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August 14, 2008

‘Elvis: Return to Tupelo’ premieres on Bio Channel Sept. 11

Staff report

TERRE HAUTE — Elvis Presley’s connection to his hometown is the subject of an upcoming documentary, “Elvis: Return to Tupelo.”

The film is produced by Michael Rose and narrated by singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson. It traces the Elvis saga from his birth during the depths of the Depression, to his move to Memphis, to his formative high-school years, through his early struggles to launch a music career and wraps up with his triumphant homecoming concert in 1956, on the same stage where he’d lost a talent contest 11 years earlier.

The 90-minute special premieres on the Bio Channel (A&E;’s spinoff of its long running Biography series) at 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, with a repeat airing at 1 a.m. The show will air again at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21.

Rose discovered this story while shooting a travel program on the Natchez Trace that took his crew through Tupelo. “While there we met local historian Roy Turner who introduced us to the fascinating and little known details of Presley’s early years. Turner opened up a world that we didn’t know existed,” Rose said.

This story reveals the cultural impact that Presley’s rise to fame had on America, according to Rose.

“He was a white man singing like a black man at a time when the civil rights movement was beginning to intensify,” Rose said. “His raw sexuality and appeal to mixed race audiences, including lots of squealing young white girls, created a panic among parents, politicians, preachers and the press. He was a force for change that threatened and eventually helped to reshape the American cultural landscape.”

The documentary includes authentic recordings of American roots music from the Library of Congress, as well as interviews with old friends, family members, co-workers and other eyewitnesses who provide personal, previously unknown insights into a story that many believe they already know.

Schoolmates describe how shy he was and how hard it was to convince him to perform. Others talk about how poor he was and how kids taunted and picked on him because he was different. The documentary follows his father’s incarceration in the infamous Parchman Farm prison and his mother’s relentless campaign to get him paroled.

His family never gained their footing and lost their house. They slinked out of town in the middle of the night — heading for Memphis, Tenn., where Elvis’ star would eventually shine.

The program ends on a note of triumph — the return of Elvis to Tupelo for a benefit homecoming concert, where he received the key to the city and the screaming adulation of his fans.

A preview of “Elvis: Return to Tupelo” is available online at www.elvisreturntotupelo.

com.

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