Elvis Presley: The Searcher Page #15

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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.

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