How times have changed. When Elvis returned to live performance for his eponymous 1968 ‘Comeback Special’ – albeit a live performance in an elaborate made-for- TV special – he’d not really been out of the spotlight. He’d been a movie star. True, he hadn’t actually performed live for seven years… but these days, that’s not particularly unusual. But back then, there was a serious worry in the King’s camp – given the giddying pace of cultural change that occurred in the mid-60s – that Elvis Presley’s time may actually have been over. We all know how Elvis answered that, and you can read an unrivalled blow-by-blow account from ‘Comeback Special’ producer/director Steve Binder and others, starting on page 22. It remains a pivotal moment – or rather, year – in the reign of The King. If this had gone wrong, would Elvis still be remembered like he is today?
Elsewhere, Vintage Rock remembers Eddie Cochran, who tragically never even had the chance of a comeback. Cochran would have been 80 in October 2018, a strange thought for a unique artist who is forever seared into our memories as a wildly talented yet tragic young man, barely out of his teens. But as his legions of fans still attest, the way Eddie would always sign his name – with the plea, “Don’t Forget Me” – remains apt as ever.