The King
I've never been an Elvis Presley fan, so it is more than a little surprising that I've just spent more than two months and 1,600+ pages reading about The King of Rock and Roll.
I've just closed the cover of Peter Guralnick's two volume series detailing the explosive rise (Last Train to Memphis), and tragic disintergration (Careless Love) of Elvis Presley. It took Guralnick more than 11 years to research and write this terrific biography, which I found easy to read and kept me turning pages from beginning to end.
You could say with complete accuracy that this is the War and Peace of Elvis biographies.
You could say with complete accuracy that this is the War and Peace of Elvis biographies.
But since I wasn't a fan, what on earth made me want to read about Elvis Presley? After all, I've always maintained he was a rip-off artist with a pretty face who stole black music, whitewashed it, shook his ass, made the girls squeal and made millions doing it.
(Yes, I have a tendency to have rather strong opinions.)
(Yes, I have a tendency to have rather strong opinions.)
However, a part of me felt that such an opinion was at best misinformed; at worst it was ignorant. I always felt there had to be more to the story.
Plus I've always felt a strange "sixth degree of separation" with Elvis.
Years ago, when I first started working in healthcare, I had a co-worker - a semi-retired RN - who claimed to have once taken care of Elvis in the mid 1970's. She was a nurse working near Palm Springs at the time and Elvis had been admitted to her hospital. When he was discharged, she claimed he bought her (and all of the nurses caring for him) Cadillacs as a gesture of gratitude.
She said he was very kind and generous. He was a perfect gentleman.
For years I thought this was probably a tall tale told to impress a young whippersnapper like myself, although I had to admit, if true, it was pretty cool I knew someone who actually met Elvis... much less had a new Cadillac delivered to her home as a personal gift from him.
It turns out that Guralnick's book corraborates her claim. It really happened. In fact, giving a new Cadillac (or buying a new home) was Elvis's standard way of saying "Thank you. Thank you very much." [said in standard Elvis voice]
Plus I've always felt a strange "sixth degree of separation" with Elvis.
Years ago, when I first started working in healthcare, I had a co-worker - a semi-retired RN - who claimed to have once taken care of Elvis in the mid 1970's. She was a nurse working near Palm Springs at the time and Elvis had been admitted to her hospital. When he was discharged, she claimed he bought her (and all of the nurses caring for him) Cadillacs as a gesture of gratitude.
She said he was very kind and generous. He was a perfect gentleman.
For years I thought this was probably a tall tale told to impress a young whippersnapper like myself, although I had to admit, if true, it was pretty cool I knew someone who actually met Elvis... much less had a new Cadillac delivered to her home as a personal gift from him.
It turns out that Guralnick's book corraborates her claim. It really happened. In fact, giving a new Cadillac (or buying a new home) was Elvis's standard way of saying "Thank you. Thank you very much." [said in standard Elvis voice]
Unlike some biographies/memoirs I've read, where I find the protagonist a rather dislikable character (John Lennon, for example, I found to be a complete asshole, much to my surprise) I found myself really grown fond of Elvis, even though in his later years he became delusional and paranoid related to his addiction to many prescription drugs ("later years" is a relative term here, since I am already two years older than Elvis was when he died).
By and large, Presley was an amiable, considerate and humble human being, despite his worldwide fame.
He also had much more say about his music than I had ever known or realized. Indeed, my original opinion about Presley had been ignorant.
Ultimately, the Elvis Presley story is a sad unravelling of a gentle, naive soul. He put far too much trust people who wanted nothing but to cash in on his fame: Colonel Tom Parker, his infamous manager, being the most guilty of all.
Yes, Parker was the brains behind Elvis' rise to fame, but he took complete advantage of his client's trust and drew up contracts unheard of before (or since) in show business, including a 50/50 artist/manager split on all profits (this was typically 90/10, or at most 85/15, with the advantage to the artist).
Elvis was surrounded by sycophants who never said no to him, in fear of being kicked out of his inner circle. They watched him slowly kill himself with perscription drugs doled out by unethical physicians. Nobody ever attempted a serious intervention.
It probably would have saved his life.
There is plenty of footage on YouTube of an embarrassingly stoned Elvis staggering out on stage in 1976 and 1977, a bloated parody of himself. No one should have allowed him to be even seen in such a state, never mind the fact he went on stage and attempted to perform in front of thousands. He was incoherent during most of the performances, and those around him just let it happen.
But the show must go on, said Colonel Parker. There was a lot of money to be made.
Sickening.
To add to the sadness of story, even though he was loved by millions, he was desperately lonely. Despite a short marriage to Priscilla, he never did find his soulmate.
It is a classic tragedy by all accounts and it is a 100% true story.
So has my opinion about Elvis Presley changed at all after reading this series? The short answer is absolutely.
Life is all about challenging what you think you know. Sometimes you're right. Sometimes you're completely wrong.
And sometimes you have to answer to The King.
He also had much more say about his music than I had ever known or realized. Indeed, my original opinion about Presley had been ignorant.
Ultimately, the Elvis Presley story is a sad unravelling of a gentle, naive soul. He put far too much trust people who wanted nothing but to cash in on his fame: Colonel Tom Parker, his infamous manager, being the most guilty of all.
Yes, Parker was the brains behind Elvis' rise to fame, but he took complete advantage of his client's trust and drew up contracts unheard of before (or since) in show business, including a 50/50 artist/manager split on all profits (this was typically 90/10, or at most 85/15, with the advantage to the artist).
Elvis was surrounded by sycophants who never said no to him, in fear of being kicked out of his inner circle. They watched him slowly kill himself with perscription drugs doled out by unethical physicians. Nobody ever attempted a serious intervention.
It probably would have saved his life.
There is plenty of footage on YouTube of an embarrassingly stoned Elvis staggering out on stage in 1976 and 1977, a bloated parody of himself. No one should have allowed him to be even seen in such a state, never mind the fact he went on stage and attempted to perform in front of thousands. He was incoherent during most of the performances, and those around him just let it happen.
But the show must go on, said Colonel Parker. There was a lot of money to be made.
Sickening.
To add to the sadness of story, even though he was loved by millions, he was desperately lonely. Despite a short marriage to Priscilla, he never did find his soulmate.
It is a classic tragedy by all accounts and it is a 100% true story.
So has my opinion about Elvis Presley changed at all after reading this series? The short answer is absolutely.
Life is all about challenging what you think you know. Sometimes you're right. Sometimes you're completely wrong.
And sometimes you have to answer to The King.
