franny
06-22-2007, 06:09 PM
This was on EIN...
franny
Sonny West was Elvis Presley?s close friend and bodyguard for years. And he speaks of The King without any celebrity attachment. West is refreshingly open that theirs was a winding, pothole-riddled road of friendship.
He has just released a second book on Presley called ?Still Taking Care of Business?. In his first book, ?Elvis, What Happened,? West and co-authors talked about Elvis? sad journey into the abyss of addiction.
?He had become rude and insulting,? West said, aware how definitive his choice of words were. ?We were told to leave it alone. Elvis said, ?I can quit when I want to.? Obviously he was in total denial. My brother [Red] and I didn?t back off.?
West?s voice, now audibly shaken, almost whispers, ?If I?d have written that book when Elvis fired me for speaking out about his prescription drug use towards the end of 1976, I really feel he?d be alive today.?
Today, West speaks so fondly of the legend it appears to be true love and not mining for gold that drove him to pen the new book. ?I couldn?t let that first book, which openly challenged Elvis, to be my final word.?
Then completely switching gears, possibly to prevent his own tear shed, West began to tell a tale about Elvis? power of charisma.
?In 1970 Elvis once brought me to see President Nixon. Actually, I was in a whole different room. But I knew if Elvis said I?d meet the man, he?d do it somehow.
?A few seconds later the phone rings. The guard turns and says, ?Come on, you?re going to meet the president.??
When the duo got to the oval office, West said there was Elvis acting like he ran the place. ?He was in his deep-purple fur suit with the huge belt buckle and a cane and those tinted glasses. And the president was in a conservative suit.? ?The president says to him, ?You dress kind of wild, don?t you son.? Elvis said, ?Mr. President, you have your show to run and I have mine.??
Then Nixon says to us, ?I have something for you.? And he hands us each a little 14 karat gold keychain withthe presidential seal on it.?
Elvis springs into action, ?He said, ?Mr. President, they?ve got wives, too.? Nixon went to his desk drawer and offered up two other items.?
This year marks 30 years since Elvis passed away. But West speaks of the man as if they?d just hadbreakfast at a Memphis IHOP. And West was there almost from the start of Elvis? phenomenal career. His brother, Red West, certainly was. ?My brother was a tough dude. They were in the same class and he protected Elvis in high school.?
West was in the same school, but a few years behind the future icon. He said it wasn?t until 1958 that he and Elvis were actually introduced, which then lead to employment. He said Elvis had only one request. ?I?d had a flattop haircut. And he said to me, ?Sonny, that hair is not gonna cut it out in Hollywood. You gotta let that moss grow. You gotta get that Tony Curtis look.?
The cover of ?Still Taking Care of Business? was taken just months after the request. He said, ?You can see it?s growing out.?
http://metrospirit.com/index.php?cat=1993101070593169&ShowArticle_ID=11011906074489913
franny
Sonny West was Elvis Presley?s close friend and bodyguard for years. And he speaks of The King without any celebrity attachment. West is refreshingly open that theirs was a winding, pothole-riddled road of friendship.
He has just released a second book on Presley called ?Still Taking Care of Business?. In his first book, ?Elvis, What Happened,? West and co-authors talked about Elvis? sad journey into the abyss of addiction.
?He had become rude and insulting,? West said, aware how definitive his choice of words were. ?We were told to leave it alone. Elvis said, ?I can quit when I want to.? Obviously he was in total denial. My brother [Red] and I didn?t back off.?
West?s voice, now audibly shaken, almost whispers, ?If I?d have written that book when Elvis fired me for speaking out about his prescription drug use towards the end of 1976, I really feel he?d be alive today.?
Today, West speaks so fondly of the legend it appears to be true love and not mining for gold that drove him to pen the new book. ?I couldn?t let that first book, which openly challenged Elvis, to be my final word.?
Then completely switching gears, possibly to prevent his own tear shed, West began to tell a tale about Elvis? power of charisma.
?In 1970 Elvis once brought me to see President Nixon. Actually, I was in a whole different room. But I knew if Elvis said I?d meet the man, he?d do it somehow.
?A few seconds later the phone rings. The guard turns and says, ?Come on, you?re going to meet the president.??
When the duo got to the oval office, West said there was Elvis acting like he ran the place. ?He was in his deep-purple fur suit with the huge belt buckle and a cane and those tinted glasses. And the president was in a conservative suit.? ?The president says to him, ?You dress kind of wild, don?t you son.? Elvis said, ?Mr. President, you have your show to run and I have mine.??
Then Nixon says to us, ?I have something for you.? And he hands us each a little 14 karat gold keychain withthe presidential seal on it.?
Elvis springs into action, ?He said, ?Mr. President, they?ve got wives, too.? Nixon went to his desk drawer and offered up two other items.?
This year marks 30 years since Elvis passed away. But West speaks of the man as if they?d just hadbreakfast at a Memphis IHOP. And West was there almost from the start of Elvis? phenomenal career. His brother, Red West, certainly was. ?My brother was a tough dude. They were in the same class and he protected Elvis in high school.?
West was in the same school, but a few years behind the future icon. He said it wasn?t until 1958 that he and Elvis were actually introduced, which then lead to employment. He said Elvis had only one request. ?I?d had a flattop haircut. And he said to me, ?Sonny, that hair is not gonna cut it out in Hollywood. You gotta let that moss grow. You gotta get that Tony Curtis look.?
The cover of ?Still Taking Care of Business? was taken just months after the request. He said, ?You can see it?s growing out.?
http://metrospirit.com/index.php?cat=1993101070593169&ShowArticle_ID=11011906074489913