Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Elvis Doth Protest Too Little

One of the most startling patterns exhibited by Elvis Presley was his propensity to acquiesce to nearly everyone.  He seldom, if ever, stood up for himself, put his foot down, or told anyone “No, I’m not going to do that.”  Elvis set broad goals for himself, like staking out the movie career he had dreamt of and returning to live performing in 1969 with a totally new sound, but he left most major decisions to his manager, Colonel Tom Parker and almost always simply did what he was told.  Elvis’ music and wild performing style frightened middle America and he was quickly seen as a threat when he emerged onto the national scene in 1956. Yet, behind the scenes, he was a perfect southern gentleman, raised to show respect and courtesy to everyone.  While admirable, Elvis’ defaulting to this pattern, regardless of what was asked of him, surprised old show business hands who worked with him in the early days and expected even a rising star to make at least some demands. Elvis consistently showed such deference even when he was uncomfortable with material given to him.

When Elvis’ wild performance of “Hound Dog” on Milton Berle’s television show resulted in a media uproar and personal lambasting of Elvis as a vulgar entertainer, Colonel Parker impressed upon his boy the need to tone things down on stage and television.  The immediate outcome was seen on Steve Allen’s show about a month after the Berle debacle.  In order to prevent a repeat performance by Elvis, the TV comedian chose to outfit the rocker in white tie and tails and have him sing the same song to a real basset hound, a somewhat desperate attempt at parody that could fit into his comedy hour.  Elvis’ appearance on Allen’s show was topped off with a comedy sketch called “Range Round Up,” in which Allen, his cast, and Elvis were duded up in cowboy outfits and performed a rather silly routine based on TV western clichés.  Although Elvis played along and, more to the point, never voiced a bit of objection during rehearsals, he actually hated and resented Steve Allen’s staging and concept.  He railed against them to his inner circle, all of whom urged him to simply tell Steve Allen (politely and respectably, to be sure) that he would prefer something different.  After all, Elvis was already a household name, a figure of controversy and, therefore, a star.  He had every right to put his oar in where his image was concerned.  But the King chose to acquiesce instead and went along, doing as he was told. He even talked up his scheduled appearance to his concert audiences prior to the show.

When it came to career moves Elvis gave near-total control to Parker and abided by his choices.  Presley told everyone that he and the Colonel had made a deal that left business decisions to Parker and creative control to Elvis -- and a deal was a deal.  That, too, is admirable and in fairness to the Colonel the arrangement worked well and paid off handsomely for years, but eventually harmed the King’s career.  Not long after returning from army service in 1960, Elvis departed for Hollywood, where he would devote most of the next decade to starring in a series of increasingly banal formula musicals and did very little else. Parker focused entirely on the bottom line and found it far more profitable to tie Elvis’ record releases to the film productions, minimizing costs and maximizing income from Presley’s films.  It looked great on the balance sheet, but as the social upheaval of the sixties gave rise to a new world of rock and protest music, Elvis looked and sounded increasingly irrelevant. In a recorded 1972 interview, Elvis explained that his movie contracts typically ran for four years and, while they obligated him to turn out a prescribed number of films in that time, gave him no veto over scripts or artistic control of his films.  It is difficult to imagine any other big Hollywood star signing such contracts.  More typically, a star who excelled in both music and movies, such as Frank Sinatra, would not only maintain script approval, but might seek out scripts on his own that provided first rate material.  And Elvis was aware of the decline in the quality if his films and music, complained of it privately, but again did nothing about it.  Presley may have thought that his deal with Parker gave him creative control, but when the Colonel made short-sighted decisions like this they had a devastating impact on Elvis’ artistic output and reputation.  Perhaps Elvis was too easily persuaded by the Colonel’s insistence that they would not make the kind of money from serious work that they were taking in from the lightweight films and their soundtrack albums.  Maybe he believed that the Colonel knew best.  In any case, Elvis failed to take the reins of his career firmly in hand.

Elvis only pulled himself out of his Hollywood quagmire by throwing himself into his 1968 television special, known ever after as the “Comeback Special.”  His collaboration with producer/director Steve Binder marked one of the few times Elvis brushed the Colonel aside, albeit gingerly, and pushed his own agenda.  Binder was often at odds with Parker, but found a key ally in Elvis, who shared his vision.

It is difficult to tell how much of the Colonel’s meddling in this legendary special was simply calculated to remind everyone that, ultimately, he was in control, and how much it reflects his genuine cluelessness regarding artistic creativity.  From the start, he wanted Elvis to do a traditional Christmas special, à la Perry Como, with the King singing a dozen or more holiday standards and bidding viewers a Merry Christmas.  Although that was quickly nixed by all involved, Parker persisted and demanded that the special end with a traditional Christmas song, which was no more appealing to Elvis, Binder, and the rest of the production team than the Colonel’s original idea.  Again, Parker gave in, suggesting that he was up to something other than getting an Elvis Christmas special on the air.  As a final fallback demand, clearly intended to reestablish his uber-control of Elvis’ world, the Colonel insisted that at least one Christmas song appear in the show and that demand was met when Binder was able to cull a decent rendition of “Blue Christmas” from the impromptu live sessions that formed the heart of the special.

Despite Presley’s general acquiescence to the Colonel, this was a rare example of Elvis directing his own destiny by trusting his artistic instincts.  The result was a truly magical television event and a miraculous resuscitation of Elvis’ career within a single hour. It also reveals a rare instance of the Colonel backing off and trusting others, at least to a degree, because it was a rare moment when he, too, was somewhat desperate.  Income from Elvis’ movies was drying up and he could not think of any other way to reverse the downward spiral. With few options, Parker gave Binder a freer hand than anyone else would ever receive from him, but even then he was not about to become a mere spectator and he weighed in when he felt the need to, much to Binder’s dismay.

The following excerpt from Channeling Elvis: How Television Saved the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, reveals the kind of behind-the-scenes maneuvering and posturing that underscored this classic television special and how, despite their zeal, both Elvis and Binder had to tread softly around Colonel Parker.

“When Parker saw Binder’s rough cut, he was livid. There was no Christmas song, despite all of the concessions he had made. He had abandoned the idea of an all-Christmas special, agreed to the inclusion of only one holiday song, then backed down from his demand that the show end with a Christmas song and went along with the choice of “If I Can Dream” instead. Now, there was no Christmas song at all. The Colonel was particularly angered because he had called Elvis and Binder into his office early in the editing process to put his foot down on the issue. Binder remembers the meeting vividly, which gave him a unique inside view of the relationship between Presley and his manager. ‘Elvis was, for whatever reason, in real fear of the Colonel and whatever power he wielded over him, and Elvis was, you know, jelly when it came to confronting the Colonel. We walk into the office and . . . Elvis was standing with his arms crossed over his crotch, with his head bowed down like a five year old being told he did something naughty. The Colonel said “It’s been called to my attention that there are no Christmas songs in the special, and Elvis wants a Christmas song in the special. Isn’t that right Elvis?” and Elvis mutters, so you can hardly hear him, “That’s right, Colonel.” “And so what are we gonna do about it, Bindle?” [employing his personal take on the director’s name] and I said, “We’re gonna give Elvis a Christmas song. I would never make an artist do something they didn’t want to do. If he wants a Christmas song on the show, we’ll get a Christmas song in the show. That’s fine with me,” and I meant it. I would have figured a way to do a Christmas song. The Colonel said “Okay, that’s resolved. You heard him Elvis, he’s putting a Christmas song in the show,” and Elvis nodded. He [the Colonel] said “That’s all, you can go back to work.” We walked out of the office, we close the door, we start walking back towards the set, Elvis jabs me in the ribs and says, “Fuck him. We’re gonna do whatever we want to do.”  I think, in all honesty, Colonel had the power to fire me every step of the way. I think his instinct said, “Elvis’ career is basically over unless something happens, and something’s going on that I don’t really know what’s going on, and I’ve gotta let it keep going on,” and he didn’t fire me.’” *

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*Taylor Hackford interview with Steve Binder, videotaped January 31, 2006, on Directors Guild of America website:  http://tinyurl.com/ln6lhoz.

Channeling Elvis: How Television Saved the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is available from Amazon in the U.S. http://tinyurl.com/mhyaouz & the U.K.: http://tinyurl.com/kyolbnm

Visit the author’s Facebook Page here:  http://tinyurl.com/pofg47v


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