The Colonel and the King : Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the partnership that rocked the world

Guralnick, Peter2025

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Summary

In early 1955, Colonel Tom Parker heard that an unknown teenager from Memphis had just drawn a crowd of more than 800 people to a Texas schoolhouse, & headed south to investigate. Within days, Parker was sending out telegrams & letters to promoters & booking agents about the man who would become a global icon & legend: Elvis Presley. The close personal bond between Elvis & the Colonel proved impossible for outside observers to understand - not during their lifetimes, & not in the decades since. It was a long-standing, deeply committed relationship, founded on mutual admiration & support. From the outset, the Colonel defended Elvis fiercely against RCA executives, Elvis' own booking agents, & movie moguls. But in their final years together, the story grew darker, & the relationship strained, as the Colonel found himself unable to protect Elvis from himself or to control growing problems of his own.