Elvis and the Colonel
An Insider's Look at the Most Legendary Partnership in Show Business
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A fresh biography of legendary entertainment manager Colonel Tom Parker, with a contrarian and corrective point of view.
Colonel Tom Parker, often reviled in his time, led the strategy from the earliest days of Elvis's career. Together, they built the most legendary partnership in show business. For the first time, Colonel Parker's story is told by an insider, Greg McDonald, who worked under Parker for years. Never-before-heard stories of Parker's collaboration with Elvis reveal the man behind the legend and the strategies that made Elvis a commercial groundbreaker.
Ingrained lore has it that Parker took advantage of "poor country boy" Elvis to sign the singer who became "The King". But Elvis and the Colonel shows that Elvis was not foolish when it came to business arrangements. This book is full of stories of innovations Parker made with his star client, including:
--ingenious merchandising (eg, selling both "I love Elvis" and "I hate Elvis" buttons)
--licensing and branding, from suits to toys, ashtrays to guitars
--establishing The King as an artist-in-residence in Las Vegas
--creating televised concert events, like Elvis' Christmas special
Many of the practices Parker established are still deployed today by most major agencies. Parker's experience as a carny and an immigrant shaped his management style when he was at his peak, showing how he adapted big top practices to the big time. The heart of Elvis and the Colonel is the long, strong, warm and complex relationship between two iconic men.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this addictive behind-the-scenes account, film and TV producer McDonald teams up with biographer Terrill (Steve McQueen) to dispel myths surrounding the relationship between Elvis Presley and his longtime business manager, Colonel Tom Parker. McDonald, who met Elvis as a teen and eventually worked under Parker, frames the "mega-manager" as the first to make "forays into today's multimedia world of music, film, television, publishing, and Las Vegas-style entertainment." "Seeing opportunities no one else saw," the "Baron of ballyhoo" began representing 20-year-old Presley in 1955, and through their partnership marshaled a dizzying host of marketing strategies to boost his client's star, including winning Elvis movie roles, licensing Elvis-themed collectible merchandise, and establishing Elvis as artist-in-residence at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1969. Contending that the view of Parker as a "malevolent leech" stemmed from tensions over Presley's estate in the 1980s, when a judge-appointed attorney claimed Parker struck deals that robbed Presley of millions, McDonald offers instead the riveting tale of a man who used his "innate knack for creating a spectacle" to bring his client's once-in-a-lifetime talent to the masses. Unfortunately, his adulatory tone (Parker was "fair-minded, loyal, funny... a man whose word was his bond") precludes a more complex view of the subject. Still, this will more than satisfy fans hungry for insight into Elvis and those in his orbit. Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly described the author as a film director.
