Elvis And The Colonel

From 1955, when Thomas A. Parker negotiated the sale of Elvis Presley’s recording contract from Sun Records to RCA, through the rest of Elvis’s career, there existed a completely unique, often controversial, but nonetheless amazing star and manager relationship between these two men. Individually and as a team, each brilliant in his role, they changed the course of entertainment history. Colonel Tom Parker always had a unique way of promoting the recording artists that he represented but it wasn’t until he became Elvis Presley’s manager that his knack for promotion and publicity reached it’s peak. Never before had a recording artist created the frenzy and hysteria in an audience that Elvis Presley did. How do you promote a phenomenon like this? Colonel Parker realized that managing Elvis was going to be the biggest and most rewarding challenge of his career. One of the first things the Colonel did was to copyright and incorporate Elvis into Elvis Presley Enterprises. Through Elvis Presley Enterprises, under the direction of Parker and Hank Saperstein (a successful business man), a number of licenses were issued to select manufacturers for the production of collectable merchandise. Everything from clothing, shoes, school supplies, jewelry and cosmetics were made available to the public, all bearing Elvis’s name, photo or signature. Just from 1956 through 1957, over sixty pieces of merchandise were produced. But Parker’s promotional work did not stop there. Throughout Elvis’s career, his album covers, song books, sheet music, advertisements, concert programs and souvenirs all had Parker’s keen direction. No matter what has been said and speculated concerning the business relationship between Parker and Elvis Presley, it’s a fact that no one had ever managed the career of such a phenomenal star before the Colonel managed Elvis and the two of them, together made entertainment history.

Colonel Parker did some good things for Elvis but, especially in Elvis’s later career, he kept Elvis from touring outside the USA. According to Lamar Fike; “Elvis badly wanted to do a concert tour in Europe. He saw the success of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, and that got his competitive juices flowing. Can you imagine how big Elvis would have been in Europe? But The Colonel always had a reason for not going. Such as, security problems, tax problems, technical and production details. God knows what else. Elvis would blow up at The Colonel about it, say he was damn well going-but he always end up backing down.

Elvis never had a clue what the real reason was that The Colonel didn’t want to go to Europe, and we didn’t find out until years later; he was, and is, an illegal alien in the United States. He jumped off a boat to get into this country. In fact, he jumped off twice. The first time they caught him and sent him back to his native country, The Netherlands. The second time, he stayed and never got caught.

The Colonel was afraid that if he left the US, he’d never be able to get back in, and that’s why he prevented Elvis from taking a European tour. He just flat out lied to Elvis. And Elvis really wanted to go. He’d had a wonderful time there when he was in the army. I know, because I was with him the entire time. And he would have been huge in Europe. HUGE…., but The Colonel denied him that pleasure. Denied him the money and the satisfaction. That’s the kind of thing that can really make you bitter..Lamar Fike

Milestones in memory

1950.. Elvis sings a song in school, his first appearance in front of an audience. His teacher, Mrs. J.C. Grimes and principal, Mr. Cole, suggest to his parents that their son had a voice and a talent that should be encouraged.

1951.. Elvis enters a music contest at the Alabama-Mississippi fair at Mr. Cole’s suggestion. He sings his mother’s favorite song, “Old Shep”, in front of 5,000 people and he wins the contest. Vernon Presley now degrees to buy his son a “proffesional guitar”.

1952.. Elvis makes a demo record at his own expense.

1953.. The Presleys have moved from Tupelo Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis attends L.C. Humes High school. Schoolmate George Klein, an announcer at a local radio station, WKEM gets Elvis to appear on the station. His song, “Cold, Cold Icy Fingers.” Listeners call in demanding to hear more from Elvis in the future. (They did!).

1954.. His first record on the Sun label is released over Memphis station WHBQ. “That’s All Right Mama” discs sell out in a week.

1955.. Elvis moves to RCA. He begins making TV appearances and his records become hits as each one is released.

1956.. Elvis makes his first movie, called “Love Me Tender”. This was the only movie which Elvis did not receive top billing. His salary for his first flick: $100,000, was released in New York. The Paramount Theater is mobbed by fans who come from three states to throng Times Square on the opening day.

1957.. Elvis buys Graceland.

1958.. Elvis is drafted into the army.

1959.. Elvis meets Priscilla Beaulieu in Germany.

1960.. Elvis is discharged from the Army and returns to his career. Rumors link him to Nancy Sinatra when she turns up to greet him on his return to Hollywood. He’s then cast in a fil, “G.I. Blues” with Juliet Prowse and is linked with her; Juliet was the girl to whom Frank Sinatra had been engaged just a short while before Elvis came home.

1961.. Elvis finds himself “nervous as a cat and mouse convention” when Frank Sinatra invites him to appear on his TV show. Frank’s bid is accepted and the two men become friends. Up to that point, Sinatra had been one of his most verbal detractors.

1963.. Elvis and Ann Margret are reportedly secretly married. Rumors begin when he allows, for the first time, another performer to share equal billing in a movie with him. The two co-starred in “Viva Las Vegas”. Scene still of their “wedding scene” is reprinted all over the world as “proof positive” that they’d been wed.

1964.. Elvis, who had turned down bids to run for political office earlier, now considers-then turn down again-new offers to enter the political arena. He had been shaken by John Kennedy’s assassination the year before and had talked of going into politics “someday” to help create the kind of world he and the late president believed in. But, once more, he “regretfully” declines the invitation.

1965.. Elvis and The Beatles meet for the first time and the British foursome publicly give him all the credit for influencing them and their music. They also invited him to become a “Fifth Beatle” but Elvis returns the offer by inviting them, instead , to become the “second, third, fourth and fifth Presleys.” Elvis also turned down the role of Joe Buck in “Midnight Cowboy.”

1966.. For the first time ever, Priscilla Beaulieu turns up in public..with Elvis..at a nightclub!

1967.. Elvis and Priscilla are married in Las Vegas and now everyone knows that there never had been any other girl for him from the time he first met her.

1968.. Lisa Marie is born. Elvis is happy beyond works. He’s so happy, he doesn’t even mind the sprinkling of outrage from some of his fans who don’t much like the bedroom scene he has with an actress in the film, “Stay away Joe.” Elvis signs for his first television special to be shown over the National Broadcasting Company’s network.

1969.. Elvis is named Entertainer of the year in Las Vegas.

1970.. Elvis Presley is hit by a paternity suit filed by a woman named Patricia Parker. Although he will have been proven innocent in this matter, friends reveal that he was bitterly hurt by the charge. Priscilla, of course, stands by him throughout the grueling ordeal and he emerges “a stronger, more mature man.” In 1970, RCA reveals that Elvis is the all-time No.1 record selling champ with over 275 million discs sold.

1971.. For the first time on record, it is revealed that Elvis’ life has been threatened. It is rumored that he, or his bodyguards, are permitted to carry guns in spite of pleas from family and friends.

1972.. Elvis Presley makes his New York City debut at famed Madison Square Garden. The same women who as teenagers had once thronged the city to see his first movie open in Times Square were now waiting on line, some with their daughters, for tickets to see Elvis in the flesh.

1973.. Elvis Presley’s TV special on NBC, “Elvis Aloha From Hawaii” breaks rating records again...Elvis’ TV shows have a habit of setting new records. The show, televised live by satellite to 40 countries around the world, was held in Hawaii to benefit the Kui Lee Cancer Fund. Critics and fans agree..a “new Elvis appears”, one that has all the excitement of the “old” Presley plus a deeper, more mature approach to his showmanship.

1975.. Elvis begins a new concert tour and considers a European jaunt. August 18, 1975..Elvis prepares to go on stage for his three-week stint at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. It’s almost 25 years to the day he first plunked out a melody on a $12.98 guitar and sang for an audience of public school fellow students.

1976.. The United States of America is 200 years old. Elvis is among the entertainers who are honored for their achievements and for their contributions to America.

1977.. A black day in history, Elvis Presley dies at age 42 but lives forever in the hearts of many millions who adored him in life and will honor him for as long as his legend lives.