Marty Lacker talks about Elvis and The Grammys:

[Jungleroom76]

I would also say yes its a missed opportunity-for Elvis to shine and be honored in a public forum in which he actually participated-it would have been a major event for him to appear and to sing-it would have connected him to the current music fans and they would have seen him with all the other current artists.............in not appearing it robbed him and Parker of a lot of free publicity,(we all no Parker loved things on his side free) potential new fans could have come from his appearance.
Parkers demands on large fees for things which were normally done for free or scale was silly after 1965.
We complain Elvis is not taken seriously today-yet honors such as this were not taken seriously by Parker-he was not interested in the honor of the award-he was interested in the fee. If you have someone special-the honors bestowed upon him only enhance and magnify that person.
If Elvis had been more visible to people who were not fans on these type shows perhaps he would have gained fans and how can that be bad.
Instead we hear today of how "secluded and out of touch" he was in his last years.

Paul McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, Dylan all major historic artists, did not see the need to demand large fees for participation or attendance at these events when they accepted.

Thank you Ken -- you put it MUCH BETTER than I did!!!

TCB!
Mike

[Brian]

This song is from 1974!Why Elvis is nominated in 1978?It's not sense this nomination!Why not in 1974?I tell 1974,because I listen Elvis sing this song in this year!And yes,14 nominations,but only 3 win!And is Elvis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!As I write before!

In the United States ''Softly as I leave you'' was released as the B-side of the single Unchained melody in 1978.

[GIORGIA]

In the United States ''Softly as I leave you'' was released as the B-side of the single Unchained melody in 1978.

Really?But Elvis sing this song in 1974!Why only in 1978 and not before?Thank you for the info!Don't knew that,until now.

[Brian]

Really?But Elvis sing this song in 1974!Why only in 1978 and not before?Thank you for the info!Don't knew that,until now.

RCA had plenty of material to release on singles and albums in 1974,75, 76 and 77 so ''Softly as I leave you'' didn't get released then.
After Elvis died RCA needed material to release on albums and singles so they finally released ''Softly as I leave you''

[GIORGIA]

RCA had plenty of material to release on singles and albums in 1974,75, 76 and 77 so ''Softly as I leave you'' didn't get released then.
After Elvis died RCA needed material to release on albums and singles so they finally released ''Softly as I leave you''

Thank you for the answer!But if Elvis unfortunatelly died,the only thing that the Rca think,was found the materials for an album?What a orrible thing!I mean only money!

[Brian]

I would also say yes its a missed opportunity-for Elvis to shine and be honored in a public forum in which he actually participated-it would have been a major event for him to appear and to sing-it would have connected him to the current music fans and they would have seen him with all the other current artists.............in not appearing it robbed him and Parker of a lot of free publicity,(we all no Parker loved things on his side free) potential new fans could have come from his appearance.
Parkers demands on large fees for things which were normally done for free or scale was silly after 1965.
We complain Elvis is not taken seriously today-yet honors such as this were not taken seriously by Parker-he was not interested in the honor of the award-he was interested in the fee. If you have someone special-the honors bestowed upon him only enhance and magnify that person.
If Elvis had been more visible to people who were not fans on these type shows perhaps he would have gained fans and how can that be bad.
Instead we hear today of how "secluded and out of touch" he was in his last years.

Paul McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, Dylan all major historic artists, did not see the need to demand large fees for participation or attendance at these events when they accepted.

Colonel Parker apparently didn't have a problem with Elvis attending the Jaycees ceremony so it must've been perform a song for free thing that had him against it.

I don't think it would've done anything for Elvis' career but we would have footage of the ceremony.
Some fans are always complaining about the lack of footage of Elvis and this would've gave us some additional footage.

So in that sense I think it was a missed opportunity.

[Getlo]

This song is from 1974!Why Elvis is nominated in 1978

It was from 1975, actually.

[KPM]

Colonel Parker apparently didn't have a problem with Elvis attending the Jaycees ceremony so it must've been perform a song for free thing that had him against it.

I don't think it would've done anything for Elvis' career but we would have footage of the ceremony.
Some fans are always complaining about the lack of footage of Elvis and this would've gave us some additional footage.

So in that sense I think it was a missed opportunity.

Well since he was never allowed to attend something like this-Its hard to say it would not have done something for him.
But many complain of how he fell so easily into a rut-things like this now and then would have been good for him-to feel not like "the King" in a palace but a member of the entertainment/music industry who was included in the gatherings of those individuals now and then.
Anything which put his face and talent before people who usually did not watch or listen to him would have the potential to add to his career.
Its funny but most individuals who met Elvis and interacted with him (fans/non fans/ celebrities) came away with a new respect for him and an appreciation for him...............when he was not allowed to do these "special things" it denied him those meetings-those chances to interact-which in his case usually meant good things and publicity.

[GIORGIA]

It was from 1975, actually.

Thank you for the info!But I listen Elvis sing this song in 1974!

[mistymorning]

could not give a **** about the grammys..all that ever mattered was his music and what that voice could convey with a song when he sang from his heart it also reached the hearts of all that heard him..that's what matters most.

LONG LIVE THE KING

You are 100% right my friend , his prize is the love and devotion of his fans ! who cares about Grammys !! long live the king !!!!!!

[Brian]

Well since he was never allowed to attend something like this-Its hard to say it would not have done something for him.
But many complain of how he fell so easily into a rut-things like this now and then would have been good for him-to feel not like "the King" in a palace but a member of the entertainment/music industry who was included in the gatherings of those individuals now and then.
Anything which put his face and talent before people who usually did not watch or listen to him would have the potential to add to his career.
Its funny but most individuals who met Elvis and interacted with him (fans/non fans/ celebrities) came away with a new respect for him and an appreciation for him...............when he was not allowed to do these "special things" it denied him those meetings-those chances to interact-which in his case usually meant good things and publicity.

This is precisely why Colonel Parker didn't want Elvis appearing regularly at award shows or talk shows.
He didn't want it to seem like Elvis was like all the other celebrities and he felt it would add to his mystique by not doing these things.

[KPM]

This is precisely why Colonel Parker didn't want Elvis appearing regularly at award shows or talk shows.He didn't want it to seem like Elvis was like all the other celebrities and he felt it would add to his mystique by not doing these things.

Regularly is far different from "occasionally" and he did not allow even occasional appearances.
It may have added to his mysique in the early to mid 60s but by the end of the 60s it almost seemed odd to many, or even arrogant-out of step. Some people actually thought the Col. was afraid Elvis was not sophisticated enough to handle unscripted banter and interaction-did that add to his "mystique" or did it detract from the man Elvis was?
Which IMO is precisely why the Col. was wrong in his judgement that the policy of fees and "mystique" were unwise after the Beatles hit the US and music began moving in other directions. The Beatles had "mystique" and they were on many shows, many interviews, very approachable guys, who were willing to show up, and do whatever. They were even on Carson, Lennon was on Mike Douglas and it did nothing to take away from his "Mystique"

[Jungleroom76]

Well since he was never allowed to attend something like this-Its hard to say it would not have done something for him.
But many complain of how he fell so easily into a rut-things like this now and then would have been good for him-to feel not like "the King" in a palace but a member of the entertainment/music industry who was included in the gatherings of those individuals now and then.
Anything which put his face and talent before people who usually did not watch or listen to him would have the potential to add to his career.
Its funny but most individuals who met Elvis and interacted with him (fans/non fans/ celebrities) came away with a new respect for him and an appreciation for him...............when he was not allowed to do these "special things" it denied him those meetings-those chances to interact-which in his case usually meant good things and publicity.

ANOTHER excellent point my friend!!!

TCB!
Mike

[Jungleroom76]

This is precisely why Colonel Parker didn't want Elvis appearing regularly at award shows or talk shows.
He didn't want it to seem like Elvis was like all the other celebrities and he felt it would add to his mystique by not doing these things.

I can certainly understand Col. Parker's reasoning for not allowing Elvis to appear at awards shows or other things of that nature all the time....he didn't want to saturate the market with Elvis appearing everywhere all the time.

But still...having him appear this one time to accept this award could hardly be considered saturating the market!!

TCB!
Mike

[Brian]

Regularly is far different from "occasionally" and he did not allow even occasional appearances.
It may have added to his mysique in the early to mid 60s but by the end of the 60s it almost seemed odd to many, or even arrogant-out of step. Some people actually thought the Col. was afraid Elvis was not sophisticated enough to handle unscripted banter and interaction-did that add to his "mystique" or did it detract from the man Elvis was?
Which IMO is precisely why the Col. was wrong in his judgement that the policy of fees and "mystique" were unwise after the Beatles hit the US and music began moving in other directions. The Beatles had "mystique" and they were on many shows, many interviews, very approachable guys, who were willing to show up, and do whatever. They were even on Carson, Lennon was on Mike Douglas and it did nothing to take away from his "Mystique"

I don't think Lennon or the Beatles had the mystique that Elvis had

I recall Johnny Carson asking the Colonel if Elvis would appear on his show and he turned the offer down.
Ed Mcmahon commented on it saying he thought it was because Elvis couldn't handle an interview with Carson.
Ed Mcmahon was just making a wrong assumption about Elvis and the Colonel's way of doing things.
It's absurd to think Elvis couldn't of handled a 5 minute interview with Carson.

If you do one appearance it may lead to more appearances and that could lead to overexposure at least in the Colonel's way of thinking.

[Teddy]

If you establish a policy of not giving interviews and spoken appearances etc you're kind of obliged to keep it up.
As soon as you start making exceptions it becomes a political situation and you run the risk of insulting people, which is definitely bad for business.
You become answerable for your decision to indulge one party but not others.

From a managerial perspective, it's far safer to say that there won't be any appearances of that kind and stick to it.

[May]

I disagree. Why are you obliged to keep it up. Says who? People can do what they like. It may not make others warm to them, but if thats what they want to do, its up to them.

[Teddy]

Why are you obliged to keep it up?

Let's assume Elvis is nominated for a Grammy and an Oscar in the same year.
If he turns up for the Grammy but not the Oscar, then the movie people will feel snubbed and they'll think twice about nominating his next movie.
If he does neither, they can assume that it's just because "Elvis doesn't do personal appearances" and no one gets offended by any 'perceived partiality'. General progress is uninhibited.

It's straightforward business.

I imagine that The Colonel would also be attracted to the idea that this dramatically raises the value of any appearances that they might agree to further down the road.

If both men were still alive and they'd maintained this policy for the duration, they might have considered doing a brief interview on Oprah (or something similar) to celebrate his 75th birthday, and because it was the first of its kind in decades they could charge an unbelievable amount of money for that kind of exclusivity. It would be his pension plan

[May]

I understand your point, Im just saying that if thats what they want to do, its up to them. As I say, it may not make people warm to them, and they could be doing themselves a disservice, but again - up to them.

[SleepyJack]

I think that Colonel Parker was always worried that Elvis might say something in an interview that would upset somebody or give the public a different impression of him than the one Parker wanted.I think that,right from the early days in the `50s Parker knew that Elvis`s sense of humour could lead to situations that would be outside of his manager`s control...I think that worried Parker big-time. It would probably have been better for Elvis in the long-run to have given regular,honest interviews and been allowed to be himself...but it would have killed Parker`s attempts at building the wholesome,squeaky-clean Elvis that he wanted.