George Klein

Elvis: Special Delivery [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 17 when I wrote this article back in 1992 for a special supplement issue of The Elvis Beat, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Cable’s TNT will air special programming devoted to Elvis to coincide with the 58th anniversary of his birth and the release of the Elvis stamp. A highlight will be a two-part mini-series called Elvis: The Early Years, which is actually a combination of all thirteen episodes of the excellent 1990 ABC television series Elvis (including three previously un-aired episodes).

Along with other Elvis movies, live cut-ins from Graceland to be hosted by George Klein and focusing on the events in Memphis will be aired on the night of January 7.

Review – ELVIS: THE GREAT PERFORMANCES (1992 CBS TV version) [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 17 when I wrote this review back in 1992 for The Elvis Beat #2, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Elvis: The Great Performances (CBS), hosted by Priscilla Presley, directed by Andrew Solt, aired April 24, 1992.

The TV version of Elvis: The Great Performances is not as good as the two volume video versions from 1990 for several reasons.

First of all, the original narration of Elvis’ friend George Klein has been replaced by the phony-sounding narration of Elvis’ ex-wife, Priscilla Presley.

The other problem is that his version contains fewer songs due to the 30 minutes of boring commercials supplied by JC Penney.

The songs it does contain are “great performances,” but they are ruined by being edited and chopped up. However, this is a problem that exists on the videos, too, and all of Andrew Solt’s other Elvis productions. It should be a crime to cut Elvis songs. I would much rather see 10 complete performances instead of 25 bits and pieces.

My advice: See the original video versions of The Great Performances (Volume One: Center Stage and Volume Two: The Man And The Music), or, even better, see a real Elvis video like Elvis: That’s The Way It Is or Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii.

Songs include:

  • “Shake, Rattle, and Roll/Flip, Flop, and Fly”
  • “Heartbreak Hotel”
  • “Blue Suede Shoes”
  • “Hound Dog”
  • “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You”
  • “Ready Teddy”
  • “Love Me Tender”
  • “Don’t Be Cruel”
  • “Got A Lot Of Livin’ To Do”
  • “Teddy Bear”
  • “Jailhouse Rock”
  • “Trouble”
  • “Fame And Fortune”
  • “Return To Sender”
  • “All Shook Up”
  • “If I Can Dream”
  • “Suspicious Minds”
  • “Always On My Mind”
  • “An American Trilogy”
  • “Unchained Melody”
  • “Money Honey”

Rating: 6 out of 10