Elvis Presley: The Searcher Page #17

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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?"

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