Comebacks
Could There Be Any Bigger Than the 68 Come Back Special?
I sat and watched this piece on Netflix this weekend.
Loved it!
I’m a a fan of Sun Records era Elvis.
And, I’m a fan of learning about comebacks and tragic figures as I think there’s great lessons in reclamation and revival!! Elvis checks all those boxes.
A lot of big talent waxing on Elvis in this. So well done.
The Boss features prominent. Himself an interesting figure; he faced down some potential disaster when he put out Nebraska after Born to Run and two other huge hit records. Bruce says of Elvis he’d surrounded himself with people who don’t understand him. But in the 68 Come Back that artist and performer that spread like fire was there again.
Conan. Also an interesting show biz figure. Huge sustained success until the Tonight Show. But he regains some footing after his collapse replacing Jay Leno (shot down in flames there). Conan says of Elvis. We saw him as an object versus a person. The idol. But his authenticity was evident in the 68. Agree. We see the hillbilly rocker, smart ass kid hanging out with the guys. Elvis was quit the trash talker. He and the band got to a point where they somewhat tuned out the cameras to make some fun of the moment. Big egos for sure. But really what we see is that even in his mid30s, Elvis is just that young guy sitting in with the band, jammin. Havin fun.
Billy Corgan. Who’d I’d not thought of as an aging spokesman for rock n roll history (but true enough he is growing into that role it seems and I like him there). Billy says the 68 Comeback Special was a master (of craft) at work. We see what Elvis is great at; which is not making cheese fried movies. The voice. The stage presence. A helluva a guitar player; Scottie Moore was awesome, but man the King could strum it out baby.
Drawing some connections to some recent words heard from Steven Pressfield. Story should have a middle of Act 2 turning point that will deliver the hero to the story to show us what they can become in Act 3.
Elvis has this special. Gigantic spectacle. Some risky business for him. His pop image of the time pushed to the side a bit, especially seriously rockin and gettin down on the Jimmy Reed cover (I’ll let you figure that out). The special sparked his return to live performance as his third act (back to his roots because along with all those artists they made their name on the road not in wax). Freed him up. Of course there was the Vegas collapse (back to being the object), but he was still doing what he was great at.
The ah ha here is that there is a great collapse possible for all of us. On the ropes. Down and out; or damned close to it. But, can we snatch that wheel back, push others to the side and re-claim who we are, and get back to what we are great at?
The beginning of the second act I suppose is this period for many of us. We bottom out before we climb back up. This is not necessarily our entire life; but may just a book in our story like our career, set backs in a relationship, etc.
Like Elvis we’re on fire for some time. Then the world tunes us out. Trades us in for a new model. But! Are we bold enough to get back on stage, even when our confidence is shaken? Can we control the sheer internal terror that may have precipitated the fall? Can we muster enough to put ourselves out there again?