Elvis Presley: The Searcher is a two-episode series from 2018 which tell us about the life and times of Elvis Presley. We hear about his birth in 1935 in poverty in Tupelo, Mississippi till he died in 1977 in his home in Graceland, Memphis. We follow his upbringing in Tupelo till his was 13 years and then his teenage years in Memphis where his family had relocated.
Then we have a closer look at his first recording sessions at Sun Studios and how the soon to become famous Sam Phillips recognized Elvis as the white sensation he had been looking for. Colonel Tom Parker entered the scene after a while and set Elvis’ future with all the ups and downs that the colonel was responsible for.
Musically you soon get the impression how big and lasting an influence his childhood’s music had on him through his career. He returned to country, blues and gospel time and time again and also how he mixed these genres into his own original style. We get a strong sense of how big an impact his deep spirituality had on him his whole life also musically. Hence the title the Searcher.
Elvis became the whole world’s rock’n’roll idol in the fifties, but his career took a hiatus when he was a soldier for two years in Germany. After returning to the US in 1960 Elvis started his questionable film career but was not musically on top of his game until he appeared in his excellent tv concert Elvis Presley: ’68 comeback. That tv concert secured him his musical comeback. And finally, how the 70’s with his divorce, drug problems, overweight and an insane touring schedule killed him.
During the two episodes which lasts more than an hour each we listen to a great number of people who were close to Elvis from the beginning until the end. There are statements from music critics, producers like John Landau (Bruce Springsteen), Ernst Jorgensen (Danish Elvis archeologist and producer), Priscilla Presley, musicians who admired Elvis (Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris and Tomy Pettey) etc.
What makes this series so interesting also for yours truly who has never been a big fan of Elvis Presley is the background insight that the series gives you. Elvis as a human being, a musician and as an entertainer. And how big Elvis really was. That hadn’t really dawned on me. When Elvis was big in the 50s, I was just a little boy and later I was more into rock music.
To quote John Lennon:” Before Elvis there was nothing”. Long live the King.
It is also with good reason that the series are called Elvis Presley: The Searcher (Pricilla Presley’s idea). He never stopped searching.
The series were produced by HBO in 2018 but I have seen it on Netflix.
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