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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