Elvis Presley: The Searcher Page #18

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And he said,

"I don't remember anything

I sang in the dressing room.

"I don't remember

any stories that I told.

"My mind is a blank, Steve.

Let's just call it off.

It's not gonna happen."

Binder:

I said, "Elvis, I've never

asked you to do anything

that you don't wanna do..."

Host:
Mr. Elvis Presley.

(crowd cheering)

Binder:

"...but you've got

to go out there."

Thank you very much.

Schilling:

I don't know

how this happened,

but I saw him relax.

Elvis:

They want me

to sit on the floor!

(women cheer)

(playing guitar)

(band joins in)

Man:

It's all right

It's all right

It's all right

Yeah, man

It's all right

It's all right

It's

all right

(Elvis growls)

It's all right

Oh, yeah!

Binder:

I had no knowledge

or understanding

about how incredibly talented

he really was until that show.

Zanes:

He's having an experience

in the moment.

During the years

he was doing Hollywood movies,

you never got to see him

in the moment.

(screaming)

Yeah, baby!

(speaking

indistinctly)

We're goin' up,

we're goin' down

We're going up, down, down,

up any way you want

Let's roll

Yeah, yeah, yeah

You got me doin'

what you want me

Oh baby, what do you

want me to do?

Schilling:

The interplay

with Scotty and DJ

who's playing drums

on the back of a guitar case.

DJ Fontana:

It felt like

we were back home again.

Yeah!

All right

Hep, hep, hep, hep, hep, hep!

Boones Howe:

Those are guys

who grew up together,

and they suddenly

have a moment

of reflection.

The past, their early days.

Down, any way

you wanna let it roll

Cohn:

He was rediscovering

the sheer animal joy

of making music, and realizing,

for the first time in years,

just how good he was.

Baby, what do you

want me to do?

You got me doing

what you want me

Oh baby, what do you

want me to do?

(applause)

Man:
All right!

You got it!

Landau:

That show was

1,000% Elvis.

His fingerprint was on the

first frame to the last frame.

He was a man on a mission.

Priscilla:

And that night

when it premiered on TV,

we were all silent.

We just sat there

and watched the show

and never said a word.

And then, of course,

the telephone calls were

coming in, and reviews.

And, oh my gosh,

it was such a relief.

It was so great

to see him smile again.

Elvis:

We're caught in a trap

Schilling:

After the comeback special,

Elvis didn't have

to look too far

to find his way

back to the source.

Elvis:

Because I love you

too much, baby

Springsteen:

It was the old story.

You could take the boy

out of Memphis.

You really couldn't

take Memphis

out of the boy, you know?

The roots that you come from

are always compelling

to return to

no matter how

far away you get.

Schilling:

By that point, he only had

a couple of movies left.

And so when he went

back to the studio,

he wanted to

do things differently.

Preston Lauterbach:

Elvis returned home

to restart

his career as

a recording artist,

with local musicians,

with a local producer in

a little humble storefront,

north Memphis,

that's where Elvis returned

to essentially save his career.

Porter:

Chips Moman, his job

was writer and producer.

Lauterbach:

He had evolved

from Stax Records

as a producer primarily

associated with soul

and with black artists.

But Chips was one of these

trans-racial kinda figures.

He thought in terms of style,

in terms of sound.

And he really did

embody Memphis music.

Elvis:

Asking where I've been

Priscilla:

It was the greatest sessions,

the greatest.

My gosh, I mean,

he came alive again.

He was liberated.

It was, uh,

a beautiful marriage.

(chuckles)

Elvis:

We can't go on together

With suspicious minds

And we can't build

our dreams

Schilling:

He told Elvis, "I have

a stack of records here

"I think are hits,

"and you don't

have any publishing.

What do you wanna do?"

Elvis:

Oh, let our love survive

Schilling:

Elvis said, "Chips,

I need hit records."

Elvis:

I'll dry the tears

from your eyes

Let's don't let

a good thing die

Petty:

He decides he's gonna

sing contemporary material.

Publishing be damned.

He's gonna do what he wants.

Elvis:

Lied to you

Ooh

Yes, yes

We're caught in a trap

West:

The songs, every one

of 'em, was a hit.

That's the biggest sales

Elvis had had ever.

Elvis:

Love you too much baby

Schilling:

You would think

that would've been

the next recording session.

Never recorded

with Chips again.

Elvis:

I can't walk out

(match strikes, flares)

Ronnie Tutt:

August '69, he got

a chance to play live

at the International Hotel.

Schilling:

Vegas was a huge

event for him.

Back in the '50s,

he wasn't accepted too much

then in Vegas.

Howe:

Vegas, it's not

about teenyboppers.

It's aimed at

a particular audience--

people interested

in a show that's there,

so that they'll stop

in the casino,

on the way in or out,

and drop some money.

Petty:

Their burning thing

to go to Las Vegas

and play long stands,

you know,

that doesn't happen

till they've virtually run

aground in the film business.

There isn't a single studio

that will throw down

any significant money

for Elvis in a movie.

So, they look around go,

"Well, what we gonna do now?"

Elvis is going on stage,

you know. Thank God.

And "You Don't Have

to Say You Love Me,

and, uh... (indistinct)

Schilling:

I was able to witness him

put a band together.

When he goes out to Vegas,

he's really

making decisions

that are a little

more for Elvis

than what came before.

Zanes:

He's wanting to play

with the band.

He's wanting to go

through a deep catalog,

you know, big parts of which

remind him or his own youth.

Well, you may go to college

May go to school

You may get religion, baby

Don't you be nobody's fool

Now baby, come back, baby

Tutt:

I personally went to him

and said, "Elvis,

"I wanted to know

if you wanted me

"to try to duplicate

classic songs.

What was done previously."

He said, "Absolutely not.

Just do what you do,

that's why you're here."

I thought it was good that

he would try different songs

that he liked the sound of.

Glen D. was the arranger,

and he would write these

great arrangements for him,

and they would--

they would be exciting.

Elvis:

Come back, baby, come

Come back, baby,

I wanna play house with you

Elvis:

Then it goes into this one.

I wanna try something.

And since, this is last verse...

Schilling:

I think the vocals were

just as important to Elvis.

Okay. The horns are

answering it then.

Schilling:

He had to have

The Sweet Inspirations.

They had been working

with Wilson Pickett

and Aretha Franklin.

Talk in

everlasting words

Talk, words

And dedicate them

all to me

Dedicate them

all to me

Cissy Houston:

Elvis did whatever

he wanted to do.

If he was feeling it,

we had to feel it too.

And we could connect,

because we were from gospel.

We were raised gospel.

You think that

I don't even mean

A single word I say

It's only words

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