What's the DEAL with Paul Lichter??

[howardrobardhughes]

Can anyone give me the lowdown on Paul Lichter??
I've heard varying reports about him and his association with Elvis..
I am quoting below from the Paul Lichter bio page (p. 4) in the Bonham's
catalogue Elvis auction.
It reads:
"Paul Lichter, rock concert promoter and manager of the Legendary 60's
groups The Soul Survivors and The Vanilla Fudge, first met Elvis in
Burbank, California when Elvis was filming his famous NBC 1968 TV Special.
The two quickly became friends and remained so for the last decadeof Elvis'
life. Paul was with him at over 850 of his Vegas, Tahoe and concert tours
and has often been called 'The World's Greatest Elvis Fan'. He founded the
Elvis Unique Record club in 1970, one of the largest mail order businesses
in the world and the only such organisation ever licensed by the Estate of
Elvis Presley. For the past 27 years, through the Elvis Unique Record
Club, Paul has supplied Elvis fans with everything from his first Sun
records to his latest compact discs.

Paul has also written thirteen best-selling books which have sold millions
of copies, making him the most read Elvis author in history. His books
have been in the personal libraries of two Presidents of the United States,
and atheir success is just one of the factors which led to Paul being made
an Honourary Citizen of Tennessee in 1984 on behald of his efforts
concerning Tennessee's favorite son, Elvis Aron Presley. "




Here are some of the reports I'd heard of...

?
From: sharprazor@my-deja.com Subject: paul lichter

Newsgroups: alt.elvis.king
Date: 1999/12/17

Paul Lichter did know know Elvis Presley. Not only did he not know him
he never spent any time around him at all. Not even for one day. He
never got any closer to Elvis than did most fans. The closest he ever
got was to sit in the audience.
He says Elvis payed for him to stay 28 days with him. Lichter wasn't
with Elvis for 28 minutes. As for going to Graceland and staying with
Elvis that too only happened in Lichters mind. He says he was taken to
meet Elvis by armed guards. For proof he is lying ask him to tell you
the NAMES of the armed guards. Sonny West, Red West, Dick Grob would
have had to have been among these armed guards. In order for poor Paul
to have spent so much time with Elvis over the years all of these guys
would have gotten to know him. NONE of them ever met or even heard of
Paul Lichter.
As for Elvis giving Paul so many of his personal items. That too never
happened. EVERYTHING that has to do with Elvis Presely and Paul Lichter
knowing each other comes from only one scource, Paul's.
I am so tired of reading in this forum about Paul Lichter that it makes
me sick. Please don't have ginzy [Paul or paul's wife Betty] reply by
telling me to read one of Pauls books. That doesn't mean anything. I
know he does books. The subject is did he know Elvis like he keeps
saying he did. The answer is NO.
Don't believe me?? Then just ask any of Elvis's security people. Ask
ANY of them.
Even Lisa had to go through Elvis's security people to see her dad. She
was brought through to see him by Sam, Charlie, or Linda. Nobody just
walked backstage, upstairs, or to Graceland. It just didn't happen.
Lichter knowing Elvis is not something to debate by people who don't
know. If he claims to have known Elvis then simply check with his
security people. There are enough of them around still alive. Ask any
of them.
I saw in here a few months ago Marty saying Lichter didn't know Elvis.
He's right. Marty don't know him, Sonny West don't know him, Red West
don't know him, Dick Grob not only don't know him but is tired of
having people ask him if Lichter is for real. NOBODY ever heard of him
until after 1977.
If any of you poor fans who like Elvis are tired of being Lichterized
then why not get together and write these guys [Red, Sonny, Dick, Dave,
Jerry, Lamar, Billy, etc.] and find out once and for all from the
experts

What's the truth???

[Captain Elwood David]

Bascially, ......... I cannot disagree with anything that has been written in the above pasted AEK newsgroup communication.

Lichter is a con-man and has been around for ages; his influence exploded right after EP's passing. He only survives because of new generations of fans who are unknowing ........... and due to others who continue to do business with him and ignore his past.

His 1997 BONHAMS Auction is a stain on the reputation of the Auction House. Never before have I seen such a blatant "collection" of BOGUS items being sold all together by a "reputable" auction house ----> it is woeful evidence as to The Fallacy of Authority.

He's had some legit pieces - that he's BOUGHT, .............. but the vast majority are FAKES / REPLICAS / FORGERIES that he dupes people (mainly new / novice ...... fans / collectors).

Any piece, ............ I repeat - ANY piece, from Lichter, ................... IMO, is tainted & best avoided.

Anybody who defends this man (Lichter), is either ignorant or a dupe.

- Capt. "EL."

[curtis simpkins]

Also his price's are way to high, even his vinyl records is way to much.

and he say some of them never been open, and original lps from the 60s mostly his movie soundtrack never been open and his bouns photos in them.

these could be fakes or not, i buy my albums from people i know and on ebay.

he is a nice persion, but be carefull when you buy his thing's.

[ultimix]

Also his price's are way to high, even his vinyl records is way to much.

and he say some of them never been open, and original lps from the 60s mostly his movie soundtrack never been open and his bouns photos in them.

these could be fakes or not, i buy my albums from people i know and on ebay.

he is a nice persion, but be carefull when you buy his thing's.


Well - I for one used to really look up to him, til I spoke with him on the phone. His book Dared to Rock was my so called bible growing up....I used to dream about walking into a record store and finding all the RARE items that where listed in the back of the book. I cant tell you how many times I looked at that book...

When I found out later, in my 30's, that he had a mail order business and I could order some stuff from him, I jumped at the chance. I told him how much I looked up to him etc..and that his book really ment alot to me. He acted like - who cares - do you want to order something?? I ended up getting some import cds from him at a HUGE price. my mistake -

Well one of is so called buddies in the Elvis memorabilia selling - Jim Hannaford - sold me so great autographs...With a letter from Tom Diskin (sp) Col. Parker's associate..well later on I needed some cash and wanted to sell, just one of them, and NOW one would touch it. They were signed with a gold paint pen. Everyone in the autograph industry said they were fake!!! So collecting Elvis memorabilia has left a bad taste in my mouth regarding autographs...

My theory on the paint pen autographs is that they are signed by the same person who signed the bonus photos, back of Elvis albums etc..They werent Elvis, but Tom Diskin (sp) - he signed Elvis name and signed items for Jim Hannaford, and probably Paul L. That is what I think!!

Anyways - sorry to get off the subject - it just kills me how some people can really SCREW up the Elvis Collecting Business and stick it to the fans!!!! :angry:


I for one, went on to collect movie posters and have every one sheet in near mint condition, except for one - the mack daddy Jailhouse Rock!! Maybe one day...

Mark

[kennyelvis]

Hi Mark,
I can see we are almost the same age :D
One of the first "good" Elvis books i got, was the "Dare to Rock" book, i also had dreams of the goodis in the back of the book.
And some of the 70`s concert pictures in that book was awsom back then, and i even think they are awsom today.
I have dealt with him a few times many years ago, for me it was good service, high price.
I know the right people today, so i get the things i want to the right price, but i belive Lichter have some very very good "goodis" for sale, but to the wrong price, and he have some very good picture books that he have made.
I really dont have much bad to say about this man, other than : he`s prices are to high, try to get them from other dealers.

[Captain Elwood David]

The fact that you guys were even able to get Lichter to pick up the phone and talk to you ............. is because you are either a new customer ................ or he has not ripped you off and / or you are not attempting follow-up on a problem you were lucky enough to have not had with him in the process.

His typical MO ----> once he rips you off, or if you've had a problem, .............. you'll be talking to his answering machine as he listens screening all of his calls ........ deciding who & who not to speak to. You'll never get a hold of him once he knows you are not the kind to roll over & forget about it .................... short of getting very "innovative" in your approaches to confront.

IMO - the guy deserves to be in jail for the both the amount of people & the amount of money he has ripped off from EP fans.

I cannot stress this enough and the fact that it is not overstating the case ---> Lichter is bad news & a stain on the Elvis World.

Caveat Emptor of the highest order with this shark.


P.

[JerryNodak]

I have dealt with Paul Lichter on occasion. I have even spoken with him on the phone. I have always received the mechandise I ordered in excellent condition and in a timely manner. The merchandise I ordered is always what I received.. I've never had any problems with him.

[Captain Elwood David]

I have dealt with Paul Lichter on occasion. I have even spoken with him on the phone. I have always received the mechandise I ordered in excellent condition and in a timely manner. The merchandise I ordered is always what I received..
Glad to hear it.


I've never had any problems with him.
There are many who have had the opposite experience.

-------------------------------

Oh, ........ & btw, ...................... every single EP AUTOGRAPH ............... and I mean EVERY SINGLE ONE .................. on his website ......... is a forgery.

The prices keep going down, because nobody will buy them; perhaps you could arrange a "deal" ..................... since you've hand no "problems" with him - so to speak.


- Capt. "EL."

[howardrobardhughes]

I thought you guys (especially Capt.Elwood) would get a kick out of this..

Paul Lichter & the mysterious letter to Elvis 8/16/77
Has anyone heard about this???

At 8:00 AM, Elvis told Ginger he was going into the bathroom lounge area to
read. Note: The bathroom has its own back entrance that leads downstairs.
Between 8:00 and 8:30 AM, Elvis calls Dr. Nichopolous at his office, for
some sleeping pills, and although he was not there he spoke with the nurse.
Nurse Tish Henley instructed her husband to take a couple of pills to be given
to Elvis' Aunt who came by, placed in a small envelope, to give to Elvis.


At 9:30 AM, Elvis left the bathroom and went downstairs at which time he
signed for a special delivery letter from Paul Lichter.



At 10:00 AM, Elvis was seen retrieving his newspaper from the porch.

Lichter said that he mailed a
registered letter to Elvis and yes, it arrived at Graceland the morning of
Aug. 16, 1977, and yes, someone signed the name "Elvis Presley" when the
letter arrived.If this is true, the question is, who signed for it
and why did he / she sign Elvis' name? What about the mail carrier who
delivered the letter? Has he / she come forward to say, "Yes, I delivered
this letter on Aug. 16, 1977, and Elvis signed for it??

A registered letter arrived at
Graceland around 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 16, 1977. This would've been about the
same time Elvis was dying or lay dead on his bathroom floor. Yet, whoever
received this letter signed the name "Elvis Presley."


here is Paul Lichter's account of his relationship with Elvis..


Paul Lichter self-proclaimed best-selling Elvis author of all time a PR man to Presley for some 10 years, a pallbearer at the January funeral of Colonel Tom Parker (who was godfather to Lichter's son Tristan Elvis), and the owner/operator of the 27-year-old Paul Lichter's Elvis Unique Record Club. Unique because it offers for sale arguably the biggest collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia on the planet.

Including the dark glasses fit for the King. Lichter says they are worth roughly $30,000.
Here's how a simple guy from Pennsylvania, a late-'60s teen, gained an audience with Elvis and became all that you just read about.

"I used to manage the Soul Survivors ["Expressway to Your Heart," No. 4, fall of '67], and I was a frustrated rock 'n' roller myself," says the clean-domed Lichter as he fires up the first of many Kools. "Back in those days, it wasn't popular to be an Elvis fan; you had to be a closet freak. Clambake just wasn't holding up to Rubber Soul. I was an Elvis fan, but I was quiet about it.

"What happened was, the Soul Survivors were out in California on tour with the Young Rascals when Elvis was doing the '68 Singer TV special [that would become known as the legendary '68 Comeback Special]. Sid Bernstein, who was managing the Rascals, got some tickets and asked me would I like to come. That was the first time I saw Elvis, the first time I met him. That was incredible.

"After the show, I went back and was introduced to him. I said, 'Mr. Presley, it's a pleasure to meet you, I really enjoy your music.' That was it. I walked out. I was maybe 19 or 20, and it was really a thrill for me."

"I'm a great admirer of talent."
About six months later, he was asked if he had any interest in presenting Presley with some gold records during the King's Las Vegas opening in 1969.

"I snatched that up," Lichter says. "When I got there, I was informed I had to stay in my room because the call from Colonel [Tom Parker, Elvis' manager] could come at any moment. I sat there for a couple days eating room service, and finally the call came.

"I was escorted by armed guards, I went in and there was Colonel Parker and the so-called Memphis Mafia sitting around eating grapes. I was nervous as shit. Finally, Elvis came in, and I gave him the gold records and posed for pictures, and for about 10 minutes he was holding my hand while we were shaking hands. . . . So I was being led out by the casino manager, and I realized that I didn't ask for an autograph or scarf or some kind of souvenir. So I asked the manager if he could do something about that. He said, 'I don't see any problem; check with me tomorrow.'

"Tomorrow came. At about 4 p.m., he says, 'Elvis wants to see you up in his suite.' The armed guards led me up to the 29th floor again, and Elvis had just gotten up and was eating breakfast. The bottom line was, he was so impressed that I didn't ask for anything that he invited me up to the suite. So I guess if I had asked for the autograph, my whole life would have been different."

"It turned out he was dating a girl from Roxborough, Pennsylvania, which was close to where I lived. He loved football, I loved football. As they were escorting me out, he said, 'When are you leaving?' I said, 'A couple days.' He said, 'Do you have to?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'Why don't you stay and be my guest?' So I did, and for the rest of the 28-day engagement, he picked up the bills, picked up the room, did the whole deal. Every night I sat at his personal table during the shows.

"That was the beginning of it."

When Elvis came back to Vegas . . .
"I printed out fake $10 bills with an advertisement on them for the record club, and I got 10 people to go with me into the casino and throw these bills into the air. I got thrown out of the casino, but it got Elvis' attention. He said to me it was the coolest thing he'd ever heard, I was crazy, I was out of my mind, and what was the Unique Record Club? So I explained it to him."

According to Lichter, Elvis liked what he heard enough to allow Lichter to come on tour with him, plugging the club at every stadium stop. Within the first five days of the tour, Lichter says he made $25,000 pushing Presley merchandise.
"Somewhere along the line, he decided this wasn't great," Lichter offers. "He called me in and says, 'I like you, you're a nice boy. I can't stop you from starting, but I'll stop you from finishing. Nobody has the right to make money off my boy except me.'

"Well, I'd just made $25,000 and I had all these records. There was no way he was going to stop me, so I continued. There were some rough tactics--I got shot at, and motorcycle gangs came along and beat up the people I'd hired [to distribute fliers]. There were some rough moments. But the Colonel always said he was just toughening me up because I reminded him of him. He wound up being my son's godfather. And Elvis was laughing at the whole thing because I was the first guy in 11 years to stand up to the old bastard!"
A final word on the Colonel:
"He's like a teddy bear," says Lichter. "One of the most compassionate human beings I ever met. He did not rob Elvis, he did not get 50 percent of everything--that's all from the media. He got 25 percent of the tickets and 50 percent of the merchandise."

In 1974, Lichter threw his hat into the literary ring with Elvis in Hollywood.
Lichter also put out a publication in '74 called the Memphis Flash, "the only Elvis magazine to tell it like it is." It was "the most popular Elvis magazine during his lifetime," Lichter says. "Elvis himself collected every issue."
Which made it a bit difficult to tell it like it was.
"With Elvis, you couldn't say anything bad because it was blasphemous. People thought he was God."

As the Elvis business grew, Lichter began to develop a bit of notoriety himself. He got "good play" from Geraldo Rivera (another Lichter buddy), and "got contacted by the National Enquirer, the Globe, and the Star. It was like, 'Presley Nut Makes a Million,'" he states. "The more money I earned, I went from being 'Elvis Nut' to 'World-Renowned Elvisologist.'"

When Elvis and the Colonel donated the red jumpsuit from the "Burning Love" single cover to the National Cerebral Palsy telethon for auction, the nut-cum-Elvisologist was there with $1,500 to nab the artifact. Two years ago he sold it for $117,000.

"I had tears in my eyes when I sold it," he recalls, "but I had 117,000 reasons to do it."

Before he unloaded the thing, Lichter slipped into the "Burning Love" threads--who wouldn't?--and, yes, they fit. Of
"I think every person who is into Elvis wants to get as close to him as they can," says Lichter, "so they want something that was his. But they have no concept of the value of these things today. His peacock jumpsuit, it was his favorite, he personally designed it." And gave it to Lichter. Who, in case you're interested, has it up for sale.

"Yeah. It would be a quarter of a mil."
Let's get one thing straight about Elvis and our man right now--in fact, here's Lichter to fill you in:

"I know I was his friend, I know he was my friend, but I don't want to mislead you that we were kissing first buddies or anything."

Now, let's spend an evening at Graceland, where Lichter says he visited the King many times. Along with groups of 15 or 20, which Presley considered intimate.
"It was very repetitious, the same thing happened year in and year out," says Lichter. "Basically, he'd request you to be there, you'd fly in and stay at Graceland or the Howard Johnson's. You'd show up to have dinner. He'd come down dressed formal, Priscilla'd be all dressed up. He'd sit down and put his gun on the table next to him."

The cuisine consisted of "the best bar-b-cue you've ever had in your life. But I never had a fried banana sandwich," says Lichter of Elvis' favorite meal. "I had peanut butter and banana, but I couldn't handle the butter."

Lip-smackin' bar-b-cue is nothing to sneer at, but Lichter says that Presley's legendary generosity was, well, generous.

"But you know, I gave him as many gifts as he gave me. But what do you give to someone who has everything? He loved Muhammad Ali, so I had a statue of Ali, it was like those ones with the beagles with the big eyes. I gave him that, and he put it on his desk in his office. I gave him the red belt he wore in the film That's the Way It Is, and I gave him turquoise jewelry, lots of sports stuff.

"He gave me jumpsuits, motorcycle jackets, lots of clothes which have turned out to be worth a fortune. The jumpsuits were a real thrill for me, to have something the King was wearing onstage. The other stuff, I only took that--believe it or not--because I couldn't find a way to say no."

The gifts stopped coming August 16, 1977.
"It was impossible to believe that Superman could die," Lichter offers. "Even though he'd look bad, you always felt, he's sick, he'll get better. He was doing drugs, but they weren't street drugs; he had doctors giving him this stuff and he was very knowledgeable about them.

"I'd spoken to him the night before he died; I was going to meet him on tour. He told me he wanted to cover some new songs, and his diet hadn't worked and he was pissed off because he was heavy as hell. Basically, it was just another normal conversation."

Elvis Presley himself said to Lichter one night in Las Vegas when he first heard about the Elvis Unique Record Club:

"You mean people are willing to pay lots of money for my old records? Why?"

.

TCB
Wade

[Captain Elwood David]

I did enjoy it, "Wade" - my thanks.

----------------------------

Although the topic has been discussed a number of times on other MB's, .............. I'll repeat it for this one ---------> the postal signed document of reciept for the August 16, 1977 letter was a SECRETARIAL SIGNED signature (EP did not sign for such things; it was common practice for others to sign for Elvis under such circumstances). Yes, I've seen the receipt / signature ............. it is not EP's.

As already mentioned above as well, ............ Lichter presently has over a dozen EP forgeries for sale (recently even "ON SALE"). A number even have elaborate stories as to how Lichter obtained, personally. That pretty much sums up what Lichter is all about.

No defense of this man is possible.

---------------------------

- Capt. "EL."

[Mr. Songman]

No defense of this man is possible.

Truer words were never spoken.

[P.S. Annie]

Reading these kind of threads makes me sad. It's bad that there are still people out there using his name to make a quik buck. It makes me also very carefull of buying things. I would love to have something authentic(if money was no object) but it is hard to know what is real and what is not.

[memphis 77]

i have all of lichters books, all 18, and i have orderd them directly from him and never had any problems, i have spoken to him on the phone several times and seen him in memphis on 2 ocasions always a gentleman, his books,flyers all promise much but hardly deliver, his best book is THANK YOU.... For a guy who supossedly seen e.p. in concert 800 times and only has his own photos from 2 shows, says alot, just like in e.p. in concert book where he claims to have bin preseny where the little indian girl gives e.p. the medallion[where the hell is LICHETR] he's a charachter, a noone who wants to be important, but harmless.

[rocknroll]

Don't know much about his business tactics, but I was 13 when "The Boy Who Dared To Rock" came out and even at that age I could sense his arrogance and ego. I've not given him much thought since then.

[dannyboy1]

Yeah, I myself greatly appreciated THE BOY WHO DARED TO ROCK at the time it first came out. But it's pretty lame now - there are a few good pics but the rest is rubbish, especially the session info. Has anyone ever seen a photo of Lichter and Elvis together? I sure haven't. I know if he had one he would use it. Instead he has had artists draw pictures of he and Elvis together - like they were the best of friends. I think this kind of illustrates just how fake the guy is - trying to convince everyone, including himself, that he was Elvis' best friend. Pretty sick.

[memphis 77]

at the back of his book from the city of brotherly love he has a pic of him and E.P it wouldn't surprise me if its fake. i would agree with many of you about his book THE BOY..... It is chalk full of mistakes mis quotes, i really love when he praises himself in every book as THE MOST READ ELVIS AUTHOR[17 MILLION READERS ETC..] This you have to take tounge in cheek, whats not funny are the stories of people he ripped off, i fortunetly have never had a problem, his books are mostly filled with photos from magazines , news print etc.. most in fuzzy quality, as i said his best was THANK YOU VERY MUCH, i hope he never starts rippin people off again, i remember in 74 that he had his own newsletter booklet[the memphis flash] it used to have some noce photosin there of course b/w.this book E.P. IN CONCERTN is also filled with inacurate info on dates and jumsuits e.p. wore, the best resource for that would be the book ERICK STEIN wrote a few years back ELVIS IN CONCERT 1969-1977, a great and original book, or a book by LEROY, hopefully we can all convince him to write/publish one.

[U.S. Male]

This guy is nothing but a pure ripoff artist.

His merchandise is way over priced, and as already noted, his stories are extremely inaccurate.

I recall a dealing I had with him in my early years of collecting, where he persuaded me in to buying this book that (according to him) had the "rarest and best quality concert photos (in large size) from anywhere." The book turned out to be a magazine, which had been torn considerably, while the photos were ones that have been around since I can remember.

My advice to fans (especially new ones), is stay clear of this clown, and always research and try to learn about the seller if possible. It might save you some $$$$$