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2008 Celebration of the ’68 Special

2008 is the 40th anniversary of the first airing Elvis’s 1968 television special. This extravagant entertainment special features Elvis in some of his greatest and best-loved moments captured on video. Elvis in black leather and the giant red “Elvis” letters are just a couple of iconic images that come from this program.

Considered ground-breaking at the time, this special still has a contemporary feel and Elvis's informal jamming in front of a small audience is regarded as a forerunner of the “unplugged” concept, later popularized by MTV.

This is also the venue of Elvis’s performance of “If I Can Dream,” which was used in 2007 as part of the Idol Gives Back television special. Elvis and Celine Dion performed the duet which then became the number one downloaded video on iTunes for three weeks.

’68 Special Fun Facts

• It was directed by Steve Binder and produced by Binder and Bones Howe.
• At 6:00 pm, on June 27, Elvis took to the stage for four one-hour live shows being taped at NBC's Burbank studios.
• Sponsored by The Singer Company, it aired on the NBC television network.
• The broadcast aired on December 3, 1968, and was rebroadcast the following summer.
• The show was the highest-rated television special of the year and was seen by 42% of the viewing audience
• It was the first one-man TV special to appear on commercial American television.
• “If I can Dream,” released a month before the special, sold over 800,000 units in its initial release.
• The album from the special sold more than 500,000 in its original chart run.
• The version of "A Little Less Conversation" that was originally recorded for (but not used in) the special was later remixed and became a hit single in 2002.
• In September of 2004, RCA issued a deluxe 3-disc DVD release containing all the video footage still in existence, including bloopers and incomplete performances.

’68 Special Celebration in 2008

Celebration of the anniversary year of ’68 Special began in March with a special, free exhibit at Graceland called Elvis ’68 Special. It includes items like the classic white suit, red vest, and his black leather wristband along with items like original tickets, scripts and more. The exhibit includes a new ’68 Special themed store in the Graceland Crossing shopping plaza located north of Graceland.

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