Wednesday, December 3, 2008

40 Years ago Today- ELVIS 68 Special



Today marks the 40th anniversary of the original airing of Elvis 1968.
Career-changing television special on NBC. The iconic special features Elvis at his best with some of the richest moments in music history ever filmed for television.





Learn more with our lobby display, honoring this moment or available on DVD, the complete special edition of ELVIS- 1968 Comeback Special.






’68 Special Fun Facts
It was directed by Steve Binder and produced by Binder and Bones Howe.

At 6:00 pm, on June 27, Elvis took to the stage for four one-hour live shows
being taped at NBC's Burbank studios.

Sponsored by The Singer Company, it aired on the NBC television network.

The broadcast aired on December 3, 1968, and was rebroadcast the following summer.

The show was the highest-rated television special of the year and
was seen by 42% of the viewing audience


It was the first one-man TV special to appear on commercial American television.

“If I can Dream,” released a month before the special,
sold over 800,000 units in its initial release.

The album from the special sold more than 500,000 in its original chart run.

The version of "A Little Less Conversation" that was originally recorded for
(but not used in) the special was later remixed and became a hit single in 2002.

In September of 2004, RCA issued a deluxe 3-disc DVD release containing all the video footage still in existence, including bloopers and incomplete performances.

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