Elvis Presley

by Williamson, Joel

  The topic of this chapter was covered by Peter Guralnick in his Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999). See pages 173–74, 528–29, 598–99, 604. Biographer Albert Goldman, Elvis (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981) provides some details on pages 363–65, 539–41. For tracking of details in Elvis’s daily life, one can consult Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen, Elvis: Day by Day (New York: Ballantine Books, 1999), pages 328, 336, 354–55, and Michael Gray and Roger Osborne’s The Elvis Atlas: A Journey Through Elvis Presley’s America (New York: Holt, 1996), page 183 and various other pages.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN: SAVED

  Useful on the period of Elvis’s death was the Nashville Banner, various issues following August 16, 1977. Also see the Memphis Commercial Appeal; this chapter drew especially on August 17, 1977, and, a year later, August 25, 1978. Also used was the Memphis Press-Scimitar, November 19, 1976, for a perspective on Elvis’s career. The Memphis City Directory for 1976, among other city directories, was useful, as were pertinent records from the Clerk of Court of Shelby County. There is also a County Probate Inventory of the Elvis Presley Estate. One book is devoted entirely to Elvis’s death, Charles C. Thompson II and James P. Cole, The Death of Elvis: What Really Happened (New York: Dell Publishing, 1991). See pages 142, 151, 153, 156–57, 196, 242–46, 255, 382, 396–97, 402, 430–35, 437, 484–86. The death was in his home at Graceland, still one of the most visited places. See Karal Ann Marling, Graceland: Going Home with Elvis (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996), especially page 176. Useful for a personal perspective on Elvis is Charlie Hodge with Charles Goodman, Me ’n Elvis (Memphis: Castle Books, 1988), various pages.

  Peter Guralnick provides details about the end of Elvis’s life in his Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999), especially pages 261–65, 288, 608, 611, 613–16, 619, 622–24, 629, 631, 633, 637, 641. See also 341, 370–71, 372, 374, 375. More details about this period are in Michael Gray and Roger Osborne, The Elvis Atlas: A Journey Through Elvis Presley’s America (New York: Holt, 1996), pages 182–83.

  EPILOGUE

  Less than four months before his death, CBS made a film of what turned out to be his last tour, Elvis in Concert. The theatrical films remain mostly unseen, although they are useful to watch. Graceland represents the way Elvis lived in private. See Karal Ann Marling, Graceland: Going Home with Elvis (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996), pages 198, 203–8. Alanna Nash also provides perspectives. See Alanna Nash, with Billy Smith, Marty Lacker, and Lamar Fike, Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), pages 387–88, 731, 734, 735. Also see Elaine Dundy, Elvis and Gladys (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985), page 128 and elsewhere.

  OTHER SELECTED SOURCES

  There are hundreds of books and thousands of scholarly and popular articles about Elvis Presley. This is a selective look at some of the major types of sources. Broadly speaking, there are both popular and scholarly sources that cover Elvis’s short but diverse life as a singer, actor, and nightclub performer. Some concentrate on his personal life. There are sources that deal with special periods of his life, such as the film or nightclub years. There are more intimate sources produced by family, such as by his wife, Priscilla, or by friends and employees. There are a variety of different types of sources that deal with many special aspects of Elvis’s life, such as a collection of poetry inspired by Elvis, or fiction in which Elvis is a major character.

  Mary Hancock Hinds in 2001 published an annotated bibliography of Elvis materials. It covers all aspects of the literature dealing with Elvis. See Mary Hancock Hinds, Infinite Elvis: An Annotated Bibliography (Chicago: A Cappella Books, 2001). In addition to authors cited in the chapter-by-chapter bibliography, other authors have taken a scholarly approach to researching and telling the Elvis story embedded in the evolution of music or Southern history or culture. Among these studies are Michael T. Bertrand, Race, Rock, and Elvis (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), which argues that Elvis helped revise racial attitudes; Susan M. Doll, Understanding Elvis: Southern Roots vs. Star Image (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1998); Erika Doss, Elvis Culture: Fans, Faith, and Image (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1999); and Ted Harrison, Elvis People: The Cult of the King (London: Fount Paperbacks, 1992), which attempts to decipher how fans constructed a world view. One can find another assessment of Elvis in culture in George Plasketes, Images of Elvis Presley in American Culture, 1977–1997: The Mystery Terrain (New York: Harrington Park Press, 1997). Many details about Elvis’s career are provided by Patsy Hammontree in Elvis Presley (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985). Also see Peter Harry Brown and Pat H. Broeske, Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley (New York: Dutton, 1997). This book contains many photographs. Albert Goldman, one of the major biographers of Presley, produced a detailed look at the last day of Elvis’s life, The Last 24 Hours (New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 1991). There are many interpretative essays about Elvis’s life, music and films. See Kevin Quain, ed., The Elvis Reader: Text and Sources on the King of Rock’n’ Roll (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992); and Kay Sloan and Constance Pierce, eds., Elvis Rising: Stories on the King (New York: Avon Books, 1993). Bill E. Burk was a Memphis journalist and friend of Elvis and his family. See his Elvis Memories: Press Between the Pages (Memphis: Propwash, 1985, 1993). The founder of Elvis World magazine, Burk assembled many stories about Presley from the Memphis Press-Scimitar in his column, “Good Evening.” An insightful book about Southern history and culture of the period is by Jason Sokol, There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, 1945–1975 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006).

  There are several chronologies of Presley’s life and also photographic histories of major portions of his life. One source of pictures is Life, Remembering Elvis: The King at 75 (New York: Life Books, 2009). Another version by Life is Life, Elvis Remembered: Twenty-Five Years Later (New York: Warner Books, Inc., 1995). The book was assembled by Charles Hirshberg and the editors of Life. Photos of the touring Elvis are available in Robert Gordon, Elvis: The King on the Road—Elvis Live on Tour 1954 to 1977 (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2001). Elvis’s step-brother David E. Stanley, with Frank Coffey, put together a detailed chronology of Elvis’s life in Elvis Encyclopedia: The Complete and Definitive Reference Book on the King of Rock and Roll (Santa Monica, CA: RR Donnelley & Sons, 1994, 1997). Lamar Fike contributed a foreword to this encyclopedia. Susan Doll’s The Films of Elvis Presley (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, 1991) presents many special details, including photographs of Presley’s film career days. Marie Clayton’s Elvis Presley: Unseen Archives (New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003) also highlights the film career. Kim Adelman wrote The Girls’ Guide to Elvis (New York: Broadway Books, 2002), and Frank Coffey provided The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Elvis (New York: Alpha Books, 1997). Another guide for fans is Laura Levin and John O’Hara, Elvis and You (New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 2000). This book includes a bibliography of other Elvis sources.

  A more inside look at Presley’s family can be observed in Donna Presley Early and Edie Hand’s Precious Family Memories: A Personal Scrapbook (Birmingham, AL: Edie Hand, 1997). This was written with Susie Pritchett. A detailed chronology of the musical career is available in Ernst Jorgensen, Elvis Presley, a Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998). This book has a foreword by Peter Guralnick. A more personal perspective on Presley’s career can be seen in Cindy Hazen and Mike Freeman, The Best of Elvis: Recollections of a Great Humanitarian (Memphis: Explorations, 1992). These perspectives are combined with many photographs.

  Some writers and scholars, friends, and family have written about special periods of Presley’s career, sometimes from a very scholarly point of view, at others from a very personal perspective. Bill E. Burk has written about the early recording years in Memphis, a period rich in anecdotes about the young Elvis.
See his Elvis: The Sun Years (Memphis: Propwash, 1997). Bobbie Ann Mason also wrote about this period in Elvis Presley (New York: Penguin, 2003) Lee Cotton wrote about the nightclub years of the 1970s in his Did Elvis Sing in Your Hometown, Too? (Sacramento, CA: High Sierra Books, 1977). Bill E. Burk also produced an insightful collection of pieces in his Elvis Through My Eyes (Memphis: Propwash, 1996). There are few studies specifically about Elvis as a soldier, but see Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield, with Marshall and Zoe Terrill, Sergeant Presley: Our Untold Story of Elvis’ Missing Years (Chicago: ECW Press, 2002). This fills in this period of his life and presents many photographs of Presley as a soldier. Lucy de Barbin and Dary Matera’s Are You Lonesome Tonight? The Untold Story of Elvis Presley’s One True Love and the Child He Never Knew (New York: Villard Books, 1987) provides the perspective of a young woman who claimed to be Presley’s daughter. Peter Whitmer explored the personal nature of Elvis, insofar as it could be studied, in his The Inner Elvis: A Psychological Biography of Elvis Aaron Presley (New York: Hyperion, 1996). Neal Gregory and Janice Gregory published a study about the reactions to Elvis’s death by family and friends in Graceland, Memphis, the nation and world. See When Elvis Died: Media Overload and the Origins of the Elvis Cult (New York: Pharos Books, 1980). There are examples of journalistic treatment of Elvis’s death from many places. Among many popular biographies of Presley are, for example, Richard Wootton, Elvis! (New York: Random House, 1985); and Tony Gentry, Elvis Presley (New York: Chelsea House, 1994). Wootton’s book contains numerous photographs. Jim Curtin’s Elvis: Unknown Stories Behind the Legend (Nashville: Celebrity Books, 1998), provides numerous stories about Elvis in a loose chronological order. Curtin did this book with Renata Ginter. After Presley’s death, Graceland and the business confronted numerous challenges. But, like Elvis, it was an example of Elvis Presley Enterprises rising. See Sean O’Neal, Elvis Inc.: The Fall and Rise of the Presley Empire (Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing, 1996). There are important audio productions, not to mention his millions of recordings. For example, see Earl Greenwood and Kathleen Tracy, The Boy Who Would be King: An Intimate Portrait of Elvis Presley, by His Cousin (Los Angeles: Publishing Mills, 1993).

  One source rich in quotes from family members and friends, along with many photographs, is Rose Clayton and Dick Heard, eds., Elvis Up Close: In the Words of Those Who Knew Him Best (Atlanta: Turner Publishing, 1994). For the final years of his life, one can find many interviews with various people in Jerry Hopkins, Elvis: The Final Years (New York: Berkley Books, 1981). This book concentrates on the 1970s. Rick Stanley, with Paul Harold, produced Caught in a Trap: Elvis Presley’s Tragic Lifelong Search For Love (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1992). Alan Fortas spent more than a decade with Elvis and wrote Elvis: From Memphis to Hollywood (Ann Arbor, MI: Popular Culture, 1992). Some of these perspectives from those who worked or were close to Elvis are mentioned in our chapter-by-chapter summary of sources. Joyce Bova wrote, as told to William Conrad Nowels, Don’t Ask Forever: My Love Affair with Elvis (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1994). For another female perspective see June Juanico, Elvis: In the Twilight of Memory (New York: Arcade Publishing, 1997). The introduction to this book is by Peter Guralnick. Few dispute the enormous power that Colonel Tom Parker had over Elvis’s career; he was never in the historical spotlight like Elvis, but see James L. Dickerson, Colonel Tom Parker: The Curious Life of Elvis Presley’s Eccentric Manager (New York: Cooper Square Press, 2001).

  Elvis lives on in impersonations, in occasional sightings, and in poetry, fiction, and imagination, in addition to living on in his music, his film and television performances, and in spirit at Graceland, where his remains lie. Graceland is heavily visited, and Elvis Presley Enterprises is vigilant in protecting all interests of the ongoing career of Elvis, now dead for more than four decades. Will Clemens collected some of the poetry inspired by Presley’s career in All Shook Up: Collected Poems About Elvis (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2001). Some of the poems are sensitive and resonate with genuine feelings about Presley. Robert Mickey Maughon wrote a novel entitled Elvis Is Alive: A Novel of Love, Sacrifice, and Redemption (Nashville: Vaughan Printing/Cinnamon Moon, 1997). Greil Marcus continued, in a sense, conversations with Elvis after Elvis’s death in his Dead Elvis: A Chronicle of a Cultural Obsession (New York: Doubleday, 1991). For a fantasy using Elvis’s life see C. R. Sinclair, Elvis A. Eagle: A Magical Adventure (San Francisco: Scribe Press, 1996). Also see Samuel Charters, Elvis Presley Calls His Mother after the Ed Sullivan Show (Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1992). Another fictionalized look at Elvis supposedly talking to his mother is Gerald Duff’s That’s All Right, Mama (Dallas: Baskerville Publishers, 1995). Elvis had a deep interest in spirituality as he aged and inspired such books as David Rosen, The Tao of Elvis (San Diego: Harcourt, 2002). Rosen includes some sayings of, and about, Elvis. Among other special explorations, one can find Jonathan Goldstein and Max Wallace, Schmelvis: In Search of Elvis Presley’s Jewish Roots (Toronto: ECW Press, 2002). For another special look at Presley, this time from a fan’s perspective, see Frances Keenan, Elvis, You’re Unforgettable: Memoirs from a Fan (Tampa Bay, FL: Axle Rod Publishing, 1997). Those imitating Elvis obviously have keen interest in Presley’s life. For example, see William McCranor Henderson, I, Elvis: Confessions of a Counterfeit King (New York: Boulevard Books, 1997); or P. F. Kluge, Biggest Elvis (New York: Penguin, 1996).

  Elvis remains a popular historical topic. Every year there are numerous studies about Elvis. If you type the words “Elvis Presley” into the search engine of the University of North Carolina Libraries website, you’ll get a list of 468 books or other sources that touch on some aspect of Elvis’s life. Of those, 19 have been produced or published in 2013 or so far (April) into 2014. In September 2014, Ginger Alden, to whom Elvis was engaged and who discovered his body, published Elvis and Ginger: Elvis Presley’s Fiancée and Last Love Finally Tells Her Story (New York: Berkley Books), providing details of their intimate relationship and his death, 37 years ago. For historians at least (as for many faithful fans), one thing is clear: Elvis is alive.

  INDEX

  accountability, 281, 282–83, 284–87

  act. See persona or act

  acting, 57–58, 196–97

  acts, on tour, 34–35, 52–53

  addiction, drug, 7–8, 315

  adolescence. See childhood

  adult or adulthood, 129–30, 133, 136–38, 150

  African American musicians, 142–43, 147

  African Americans, 60, 105–6, 139–40, 149, 152, 217–18. See also race

  aggression. See violence or aggression

  agitation, anxiety, or nervousness, 23–24, 124–25, 164–65, 166

  Agnew, Spiro, 243, 248

  airplanes, 229, 272

  alcoholism, 125, 164, 167–68

  Alden, Ginger authority or control over, 301

  death and involvement of, 315, 317, 318–20

  discontent of, 300–301

  engagement to, 297–98

  family of, 295, 296–97, 301–2, 303–4, 305, 314

  personality of, 300

  romantic relationship with, 293–304, 306, 307

  on tours, 300, 301–3, 306, 313, 314

  wedding plan with, 298–300, 313, 315

  as will witness, 322–23

  Alden, Rosemary, 294, 305

  Alden, Terry, 293–94, 301–2

  Alder, Vera Stanley, 292

  allergies and allergic reactions, 244, 245

  ambition, 259, 260

  America and Americans African, 60, 105–6, 140, 152

  badges and service to, 244–46, 251–52

  race in, 207–8

  sex and sexuality in, 51, 186

  social corruption in, 44–45

  American Sound Studio, 219–21

  “An American Trilogy,” 225

  anger or cruelty. See also violence or aggression towards “Memphis Mafia” members, 175–76

  over desertion of friends, 272


  in personality, 211, 238

  in stage performance, 268–71

  towards women, 185, 238, 240, 241, 256, 268–71

  Ann-Margret, 198, 261

  anxiety. See agitation, anxiety, or nervousness

  army. See military service

  Arnold, Eddy, 27

  arrest and incarceration family impacted by, 65–67, 72, 82–84, 91–92, 328–29

  at Parchman Farm, 74–84

  parole and, 88

  of Presley, Vernon, 65–67, 71–72, 73–84, 91–92

  suspended sentence and, 88–89, 90–93

  arrogance, 238, 241

  Ashley, Edward L., 275

  Assembly of God Tabernacle, 84–88, 103–4, 132–33

  attention performing and seeking, 34, 138, 219

  to Presley, Lisa Marie, 309–11

  from women, 132, 160, 240, 263

  attractiveness. See beauty or attractiveness

  audience act and relationship to, 26, 330

  film, television, and changing, 48–49, 51–52

  gifts to, 270

  image dictated by, 53–54, 230–31, 331–34

  love of, xx, 34, 214, 232, 330–34

  in NBC Comeback Special, 214–15, 216–17

  Overton Shell and appreciation of, 23–24, 25

  perceptiveness to, 55–56

  Phillips, Sam, in finding, 25–26, 28, 157

  race in, xviii–xix

  radio and finding, 25–27

  stage performance dictated by, 53–54, 55

  white female fans in first, xviii–xix

  Ausborn, Carvel Lee or “Mississippi Slim,” 99–101

  authority, command, or control deference to, 127, 290