TCBCast 329: The Making of Viva Las Vegas (& How Elvis Movies Got Made!) Part 1

Justin and Bec begin to explore the recordings that remain from the rehearsals leading up to the August 1970 concerts that would become the centerpiece of the 1970 documentary film "That's The Way It Is." The film's director, Denis Sanders, was fascinated by Elvis as a creative force and wanted audiences to get a glimpse of his working process - some of which briefly appeared in the final film, some surfaced in the MGM collection "The Lost Performances" and further material in the Special Edition re-edit of the film from 2001 - but despite several official releases of select material and numerous bootlegs over the years, it wasn't until 2020 that Sony's FTD sub-label officially released the vast majority of the audio of the TTWII rehearsals for the most ardent fans to hear and learn from. In this first part, the duo only cover the first two days of rehearsals filmed & recorded, July 14-15, 1970, but also lay the groundwork for the more dense back portion of the rehearsals. Our next episode will cover the rest from July and August 1970 as well as Songs of the Week from Gurdip and Justin. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

Justin and Bec have a relaxed discussion about all the exciting Elvis news from within the last week or so, including the trailer for "Return of the King," a behind the scenes preview from Layered Reality's upcoming Elvis Evolution show, Ernst Jorgensen's experimentation with Peter Jackson's MAL de-mixing technology and more. Plus, Elvis trivia returns for a week! For Song of the Week, Bec tackles the romantic "Speedway" ballad "Who Are You? (Who Am I?)" then Justin - just for the laugh of doing them both in a single episode - digs into the understated but similarly named 1969 gospel number "Who Am I?" If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy. 

Olivia joins Justin for their thoughts on the TV special Riley Keough did with Oprah, filmed at Graceland, Riley's Graceland Q&A, and the rest of Lisa Marie's book now that things have started to finally settle. The duo also answers a bunch of listener feedback, discuss dialogue edits on "The Last Tours, Volume 1" FTD, and a recent video Olivia watched about one of Elvis' Ed Sullivan performances of Hound Dog. For Song of the Week, Justin selects Elvis's cover of the Waylon Jennings hit "You Asked Me To," and ponders the implications of a minor lyrical change Elvis made in his final version. Olivia highlights Elvis's 1976 recording of Larry Gatlin's "Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall."  If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy. 

Netflix has dropped the trailer for the new documentary about the making of the 68 Comeback Special releasing November 13. Gurdip and Justin were in the middle of recording another episode when the trailer landed, so the guys dropped everything to react immediately. Watch the trailer for "Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHStpufGGzA

This week, you're getting to hear a special bonus episode from our special Patreon miniseries "TCBCast After Dark." Justin is joined by Rabia and Felix of "Suddenly: A Frank Sinatra Podcast" for this discussion. There is a new introduction providing additional context. Aired in 1991, produced by Mel Bergman, "The Elvis Files" was a LIVE TV broadcast hosted by "Clambake" and "Speedway" co-star Bill Bixby presenting Elvis conspiracy theorist Gail Brewer-Giorgio's array of so-called "evidence," but here's the genuinely shocking twist out of all of this: one of the things they dug up from the FBI's declassified files on Elvis Presley was actually partly true. However, its association with the Elvis conspiracy world and it being used to claim that Elvis faked his death as an undercover agent has prevented the real, genuinely historical facts of how Vernon Presley was scammed out of nearly $400,000 in 1976 from being an integral part of the tellings of the last years of Elvis' life, making TCBCast first within the Elvis world to reintroduce it properly and give it serious attention. Critical resources for this episode include: Chasing Phil: The Adventures of Two Undercover Agents with the World's Most Charming Con Man by David Howard: https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Phil-Adventures-Undercover-Charming/dp/1101907428 Retired FBI Agent J.J. Wedick's website FBIRetired's article about Operation Fountain Pen: https://fbiretired.com/retired-fbi-agents-talk-about-opfopen-case/ A discussion with David Howard at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada: https://livestream.com/accounts/6847704/events/7955041/player?width=640&height=360&enableInfoAndActivity=true&defaultDrawer=&autoPlay=true&mute=false Additional clippings from contemporaneous articles referenced herein will be posted alongside this episode on the TCBCast Facebook page. If you appreciated this, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy. The entire "After Dark" miniseries in available in full is available to patrons at all tiers.

Gurdip, Ryan, Bec, Olivia and Justin all are at different stages of reading Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough's new book, but the team was able to get together to record a brief initial impressions bonus episode. We strongly recommend the book. There are spoilers in this episode but not for the whole book. Please be aware that there is discussion of sexual abuse from ~7:00-13:40. If that may be upsetting to you, please skip over that portion. We did not feel it appropriate to pepper the episode with clips, music, etc. It's just us and our largely raw reactions this time. We have had as much time as everyone else to process what we've in the book, and only one of us has completed it in full, so please be generous with us, and be kind to everyone else out there as this book's contents are sure to create some contention in the Elvis world. It's a very raw, emotional read/listen but we cannot recommend it more highly, both as a book and in audiobook form. 

As you'll hear in our intro discussion, Justin and Bec have pushed out their TTWII Rehearsals episodes just a bit due to some extenuating circumstances, but still got together for a discussion about the lightweight, wholesome 1970 budget release on the Camden label, "Let's Be Friends," which compiled a mix of late-60s tracks (and one inexplicable 1962 recording).  For Song of the Week, Justin soaks in the "Fountain of Love" from 1962's Pot Luck, and Bec gets funky with the Leiber & Stoller-penned Stax track "If You Don't Come Back." Next week, we'll be uploading a bonus episode for Tuesday while the TCBCast gang will be busy reading and getting together as soon as we can for an in-depth discussion about Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough's "From Here to the Great Unknown" as well as the Oprah special airing October 8.

Gurdip and Justin wrap up their coverage of the March & April 1960 recording sessions that resulted in "Elvis is Back!" and three number one singles and the guys ponder whether these may have been the best sessions Elvis ever undertook. Then after the main topic, Gurdip taps out and Ryan Droste hops into the ring for a bit of Elvis news regarding the upcoming Oprah special with Riley Keough on October 8 and then Song of the Week, with Ryan returning to his favorite Elvis movie, "It Happened At the World's Fair" and its smoldering song of seduction, "Relax." Then, Justin closes things out by trying to put Elvis's 1957 recording of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" in context by showcasing how different it is from the only prior recorded versions between Bing Crosby's original and Elvis's version, and attempting to forget all about the other several thousand versions that followed. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy. 

Gurdip and Justin delve into the landmark 1960 recording sessions in which Elvis declared that he was indeed back, both literally from the Army as well as on top of the charts, with the sessions giving him three massive US number one hits in "Stuck On You," "It's Now or Never" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"  As many of our listeners know, Elvis is Back is perhaps Gurdip's favorite Elvis album ever, and these are his favorite sessions, so he's thrilled to bits. Armed with the "Elvis is Back Sessions" FTD, we explore how Elvis had evolved as an entertainer in the two years since his last sessions in Nashville and appraise the choice of material, from covers/reworkings of existing songs that he'd been practicing at home, such as "Soldier Boy," "Like A Baby" and "There's No Tomorrow" as well as wholly new songs written expressly for him, like Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman's first song for him "A Mess of Blues," and, of course, the stunning doo-wop ballad "Fame and Fortune." Part 1 covers the March session and the first half of the April session, ending with "It's Now or Never." Part 2 will cover the rest of the April session, plus Song of the Week with Ryan! If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy. 

It's a fairly light episode this week, with Justin and Bec discussing the latest in Elvis news, including Graceland's big "Presley for a Day" tour announcement, briefly reacting to the Guitar Man Sessions FTD, Bec's latest Elvis book pick-ups and more. For Song of the Week, Bec spotlights Elvis' cover of the obscure Ivory Joe Hunter song "It's Still Here." Meanwhile, Justin cracks into the Guitar Man sessions FTD to explore the outtakes and early alternate arrangement of "Singing Tree," which languished for decades as a "Clambake" soundtrack bonus song. We have some beefy topics coming up in the coming weeks that we're busy preparing for, including discussions on the 1960 "Elvis is Back!" recording sessions, "That's The Way It Is" rehearsals and much more! If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.