Guest writers:
Larry Geller George Klein Tom Morgan Jr. Barbara Hearn Åke Ölvestad
The world knows Elvis Presley – but they don’t know me
ELVIS’ OWN WORDS TO LARRY GELLER SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH
Bruno Tillander
The cover picture shows Elvis Presley on 28 December 1970, at Sonny West’s wedding reception at Graceland. In the picture we see, among others, George Klein (who peeks out behind Elvis), Barbara Klein (in a white dress) and Priscilla holding Lisa Marie. The fanatic weapons collector Elvis proudly shows a rifle with a riflescope. In his belt a Colt has been tucked in, and in the shoulder holster there’s a revolver. It’s also known that Elvis had a Colt in his boot strap on this occasion. Wearing this entire “arsenal”, Elvis walked up the aisle to Sonny West’s wedding. Photo: © Frank Carroll/Sygma/Corbis
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bruno Tillander (born 1951 in Trollhättan, Sweden) had an early connection to Elvis Presley and his music through his older siblings in the late 1950s. After his high school graduation, military service, business studies and initial medical studies in Germany, Bruno emigrated to the USA in 1975, where he developed close relationships to those closest to Elvis. He also began arranging various types of themed trips to the USA. In 1979, Bruno returned to Sweden and founded the magazine Tidskriften Elvis, which became an outlet for his dream to become an author/writer. For a few years, he worked as a junior high school teacher in German, English and History. In 1984 he began a collaboration with George Klein and The Elvis Presley Museum, which toured all over Europe, lasting until the late 1990s. Starting around the new millennium, Bruno collaborated with record company owner Bert Karlsson for a few years, doing various promotional activities for the Mariann record label. Because of his interest in music history, in 2004 Bruno started a new international travel concept, ”The Ultimate Music Tour”, which is a journey through American music history. With his burning interest in history and cultural history, Bruno and his wife Ulrica have created the travel concept ”The California Art Tour”. After this book, which corrects misconceptions and the simplified image of the Elvis phenomenon, Bruno’s next book project concerns Sweden’s most controversial king, Gustaf III, the reputation of whom the author wants to restore after more than 200 years of slander, after-the-fact stories and malevolence.
The world knows Elvis Presley – but they don’t know me (Elvis to Larry Geller shortly before his death) by Bruno Tillander Guest writers: Larry Geller, George Klein, Tom Morgan Jr., Barbara Hearn and Åke Ölvestad. ISBN 978-91-87581-03-8 Premium Publishing Warfvinges Väg 34 Box 30 184 SE-104 25 Stockholm Sweden Phone: +46 8 545 689 20 Mail: info@premiumpublishing.com Web: www.premiumpublishing.com Layout & Design: G9 Produktion AB / Isabelle Lundgren Picture research: G9 Produktion AB Scanner/repro: Roger Holegård English translation: Carl Magnus Palm Project manager: Wilhelm Wendt Printed in the EU by Bulls Graphics, Halmstad Paper: Multi Art Silk 130gr © 2014 Bruno Tillander / G9 Produktion AB / Premium Förlag - a div. of Internal AB All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, digital, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
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Contents
Foreword Introduction
7 12
Part I Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
The Mississippi Years 1935-1948 Memphis 1949-1955 “Watch out for Elvis Presley!” 1956-1959 Hollywood 1960-1969 Las Vegas and the concert years 1969-1977 The end and the death of Elvis 1977
15 29 55 86 114 139
Influences Legendary musicians and famous recording studios Elvis Presley – a combination of generosity and financial frivolity The karate champion Elvis Presley’s political views Inspiration and love of life The Memphis Mafia Elvis Presley – the profit generator Elvis’ relationship to African Americans Elvis and Judaism Sheriff with all powers Elvis’ large collection of German nazi objects George Klein – one of Elvis’ very closest friends
147 197 235 241 249 265 286 305 337 352 356 360 367 386
Part II Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Who’s who
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This book is dedicated to my friend Fats Domino, who’s always been a great admirer of Elvis Presley.
Fats Domino and Bruno Tillander in Fats’ private home in New Orleans.
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Foreword When I first met publisher Wilhelm Wendt at the offices of Premium Publishing in Stockholm in order to present this ambitious book project, “The World Knows Elvis Presley, But They Don’t Know Me”, I realized that Wilhelm had plenty of publishing experience when he fixed his eyes on me and sternly summed the whole thing up: – For almost 40 years thousands of books about Elvis Presley have been published and all of them are basically the same. We can’t publish one more. He won’t be disappointed now, as we present a book where much of the contents are completely new. What most other books lack is the ambition to get a grip on Elvis Presley as a human being, and daring to draw the right conclusions. Who was Elvis? What were his opinions? Why did he react like he did in certain situations? What were his views on subjects such as religion and politics? What were his personal interests? The words in the book title, “...But They Don’t Know Me”, are meant to reflect all these questions where his own words are spoken in the frustration that the world only knew Elvis Presley, the star on stage in the spotlight, smiling in front of hundreds of clattering camera flashes. No-one knew who the real Elvis was, the human being off stage, he who all of his life, in the words of Larry Geller, “searched for answers to questions that have no answers”. What did Elvis think of the people he met in his lifetime, both those who wanted what was best for him, and those who were out to hurt him? There are far too many individuals in the latter category, and it was sometimes pretty “crowded”, not only in his immediate circles but also in the greedy business structure that had taken a firm grip on the golden calf that was Elvis. The purpose of this book is partly to go in-depth on sensitive subjects, but, for legal reasons, not everything can be written here, so for the reader who wants to read between the lines I can promise a particularly exciting reading experience.
An objective and serious view of Elvis Presley The ambition is to give you, the reader, an objective and serious view of Elvis Presley, and I do this in collaboration with people who lived and worked closely to him. The two men who were closest to Elvis, George Klein and Larry Geller, are both guest writers, and in many regards they have also acted as important advisors and sounding boards. Other guest writers are my good friend Tom Morgan Jr., employed at the Memphis Sheriff ’s Department during the 1970s, and
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Elvis’ first official girlfriend, Barbara Hearn, who gives us a glimpse of the times and morals of the 1950s.
Why this book?
To whom it may concern USA – the freest country in the world? Here in Europe, the USA is widely regarded as the freest country in the world as regards freedom of speech, and, formally, this is accurate, since the First Amendment of the American constitution prohibits the making of any law abridging the freedom of speech or infringing on the freedom of the press. 8
Elvis has been a part of my life for 50 years, from my teenage years in the town of Trollhättan in the ‘60s, until an adventurous ‘70s when I lived in the USA and began building a wide net of contacts that has only increased over the years and which has been essential for the making of this book. I met George Klein in 1979 and a few years later we formed a business partnership in our joint project, “The Elvis Presley Museum”, the first of its kind in Europe. Over 12 years we did 300 exhibitions in 15 countries, visited every capital in Europe and had more than two million visitors. George Klein contributed many unique items to the exhibition, given to him by Elvis personally. Klein visited Europe to attend and host press previews at many important openings. Furthermore, the main attraction of the exhibition, Elvis’ yellow Cadillac, was exhibited in many of the largest motor shows in the biggest European cities. During these twelve years on tour with The Elvis Presley Museum many other people close to Elvis participated, among them his road manager Joe Esposito (the London opening) and, for an extended period, Elvis’ friend Charlie Hodge. Many of Elvis’ world-famous musicians and backing singers were booked for concert tours around Europe and many of them have remained good friends of mine. All these contacts with the people who were closest to Elvis have given me an invaluable source of impressions in the writing of this book. Personality psychology and “reading” people have always been interests of mine and this has been of great use here. Since 1979 I have also, yearly, arranged unique travel projects, one of which is “The Ultimate Music Tour”, an “educational” journey through American music history to New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville, where the participants get to meet world-famous celebrities. Over the years, “The Ultimate Music Tour” has attracted thousands of travelers and is still ongoing today. Those who were closest to Elvis, Joe Esposito, Jerry Schilling, Larry Geller and George Klein, have also contributed talks and guided tours in another successful travel concept, “The Elvis Presley Tour”. I have found this “source of knowledge” useful as the book attempts to get close to Elvis as a human being, and when I analyze his role in music history and the process that led to the making of Elvis. Finally, I also put Elvis in a larger context, where he has been affected by major political events such as the “Jim Crow laws”, the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, the Vietnam War, and other global events.
In chapters 1–6 we follow him from his birth in the small wooden house in Mississippi until his last breath at Graceland. Chapters 7–19 provide a unique and in-depth depiction of his different interests, spiritual beliefs, political views and relations with the world around him. Because of his position as perhaps the world’s most elevated artist, Elvis had for all of his adult life been center stage and the interest in him hasn’t really diminished over the years. Evidently, you are reading these words 60 years after the making of Elvis’ first record, which proves that interest is as big as ever. Elvis was a romantic, a dreamer as well as a realist; sometimes he was merciless in his actions, but at the same time he could be sincere and conciliatory in the same breath. Towards the end of his life he lost his bearings and found himself in a hopeless dilemma. Maybe there is truth in the saying that the contradiction between false hopes and reality was Elvis’ downfall. Bruno Tillander Lead author and legally responsible for the book Music historian and entrepreneur
Elvis’ bass singer John Daniel Sumner at the opening of The Elvis Presley Museum’s summer exhibition in the town of Munkedal in 1987. At the time, J.D. Sumner was listed as having the deepest bass voice in the world, according to “The Guinness Book Of World Records”. J.D. remained a good friend of mine throughout the years and I’m still in touch with his daughter Shirley. Elvis and J.D. shared two major interests that are extreme opposites: gospel music and World War II.
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were added. The Fairgrounds were located across the road, opposite the notorious black residential area Shake Rag. At this fairground the ten-year-old Elvis entered a talent contest and sang “Old Shep”. Later he did his famous ”Welcome Home” concert here, on 26 September 1956, in front of an enthusiastic local audience.
Fabricated stories
A photographer captured Elvis in 1947, enthusiastic with earnest eyes, well-groomed brown hair, dressed in a neat suit and with a fresh, neatly ironed shirt that looks like it came straight from Gladys’ ironing board.
It is a fact that people will repress unpleasant experiences. The ladies responsible at the Tupelo museum had the following answer to a question I put to them sometime in the 1990s, regarding the segregation that didn’t end until 1965. – In Tupelo we weren’t like that. We never noticed any segregation. An astounding reply! A naive way of repressing reality. One doesn’t want to remember anything that is regarded as embarrassing today, something that once was completely natural if you wanted to follow the law. One represses that which feels unpleasant today. The same ladies polished up the Presley family’s little wooden house so that it became unrecognizable. They erased the harsh reality of the Presley family’s two rooms consisting of unpainted and splintery plank walls, a house that didn’t have any electricity, thus excluding all modern conveniences. Today, as previously mentioned, the house mostly resembles a doll’s house full of gadgets the Presley family could never have afforded.
The tornado of 1936
Interiors from Elvis’ kitchen and bed room in the native house in East Tupelo. Flower-patterned wallpaper and electronic appliances are displayed in the house today. A distorted image of his birthplace.
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A tornado swept through Tupelo on 5–6 April 1936. It is regarded as the second worst natural disaster in the area in terms of casualties. The death count was 236, and this figure applies to white citizens only! Although the tornado ravaged large parts of the black residential areas, no-one bothered counting the number of blacks who died or even registering them as missing. The white establishment didn’t care! The newspapers only published the names of wounded
and dead white citizens, one of many proofs that the segregation of whites and blacks applied to natural disasters as well. It’s quite impossible to know how many blacks died in Tupelo. So the ladies of Tupelo’s Elvis museum, who all were about 10 years old in 1936, are simply repressing the unpleasant truth when they deny that there was any segregation. The truth is that they lived right in the middle of white society, in a protected environment, far away from the social problems in the black community.
The old Lyric cinema in Tupelo My travel project “The Elvis Presley Tour” includes a tour of Tupelo, where we visit all the interesting places with a connection to Elvis. A few years ago, when we were standing outside the Lyric vaudeville theater, built in 1912 and later turned into a cinema, a person suddenly snuck up behind me and touched my shoulder, asking if my group wanted to see the cinema from the inside. He didn’t have to ask us twice. Lyric has a very interesting original interior with a 1930s/40s atmosphere. Not much has changed since Gladys, Vernon and Elvis visited the cinema in the mid-1940s to see the major motion picture “Gone With The Wind”. A film that would have been a recurring feature at the cinema. Tupelo had two cinemas in the 1940s, the Lyric and the Strand. In these cinemas Elvis spent many of his happiest moments together with his parents or his closest friend, James Ausborn.
The Lyric cinema, where the young Elvis spent some of his time.
Kissed his first girlfriend? The usher now brought the group into the cinema and up to the balcony, where he immediately pointed to one of the chairs and claimed: – In this chair the 12-year-old Elvis Presley kissed his first girlfriend. Firstly, the balcony was often reserved for the black audience, while the white audience sat in the stalls. The strict segregation was governed by law and no usher would have allowed a white person trying to get into the balcony reserved for blacks. It was, quite simply, illegal – even punishable! The usher lies when he says that Elvis deliberately snuck into the balcony, in the dark. Secondly, Elvis was obviously completely unknown at the time, so who would have noticed whether he sat in exactly the chair that this man pointed to? It’s so stupid that it makes you gasp for breath. And thirdly, I’m convinced that Elvis was much too shy to kiss a girlfriend at the age of 12, but this story simply shows how Elvis Presley’s legacy is marked by many fanciful lies. Complete fabrications!
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I ask the usher: – How do you know that Elvis sat in that chair exactly? Then he gives me the same stupid answer that people always do when they’ve stopped drawing their own logical conclusions: – That’s what people say! In the 1990s, old Tupelo residents would relate how they’d seen Elvis in the late 1940s, sitting outside Tupelo Hotel on Spring Street, singing “for nickels and dimes”. Their memories are astounding! How amazing to be able to remember, 50 years later, the completely unknown face of a street musician! Enviable.
The Presley family leaves Tupelo On 26 September 1956, Elvis returned to Tupelo and did a concert at The Fairgrounds in front of a large and enthusiastic local audience. Everyone in the audience was white. Black visitors weren’t welcome. This was how society would function for almost a further 10 years!
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In the first week of November 1948, Elvis let his school know that he would be moving to Memphis, and the Presley family started packing all their belongings and soon were on their way to a new future. Their old, fully loaded 1937 Plymouth, with large suitcases fastened to the roof, turned up on Highway 78 and began the three-hour car journey on dusty gravel roads towards Memphis. The Presley family had everything they owned in the car.
Chapter 2
Memphis 1949-1955
Elvis’ school in North Memphis. At the time the sign read Humes High School. This was where Elvis got his high school graduation in the early summer of 1953.
Elvis was a product of a long process How wrong John Lennon was when he stated, “Before Elvis, there was nothing”, if indeed he ever uttered those words. The truth is that Elvis was a product of a long process of different ingredients in music history, of different musical styles, people who inspired him, and, not least, the environment he grew up in. The Rock’n’Soul Museum in Memphis has 100,000 visitors every year, who get an insight into the music history of Memphis. In a clear and easily comprehensible way, the exhibition highlights the social and cultural aspects of music history and the extent to which the music of Memphis and the Mississippi Delta has influenced the entire world. 29
A “rebel” in white shirt, tuxedo jacket and a BOW TIE? The first promotion picture from SUN Studios, 1954.
ture of Elvis Presley! As a person Elvis was in actual fact the complete opposite of what Parker wanted to turn him into, this is something Larry Geller tells me during a dinner at a hotel in Los Angeles. – It was only marketing, says his friend Larry Geller who is used to regularly restoring Elvis’ reputation. Elvis was soon ridiculed and mocked in newspapers articles and television interviews. Parker was partly to blame, but, as usual, perhaps you mainly have to blame the media, which early on in Elvis’ career tried to destroy him, cheered on by the establishment. Journalists, along with editors that were middle-aged or older, misinterpreted Elvis, misquoted him and used big headlines to smear him before the American people. Since many people believe everything they read in the papers, Elvis had to learn to live with what was often pure persecution, which made him both sad and angry. Sometimes the exaggerations went overboard. When the radio personality Hy Gardner interviewed Elvis on the phone in the summer of 1956 and asked him “if the rumors were true that he tried to shoot his own mother”, it’s easy to realize that Parker’s marketing had gone off the rails, that Elvis didn’t have many friends in the media, and that in the short term it was too late to alter the media image that already horrified the establishment, the church, and the grown-ups.
A fictitious image of Elvis At the end of 1955, the world was given a fictitious image of Elvis. Supposedly, even during his years at Humes High 1952–53, he had long and unkempt hair, long sideburns, startling clothes, the guitar on his back, a sullen countenance, and was generally a deviant and misfit teenager who restlessly dragged himself across the schoolyard. Over the years, many witnesses from Humes High School have appeared, claiming that school didn’t interest him. In reality, most of them probably never met or even noticed him. As so often happens, most of these stories are made up after the fact! The old saying is always worth remembering: “Repeat a lie often enough and it will soon become a truth.” Elvis Presley at 17 was a sympathetic, well-bred boy, even though in terms of fashion he was a bit outside the fashionable big city trends at Humes High School. Today, many mention his “long hair”, some saying that it was smeared with Vaseline and combed into a duck’s tail, just like the older truck drivers did, supposedly Elvis’ role models, according to his school mate Red West. This is entirely possible, but I believe that Elvis had other, more glamorous role models, such as Tony Curtis and Marlon Brando. But the hairstyle that was fashionable among many of Elvis’ school mates at the time was the crew cut, 36
Elvis is probably getting a parking ticket in Main Street, Memphis in 1956. For the duration of his life, Elvis was a great admirer of the police profession. His sense of humor is unmistakable in this picture. In the background we see Loew’s State Theater, which is known for being the place where the 16-year-old Elvis got his first job, as an usher in 1951. He was later fired and then reemployed.
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everybody thinks. – “I Forgot...” was at the top of the charts for 43 weeks! No-one can tell me that this wasn’t a million seller, says Feathers. Today, no-one will admit that this was a million-seller, since the RCA label insists on having the first million seller by Elvis. In November 1955, RCA bought Elvis record contract for $35,000.
A million seller? Charlie Feathers continues: – Sam Phillips accepted not being credited with the song becoming a million seller, since that meant he didn’t have to pay any royalties to the artists... so officially, “Heartbreak Hotel” was Elvis’ first million seller! Feathers adds: – RCA Victor killed rockabilly when they bought Elvis from SUN, and in the beginning they didn’t know what to do with Elvis!
The myths The conversation turns to all the myths and reconstructions after the event that surround Elvis Presley, and Feathers has a firm opinion: – I think there are a lot of people who didn’t know Elvis, maybe never even were near him, but now, after his death, everybody “knows” Elvis. There are plenty of people who invent stories. Now there are people who try to convince you that they have a leaf to sell that fell off one of Elvis’ trees at Graceland... and he kissed it! says Charlie Feathers with a smile.
On the brink of bankruptcy Feathers: – Elvis was controlled by an industry mafia! Harry Geissler, known as “The Big Bear from Delaware”, had his claws into Colonel Parker as early as 1955. Harry Geissler owned Elvis. He even owned Elvis beloved home, Graceland. Charlie Feathers ends the interview by telling us something we all know today, but this was something we didn’t know when this interview was made by Åke Ölvestad in 1980. Feathers: – Elvis was on the brink of bankruptcy. That’s why he had to tour so much towards the end of his life. Elvis spent a lot of money on a daily basis, sometimes up to $40,000 a day. This was the cost of 40 people who were employed or lived on Elvis, costs for a number of houses, cars, airplanes and large purchases of luxury items, and so on. He had to tour to be able to pay for this world of luxury!
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Bill Black, Elvis’ bass player in the’50s, used to say, jokingly: – We were the only band in the business that was conducted by the singer’s bum.
Chapter 3
Elvis, Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana and Bill Black. The Milton Berle show.
”Beware of Elvis Presley!” 1956-1959
New York Journal: ”An aborigine’s mating dance” In November 2013 I visited New York City, where I lived and worked during the second half of the 1970s. In those days it was easy to board a “flight shuttle” from Kennedy Airport for a weekend visit to Memphis, Nashville and occasionally to Las Vegas to watch Elvis perform at the Las Vegas Hilton. Back then, in 1975, a one-way ticket New York–Memphis was only $50; almost no security checks, it was almost like boarding a bus. 55
Barbara Hearn Couldn’t accept a new car He gave his grandfather, Jesse Presley, a car and then, of course, his mother was given the famous Pink Caddy.
From the pen and private photo album of Barbara Hearn: Left. Elvis talks to friends, 1956. Right. At home with Barbara Hearn Smith in Tennessee, where Barbara and I browse through private photo albums.
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On the photo is my friend, Bobbie and me in front of the car Elvis gave me beginning 1956 when I told him I planned to attend college and would use public transportation. As a surprise he bought the 1948 yellow Buick convertible so that I did not have to use the bus. I believe the yellow Buick convertible Elvis gave to me was the first car he gave to anyone outside his family. I believe from then on he gave new cars to everyone else. He was not into the really big dollars then (beginning 1956) and also he told the salesman that I would not accept a new car, but I would accept one of lesser value. I would have loved to have a new car but, in those far away days, in my family, accepting a car of great value would have caused my parents and relatives to think badly of me. Ladies just did not accept cars from their men friends. It probably would have negatively reflected on my reputation. It was a different time and morals were different. Not enough for a young girl to be good and innocent, she had to also appear to be good and innocent.
Barbara Hearn and Elvis. Photo dedicated to Ă…ke Ă–lvestad.
1966 Spinout
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Diane McBain, Deborah Walley, Dodie Marshall, Jack Mullaney, Will Hutchins, Warren Berlinger, Jimmy Hawkins, Carl Betz. Producer: Joe Pasternak Director: Norman Taurog Screenwriters: Theodore J. Flicker, George Kirgo Director of Photography: Daniel L. Fapp
Elvis, Nancy Sinatra and Douglas Laurence during the making of the film “Speedway”.
Norman Taurog was a part of the large and frequently used group of useful contacts surrounding Hal Wallis and Colonel Tom Parker.
Douglas Laurence For many years, Douglas Laurence was the entertainment director at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. He invested in three Elvis movies, all of which were made consecutively in 1968: ”Stay Away Joe”, ”Speedway” and ”Live A Little, Love A Little”.
Allan Weiss 1967 Easy Come, Easy Go Paramount Pictures
Elvis Presley, Dodie Marshall, Pat Priest, Pat Harrington Jr., Skip Ward, Elsa Lanchester, Frank McHugh. Producer: Hal B. Wallis Director: John Rich Screenwriters: Allan Weiss, Anthony Lawrence Director of Photography: William Margulies
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Allan Weiss had an incredibly successful career as a screenwriter in Hollywood. He seldom received any praise for his Elvis screenplays, but the seven Elvis movies he wrote were all major “moneymakers”. ”Blue Hawaii” was his first screenplay for Elvis. His good friend, producer Hal Wallis, bought a further five screenplays from Weiss, all of which were commercially successful. In 1965, Writer’s Guild of America nominated Allan Weiss for the Best Written American Musical Award for the 1964 film ”Roustabout”. The only screenplay he wrote for a non-Elvis movie was ”The Sons of Katie Elder” (1965), directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin.
Elvis as a bearded gunman in the film “Charro�, 1968. 105
One person who also hated Larry Geller was Colonel Parker. Naturally, he thought that Geller had gained too much influence over Elvis. Parker felt that Geller had brainwashed Elvis, and in one of many confrontations Larry Geller was told by Parked that he’d ”messed up Elvis’ brain!”. Larry’s comment on this accusation: – Whomever the Colonel couldn’t control, was an enemy. Simple as that.
Read the same lines that Elvis liked to read Kahlil Gibran - "The Prophet" From 1912, the metropolis of New York was his base. Gibran’s early literary works were written in Arabic, but from around 1918 virtually all of his writing was in English. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages. Gibran’s most famous work is the 1923 work “The Prophet”, which is divided into 26 poetic essays and features contemplations on the mysteries of life. In an artistic form, the book conveys a universal philosophy with timeless messages similar to several of those conveyed by the major religious preachers. The book features the same sublimity in thoughts and words that can be found in, for example, the Sermon on the Mount, which makes the words of wisdom easily accessible for many people and easy to apply to their own lives. The book has been on the international best seller lists for more than 50 years. Sometimes it is also used in sermons at weddings, christenings and funerals. Gibran died in New York in 1931. He was buried in his hometown of Bsharri, with hundreds of priests and religious leaders, Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Jews and Muslims walking side by side in the funeral procession. In his birthplace of Bsharri in The Lebanon there is now also a Gibran museum. 274
Larry Geller: – Elvis was able to quote many pages and sections of ”The Prophet” from memory.
Excerpts from Khalil Gibran’s "The Prophet": “Much have we loved you. But speechless was our love, and with veils has it been veiled. Yet now it cries aloud unto you, and would stand revealed before you. And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” “Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite.” ”You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons. Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.” “What of the ox who loves his yoke and deems the elk and deer of the forest stray and vagrant things?” “And a merchant said, Speak to us of Buying and Selling. And he answered and said: – To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands. It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.” “And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, so the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.” ”You have walked among us a spirit, and your shadow has been a light upon our faces.”
This last quote was perhaps how Elvis’ viewed his own earthly presence?
Exclusively from the pen of Larry Geller:
Elvis’ search for Meaning and Purpose
Elvis was a musical genius whose voice struck a chord in the hearts of millions, unlike anyone in history. With the face of an Adonis, he burst upon the cultural scene like a powerful comet, disrupting and transforming the course of music, style, and our lives forever. Guitar slung over his shoulder, he radiated a magnetic sexual force and soft smoldering sulkiness, inspiring and provoking the imagination of generations to come. The great American conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein said Elvis was “the greatest cultural force in the Twentieth Century…”
We believed him
He gave us the hillbilly singer, the opera star, the sex symbol, the preacher; his voice had a quality that transformed itself to the message of the songs he sang, with a twang or a soft croon or a profound depth of feeling for the holy. In return, we gave him our undying love and adulation. Most importantly, he touched our souls and we believed him. His fabled, turbulent life and career are legendary: from his humble birth and impoverished childhood in a tiny wooden two-room house; to his musical beginnings as a teenaged truck driver; to his meteoric rise to international fame. 275
Chapter 17
Sheriff with all powers
Elvis threatened to run against the Chief of Police unless he was promoted Elvis was an inveterate collector. As a teenager he collected the Captain Marvel Jr comic book. Later in life he became a dedicated collector of all kinds of weapons, from small pistols, revolvers and rifles, to automatic weapons, but also historical weapons from the American Civil War and, particularly, the Second World War. Weapons were probably his greatest passion, and the collection also included weapons that had become famous through movie heroes such as James Bond, Dirty Harry, John Wayne, and so on. It is estimated that Elvis bought at least 300 weapons over the years, maybe more. Other collector interests include police badges and war memorabilia from the Second World War, especially objects from the German Nazi era, where he owned an extensive collection of objects such as German Reich stamps, bayonets, medals, decorations, helmets, uniform caps, flags and, of course, weapons. See chapter 18. 356
Elvis wasn’t interested in honorable distinctions One of Elvis’ greatest interests as a collector was police badges, but he didn’t want any honorable distinctions. Elvis was only interested in police badges with all powers of policemen. It had to be for real, is one way of putting it. The Chief of Police in Denver, who didn’t know Elvis personally at the time – but he would soon – had heard that Elvis was a keen collector of police badges. In conjunction with a concert in Denver, the Sheriff ’s Department in Denver gave Elvis a badge of honor, which he politely accepted. And yet the policeman could sense that he wasn’t overwhelmed with joy. Later in the day the policeman asked Joe Esposito if they had done anything wrong. Esposito, who was always straightforward, told him that the only thing that really meant anything to Elvis was if the decoration was “for real”. The police command immediately decided to issue a real police badge with all powers.
Federal law officers Federal law officers have the authority to intervene everywhere in the USA. The Department of Justice is responsible for the enforcement of the law at the federal level, and includes departments such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Elvis Presley owned badges from both the FBI and the DEA. The governments in most states provide police authorities consisting of traditional police patrols. Elvis had been given a great number of these badges from practically all states.
Denver, Colorado Elvis had been on a long tour and was about to do his last concert in Denver. He was often worn-down and tired after an intense tour and used to remain a few days in the final city to rest at the hotel. During the days in Denver he visited the police station and there was a personal sympathy with several of the policemen, in particular Ron Pietrafeso and Jerry Kennedy. Elvis stayed in touch with the Denver police force for many years. He later returned with the request of riding along in a patrol car in order to experience police work up close, since he was deeply fascinated by the police profession and always maintained that he “would have been a policeman if he hadn’t been Elvis Presley”. It sounds as if he regarded being “Elvis Presley” as a profession.
One never ceases to be amazed What never ceases to amaze us is that Elvis not only managed to acquire local and regional police badges with all powers, but also got federal police badges, such as the DEA (Narcotics) and the FBI (National Security). You’ve probably heard the story of how Elvis’ application for an FBI badge was denied at first. The FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover probably had an inaccurate image of him, probably regarding him as one of the many marijuana smoking long-haired hippies, whom Elvis actually hated. Elvis had applied to get an FBI badge with all powers and was referred to President Richard Nixon, who became interested in
Fascinated by officers of the law Pop star Peter Noone (of Herman’s Hermits) was once fishing for compliments by asking Elvis which was his favorite group, hoping that Elvis would reply Herman’s Hermits out of politeness. Elvis replied: ”The Los Angeles Police Department”. He wasn’t joking! 357
An interesting portrait which casts a new light on the biggest artist in history!
Guest writers: Larry Geller Shared intellectual interests with Elvis
Elvis Presley was a product of the American social conditions, the mentality of the American South, the attitudes towards weapons and the segregation that permeated the entire American society up until the mid-1960s.
George Klein Regarded as Elvis’ best friend Tom Morgan Jr. Sheriff ’s Department, Memphis
The Southerner Elvis Presley had a weapons fixation, was known to have a temperament, and had a contradictory relationship to the black civil rights movement. He was a reactionary crime-fighter with fictitious role models such as Clint Eastwood’s film character “Dirty Harry”. He supported the Vietnam War and offered President Richard Nixon his services in the fight against communism and left-wing liberal movements. All of these ingredients make Elvis a colorful personality, moving him closer to one of his ideals – the patriot, anti-communist, Republican, gun lobbyist and eternal American icon John Wayne.
Barbara Hearn Elvis’ first official girlfriend Åke Ölvestad Music historian
To all the readers of this book. The author, Bruno Tillander, is a long time close friend and produces high class events. Long live Elvis. George Klein •
Elvis also owned a very extensive and spectacular collection of objects from Nazi Germany, something that until now has been unknown to the general public. He was used by the greedy manager Tom Parker and his network of business contacts in a distasteful way. Elvis was deeply religious, and with the aid of his close friend and spiritual advisor Larry Geller, this book offers an interesting insight into his spiritual faith. The book presents a new and exciting image of Elvis, far from the superficial “Hollywood Elvis” of the silver screen and the official, retouched image of him. This is entertaining reading, an uncensored celebration of a great hero. The book also kills many myths and false after-the-fact stories that have circulated around Elvis for more than 60 years.
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Hi Bruno, Bravo! You’re a man of books, like Elvis. Different interests, running in different directions perhaps, but qualitatively, emblematic of one who has depth, and continues to learn, grow and expand their outlook. That’s why you see deeper, beneath the chimera that has enveloped the Elvis world, and those that surrounded him. Despite the small thinking, jealousies and resentments, that existed in his entourage, and still does, it’s all about Elvis. Fortunately his image, his music and the force of his personality remain. Warmly, Larry Geller •
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They say everything has already been written and everything has already been said about Elvis Presley. But this book gives you a complete new perspective of Elvis’ life and career, a total new side of Elvis. Tom Morgan Jr
395 pages. Introduction by George Klein. Fully illustrated with many unique photos.
you will notice a subLeft. On Elvis’ right hand he received in a situstantial flesh-wound, which edge of the stage at the ation that occurred at the a woman tried to tear Hilton in Las Vegas, where Her nails bored into the rings from Elvis’ fingers. nasty wound. Elvis had Elvis’ skin and caused a with fans trying to tear had this problem earlier, What is the lesson necklaces and rings off him. human behavior? low of learned from this type his life Elvis began During the final year of the rings so that they winding tape underneath so easily. wouldn’t slide off his fingers arrived in the USA in Right. Master Kang Rhee the Chief Instructor at 1964. Prior to that he was Groups Officers Intelligence Military the Korean has the 7th dan black in Seoul. Master Kang Rhee belt in Tae Kwon Do. town of SimrisUlf Larewall of the Swedish together with Master hamn has his picture taken Presley Tour”. In the Kang Rhee on “The Elvis in action. background is a karate class
Obefintliga säkerh etsarrangemang Graceland på
Standing, left to right: Cousin Billy Smith, Mayor Bill Morris, Lamar Fike, Jerry Schilling, Sheriff Roy C. Nixon, daddy Vernon Presley, Charlie Hodge, Sonny West, George Klein and Marty Lacker. Sitting, left to right: Elvis’ personal physician Dr. George Nichopoulos, Elvis and Red West.
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Chapter 13
The Memphis Ma
Marty Lacker: – Did Elvis really like any
fia
of us?
Säkerhetsrutinerna runt Elvis var ofta katastrofalt dåliga.
costumes Karate katas and the stage karate quite clearly inspired by
1970s were for Elvis’ stage moves in the that occur in all schools, katas, choreographed movementsThere are about a hundred differDo. example Kempo or Tae Kwon katas for years, himself sweaty on karate ent katas. Elvis had trained The knowledge strength at the same time. who want while training his mental an important insight to those of karate katas also provides the human being. to learn more about Elvis, word) is a pattern of movements, A karate kata (kata is a Japanese almost be compared to a ballet can and a dance, a series of positions, and stroke perform repetitive movement The or dance, where you technique is also of importance. the patterns. The right breathing enemy and visualize attacks from an movements are meant to of the person under attack. (the lightkarate kata is the defense with discipline, forcefully A kata has to be performed the katas, may also The movements learned, ning bolt) and carefully! on stage be judged by a scoring jury. minutes several would spend During his shows, Elvis especially in the Also, his stage costumes, doing a series of katas. and it even to look like karate costumes, jacket and early 1970s, were designed the stage dressed in his karate happened that Elvis entered his black belt.
s
På bilden från Gracelands Intressant i sammanha Karate champion Rhee and Ed grindar nget är att de flesta 1957 har folk klättrat Bill Wallace, Master Kang hörde the Memphis av “vännerna” som upp på murarna The American champion Elvis. Elvis många hoppade över. och tillMafia, de personer Det här var inte en karate top names who trained som under kortare längre perioder vistades ovanlig syn. Elvis var inte Parker were some of the Kang Rhee at eller älskad av alla, även black belt, graded by Master om naiva något av en kombinati i Elvis närhet och hade uppgiften att personer vill förtränga achieved the 8th grade Kang Rhee det vara on av sällskap och Avenue in Memphis. Master ett hatobjekt och därför så var Elvis för många sina egna memoarer livvakter har alla his karate studio on Poplar according to utsatt skrivit . Där kan man snabbt hetsrisker som en amerikansk för lika stora säkerblack belt, so in actual fact, memoarförfattarna a higher himself had the 7th grade president. Bara det beskriver en och samma konstatera att när alla faktum att Elvis under for Kang Rhee to give Elvis Master Kang Rhee alla år klarade sig helt olika versioner, händelse, så blir det regulations, it was impossible One of my travel groups visits allvarliga attentatsförsö från Elvis vilket kan bero på ofta from was a gift k, måste tillskrivas att de alla hade helt his own. tioner till Elvis. Killarna in 1982. The signed guitar grade than on änglavakt. en trends s. Let’s start olika relan’t to Kang Rhee. ping in tune with the time vara tillgängliga dygnet var uppförda på avlöningslistan och he does jum s time skulle runt. Några stod me only were mon Elvis närmare än några ytterst få delade Film the here is films that ’ first film and theronment, a comHoll andra, Elvis intellektuella yect envi intressen, andra var “lekkamrater” och Elvis his e subj er”, tern 244 mak några bara “hängde The bara ess, e Me Tend filmed in a Wes watching Elvis på” och var nöjda is “dela på smulorna”. ial succ med att få with “Lov Inga namn nämnda the Elv part, osity of pected commerc re lead men jag tror att vår curi snart själva kan placera we the s. The läsekrets e of. play unex times namnen i rätt kategori in the 1950 e the film an taking advantag were all in tune etikett på de som ingick där Patsy Lacker sattee with the h is prov setting in i persongalleriet kring t mad gaining times, whic of the 31 g Creole” hesitate ”Några var smarta, w in tun “Kung ahad HoElvis”: with the wood debuParker didn’t and “Kin revolt had been Out några var långtråkig Kid Gal g money. h e Rock” a, några hade utbildning tly in tune några var arroganta, world. 1962 Artis ts somethin You”, “Jailhous where the yout movies? films några var humoristis , were exac No Elvis film lostover the western It was set in ght, Joan , United ka och några utgjorde klart ledsam syn. Elvis the as. all “Loving ice, was Lola Albri the USA s. Many of finan en cial results. var det enda stora cinemas e it to the cinem 1968 TV Young, ary serv at Paramount times in som framgång var deras y, Gig the hans were shown at son. his milit early 1950 with the en by liv, framgång, hans berömmelhänt i deras never mad produced the Elvis PresleCharles Bron since the first film after scenes were shot a few exteriors Habit”, films, 30 se var deras , who ground Blackman, featureberöm-“Change of the the ded with NBC major film, . Blues”, though most of Hal Wallis inclu on the screen. Weisbart being a “G.I The last as part of the deal er , David nts by Sing ever even ering Producer: Phil Karlson ufacturer er proudly prese e produced Germany, Los Angeles. Howoundings, flick ine man “Sing Director: er: William Fay is Wallace surr tional claus ios in its ng mach s the legend special. addi Franc Stud nwrit sewi and an t this by: t Guffey Scree bear kfur a story to inser Burnett 1959 which then However, Apart from the album e.287 from Fran Based upon Photography: managed USA in – even to be mad n on American aii, of er had sponsor film was Director show d by theStates annexed Hawtime, Hawaii was ley” – Park g that a was only ly, annexe ed Elvis Pres ract stipulatin this as, but York. s. Previous state. At Hawaii ust 1959, the Unit in New am in the cont reached the cinem an American on for American doctor r That Dre re, and plays a On 21 Aug 50th and final film neve aii. ntic Follow t”, Elvis ist destinati perTyler Moo 1962 Artist me the lar tour ary bases on Haw rded as one giga re s , nge of Habi ar in Mary a magnificent ual beca TV. popu Helm d ”Cha a ie co-st cultu rega Unite g as milit y, nnell, Anne this unus delivering can be emergin s had only had In the mov uscript, a good Hawaiian same r O'Co Herbert Rudle (1961) forward, enjoyed playing y, Arthu features tt, man d Winy combed times. The ring American ie ”Blue Hawaii” since the plot Elvis Presle e, Alan Hewi A good ar, Rolan t” his hair Elvis reall with the Moor rd McNe of Habi its glitte Joanna in tune The mov ist propaganda, Elvis with You can tell that nd, Howa “Change esStreet with of tourists, certainly . tour Simon Oakla on TV, Studios. unt film was Fremont formance piece of Universal ly being screened light with ters. ition. The Vegas”, where asingly large amo since the early a doctor. uced at art part of simp s and trad the spot had was prod ading an incre ”Viva Las back in David Weisb las fate than Las Vega r 1968, The film much better Producer: Gordon Doug is true of been attracting desert town of important in spre Elvis was er, in Decembe er a e” by ng that had Director: er: Charles Leder eer, Go Hom deserved Girls! consideri casinos gambling, to the certainly very tion resort. a year earli s! Girls! lly when Vegas, and just was Screenwrit : The novel “Pion vaca on ial. s” t pecia spec inten 1962 Girl in Las Based upon ll a Las Vega as an attractive his TV l Pictures Leo Tover Powe concerts t success with Slate, Laure Paramount 1950s. ”Viv of Las Vegas graphy: Richard Jeremy of Photo age Stevens, rt Strauss. had a grea Director Washthe mess y, Stella Robe of Seattle, Elvis PresleBenson Fong, do? r in the townWhat did Elvis Fai Goodwin, ’s ted . rld loca Fair, s The Wo World’s Fair was corner of the USAing the World’snd the Hal B. Walli g Weiss , the ound Producer: Norman Tauro lt, Allan In 1962 the north-western ronment surr ticket sales arou Director: ers: Edward Anha Fair”. in s ington, a film in the envi ldn’t have hurt At The World’s most Screenwrit Weiss d e the Loyal Grigg wou of Allan hy: : pene mad inly He Hap ograp Story It’s one of Phot for a tower is Seattle. e that certathe film was “It Director nominated cal a them tower in west coast. The World’s title of rvation Girls!” wasn Picture Musi ! Girls! world. The le is an obse the American where the 1962 Elvis film, Elvis Note: “Girls e for Best Motio ce in the the film the located Space Needsymbols along Male Glob Golden performan Award for Best in which is event. In wn l For his O’Brien Center, for this well-kno in 1963. 2nd place Laure Seattle was built his co-star Joan a received ce in a Musical. to placed near ; the tower held Tonight” in the west Performan Fair was Falling In Love popular 95 l Herb ic was very the successfu sings “I’m le restaurant. mus as band Space NeedMexican brass mber acts such , In 1963 we all reme and d, ern worl
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