Forgive me right off if this sounds way out there. But I was thinking today how much Elvis wanted to go overseas and how we now know Col. Parker wouldn't do it because he was an illegal. I've also heard all about Elvis' medications, but that doesn't jive with me because there have been so many get away with that, even ones that didn't have their own plane. I started to think about the Col. telling Elvis and everyone that it was a security issue with all the open stadiums and about when he started saying that. Could it be that the Col. was feeling pressured enough to have started the death threat to make the security issue more valid and real to Elvis? I wouldn't put it past the Colonel to do something like that and it would make it alot easier talking Elvis into not going overseas? Anyway, just wondering what you guys might think of that. Never heard that as a theory before.
Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm
Got my family, my kids, my books and my music, I'm good, yeah, I'm good.....
Of all the books I have bought about Elvis -The Col.'s is the one that I really never finished reading. He was a liar and would do anything to get more $$$$$$$$$$$$$. His disregard for Elvis's health really turned me off. Dovey
I agree 100%. I think he was capable of doing everything for money. I've read that he had to leave the Netherlands because he was accused of murder. And I also don't believe that his business sense was that brilliant, remember the tremendous success of the '68 comeback special which was not his idea and where he was not involved in very much.Originally Posted by Dovey
Of all the books I have bought about Elvis -The Col.'s is the one that I really never finished reading. He was a liar and would do anything to get more $$$$$$$$$$$$$. His disregard for Elvis's health really turned me off. Dovey
he sure was capable of that.
I fully agree with you!!
Of all the books I have bought about Elvis -The Col.'s is the one that I really never finished reading. He was a liar and would do anything to get more $$$$$$$$$$$$$. His disregard for Elvis's health really turned me off. Dovey
Taking Care of BusinessTil we meet you again, may God bless you, Adios.
I'm also in agreement with everyone that yes it could be a possible that the colonel was involved in cooking up some kind of scheme to keep Elvis from performing overseas.
I believe that being a schemer was his sole reason for living.
Diane
Colonel kept Elvis under his thumbs for his all life.
Yes the Colonel wasColonel kept Elvis under his thumbs for his all life.
I believe the Colonel was only good for the first part of Elvis' career. After he went into the ARMY he should've just kept the Colonel as a Promotional Manager..I would say a PR man but he was an ilegal. As far as the picking the music he totally suck at as well. He and his buddies had a percentage in all the publishing rights. That's why Marty Lacker stepped in and intruduced all these awesome songs to him. That whole 68-69 recording sessions, in memphis was Mary Lacker's doing, not the Colonel.
I've never heard any evidence to support that theory.The Colonel was no angel but it's a little unfair to level charges at him that dont have any facts behind them.
I personally believe Elvis never toured overseas due to the lack of his own motivation.He would have went if he really had the desire.By the time it was obvious how profitable the tours were Elvis was no longer up for the challenge.Elvis was a creature of habit and his routine of playing secondary markets night after night was locked in.He could switch to autopilot and that was it.Elvis made no attempt in the 70's to do anything but the routine he got use to.Blame Elvis' complacency for the missed chance of going abroad,not the Colonel.
Jak
the colonel was good cos he got elvis career kick started but after that he tried to sell him out he did anything fo the right price i believe it cost elvis his life but hey all theorys are possible i mean we will never know
I blame them both! it seemed he truely wanted to go in the early 70s but the Col. didn't. This is when Elvis should have said Col. make the deal. Instead he came up with the Satellite special and told ELvis the time was not right. They both are equally to blame. Elvis for not insisting when he was motivated to go, the Col. for not wanting to go- ever.
IMO Its obvious now why the Col. never visited Elvis in Germany while he was overseas in the army-he was afraid to get into the whole issue of how he got here. It was a lot easier to cover ones tracks and start a life in the 30s in America than today. He had kept his illegal status from being a problem so he did not want to chance overseas trips. He never ever left America after getting into it.
When you need a plumber you do not second guess him on what he says needs to be done (unless you yourself are an expert in plumbing)-when you get a manager for a career I imagine you do it because you are not the expert business and you trust him for decisions on your career.
Elvis did what every up and coming star does he got a manager. BUT -when he finally wanted to go overseas he should have begun to question why the Col. was "always saying the time wasn't right" IMO by late 73 he was no longer motivated to do it(which probably made the Col. happy)
If the COl. really wanted to help Elvis in 73 instead of selling the pre 1973 music catalogue to RCA for a few million dollars he could have easily (with a mornings phone calls ) set up a European tour for tens of millions in profit to Elvis. For years since Elvis had gone back to live performing he got weekly offers from overseas -and he turned them down! If he and Elvis needed money this would have been the easiest way to produce it bigtime. Instead the COl. (not wanting to leave the country) took a short term deal with little in true worth and told Elvis "This is a smart deal, the old stuff is expendable"
This almost universally seen as one of the most horrible deals in music history. IMO the worst deal the COl. ever negotiated supposedly for Elvis. I've read The COl. ended up with more out of this deal, after all was said and done, than Elvis.
Elvis should have in the late 60s began to put 2 and 2 together on a lot of things.
Last edited by KPM; 07-15-2007 at 05:10 PM.
Perhaps he did.
Jess
Totally agree with you, both are to blame, Elvis was great in many aspects but he had that tendency to totally screw himself to often, to much of an habit person? a lack of vision? insecurity? wasn?t he aware how big he was?
On the other hand, Col. PArker was an inovator during the 50's and the very early 60's, you have to give him credit to that, people like Epstein or Oldham, and many other legendary rock managers, the people who created the rock bussines just followed his steps in many ways, but the true is that by the late 60's the bussines changed a lot, and Col. Parker was total old school, as an example to that, back in the 50's and prior to that, to get a 5 years contract to perform in Vegas would have been the big time, but by the late 60's Vegas was playing safe and not the best move, the right move would have been just one season, or even skip that and go right into tour the main rock stages and of course go overseas.
There was big money on touring overseas, that was obvious for both Col. and E. but Col. knew he had to let go Elvis by himself and stay in the US and that meant only one thing to Col: Elvis will get in touch with reality and would have loose control over him. REMEMBER HOW HE GET RID OF JERRY LEIBER an MIKE STOLLER back in '57, the reason was simply, Leiber, Stoller and Presley were an unmatchable team, I would like to say these: THe Beatles, at least during the first half of the 60's would have been no competition for the Leiber, Stoller, Presley team up, and those cats also had conections in the movies, Col. Parker? NEEDLESs, so, when I think it was Jerry who aproched Elvis with an incredible scrip for a movie, PArker said, these cats will never ever will be closer to Elvis, well Parker was just protecting his job, but it was Elvis to blame not saying the hell with the COl. I wIll team up with these guys. The hell with the Col. Im going overseas.
I don?t know if Parker was capable of going as far as making up the Dead Threats, but he surely scared out Elvis to the point he didn?t realize he didn?t needed Parker at all.
Last edited by Raised on Rock; 07-15-2007 at 08:46 PM.
The selling of Elvis' catalogue was a bad move but one that Elvis embraced.He wanted and needed the money.None of the things the Colonel did could happen without Elvis' consent.Im just not convinced Elvis desired to go overseas and perform.He would have made it happen if that's what he wanted.Elvis was not one to rock the boat and take risks during his career.Im guessing he was unsure about going out of the country and performing.Most of all he probably didnt want the hassle of it.I think he liked staying in his comfort zone.
Jak
as always Jak,Elvis is the one to blame for not going overseas?..as for everything that damaged him..have you ever wonder if there's a possibility tha there could be at least one wish or dream in his heart that never came true..how can he be the most fortunate guy that everything in his life went according his own plans and wishes..well, I wish he'd rocked that boat enough, to sink,so we all could have seen what a huge crowd was dead in it..crowd of miserables who owe their breads to his "patience"..
Last edited by 4THEHEART; 07-16-2007 at 03:33 PM.
I agree to a point. If Elvis had doubts about Europe his first 3 engagements at the International had to put them to rest. He was sold out months in advance and had reservations from virtually every civilized country. There were on many nights as many overseas fans in the audience as Americans. I agree after 1973 he was in his comfort zone, but in 70 and 71 he was ready for the changes which were happening in his career. In his few interviews in the early 70s when he is asked if he will tour overseas he says yes or we're working on it. The Col. was in charge of guiding Elvis's career- that was his job. The way the Col worked was he would negotiate the deals he initiated for Elvis and he would report the outside offers and recommend why or why not they should be accepted. The Col. never initiated any offers outside the US that I have read about or that has been reported. (That includes his managing Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow in the 40s) It is correct Elvis could have said "Set it up!" But he did trust and respect the Col. and he was hired to recommend deals and career moves. The Col had been saying for years the time is not right. There were many deals over the years that the Col. recommended and Elvis accepted. Some were good, some not so good. The long term deal with the International in Vegas is another I have read was not as good as it should have been. He did not get Elvis top royalty rates in the late 60s and 70s from RCA when compared to the Beatles, Stones, etc-even thought he was the number 2 record seller for the 60s and number one in the 50s. If the Col had said "The time is right for Europe lets go" IMO Elvis would have said "Set it Up"
IMO the Col. was negligent for not getting Elvis there in the early 70s. Elvis was ripe to go-but the COl was not ever interested in going to Europe and had never shown any real interest for any artist he ever managed to do so.
The reason I mentioned the 73 catalogue sale is because Elvis, due to his life style,and the Col (because of gambling) were looking for cash. The satellite show and the catalogue sale were in the same year. Compare the money Elvis could have made if he had gone overseas to the money he got for the Satellite show and . I mean you go from 100s of thousands dollars to tens of millions If the Col. had this magical nose for making money it sure failed him this year. The foolish sale of the catalogue would not have been needed. If Elvis had toured for a summer in Europe it could have been near a 100 million tour. But the Col had been getting outrageous offers for years for a European tour and he had to know the money that they could make.
So you have to ask yourself if he knew the potential for millions why did he not recommend it as "too good to turn down"? Lets be logical because he was afraid to leave the country. He was probably happy in the mid 70s when Elvis had lost the desire for such a challenge.
IMO The Col was a great carny and until 65 I think he was a good manager- after that he made big mistakes and in this case he did not do what was best for Elvis's career-he should have pushed for the tour overseas( if you are correct that Elvis did not want it) I mean If Elvis had wanted to run his own career he would have never hired Parker to start with.
I think any other person (with a modem of business sense) in early 1970 would have begun to set up a European tour -England, Germany, Japan, Norway Sweden, etc -Elvis was back on top, great reviews of his live shows, he had gained respect from younger sudiences, and his records were selling again. IMO There is only one reason he did not go-The COl. did not want to leave the US because of his past.
We'll probably have to agree to disagree on this.
Here's one who agrees 100%
Diane
There will always be a debate about this question; the honest answer has to be, what is the path of least resistance and the easiest way to make money with the minimum amount of hassle? Stay in the states and tour continuously and you are guaranteed to make millions of $$ per year!
I think that if Elvis had decided to go to Europe in 1970 to 1971 Elvis would have got himself into shape, stayed off the meds and just rocketed worldwide. Imagine "That's The Way It Is" had been filmed on tour around Europe?!!.
By the end of 1972 Elvis was already in a downward spiral, you only have to watch the announcement of the Aloha shows to see that Elvis was in the grip of a serious drug habit. At this point he still had the ability to pull it together as the Aloha shows prove but the question you have to ask is if Elvis would go on to a TV show to Announce the Aloha shows whilst under the influence and in the full glare of the world, what was he like behind the scenes when he wasn't in front of the camera's? I don't doubt that Elvis may have had legitimate reasons to take his "prescribed medication" however the effect it had on him was detrimental.
I'm sure the Colonel had his ulterior motives for not recommending some of the deals abroad, some of them selfish. I do believe that there were very probably other considerations with regards to Elvis' lifestyle that the Colonel could not "handle" should Elvis be abroad. If Elvis stayed in America Elvis' Image and lifestyle choices could be handled quickly and effectively by the network the Colonel had setup. It is too easy to blame the Colonel and it is too easy to blame Elvis. It's more complicated than that. Despite being a multinational superstar Elvis was quite simply someone that did not understand his global position within the world; more importantly neither did the Colonel
Now before I get shot down in flames by the "He was only human brigade" It is quite possible that had Elvis gone to Europe he would have perhaps be less inclined to over prescribe, my point is, was there an incentive big enough that would galvanise the two of them into action? Obviously there wasn't! Elvis was a home bird who didn't want to stray too far from the nest.
Elvis was in charge of his own destiny.The Colonel was an employee.Why do some of you always portray Elvis as a timid sheep being led around on a leash?The reasons behind Elvis not going overseas are probably the same ones that kept him doing the same show night after night and telling the same jokes night after night.Some of you may not realize how repetitive his shows were.Elvis was comfortable in that routine.He didnt have to work hard.Elvis got lazy and that's the bottom line.He could do whatever he wanted.To think otherwise is just some childish way to shift blame away from him.The only thing that stood in his way were his own shortcomings.as always Jak,
Jak
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