TTWII Questions

[cutiepie]

Hello!

"Lord, have mercy"

I never really had a grasp of what that saying meant exactly...but after watching TTWII for the first time (and second, third, forth...)this week, I know what it means! It was like, Lord have mercy! The man is a sex machine!!! I have an appreciation for fans who have had religious conversions from seeing Elvis live. Certainly, the people in the TTWII show were in ecstasy!

And now for some questions--some of these have probably been addressed before--please bear with me!

1. When the woman gives Elvis a drawing she made of him, she (or someone else) asked Elvis something, and he replied "I can't do that, I'm sorry." Any idea what the question was?

2. Was Elvis ever choreographed? Was is all just natural? I have never seen any performer move everything and make it look so good!

2a. Was he choreographed in the dancing scenes in the 1968 special? Comparing the two performances (with the understanding that they were very different performances) Elvis seemed oddly restrained in the 68 special

3. Elvis was very light on his feet--did he ever dance, like on his own time? He may have started "disco" from that one concert! I think Elvis would have made an excellent ballroom/formal dancer, too. John Travolta's got nothing on him!

4. Did Elvis ever get dizzy after dancing around and putting out so much energy? I don't think the average person could even walk straight, after doing just one song Elvis' way!

5. What did Elvis do with the things that he got from fans? Looks like he got handed some jewelry during the show.

6. What was the name of the James Brown song that referred to a sex machine?

7. Would it be worth it to buy the VHS original (as in not special edition) version of TTWII for the songs that were delted from the DVD?

8. In books I've read, people say that Elvis was a nervous wreck before a performance. Granted, he looked tense right before going onstage, but he seemed ok, talking to the guys, reading telegrams, etc. Were the books exaggerating?

My sister was around when I watched TTWII--she has been teasing me about the (her words) Elvis possession, and even she could not help but be impressed!

Thanks!!

[my boy]

your comments were spot on Elvis was the coolest man on the planet around 1970 and it shows in his performances the energy he uses in polk salad annie suspicious minds patch it up etc is amazing and the rehearsal footage not many performers of today could match that or even came close real class

[Mez]

3. Elvis was very light on his feet--did he ever dance, like on his own time? He may have started "disco" from that one concert! I think Elvis would have made an excellent ballroom/formal dancer, too. John Travolta's got nothing on him!


I'm sure I read somewhere that off stage he wasn't a very good dancer- seems hard to believe as he was so full of rhythm when he performed!

[1100ccRider]

1. When the woman gives Elvis a drawing she made of him, she (or someone else) asked Elvis something, and he replied "I can't do that, I'm sorry." Any idea what the question was?

I think she wanted him to sign another copy...not sure, and kinda wondered that myself.

2. Was Elvis ever choreographed? Was is all just natural? I have never seen any performer move everything and make it look so good!

Both. He worked hard on incorporating certain moves -- talking the '70s here, with the karate-infused moves -- but if you watch amateur video clips you'll see that he changed things a fair bit from one show to another.

2a. Was he choreographed in the dancing scenes in the 1968 special? Comparing the two performances (with the understanding that they were very different performances) Elvis seemed oddly restrained in the 68 special

What dancing scenes? If he seemed restrained, by comparison, it's probably because he was taping in a TV studio, with prerecorded tracks, versus performing live in Vegas or a stadium. The latter provided Elvis a great deal more of a charge and it showed in his physical performance.

3. Elvis was very light on his feet--did he ever dance, like on his own time? He may have started "disco" from that one concert! I think Elvis would have made an excellent ballroom/formal dancer, too. John Travolta's got nothing on him!

He didn't like to dance -- too self-conscious -- so he didn't do it much. He may well have made a great dancer -- arguably, he was, just in a very unique and specific way, heavily influenced by martial arts (the only other performer to really follow up on that, at least as revealed by a cursory stroll through my memory, is David Lee Roth). Look at his incredible '50s moves, too...if he'd wanted to, I think he could have given Michael Jackson a run for his money, dancewise, if he'd worked at it.

4. Did Elvis ever get dizzy after dancing around and putting out so much energy? I don't think the average person could even walk straight, after doing just one song Elvis' way!

The thing that really gets me is how on earth he used to be able to (as he does inThat's The Way It Is) rapidly shake his head around. He does it during the part in "Suspicious Minds" where he just stands there and rapidly shakes his whole body with his arms held out before him, for example. Try it and you'll likely find yourself feeling woozy and maybe even nauseous...kinda scrambles the old brains.

5. What did Elvis do with the things that he got from fans? Looks like he got handed some jewelry during the show.

A lot (most?) found its way back to Graceland. I think he gave some away.

6. What was the name of the James Brown song that referred to a sex machine?

"Sex Machine"

7. Would it be worth it to buy the VHS original (as in not special edition) version of TTWII for the songs that were delted from the DVD?

Yeah. I'm hoping to ge thold of the original DVD release if I find a decent price. They cut some of the best songs. I love the Special Edition, though, flawed as it may be (and let's not even get into the matter of those retracted added songs).

8. In books I've read, people say that Elvis was a nervous wreck before a performance. Granted, he looked tense right before going onstage, but he seemed ok, talking to the guys, reading telegrams, etc. Were the books exaggerating?

Doubt it. In some ways, Elvis was an introvert at heart...many of the most dynamic performers are, and they basically throw a switch when they go on stage. Hanging out with his entourage was probably a way of managing the stress, but it's omnipresent, including in those scenes you mention. Elvis was sweating heavily, too, though I'm sure his dressing room area was well cooled even in Nevada's summer. And right before he goes on stage, opening night, when he talks about taping the words to "I Just Can't Help Believing" (boy, that was an inexplicably cut song in the new version of the film) to a stool, you can feel the nervous tension emanating from him. He's scared.

[cutiepie]

Hi 1100ccRider!

Thank you for your thoughts and answering my questions so thoroughly! Now I understand why Elvis referred taping the lyrics of the song to a stool when he didn't even perform it!

I think I'm going to purchase the original TTWII video cassette...haven't used one of those in a while!

[elvisdownunder]

cutiepie, buy Elvis ttwii original edition on video. its like watching 2 different films. there was so much taken out, its worth it to get all the performances like ' i just can't help believin', 'i've lost you' etc that were cut from SE. buy it! buy it! buy it!

i know what you mean by the movements, i tried polk salad annie arm movements very fast and ended up getting dizzy. the suspicious minds movement is impossible to execute properly for me. Elvis was just the one who had it.