Elvis: The Birth of Rock n' Roll

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be anything remotely fresh or original to be said about Elvis Presley…there, uh, isn't. But this documentary about the King's first two years (1954-55) on the scene is still entertaining, although it's hard to explain why. There is no “real” Presley music (i.e., nothing from his official Sun or RCA recordings); all we get is faint, scratchy bootleg audio, and a couple of segments from ancient radio broadcasts. There's no film of actual performances, only some well-intentioned but still fairly cheesy reenactments featuring an Elvis impersonator; in fact, there's no film of Presley at all, only photographs and some excerpts from his early radio interviews. But host Jack Perkins' amiable manner helps, and there are several cool segments, such as one with audio clips of the original versions of some of the tunes Presley covered (like Bill Monroe's “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and Arthur Crudup's “That's All Right, Mama”), revealing just how viscerally exciting and radically different his new style was from the originators. And let's face it, the guy's life story remains compelling, with guitarist Scotty Moore (identified here as “Elvis' first manager,” a peculiar but not totally inaccurate label) and others who crossed Presley's path describing the days when Elvis, Moore, and bassist Bill Black endlessly toured the country by car, living three to a room in cheap motels and playing anywhere that would have them. All in all, this may be something that only completists will covet, but there's enough here to make this very affordable program a strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (S. Graham)