The Comeback

As 1968 dawns, the once King of rock‘n’roll faces cultural oblivion. While elsewhere the Sixties are swinging, for Elvis they’re sinking– in terrible films, drug addiction, paranoia, religious mania and the mercenary wiles of his psychopathic manager. In the words of the hip young director assigned to his first TV special, Elvis’ reputation was “in the toilet.” However the same director, Steve Binder, was now about to save it. Together they would embark on the biggest creative fight of Elvis’ life.

The Comeback plots the incredible true story of Elvis’ fall and rise from Army discharge to iconic black leather resurrection. Simon Goddard takes the reader inside the life, music and mind of Elvis, isolated from an America unravelling in its own Sixties chaos of war, racism, riots and assassinations, until his world and theirs collide in the greatest performance of his life.

A genre-busting modernist rock‘n’roll fable unlike any music
biography you’ve ever read, The Comeback is the definitive account
of how it took Elvis eight years on the big screen to lose his crown –
but just one magical hour on a small one to win it back.

About the Author :
Simon Goddard has been writing about music for nearly 30 years, both as a journalist and as the author of over a dozen books published across three continents. His Bowie Odyssey series has twice made the Sunday Times Books Of The Year (2020, 2024) while his other titles have made best-of-year lists in Mojo, Q, Uncut and Pitchfork's Top 60 Music Books Of All-Time. Simon is based in North London. Bob Stanley is a writer, musician, DJ, and film producer. Since founding influential pop group Saint Etienne, Bob has enjoyed a parallel career as a music journalist, contributing to publications such as the Times, Smash Hits, NME, the Guardian and the Face. A former artist-in-residence at the Southbank Centre, his films have been shown at the ICA and Royal Festival Hall, and he has curated several seasons for the Barbican. He is the author of Yeah Yeah Yeah, which was the Sunday Times Pop Music Book of the Year and a Rough Trade Book of the Year, and Let's Do It.

Review :

‘A fascinating exploration … Goddard certainly has form as a music biographer, but this audacious and pacey study of The King goes further. Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the event in question, it broaches exciting new ground.’ The National

‘This fine book more than justifies its existence… Goddard not only knows his Elvis but deftly weaves in the cultural background of the era.’ MOJO