Sinatra Show

Own Your Own Copy

Own Your Own Copy

Own Your Own Copy

Q: What are your plans now that you’re leaving the army?

EP: Well, the first thing I plan to do naturally is to go home. And then after that I have a television show with Frank Sinatra some time the later part of April, then I start work on the picture GI BLUES for Paramount, Mr. Wallis, and then after that I have two pictures with 20th Century Fox, and after that Heaven knows, I don’t know.

After the special:

Q: You haven’t been on stage for three years. Are you a little bit nervous?

EP: Yes, sir. I don’t mind admitting I am. But when I did that Frank Sinatra show in Florida, I wasn’t nervous. I was petrified. I was scared stiff.

Q: Did the Frank Sinatra – to get back to that – did those people on Frank Sinatra productions, did they give you an ample opportunity to perform that evening?

EP: Oh, yeah sure. But the moving and shaking I done on the show wasn’t from music, it was from being scared. But they gave me plenty of time. They were very nice.

Q: Only six minutes for an hour?

EP: Well it would’ve been all right with me if I just walked out and walked off.

Everyone refers to it as "The Sinatra Show" but it was actually "the Frank Sinatra-Timex Show" and the name of the episode Elvis appeared on was officially titled "It's So Nice to Go Traveling: Welcome Home Elvis."

The Museum of Radio and Television describes the special:

This special welcomed Elvis back from his eighteen-month stint in the army. Frank Sinatra, his daughter Nancy, Joey Bishop, and Sammy Davis, Jr., recap the events Elvis missed while he was away in Germany. Elvis sings "To Know That You Love Me Brings Fame and Fortune My Way" and "I'm Stuck on You." In a once-in-a-lifetime duet, Presley and Sinatra sing "Love Me Tender" and "Witchcraft." (May 12, 1960; 60 minutes)

An excerpt from the special can be seen in the home video version of THIS IS ELVIS. It's of terrible quality but nevertheless fun to see.

The duet between Sinatra and Elvis, in which they sang each other's hit, lasted less than two minutes and can be heard on Disc 5 of the Essential 60's Masters box set.

The two songs he sang were released on the Platinum: A Life in Music box set. You can hear the shrieks from the girls in the audience punctuate his every move.

Although it aired in May, the show actually taped on March 26th in Miami.

Elvis was paid $125,000 for his "6 minutes" and didn't appear on television again until his own special in 1968.

In the introductory sequence, Frank and the others surround Elvis in his army uniform and sing a special version of "IT'S NICE TO GO TRAVELING."

During the song, Joey Bishop quips "Where the heck are his sideburns?" Elvis tosses off, "In Germany!" Nancy Sinatra feigns "I may pass out," and Elvis replies "Tommy won't like that" (in reference to her fiancé Tommy Sands.)

During his two solo numbers, Elvis performs with his regulars: Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana, the Jordanaires, along with some local Florida musicians. He wears a tuxedo with an interesting tie. As promised, he is sideburn-free although his hair is remarkably tall and gets messed up during his songs. Unlike the famous Sullivan show, he is filmed from head to toe with close-ups thrown in as well.

Nancy Sinatra officially welcomed Elvis home on March 3, when he arrived at Fort Dix from Germany. It was a publicity gimmick where she ceremoniously gave him two shirts as a gift from her father. Seven years later she would co-star with Elvis in SPEEDWAY.