50th anniversary • All existing audio and video • 5CD + 2 x blu-ray
Sony will celebrate Elvis Presley‘s ’68 Comeback Special will a seven-disc super deluxe edition box set, due to be issued at the end of November.
The TV special was actually called Singer… presents Elvis (the Singer corporation being the sponsor) and was rescued from being a schmaltzy affair (with The King singing Christmas Carols) by producer Bob Finkel and director Steve Binder who combined to produce something that would appeal to a younger demographic and help to update Elvis Presley’s sound.
The really memorable section of the show was the ‘sit down’ element, that had Elvis on stage dressed in black leather, guitar in hand, with guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana. This performance included raw takes of some of Presley’s best records, including ‘That’s All Right’ and ‘Heartbreak Hotel.’ Great versions of ‘Baby, What You Want Me to Do’ and ‘Lawdy, Miss Clawdy’ signaled Presley’s return to rock ‘n’ roll, after years in Hollywood making forgettable movies and dubious soundtracks.
The ’68 Comeback Special, as it became known, aired on 3 December 1968 and helped rejuvenate Presley’s recording career.
The new box set features five CDs and two blu-rays and collects all of the existing audio and video from the show, including including the original album, both ‘sit-down’ and ‘stand-up’ performances, rehearsals and sessions recorded with the Wrecking Crew in June 1968, including outtakes. The box set includes an 84-page book with the story told through interviews conducted for this year’s HBO documentary ‘The Searcher’.
This 50th anniversary ’68 Comeback Special box set will be issued on 30 November 2018.
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Presley, Elvis
Elvis: '68 Comeback Special: 50Th Anniversary Edition
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Elvis Presley, “68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary Edition)
CD 1
The Original Album
1. “Trouble” / “Guitar Man” (Opening)
2. Medley:
“Lawdy, Miss Clawdy”
“Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
Dialogue; Medley: “Heartbreak Hotel” / “Hound Dog” / “All Shook Up”
“Can’t Help Falling In Love”
“Jailhouse Rock”
Dialogue; “Love Me Tender”
3. Medley:
Dialogue; “Where Could I Go But To The Lord” / “Up Above My Head” / “Saved”
4. Medley:
Dialogue; “Blue Christmas” (5:34)
Dialogue; “One Night”
5. Memories
6. Medley: “Nothingville” / Dialogue; “Big Boss Man” / “Guitar Man” / “Little Egypt” / “Trouble” / “Guitar Man”
7. “If I Can Dream”
Bonus Cuts
8. “It Hurts Me” (splice/edit of part 1 – take 7, part 2 – take 7 & part 1 – take 6)
9. “Let Yourself Go” (splice/edit of part 1 – take 1 & part 2 – take 2)
10. “Memories”
11. “If I Can Dream”
CD 2
First ‘Sit Down’ show
1. “That’s All Right”
2. “Heartbreak Hotel”
3. “Love Me”
4. “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
5. “Blue Suede Shoes”
6. “Baby, What You Want Me To Do
7. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy”
8. “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
9. “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again”
10. “Blue Christmas”
11. “Trying to Get to You”
12. “One Night”
13. “Baby, What You Want Me to Do”
14. “One Night”
15. “Memories”
First ‘Stand Up’ show
16. “Heartbreak Hotel”
17. “Hound Dog”
18. “All Shook Up”
19. “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
20. “Jailhouse Rock”
21. “Don’t Be Cruel”
22. “Blue Suede Shoes”
23. “Love Me Tender”
24. “Trouble”
25. “Baby, What You Want Me to Do”
26. “If I Can Dream”
CD 3
Second ‘Sit Down’ show
1. “Heartbreak Hotel”
2. “Baby, What You Want Me to Do”
3. Introductions
4. “That’s All Right”
5. “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
6. “Baby, What You Want Me to Do”
7. “Blue Suede Shoes”
8. “One Night”
9. “Love Me”
10. “Trying to Get to You”
11. “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy”
12. “Santa Claus is Back in Town”
13. “Blue Christmas”
14. “Tiger Man”
15. “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again”
16. “Memories”
Second ‘Stand Up’ show
17. “Heartbreak Hotel”
18. “Hound Dog”
19. “All Shook Up”
20. “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
21. “Jailhouse Rock”
22. “Don’t Be Cruel”
23. “Blue Suede Shoes”
24. “Love Me Tender”
25. “Trouble” / “Guitar Man”
26. “Trouble” / “Guitar Man”
27. “If I Can Dream”
CD 4
First rehearsal
1. “I Got A Woman”
2. “Blue Moon” / “Young Love” / “Oh, Happy Day”
3. “When It Rains It Really Pours”
4. “Blue Christmas”
5. “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” / “That’s My Desire”
6. “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin”
7. “Peter Gunn Theme”
8. “Love Me”
9. “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again”
10. “Blue Christmas” / “Santa Claus is Back in Town”
Second rehearsal
11. “Danny Boy”
12. “Baby, What You Want Me to Do”
13. “Love Me”
14. “Tiger Man”
15. “Santa Claus is Back in Town”
16. “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy”
17. “One Night”
18. “Blue Christmas”
19. “Baby, What You Want Me to Do”
20. “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again”
21. “Blue Moon of Kentucky”
CD 5
The Wrecking Crew Sessions
1. “Nothingville (Guitar Man’s Evil #1)” – takes 5 & 6
2. “Guitar Man (Guitar Man’s Evil #1)” – take 2
3. “Let Yourself Go, part 1 (Guitar Man’s Evil #2)” – take 5 & 7/M
4. “Let Yourself Go, part 2 (Guitar Man’s Evil #3)” – take 7/M
5. “Guitar Man (Escape #1, fast)” – takes 1, 2 & 5
6. “Big Boss Man (Escape #3)” – take 2
7. “It Hurts Me, part 1 (Escape #4)” – take 5
8. “It Hurts Me, part 2 (After Karate #1)” – take 3
9. “Guitar Man (After Karate #2)” – take 1
10. “Little Egypt (After Karate #2)” – take 6
11. “Trouble / Guitar Man (After Karate #3)” – take 2
12. “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” / “Where Could I Go But to the Lord (Gospel #1)” – rehearsal & take 1 (5:23)
13. “Up Above My Head” / “Saved (Gospel #2)” – takes 4 & 7
14. “Saved (Gospel #3)” – takes 2 & 4
15. “Trouble” / “Guitar Man (Opening)” – takes 6 & 7
16. “If I Can Dream” – take 1
17. “If I Can Dream” – takes 2, 3 & 4
18. “Memories” – takes 3 & 4/vocal overdub #1
19. “Let Yourself Go” (closing instrumental)
Blu-ray Disc 1:
Elvis NBC TV Special originally broadcast on Dec. 3, 1968
Black Leather Sit-Down Show #1 – June 27, 1968
Black Leather Sit-Down Show #2 – June 27, 1968
Black Leather Stand-Up Show #1 – June 29, 1968
Black Leather Stand-Up Show #2 – June 29, 1968
Details as follows:
Blu-ray Disc 2:
“Trouble” / “Guitar Man” TV Show Opener – June 30, 1968 – All Takes and Raw Components
If I Can Dream TV Show Closer – June 30, 1968 – All Takes
Huh-Huh-Huh Promo – June 30, 1968
Elvis Closing Credits Without Credit Roll – June 30, 1968
“If I Can Dream” Special Music Video 2004 – June 30, 1968
Gospel Production Number – All Takes and Raw Components
“Guitar Man” Production Number – All Takes and Raw Components
Blu-ray Special Feature Re-Cut
Details as follows:
Can anyone confirm two things for me? Blu-ray only. First the sound. What is the sound mix? Dual mono, stereo or multichannel? What sound codec? DTS HD MA, Dolby True HD or PCM? – or is the sound basic compressed DVD quality?
Secondly the picture. Is this sourced from true HD, from film, or is it a videotape upscale?
Not remotely interested in the CDs, so it’s a lot to spend on 2 Blu-rays, I’d like to know that I’m getting full high definition sound and picture for this price.
Had the – not sure, I want to say “40th Anniversary Deluxe DVD Box Set” but that would have been 2008 and I feel sure I bought it closer to 2001, whatever. I found it very repetitive and I’m certainly not interested in the CDs, only the Blu-ray. It’s currently £88 at time of writing- is that more or less than it was when it was released? I’m seriously thinking of having it delivered tomorrow.
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Does anyone knows if the american blu ray are playable in an european player?
Yes, the back of the box states, regions A, B & C.
If the Blu rays are issued as a ‘Stand alone’ set, then I will be interested. I have all the audio, including the original bootlegs of the two sit down and two stand up performances.. I’m also sure that this will NOT be the final word as talk of another rehearsal tape has recently came to light.
the Follow that dream edition is a the best available with the best sonic satisfaction , Forget the blu ray
As technology has changed so much since the last 68′ Comeback box set was released, it may be time for a fresh look at this amazing project.
The price may be a tad expensive, depending on the size of your wallet, the content worth every penny, especially if this will be the ultimate version available for a while, in quality of sound & vision, blu ray at last, with updated cd mastering.
The only way to know for sure will be in the tasting of the product, we’ve know the ingredients quality for 50 years, but with new chefs in the archive kitchen, let’s hope when served it gains the 5 Star Michelin status it deserves.
Fantastic bit expensive glad we got bluray though.
How about a double LP version of this. Featuring the whole show.
The first 4 discs are more or less the last box set (minus A Little Less Conversation for some unknown reason) The 5th CD is all stuff not released on regular CDs. The BDs are the old 3 DVD deluxe with It Hurts Me added to the show itself. I love Elvis but I’m not buying the whole thing again for one CD which will possibly mostly instrumental.
Thank you for the detail. I have the 40th anniversary edition both cd and dvd. Don’t want to waste any more money. Will pass on this.
At long last Elvis is getting lately more than decent packaging and design
Any chance someone can list just what is added that was not on the multidisc digipak book edition from many years ago, wheh the same treatment was give to Aloha but ikm white? This looks great but indeed the price is steep considering most has already been issued and actual content. Might buy if price drops. A lot.
I one big fan.
I just purchased the four disc box set that was released in 2008 a month ago. A day late and a dollar short.
The price tag is just too much. There have been so many releases this year. I am exhausted.
I think I’ll give it a miss i have the previous dvd and CD boxsets so I’ll stick with those
Out of the price range for most fans. This is a collectors box, not a paycheck to paycheck fan box. Too bad the people that make these things are millionaires, maybe if they struggled like most people they might make something more affordable.
Well said Tony.
“they might make something more affordable”
They did that years and years ago with a one disc edition. You can pick up second hand copies for literally a few pence online.
Agree. Luckily I just picked up the nice two cd version from a charity shop for £2:)
Hard to tell from the content list, just hoping the complete original 15 minute edit of the “Guitar Man” production number is presented somewhere. The 4 disc DVD deluxe edition version was missing about 2 and a half minutes, although the re-edited “68 Special” single disc released later did contain the whole thing. Maybe that’s what they mean by “Blu-Ray special feature re-cut”. I’m assuming the “originally broadcast” version is the shorter 7 minute edit. Damn I’m picky. I’ll probably end up getting it anyway.
This one goes on the Christmas wish list!
This has been released in so many configurations it’s hard to keep up. Does it make Memories and Tiger Man redundant? Will this be the ‘final’ and definitive version?
Seriously how can anyone justify this price?
Is there anything different to the 40th box set? Is it worth paying again?
I missed that show because I was somewhere else at that time! Must have it.
MTV Unplugged avant-la-lettre. An historical comeback and well worth to listen and watch. But this release is for diehards only. This performance has been (re)issued many times before.
For E fans, this is paydirt in spades, even with the previous editions of the ’68 special. But I get romantic on this one because it aired first on my 4th birthday, and I still remember being plopped down in front of the TV by my older sister.
It’s not that much fun to listen to multiple takes of the same song in a sequence, as we find on Miles, Dylan, and Van Morrison sets. Interesting, maybe… maybe once, twice. But watching The King do take after take of “Trouble” until he hits it just right will actually be something worth owning. Elvis was the first of the great visual musicians. Television and the early movies gave memory to his magic… See him once, and you will see him forever. Every time you hear that voice, he will be standing right in front of you.
And just a little note from Chuck Berry’s U-S-A to all our friends elsewhere at the end of another frustrating, bewildering, tiring week: Elvis’s performance of “If I Can Dream”, the capper to the greatest night of TV at the end of a year that was also horrible in many, many ways is among the finest statements of freedom, freedom for everybody everywhere, that has yet been presented by any American. No moment in Elvis’s career can be said to be a greater one. Our country is one of question marks, and “Why can’t my dreams come true?” is the tallest of those questions.
Can’t wait for this one.
Thanks, as always, Paul.
That’s a LOT of content on the Blu ray discs!
Wow, that’s a pretty complete boxset.
With all the ’50th anniversary reissues’ I still missed this one.
For me personally it would be nice to get the Blu-rays as standalones.
Elvis has left the building!
Seriously, no individual parts? [Not that I would of bought it anyways.]
. . .and that, is how you put together a REAL SDE. No stone left unturned.
One of the great moments in Rock and Roll getting the treatment it deserves.
Looks very nice for the Elvis collector but for those of us wiped out financially with the number of SDEs this year you can pick up the previous 4CD version in fatbox plus the show on DVD for less then £20. Now that’s a bargain.
Damn, this thing includes everything but a sample of his DNA
Very Cool…!
More presents under the tree for me, and fewer for everyone else..! Oh well..!! Is the Blu Ray audio in 5.1?
Thanks Paul..!
This looks really nicely done and comprehensive! I might take the leap. (Although wasn’t there some editing done to the sitdown/standup audio discs – removing dialog to get everything down to a single disc in 2008? Can’t recall the details offhand, I might be wrong…)
I have and have always enjoyed the 1998 releases MEMORIES and TIGER MAN. I wonder: Is it possible to have too much material from the Comeback special?? Still, great to see this monumental special treated so well, even after all these years.
Tonight on Arte (French-German TV)
great tip, thanks from the netherlands