to him.

"What do you think of this?"

But he hung out with

the same people all the time.

We all lived in this bubble.

Very few outsiders came in.

His world was really

quite small,

and only consisted of us,

people that he trusted.

You didn't really talk about

the movies around Elvis.

We didn't go there.

Why get him upset?

And people-- the guys were

around to bring him up.

Schilling:

Elvis was going to us

and saying,

"Damn it, I know

there's good music out there.

I hear it.

Why am I not getting it?"

Petty:

You can tell his interest

in making records

has kind of gone away.

You don't get him

in the studio a lot.

Priscilla:

He was just struggling

with what to do next

and where to go,

trying to figure out

his purpose again.

It was very difficult

to watch.

♪ ♪

Odetta:

♪ How many roads ♪

♪ Must a man walk down ♪

♪ Before you call him a man ♪

Light:

By this point,

Elvis had grown so

disconnected from the music

that he was recording.

He knew that

it was inauthentic.

He knew that

it was insincere.

And he was looking for

some connection to music

that still made him

feel the way

that music had made him feel

when he was younger.

Odetta:

♪ How many times ♪

♪ Must a cannonball fly ♪

Light:

He was interested in

this new folk music--

Peter, Paul, & Mary,

the songs of Bob Dylan.

He didn't love

Bob Dylan's voice,

but he was interested

in this imagery

and this language that drew

from the gospel and the blues.

Priscilla:

And here he has

Odetta singing.

When you hear the song,

now you've got the lyrics

that match his feelings,

you've got the lyrics that

he can see himself singing.

Odetta:

♪ Only if my true love

was waitin' ♪

♪ ♪

♪ If I... ♪

Zanes:

Many of his relationships

with the culture of the day

were circuitous,

because he was Elvis

and he was behind a--

a high wall.

Elvis:

♪ Only she was ♪

♪ Lying by me ♪

♪ Then I'd lie ♪

♪ In my bed once again ♪

♪ ♪

Priscilla:

Elvis, a lot of times when

everyone had gone to bed,

or there was no one around,

he would go into the

music room at Graceland.

Just sit there

totally in solitude,

as if even I wasn't around,

and just start playing.

Always it was gospel.

Always it was

"Precious Lord."

Elvis:

♪ Precious Lord ♪

♪ Take my hand ♪

Priscilla:

When he would sing,

it was like a character study

watching him get lost.

Elvis:

♪ I'm tired ♪

♪ I'm weak ♪

♪ I'm worn ♪

♪ Through the storm ♪

Priscilla: And then,

he'd look over to see

how I was relating to it.

He'd look over

and wink at me.

Elvis:

♪ Lead me on ♪

Priscilla:

Those were times that

I cherish the most, actually.

He wasn't really trying

to impress anyone.

He was doing it for himself

and just getting in touch,

getting in touch

with his maker.

It was a plea.

Elvis:

♪ Well, you may run on

for a long time ♪

Chorus:

♪ Run on for a long time ♪

Elvis:

♪ Run on for a long time ♪

♪ Let me tell you,

God Almighty's

gonna cut you down ♪

Jorgensen:

He didn't have a

burning desire anymore

to record songs.

Elvis:

♪ Midnight rider ♪

Jorgensen:

The real interesting

element in that

is that when he regains

his appetite for recording

and wants to prove

a point in 1966,

he makes a gospel

record again.

Elvis:

♪ Talkin' to the man

from Galilee ♪

Jorgensen:

During the middle

of The Beatles,

and The Birds

and The Stones,

and Elvis makes

a gospel record when

he wants to come back.

Elvis:

♪ Great God Almighty,

let me tell you what he said ♪

♪ Go tell that

long-tongued liar ♪

♪ Go tell that

midnight rider ♪

♪ Tell the gambler, rambler ♪

Light:

Elvis is connecting

to new music.

He wants a more modern sound,

a more aggressive

rhythm section,

a rock and roll mix.

Elvis:

♪ Run on for a long time ♪

♪ Let me tell you,

God Almighty's gonna

cut you down ♪

♪ You may throw your rock

and hide your hand ♪

Springsteen:

I think Elvis's

return to gospel

was a part of simply the deep

religiousness of the South

and his upbringing.

But in the late '60s, people

were having a hard time

looking past

the kitsch aspect

of some of the things

that Elvis did.

Elvis:

♪ You gonna reap

just what you sow ♪

Springsteen:

To appreciate that music,

that stuff

couldn't bother you.

Chorus:

♪ Long time ♪

Elvis:

♪ Run on for a long time ♪

(film projector whirring)

♪ ♪

Man:

What do you think

of yourself now?

Elvis:

You mean, uh,

as an entertainer

or an individual or what?

Man:

Both.

Elvis:

I can sum it up

fairly easily.

I, uh, as a-- as a

human being, really,

who's been very extremely

fortunate in so many ways...

I've a lot that I'd like to do,

a lot that I'd like

to accomplish.

I'd like to get married.

I'd like to have a family.

I suppose the most

important thing

in a person's life is,

uh, is happiness.

I mean, not

wordly things, because...

You realize, I mean,

you can have cars.

You can have money.

You can have a fabulous home.

You can have everything.

If you're not happy,

what have you got?

♪ ♪

Priscilla:

I was very young

and very in love,

and I wanted to be

with him a lot.

The times that

we were together,

I-I cherished.

♪ ♪

Woman:

♪ I picked up my bag ♪

♪ And went looking

for a place to hide ♪

♪ When I saw old Carmen

and the devil ♪

♪ Walking side by side ♪

Springsteen:

I mean, 1968 was a wild

and violent year

in American history.

Woman:

♪ She said I gotta go ♪

♪ But my friend here

can stick around ♪

Light:

At the beginning of the year,

Lisa Marie is born.

And then a couple

of months later,

Martin Luther King

is assassinated.

Woman:

♪ Take a load off, Fanny ♪

Schilling:

We were making

a movie at MGM

when we heard on the radio

about Martin Luther King.

King was that hope

to bring us all together,

and Elvis knew that.

Elvis looked down

and he said,

"He always told the truth."

Woman:

♪ It's just old Luke ♪

♪ And Luke's waiting

on Judgment Day ♪

Light:

There's this contentious

presidential election going on.

Bobby Kennedy is assassinated.

There's chaos

at the Democratic

convention in Chicago.

Woman:

♪ Baby now,

won't you stay ♪

Priscilla:

Things were

just in disarray,

and it was never

the same after that.

♪ ♪

Nik Cohn:

By '68,

most Elvis fans had,

more or less,

given up the ghost.

There'd been

so many poor movies,

so many throwaway singles.

Jackson:

Elvis starts to think about,

"Okay, so how can I

play live again?

There's no infrastructure

for me to do that."

Landau:

A couple of really

bright guys who got Elvis

talked their way

into making a TV special.

Their mission was

to remind everybody

just who Elvis had been,

and who he still was--

in a sense, to erase

the last seven years

of the movie soundtracks.

Light:

When the opportunity for

the TV special is presented,

he hasn't performed

for an audience for years.

Priscilla:

He was actually thinking

what he would do

if everything went wrong.

This was his career.

This was his life.

This was the moment of

realization that this is it,

that this is gonna be

either a complete failure

or it'll change everything.

Springsteen:

Well, I remember I waited

for weeks

for the '68 Special

'cause I knew it was coming.

I can remember

exactly where our TV

was set up

in the dining room,

the exact place

I was sitting.

I mean, it's one

of those things

that's imprinted

on my memory forever.

But you weren't sure

if he had the ability to focus

and gather it all

together one more time

to create

musical explosiveness.

Host:

Uh, welcome to NBC,

and the

Elvis Presley Special.

(cheers, applause)

You can do better than that.

I'm gonna say it all over again.

Now, I wanna really

hear something.

Schilling:

When I went with him to NBC,

he was very quiet.

He didn't know how people

were gonna feel about it.

Priscilla:

He was extremely

nervous that night.

It's all new again,

and I'd never seen Elvis

perform live before.

I didn't really know

what to expect.

Binder:

We didn't know where

it was gonna go, period.

Just before it began,

on the first taping,

Elvis called me

into the makeup room.

He was sitting there

and he asked everybody

in the room to leave,

so he could just be

with me one on one.

I said, "What's--

what's the problem?"

"Problem is

I changed my mind.

I don't wanna do this."

Man: May we strike

the coil and cable off

the platform, please?

Priscilla:

We weren't seeing,

sitting in the audience,

what was going on.

I'd stayed away

from the dressing room.

He didn't want

anyone around.

I was sitting there going,

"Oh my gosh," you know.

"Is he gonna be able

to pull this off?"

Binder:

I said, "What are you

talking about?"

And he said,

"I don't remember anything

I sang in the dressing room.

"I don't remember

any stories that I told.

"My mind is a blank, Steve.

Let's just call it off.

It's not gonna happen."

Binder:

I said, "Elvis, I've never

asked you to do anything

that you don't wanna do..."

Host: Mr. Elvis Presley.

(crowd cheering)

Binder:

"...but you've got

to go out there."

♪ ♪

Thank you very much.

Schilling:

I don't know

how this happened,

but I saw him relax.

Elvis:

They want me

to sit on the floor!

(women cheer)

(playing guitar)

♪ ♪

(band joins in)

Man:

♪ It's all right ♪

♪ Yeah, man ♪

♪ It's all right ♪

♪ It's

all right ♪

(Elvis growls)

♪ It's all right ♪

Oh, yeah!

♪ ♪

Binder:

I had no knowledge

or understanding

about how incredibly talented

he really was until that show.

♪ ♪

Zanes:

He's having an experience

in the moment.

During the years

he was doing Hollywood movies,

you never got to see him

in the moment.

(screaming)

Yeah, baby!

♪ ♪

(speaking

indistinctly)

♪ We're goin' up,

we're goin' down ♪

♪ We're going up, down, down,

up any way you want ♪

♪ Let's roll ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ You got me doin'

what you want me ♪

♪ Oh baby, what do you

want me to do? ♪

Schilling:

The interplay

with Scotty and DJ

who's playing drums

on the back of a guitar case.

DJ Fontana:

It felt like

we were back home again.

♪ ♪

Yeah!

♪ All right ♪

Hep, hep, hep, hep, hep, hep!

Boones Howe:

Those are guys

who grew up together,

and they suddenly

have a moment

of reflection.

The past, their early days.

♪ Down, any way

you wanna let it roll ♪

Cohn:

He was rediscovering

the sheer animal joy

of making music, and realizing,

for the first time in years,

just how good he was.

♪ Baby, what do you

want me to do? ♪

♪ You got me doing

what you want me ♪

♪ Oh baby, what do you

want me to do? ♪

(applause)

Man: All right!

You got it!

Landau:

That show was

1,000% Elvis.

His fingerprint was on the

first frame to the last frame.

He was a man on a mission.

Priscilla:

And that night

when it premiered on TV,

we were all silent.

We just sat there

and watched the show

and never said a word.

And then, of course,

the telephone calls were

coming in, and reviews.

And, oh my gosh,

it was such a relief.

It was so great

to see him smile again.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ We're caught in a trap ♪

Schilling:

After the comeback special,

Elvis didn't have

to look too far

to find his way

back to the source.

Elvis:

♪ Because I love you

too much, baby ♪

Springsteen:

It was the old story.

You could take the boy

out of Memphis.

You really couldn't

take Memphis

out of the boy, you know?

The roots that you come from

are always compelling

to return to

no matter how

far away you get.

Schilling:

By that point, he only had

a couple of movies left.

And so when he went

back to the studio,

he wanted to

do things differently.

Preston Lauterbach:

Elvis returned home

to restart

his career as

a recording artist,

with local musicians,

with a local producer in

a little humble storefront,

north Memphis,

that's where Elvis returned

to essentially save his career.

♪ ♪

Porter:

Chips Moman, his job

was writer and producer.

Lauterbach:

He had evolved

from Stax Records

as a producer primarily

associated with soul

and with black artists.

But Chips was one of these

trans-racial kinda figures.

He thought in terms of style,

in terms of sound.

And he really did

embody Memphis music.

Elvis:

♪ Asking where I've been ♪

Priscilla:

It was the greatest sessions,

the greatest.

My gosh, I mean,

he came alive again.

He was liberated.

It was, uh,

a beautiful marriage.

(chuckles)

Elvis:

♪ We can't go on together ♪

♪ With suspicious minds ♪

♪ And we can't build

our dreams ♪

Schilling:

He told Elvis, "I have

a stack of records here

"I think are hits,

"and you don't

have any publishing.

What do you wanna do?"

Elvis:

♪ Oh, let our love survive ♪

Schilling:

Elvis said, "Chips,

I need hit records."

Elvis:

♪ I'll dry the tears

from your eyes ♪

♪ Let's don't let

a good thing die ♪

Petty:

He decides he's gonna

sing contemporary material.

Publishing be damned.

He's gonna do what he wants.

Elvis:

♪ Lied to you ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Yes, yes ♪

♪ We're caught in a trap ♪

West:

The songs, every one

of 'em, was a hit.

That's the biggest sales

Elvis had had ever.

Elvis:

♪ Love you too much baby ♪

Schilling:

You would think

that would've been

the next recording session.

Never recorded

with Chips again.

Elvis:

♪ I can't walk out ♪

(match strikes, flares)

♪ ♪

Ronnie Tutt:

August '69, he got

a chance to play live

at the International Hotel.

Schilling:

Vegas was a huge

event for him.

Back in the '50s,

he wasn't accepted too much

then in Vegas.

Howe:

Vegas, it's not

about teenyboppers.

It's aimed at

a particular audience--

people interested

in a show that's there,

so that they'll stop

in the casino,

on the way in or out,

and drop some money.

Petty:

Their burning thing

to go to Las Vegas

and play long stands,

you know,

that doesn't happen

till they've virtually run

aground in the film business.

There isn't a single studio

that will throw down

any significant money

for Elvis in a movie.

So, they look around go,

"Well, what we gonna do now?"

Elvis is going on stage,

you know. Thank God.

And "You Don't Have

to Say You Love Me,

and, uh... (indistinct)

Schilling:

I was able to witness him

put a band together.

When he goes out to Vegas,

he's really

making decisions

that are a little

more for Elvis

than what came before.

Zanes:

He's wanting to play

with the band.

He's wanting to go

through a deep catalog,

you know, big parts of which

remind him or his own youth.

♪ Well, you may go to college ♪

♪ May go to school ♪

♪ You may get religion, baby ♪

♪ Don't you be nobody's fool ♪

♪ Now baby, come back, baby ♪

Tutt:

I personally went to him

and said, "Elvis,

"I wanted to know

if you wanted me

"to try to duplicate

classic songs.

What was done previously."

He said, "Absolutely not.

Just do what you do,

that's why you're here."

I thought it was good that

he would try different songs

that he liked the sound of.

Glen D. was the arranger,

and he would write these

great arrangements for him,

and they would--

they would be exciting.

Elvis:

♪ Come back, baby, come ♪

♪ Come back, baby,

I wanna play house with you ♪

Elvis:

Then it goes into this one.

I wanna try something.

And since, this is last verse...

Schilling:

I think the vocals were

just as important to Elvis.

Okay. The horns are

answering it then.

Schilling:

He had to have

The Sweet Inspirations.

They had been working

with Wilson Pickett

and Aretha Franklin.

♪ Talk in

everlasting words ♪

♪ Talk, words ♪

♪ And dedicate them

all to me ♪

♪ Dedicate them

all to me ♪

Cissy Houston:

Elvis did whatever

he wanted to do.

If he was feeling it,

we had to feel it too.

And we could connect,

because we were from gospel.

We were raised gospel.

♪ You think that

I don't even mean ♪

♪ A single word I say ♪

♪ It's only words ♪

♪ And words are all I have ♪

♪ To steal your heart away ♪

Schilling:

Colonel Parker, he had

billboards all over.

There was a vibe.

Everybody knew

that Elvis was there.

He was a nervous wreck.

It's one thing to have

a small invited audience.

Now he's going

on the biggest stage

in the world.

It's Las Vegas.

This is the nitty-gritty time

as far as being

nervous, you know.

Opening night, man.

West:

He was excited,

and also nervous.

He didn't know exactly

how he was gonna be received,

and he wanted

the best of everything.

Tutt:

There were all these big

goals as far as attendance,

and he had a very

competitive nature.

So he wanted to be able

to be as powerful

and popular as Sinatra,

Tom Jones.

He wanted to take his music

to a whole different level.

(drums roll, play rock beat)

(band joins in)

Priscilla:

The first time

I ever saw him on stage,

was the first time

he played in Vegas in '69.

The '68 special, it was more

of a controlled environment.

It was for television.

But in Vegas, to actually

see him walk out there

and own that stage,

it was like,

"Oh my gosh, I get it.

I get it!"

♪ Well, that's all right, mama ♪

♪ That's all right with you ♪

♪ That's all right, mama ♪

♪ Do it any way you do ♪

♪ That's all right ♪

♪ Yeah, that's all right ♪

♪ That's all right ♪

♪ That's all right, mama ♪

♪ That's all right ♪

♪ Any way you do ♪

♪ Well, Mama,

she done told me ♪

♪ Papa done told me too ♪

♪ Son, that gal

you foolin' with ♪

♪ She ain't no good for you ♪

♪ Well, that's all right ♪

♪ That's all right ♪

♪ Yeah, that's all right now ♪

♪ That's all right ♪

♪ That's all right

now, mama ♪

♪ Any way you do ♪

Play it.

♪ ♪

Priscilla:

I remember looking around.

They're all applauding.

So drawn into him.

I'd never seen anyone control

an audience that way.

It was like he rehearsed

that show all his life.

(Elvis scatting)

♪ That's all right ♪

♪ Yeah, that's all right ♪

♪ That's all right ♪

♪ That's all right

now, mama ♪

♪ Any way you do ♪

♪ Well, that's

all right now, mama ♪

♪ Any way you do ♪

(song ending)

(cheers and applause)

♪ ♪

Woman:

♪ There's a place

on Lonely Street ♪

♪ They call it

Heartbreak Hotel ♪

♪ Where brokenhearted

lovers go ♪

Schilling:

It was great, staying up

all night, being in Vegas.

We never left the hotel.

But psychologically,

at a point,

it weighs on you,

and you may not

even know it.

Woman:

♪ Heartbreak Hotel,

where I'll be ♪

♪ I'll be so lonely ♪

♪ I'll be so lonely,

I could die ♪

♪ Although it's

always crowded ♪

♪ You still can find a room ♪

♪ For brokenhearted lovers ♪

Schilling:

Thirty days, 61 shows,

first engagement.

Six months later,

the second engagement.

The third engagement.

Woman:

♪ Die ♪

Schilling:

Playing that much

for weeks on time,

not seeing daylight.

Dave Marsh:

Locked up in a hotel room,

what is there to do?

Talking to the same

15 guys every day?

Bored out of your mind,

and it all kind of conspires

to make Elvis vulnerable

in ways that if he had

a more rational life,

he would not be vulnerable.

Woman:

♪ You got a tale to tell ♪

Bearde:

And that's when

the Colonel took over

and went back

into modus operandi.

Let's see as much money

as we can make out of Elvis

for as long as we can.

Tutt:

It worked great

in the beginning.

It just got to be

same old stuff.

Woman:

♪ Die ♪

Tutt:

He realized that fans

want to hear the hits--

kind of painted himself

into a corner, so to speak.

(cheers and applause)

Brown:

Back in those days,

there was a dinner show

and then a late show.

So all the tables up front,

they were serving dinner

and drinks and stuff.

And the only people that could

afford the up-front seats

were the high-rollers,

the older cats.

Elvis needed connection

with the audience.

And Vegas, it was a very

reserved, rich crowd

dressed up for the Elvis show.

It frustrated Elvis that

he couldn't quite seem

to get the mayhem going.

Priscilla:

He felt like really

what he needed

was to get outside

of Vegas and go out

and get connected

with people

though he hadn't been

on tour for over 13 years.

Man:

What, uh, what made you

decide to come to Texas?

Well, I think the most

important thing is the, uh,

the inspiration that I get

from a live audience.

I was missing that.

♪ Well, I never

been to Heaven ♪

♪ But I've been to Oklahoma ♪

♪ Well, they tell me

I was born there ♪

♪ But I really don't remember ♪

♪ In Oklahoma ♪

♪ Or Arizona ♪

♪ Yeah, what does it matter? ♪

♪ What does it matter? ♪

Landau:

Back in the 1970s,

I was working

for Rolling Stone.

They sent me to Boston

to review an Elvis concert.

"He stands there

in a black jumpsuit,

"gold spangles

and an orange cape.

"When he stretches

out his hands,

"the cape forms

a half-sun

"under his outstretched arms,

and he looks like the

true king of rock and roll.

"He parades in front

of 15,000 people,

"and waits for the applause

to wash over,

"and it comes as it always does

"and as he knows it will.

"Elvis Presley

has lived through

"the greatest superstar

trip of any performer,

"and he survived it

in his own kind of way.

"Elvis participates in a pure

one-to-one relationship

with his audience.

"When he steps on the stage,

"it is he and he alone

who is the subject

of the manic, ecstatic,

irrational adoration."

Elvis:

♪ I've never been to Heaven ♪

Landau:

"His brilliance is reflected

in his control."

♪ But I've been

to Oklahoma ♪

Landau:

"He never moves too far

in any one direction,

and never loses his grip."

♪ They tell me

I was born there ♪

♪ ♪

♪ But I really don't remember ♪

♪ In Oklahoma ♪

♪ Or Arizona ♪

Landau:

"To me, no matter

how frustrating

"the lapses in his career

have been,

he remains an artist..."

Elvis:

♪ In Oklahoma ♪

♪ Or Arizona ♪

Landau:

"...an American artist,

whom we should be proud

to claim as our own."

Elvis:

♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

(song ending)

Thank you.

(applause)

Brown:

Elvis, in concert, covered

all kinda genres, you know.

And he came out

and he would do

all those songs

from the '50s and '60s

that he broke with.

But during the show, there was

a lot of country standards.

He just did things

that he liked.

Man:

You have any

thoughts about

the rising interest

in country music?

I think it's fantastic.

You see, country music was

always a part of the influence

on my-- on my type

of music anyway.

It's a combination of, uh...

country music, and gospel,

and rhythm and blues

all combined.

That's what it really was.

As a child, I was

influenced by all of that.

But I like the blues,

and I like, uh,

the gospel music,

gospel quartets and all that.

Thank you.

Good rehearsal, see you soon.

Springsteen:

If you look at the band

he put together

for the '70s shows,

there was a huge

gospel contingent.

Those sections of the show

were so powerful.

Straight out of white

and black gospel tradition.

Elvis:

♪ Hallelujah ♪

Springsteen:

In the '70s, Elvis had moved

on to "American Trilogy."

His show was consisting of

a huge cross-cultural picture

of America and Americana.

(Elvis vocalizing)

Springsteen:

He was trying to encompass

an image of the country

as a whole

that he could be a vessel

that could contain

the entirety of

American experience.

♪ Oh hush, little baby ♪

♪ Don't you cry ♪

Petty:

You know, that

version of "Dixie"

and uh, the

"Battle Hymn of the Republic,"

it's so beautiful!

You know, the band

he's put together

is so over-the-top,

and only Elvis would have

that kinda spending power,

and just audacious craziness.

Choirs, and orchestras,

and a great rhythm section,

maybe another

gospel group on the side.

None of it makes sense

until you suddenly

hear something like that,

and they're all playing

a role in that,

and it's very moving music.

(flute playing)

When you see him

do that music

in those little pieces of film

that I've seen of him,

that's the pure joy

of music in the man.

You know, that's when

I see everything stop.

(music crescendoes)

♪ ♪

♪ Glory, glory ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ His truth is ♪

♪ Marching ♪

♪ On ♪

♪ His truth is ♪

♪ Marching ♪

♪ On ♪

(wild cheering)

Elvis: Whoo!

Thank you, thank you.

Whew! Boy.

How was the sound

in that building?

Very good,

very good.

Here. Hold on.

Strickland:

That was his life.

He lived to sing and perform.

It's a hot time in Florida.

Man:

Boy, it is.

Springsteen:

An artist like Elvis is,

rather than pretending

when he goes on the stage,

he's actually pretending,

when he's home, to be normal.

And when he goes out

on stage at night,

it's who he actually is.

It's a very

difficult dichotomy.

Priscilla:

To see him become

even bigger than life,

he had so much so soon.

Harris:

He was snatched

from the ordinary life

of a-- of a young man

into a place that

no one else had ever been

in society or in our culture.

Zanes:

To have that success,

and to experience it,

he had to hand over

significant portions

of youth.

That was the trade.

He is unmoored from

the Earth experience.

Priscilla:

We were living

two different lives.

He was performing, and, uh,

and he was home

very, very little.

It was very difficult to

communicate at that time.

Uh, Elvis had a horrible

fear of not sleeping.

He would spend

many, many nights alone,

and he would think

and that would keep him up.

So he started

on sleeping pills,

and he thought that

he had it under control.

Everything that he ever had

was prescribed.

(indistinct chatter)

Man:

Are you satisfied

with the image

you've established?

Uh... well, the image is

one thing,

and a human being

is another, you know, so.

Man:

How close does the image

come to the man?

It's very hard

to live up to an image,

I'll put it that way.

Parker:

Come on, bring your

cameras over here.

Come on through here.

Elvis:

Soon as the Colonel gets

through talking, I'll tell you--

I'm-- I'm sorry.

Oh, yeah, I'd like

to do something.

Uh, there's so many places

that I haven't been yet.

I'd like to go to Europe.

I'd like to go to Japan

and all those places.

I-I've never been

out of this country

except in the service,

you know.

Light:

Elvis, from early on,

had expressed interest

in touring overseas

having no idea

that Colonel Parker

was never going to let him.

Because if the Colonel

went with him,

he was afraid

he was not gonna be

let back into America.

Schilling:

Colonel knowing that Elvis

wanted to tour overseas,

colonel not wanting

anybody to know

that he wasn't a US citizen,

how could he answer Elvis

but come up with something

that nobody had ever done.

Jackson:

Instead of shutting

down the idea

of Elvis playing

in different countries

and just sort of

curtailing it for now,

he actually uses it

to his advantage,

and creates the first-ever

live concert simulcast

on satellite television,

so that people

in every country

all over the world

can see Elvis

play a concert.

Light:

By the time

of the Aloha special,

Elvis had been

touring non-stop.

His health wasn't great,

his weight wasn't great,

and now he was confronted

with this performance

that was gonna be seen

by a billion people

around the world.

Whew!

It's so very hard

to comprehend it,

because I...

In 15 years, it's hard

to comprehend that happening.

To all the countries all over

the world via satellite,

it's very difficult

to comprehend.

Jackson:

It becomes the

biggest media moment

of his career

up to that point.

And he knows this.

He's trimmed down for it.

He looks amazing.

The band is super tight.

Light:

Aloha does represent

Elvis music,

the moment that

Elvis brought together

all of his influences

to solidify an image of Elvis,

a look and a style

and a presentation

that seals in amber,

this is what Elvis is.

Zanes:

Elvis was the first major

televisual musical star.

We can see him,

but we can't touch him.

Elvis, without intending to,

created an image of himself

he would never live past.

♪ Yeah, now this time ♪

♪ Lord, you gave me ♪

♪ A mountain ♪

♪ I may never climb ♪

♪ It isn't ♪

Landau:

That show was another way

in which he was truly

disserved by the Colonel.

It's a bit of a metaphor

for keeping the blinders on,

which is what I think

the Colonel is all about.

Petty:

My picture of the

Colonel really is

someone that loves

selling merchandise,

you know, that

wants it to the end,

walk the aisle selling

posters and ballpoint pens.

It doesn't make

any sense really

to keep him from

touring other countries,

to keep him from

really going to, you know,

the whole way with the music,

like, letting him

be an artist.

(crowd cheering)

Elvis:

Thank you!

Schilling:

I think the troubles between

Elvis and the Colonel

started getting

worse at that point.

There was the bond,

but they were

two very different people.

Priscilla:

Elvis outgrew Colonel Parker

as an artist,

but he, um, didn't know

how to cut the strings.

Light:

By this time, he had started

to turn to prescription drugs

to keep himself going.

He was on a

relentless wheel

of performance to travel

to performance to travel,

and you start to see

the stress of that.

Binder:

All the things he told me

that he wanted to do--

travel the world,

meet new audiences--

none of that happened.

All the light went

out of his eyes.

Zanes:

With an addiction

to prescription pills,

if you are a performer,

what you're after is the

anesthetizing part of it.

But that's gonna

take you away

from your powers

as a performer,

and he's gonna go

on stage nonetheless.

Landau:

He had many afflictions,

and he hurt himself

in many ways.

But there was a core in there,

that, if you let it,

would shine through,

and sometimes in the

most unlikely places.

♪ ♪

♪ Lord Almighty ♪

♪ I feel my

temperature rising ♪

♪ Hmm ♪

Tutt:

We has basically tried

to influence him

to do more rock and roll.

"Burning Love," that one

had some potential.

He never felt

comfortable with it,

because he had a hard time

with the lyrics.

Priscilla:

He was going through

a lot at that time,

so he didn't want

to do the song,

and the guys kept expressing

that he should do it,

and he was really

fighting it.

Landau:

"Burning Love,"

well, it's one of the

greatest records

he ever made.

♪ Like the sweet song

of the choir ♪

♪ And you light my morning sky ♪

♪ With burning love ♪

Chorus:

♪ Hunk of burning love ♪

Elvis:

♪ Just a hunk of

hunk of burning love ♪

Chorus: Ahhh!

♪ A hunk of

hunk of burning love ♪

Chorus: Ahhh!

♪ A hunk of hunk of-- ♪

(music stops)

Priscilla:

It was a hard song

for him to sing

and to get into.

About them lyrics...

(laughter)

It was only one,

and I hit my mouth.

Priscilla:

He wanted to

let out his feelings

in a-- in a song that

related to how he felt.

It was difficult

to be given music

for something that's

really uplifting, upbeat,

and that's not

matching his tone,

that's not matching

his feelings.

♪ ♪

♪ I see a change ♪

♪ Is coming to our lives ♪

♪ It's not the same

as it used to be ♪

♪ And it's not too late ♪

♪ To realize our mistake ♪

♪ We're just not right ♪

♪ For each other ♪

♪ Love has slipped away ♪

♪ Left us only friends ♪

♪ We almost seem

like strangers ♪

♪ All that's left between us ♪

♪ Are the memories we share ♪

♪ Of times

we thought we cared ♪

♪ For each other ♪

Priscilla:

Elvis was very

family oriented.

He did cherish family,

but Elvis wanted it all.

(laughs)

♪ Pieces left behind us ♪

Priscilla:

It takes two

in a relationship.

Having a child, not being

able to do the traveling.

I was a mother.

He always used to say,

"You can't serve two masters."

♪ ♪

(chorus vocalizing)

♪ Someday when she's older ♪

♪ Maybe she will understand ♪

♪ Why her mom and dad

are not together ♪

♪ The tears that

she will cry ♪

♪ When I have to say goodbye ♪

♪ They tear at my heart ♪

♪ Forever ♪

♪ There's nothing left to do ♪

♪ But go our separate ways ♪

Schilling:

After he recorded

"Separate Ways,"

he wanted to go

into the control room

and listen to that song

for hours.

And he would just look up

and shake his head,

'cause I know he still

always loved Priscilla.

Priscilla:

Elvis and I,

you know,

we held hands in court.

There was still

a lot of love there.

He was a doting father.

We kept that relationship

very close.

I know he was

always there for me,

and for Lisa as well,

but the breakup

of the marriage

was painful for both of us.

(vocalizing)

Gordon Stoker:

He was never

the same after that.

He just changed.

He was very moody.

He just wasn't well

doing two shows a night.

And he had to take uppers

to get him going

and downers

to put him to sleep.

Parker:

Well, I don't know,

but I know one thing.

When I told Elvis

to slow down,

he said, "I wanna

play more dates."

So I booked more dates.

I said, "Well, I don't

think you should,"

and he said, "Well,

it's what I wanna do."

He was very unhappy,

so we started all over again.

Announcer:

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Man: Souvenirs!

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Cohn:

I think night by night,

it became harder for him to--

to carry on being Elvis.

Drugs and the

self-destructiveness

were all punishments.

He was in great pain, and yet,

he gave so much pleasure.

He would go offstage

and collapse,

and the audience would

go out buoyed up and joyous,

spiritually blessed.

Priscilla:

Elvis was always

searching for answers.

Why him?

"Well, maybe God

had something else

planned for me.

Am I supposed to be

giving a message?"

Not realizing he was doing

what he was

supposed to be doing.

Petty:

The last days of his life

was not his best work.

He had a lot of problems.

He had gained weight

which is a cardinal sin

in show business.

Isolation, you know,

that-- that brings on

the drug abuse.

He's lost touch

with his father.

His mom's gone.

His wife is gone.

It had to be very lonely,

we know that.

There's a point when--

when you have success,

and you get really wealthy

and there is that day

where the letter comes

that none of this is

gonna make me happy.

And he knew he had

to try to find some--

something, you know,

but I think he gave up.

I think he felt out-gunned

and gave up.

Priscilla:

Those last shows,

those shows those

last couple of years

were not the most memorable

as far as performance.

Sometimes he didn't

get through a-- a song.

I think the last year,

he was pretty much over it.

I don't even know why,

you know, he went on stage.

They're just hard to watch.

Sometimes, I think

it was better, maybe,

if they just

canceled the show.

Brown:

We got the call that Elvis

wanted to record in Memphis.

Strickland:

Whenever we got the call,

we would be there

at his beck and call

whenever they were ready.

Brown:

In my mind,

we're going to, like,

Sun Records or someplace over

there, Chips Moman's studio.

But we pull into Graceland,

and I say, "Well,

what are we doing here?"

They said,

"We're cutting here."

Strickland:

He wouldn't go to the studio.

The studio had to come to him,

right in the Jungle Room there.

Man:

It's hard to get him to go

into a studio environment,

because he was

uncomfortable there.

Man 2:

Didn't wanna

go to Nashville,

didn't want to go to Stax,

didn't want to go

to Chips Moman's.

He wanted to stay at home.

Strickland:

We would come over

from Nashville,

check into a hotel that was

just right down the street.

Man:

And then, we'd all be

ready there to go,

and they'd say,

"Elvis is still not up."

Strickland:

He could come down

at midnight

or it could be two o'clock

in the morning.

You never knew what

the night was gonna hold.

Springsteen:

Elvis ended up

back in the Jungle Room,

recording his last record.

Graceland can be

something that's--

that gives you

a sense of-- of place,

and of-- of center.

Uh, but it can also

be a place where--

that you just disappear into.

It seemed to me that

Elvis was caught in-between

doing a little bit

of both there.

Petty:

Seems to be,

he's picking songs

that somewhat reflect

his state of mind.

Like "Hurt" which is one

of the-- the very last ones.

I think he's--

he's feeling very hurt.

He's very down.

He's very alone.

He doesn't understand

what's happened to music,

and he got left out of that.

He had become a thing.

He was no longer

Elvis Presley.

He was "Elvis."

Norbert Putnam:

Well, when I first came

over to the Jungle Room,

they had removed

all the furniture.

They covered the walls

in blankets.

Strickland:

There was a semi,

like a very large

tractor trailer,

out behind the house.

It was RCA's complete

mobile recording studio.

They would run

all their recording lines

into the Jungle Room.

Brown:

It looks like you're in

Tahiti or something.

It looked like you

were in the islands.

But we're all just crammed

into this tiny little space.

Tutt:

It was a nightmare for

the recording engineers

to keep that sound clean

without too much bleed

with open microphones,

and we did our best to do the

recordings as best we could.

Strickland:

It wasn't like we did

a lot of rehearsal

for the recordings.

It was "Turn the machine on,

and he's gonna sing."

We would all watch each other

doing it on the fly.

And you know, I-I remember

one of the first songs

that I recorded with him,

uh, was "Hurt."

We didn't have a clue

of how it was gonna go down

or how he would perform it.

All of a sudden,

he takes his stance.

♪ ♪

Elvis:

♪ I'm ♪

♪ So hurt ♪

♪ To think that you lied to me ♪

♪ I'm hurt ♪

♪ Way down deep inside of me ♪

♪ You said ♪

♪ Our love was true ♪

♪ And we'd never ♪

♪ Never part ♪

♪ Now you want someone new ♪

♪ And it breaks my heart ♪

♪ Oh, I'm hurt ♪

♪ Much more ♪

♪ Than you'll ever know ♪

♪ Yes, darling ♪

♪ I'm so hurt ♪

♪ Because ♪

♪ I still love you so ♪

♪ But you know ♪

♪ Even though you hurt me ♪

♪ Like nobody else ♪

♪ Could ever do ♪

♪ I would never ever ♪

♪ Hurt ♪

♪ You ♪

♪ Yeah, you ♪

(song ends)

♪ ♪

Bearde:

Elvis wanted to finish the

'68 Special on a big note.

Quite frankly, we didn't

know how to finish the show.

Binder:

Every day at four o'clock,

we would all sit in the

piano room, of our offices,

rehearsing with Elvis.

Bearde:

While we were sitting

in Steve's office with Elvis,

we had a little

black and white

television in the corner.

(indistinct chatter)

On that TV...

Robert Kennedy

was assassinated.

(indistinct shouting)

Elvis picked up a guitar,

and he started playing.

Talking at a mile a minute.

He said, "I want you

to understand me,

"because this is a

moment in time

where we all have

to understand each other."

♪ ♪

♪ There must be lights

burning brighter ♪

♪ Somewhere ♪

♪ Got to be birds

flying higher ♪

♪ In a sky more blue ♪

♪ If I can dream

of a better land ♪

♪ Where all my brothers

walk hand in hand ♪

♪ Tell me why ♪

♪ Oh, why ♪

♪ Oh, why can't my dream

come true ♪

♪ Oh, why ♪

♪ There must be peace

and understanding ♪

♪ Sometime ♪

♪ Strong winds of promise ♪

♪ That will blow away

all the doubt ♪

♪ And fear ♪

♪ If I can dream

of a warmer sun ♪

♪ Where hope keeps

shining on everyone ♪

♪ Tell me why ♪

♪ Oh, why ♪

♪ Oh, why won't that sun ♪

♪ Appear ♪

♪ We're lost in a cloud ♪

♪ With too much rain ♪

♪ We're trapped in a world ♪

♪ That's troubled with pain ♪

♪ But as long as a man

has the strength to dream ♪

♪ He can redeem his soul ♪

♪ And fly ♪

Choir:

♪ He can fly ♪

♪ Deep in my heart ♪

♪ There's a trembling question ♪

♪ Still I am sure

that the answer ♪

♪ Answer's gonna come somehow ♪

♪ Out there in the dark ♪

♪ There's a beckoning candle ♪

♪ Oh yeah, and

while I can think ♪

♪ While I can talk ♪

♪ While I can stand ♪

♪ While I can walk ♪

♪ While I can dream ♪

♪ Please let my dream ♪

♪ Come true ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Right now ♪

♪ Oh, let it come true

right now ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

(song ends)

(film reel whirring)

♪ ♪

Petty:

♪ Can't you see ♪

♪ I love you ♪

♪ Please don't break

my heart in two ♪

♪ That's not hard to do ♪

♪ 'Cause I don't have

a wooden heart ♪

♪ And if you say goodbye ♪

♪ Then I know

that I would cry ♪

♪ Maybe I would die ♪

♪ 'Cause I don't have

a wooden heart ♪

♪ There's no strings ♪

♪ Upon this love of mine ♪

♪ It was always you

from the start ♪

♪ Treat me nice ♪

♪ Treat me good ♪

♪ Treat me like

you really should ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm not made of wood ♪

♪ And I don't have

a wooden heart ♪

♪ No, I don't have

a wooden heart ♪

(music ends)

Elvis Presley: The Searcher (2018) - full transcript