Tag Archives: Graceland

Elvis Presley’s Manager: Colonel Tom Parker (Volume 5, Episode 11) Part One

The true story about the man who contributed mightily to the destruction of one of America’s greatest 20th century icons.

Elvis and the Colonel, on set.

According to Colonel Tom Parker personally, he was born in early 1900, in Huntington, West Virginia and began working in touring carnivals at a very young age.  He served in the military, eventually developed and promoted his own carnival acts and graduated to first promoting and then managing country musicians until obtaining the exclusive management contract of Elvis Presley in 1954.  While he was always able to obscure his true beginnings, his singular accent was ascribed to his origins in rural Appalachia.  In fact, although slight, his accent was Dutch because Colonel Tom Parker was not born anywhere near West Virginia, he was not even born in the United States.  He was born Andreas Van Kuijk on June 26, 1909, in Breda, The Netherlands, the seventh of eleven children of Maria and Adam Van Kuijk.

Elvis, Jailhouse Rock, 1968, NBC special

Initially conceived as a Christmas special by Tom Parker, both Elvis and the shows creative team of Steve Binder and Bones Howe agreed that they wanted a more stripped down return to Elvis’ musical roots and were able to convince Parker to generally accept moving away from Elvis singing Christmas carols, most likely because that was something Presley wanted no part of.  Once they got that general agreement, Elvis made the creative decisions on his own with a great deal of input from Binder whose perspective Presley respected.  The resulting special, with a tanned, refreshed Elvis in an especially remarkable leather outfit, among other wardrobes, performing an extended medley of some of his most popular or distinctive hits was the highest rated television show of the year, the program also a critical hit.

Graceland

With Elvis on the road and her husband engaging in various romantic adventures as a result of his newfound notoriety, Gladys Presley, already a heavy drinker, began to consume alcohol on a daily basis and abuse sleeping pills.  Quite domineering in her relationship with Vernon, it is believed as she deteriorated physically, her husband, in Elvis’ absence began to be much more physically abusive.  Her son’s fame was also troubling and overwhelming, her fear that an hysterical crowd might eventually harm or even kill Elvis.  Depressed because her neighbors disliked her habit of raising chickens and feeding them on the front lawn of Graceland, Gladys never really adjusted to her family’s radical transformation, once telling her friend, “I wish we had stayed poor.”

Elvis and Priscilla, shortly after the birth of his daughter.

While in Germany, Presley also met Priscilla Beaulieu, a fourteen year old daughter of an Air Force officer stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany.  Because of her youth, her relationship with Presley was extremely restrained until 1962, although her ability to then visit Elvis and ultimately live at Graceland while Priscilla attended a local Catholic High school, was conditional upon an agreement that the couple eventually marry.

Joe Esposito, circa 2010

Because some of the Memphis Mafia especially Joe Esposito, were conduits to the Colonel, he was fully aware of Preley’s restlessness and anger over his stalled career.  He also was mindful that at some point, Elvis’ public might completely tire of the formulaic nonsense that was now the mainstay of Elvis’ income stream.  He began discussions with NBC for a television special live performance that would be billed as Presley’s comeback as an entertainer.

Lamar Fike, circa 2005

Another close associate of Presley, Lamar Fike, was in Portland, Maine, also to help get ready for the tour.  He was attempting to get some sleep after taking a redeye from Los Angeles when there was a loud knock on his door, a voice telling him intently that the Colonel needed to see him right away, despite Fike’s protestations.  Entering the Colonel’s hotel room, he noticed other employees avoiding his gaze as Parker hung up the phone.  In an unemotional tone of voice, the Colonel explained that Fike needed to go to Memphis and be with Vernon Presley, Elvis’ father and that Elvis was dead.  Like many members of the entourage and even Elvis himself, Fike’s relationship with Parker at this point was at best, ambivalent, in Fike’s case, he frequently expressed concern over Elvis Presley’s physical condition.  Parker typically ignored such entreaties, maintaining whenever forcefully pressed on this concern “that the only thing that mattered was getting Elvis ready to appear on stage that night.”

Elvis Presley’s Manager: Colonel Tom Parker (Volume 5, Episode11) Part Two

The true story about the man who contributed mightily to the destruction of one of America’s greatest 20th century icons.

Elvis, Aloha From Hawaii

The Colonel, understanding that the lack of international touring was a major irritant for Elvis, then devised an ingenious plan to circumvent his personal abhorrence of such a tour.  He made a deal with various television networks all over the world for Elvis to appear in a live format for live international satellite transmission to countries including Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, South Vietnam, the Phillippines and Australia.  Because the Super Bowl would take place on the same day, January 14, 1973 and because special attention and additional material was to be supplied for the version shown in the United States, the American edition of the show appeared on April 4.  Elvis became excited about this novel showcase, lost twenty-five pounds in the month leading up to the show and also cut way back on his pharmaceutical consumption, evident when he hit the stage in a specially designed American eagle jumpsuit, this preparation helping to produce an iconic appearance.  The show was again NBC’s highest rated program of the year and the subsequent release of a live double album sold a half million copies in two weeks, startling numbers in the age of vinyl.

Linda Thompson in 2018

Linda Thompson, the Tennessee beauty queen that became Elvis’ official girlfriend after his marriage dissolved, hoped that Presley’s ability to get himself into some semblance of normal sober shape might be a permanent transition.  But only hours after the concert ended in the early morning, Presley was again so narcotically intoxicated he could not even get off of his hotel room balcony to accompany his entourage to the USS Arizona memorial.  Thompson herself would personally witness Presley’s final harrowing descent and bizarre behavior that transformed him into a tragic monstrosity.

The four engine jet that flew Elvis’ entourage across America.

Despite his resurgence, Elvis Presley’s spending habits, large payroll and maintenance of both Graceland and a succession of households in Bel-Air and Beverly Hills necessitated a great deal of cash.  While his live shows were lucrative, they entailed transportation eventually aboard a Convair 880 four engine jet, named the Lisa Marie after his only daughter, which transported a large entourage of security and band members to most shows.

The Las Vegas Hilton

With financial necessity having forced Kirk Kekorian to sell the International to the Hilton Hotel Corporation, Presley spent his time at what was now the Las Vegas Hilton, isolated In his hotel suite, avoiding Colonel Parker, who he rarely spoke to, Parker spending most of his time at the gaming tables running up a debt that eventually reached thirty million dollars.  Stories of Presley spontaneously shooting out television sets and streetlights were absolutely true, the paranoid singer usually armed with several handguns, once coming within inches of accidentally shooting Linda Thompson while she was using the bathroom.

Elvis, Rapid City, South Dakota, only weeks before his death.

By August of 1977, Elvis Presley, 6 feet tall, weighed 350 pounds, 175 pounds more than what he weighed only four and a half years earlier during his Aloha from Hawaii concert.  His heart was three times its normal size and his nervous system routinely  contained as many as twelve separate types of mostly narcotic medication, including several types of opiates.  His remarkable tolerance of these medications was the product of massive abuse that stretched back over two decades.

Colonel Parker on Nightline, interview plugging an Elvis convention years after Elvis’ death

Following the circuslike funeral and public outpouring of grief after Elvis Presley’s death, life went on normally for Colonel Parker and Presley’s immediate family.  A year later, a convention was held at the Las Vegas Hilton, organized by Tom Parker, that included a dedication of a statue of Elvis in the lobby, separate admission to an Elvis re-creation for a fifteen dollar additional charge, appearances by Priscilla and Vernon Presley, and the Colonel signing an autographed poem for a buck a throw. Over a million dollars came in in 1978 for merchandise profits at least half paid to Parker.

Elvis Presley’s Manager: Colonel Tom Parker (Volume 5, Episode 11) Book and Music Information

The books used in this podcast included:

“The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley,” by Alanna Nash.

“Careless Love, the Unmaking of Elvis Presley,” by Peter Guralnick.

“Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations From the Memphis Mafia,” by Alanna Nash.

The music used in this podcast included:

“The Goon’s Loose,” by Nathan Moore, Part One and Part Two intros.

“Summer Solstice on the June Planet,” by Bail Bonds, Part One and Part Two, outros.