Sometimes it’s hard to remember which artists were actually contemporaries when one has been gone a long time. That’s part of what surprised some people about Elvis Presley covering the Simon and Garfunkel classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

But, in fact, the song was released in 1970 (and was even covered by Aretha Franklin the following year!). It was on the fifth and final album the folk-rock duo released before their split. Meanwhile, Elvis Presley had just made his comeback, his death not taking place until 1977.

In 1972, the King was once again on tour after languishing in B-list celebrity territory for quite some time. A documentary crew followed him around that year from city to city and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was on his setlist. In fact, there are multiple videos of him performing the song live around the country that year.

Presley went for high drama when performing the song live – his band was joined by an orchestra and backup singers. It’s powerful – and beautiful – but nothing like the more somber original version.

“I love the original but any song played by Elvis takes [it] to another dimension,” said one commenter. Paul Simon himself called it a “touch on the dramatic side.” Still, he loved it. According to Rolling Stone, Simon said:

“When I first heard Elvis perform ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ it was unbelievable. I thought to myself, ‘How the hell can I compete with that?’”
In a version restored more recently and posted to YouTube in 2008, the King dons his famous white suit for the performance. The fact that the video has over 22.9 million views is a testament to not only his performance but how
well the audio has been improved.

While we can’t see the orchestra, we can hear them. And while the backup singers consist of the same trio of women as other performances, there appears to be a choir backing THEM up as well.

Hey, no one said Elvis was a paragon of subtlety.

Viewers couldn’t help but marvel at how powerful his voice is considering he didn’t have any of the modern benefits such as autotune or backup recordings – it’s all him.

And somehow, despite the fact that it’s later in his career and a cover of someone else’s song, it still manages to be classic Elvis. While critics over the years have taken the singer to task for not writing his own music, one commenter responded perfectly:

“AND THAT PEOPLE IS HOW TO SING A SONG……..I’ve never cared for people who say that Elvis only sang other people’s songs….honey, that’s because he had to show them how the song should be sung!!!!!”

Hey, if even Paul Simon said he couldn’t top it, you can’t really argue with that.

In what might be one of the most positive comment threads on a video with this many views, people gushed over the performance and Presley’s ability to bring them to tears decades later.

“He had more than his voice, his looks his charisma. He had something that transcended all those things. he just had a presence an energy that was almost bigger than life. i cant quite figure out. i think this performance is the best ever. i actually got a little misty eyed,and got goose bumps.”

What can we say – that’s why we call him the King.

Be sure to scroll down to see the powerful performance for yourself.
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