Elvis (1968 TV Program) - Soundtrack Releases

Soundtrack Releases

The first song from the special to be released to the public was "If I Can Dream", which was released as a single by RCA Victor (47-9670) in October 1968. In November 1968, the live performance of "Tiger Man" appeared on the RCA Camden compilation album Elvis Sings Flaming Star (PRS-279), which was first released through Singer Sewing Machine stores and given wide release in April 1969 (CAS 2304).

The NBC-TV Special soundtrack itself was released in November 1968 as well (LPM 4088). As originally issued, it contained most (but not all) of the music from the original broadcast; a new edition with additional tracks was released on CD in 1991.

In March 1969, RCA released "Memories" as a single (47-9730).

Over the following decades, additional performances from the TV Special were released in piecemeal form, particularly in RCA's A Legendary Performer compilation series, as well as in the 1985 box set A Golden Celebration, although bootleg albums featuring unissued material circulated informally for years. In the 1990s and 2000s, RCA issued more-complete soundtrack recordings. In 1998, it issued Memories, a 30th anniversary release that was an expansion of the original NBC-TV Special album. That same year RCA released Tiger Man which consisted of the complete sit-down performances. Finally, in 2006, RCA released Let Yourself Go: The Making of Elvis the Comeback Special, which consisted of outtakes and rehearsal recordings from the special.

As noted above, the version of "A Little Less Conversation" originally recorded for (but not used in) the special was later remixed and became a hit single in 2002. The original recording was released (officially) for the first time in the 1998 Memories CD collection.

Various '68 Comeback recordings (as well as some from Aloha from Hawaii) were used as the soundtrack to the Elvis pinball machine, released by Stern in 2004.