The Colonel

[geordie]

ive watched a d.v.d. called the last 24 hours,in it some of elvis "friends: are discussing the last years of the king.lamar fike &sonny west say they saw the colonel lose over a MIILION DOLLARS 2nights running gambling then larry geller tells us of the story when 4 months before he died elvis was feeling terrible lying in bed, with dr. nick putting elvise,s head in a bucket of ice cold water trying to revive him.the colonel walks into the bedroom see,s whats going on and goes out to geller and says ( the only thing that matters is that,that man goes on stage tonight ),then he walks out .i think the colonel was a greedy bloodsucking leech,who got a lucky break in coming into contact with the greatest entertainer ever.elvis would have made it with or without this heartless piece ofs**t.i think the colonel was partly to blame for elvis premature death by pushing him so hard just so the leech could pay his debts.sorry for this rant but i had to get it off my chest

whats your opinion of the colonel ( leech )

R.I.P. ELVIS

[Leroy]

Geordie, I partly agree with you on your views about The Colonel. One thing is standing tall: he didn't give a f**k about "his" boy. The motor that kept The Colonel running was power. He wanted to control and master everything, from people to business. The only way he could control and master his product Elvis was to isolate him and to keep him unknown in a lot of aerea's like taxes, copyrights and royalties.

Not only that, it was also neccesary to keep "********es" away from him like songwriters, fellow musicians and ambitious movie makers and directors. There were only a few people who almost succeeded to get him away from The Colonel; Larry Geller is the first one. Now, you can say about Larry what you want. He did and said a lot you can place question mark with but he did had a great positive influence on Elvis developpement in a spiritual way. By reading and discussing about these matters Elvis got a more positive self image and lost a lot of his insecurities. It would have helped him a lot if Priscilla were with him at that point but she wasn't.

The second one was director Steve Binder who had more influence on Elvis than he himself could imagine. Elvis needed guidance, he needed someone to look up to but it had to be someone who really care about him and did not see him as a product. Elvis had several chances to cut himself loose from The Colonel but he did let them go by. There were two men waiting in the wings to take over. Ed Hookstratten and Tom Hulett. They cared for Elvis and vice verca. They could have been able to make the moves that were needed to stop this crazy rollercoaster. Cutting himself loose from The Colonel was Elvis own responsebillity. He had to make that move to free himself. That was the first step he had to take in the right direction but he didn't. For that he's the only one to blame.

[Captain Elwood David]

Cutting himself loose from The Colonel was Elvis own responsebillity. He had to make that move to free himself. That was the first step he had to take in the right direction but he didn't. For that he's the only one to blame.

Amen.


- Capt. "EL."

[Cryogenic]

I can understand why Elvis deferred to the Colonel again and again in the beginning.

Elvis always had an inferiority complex, and when he went to a college one time well into his fame, the principal there expected him to be a posturing gloryhunter but found him to be genuinely sincere - Elvis confided in him that he wish he'd gone to college!!! That says a lot about why Elvis kept giving into the Colonel, in my opinion.

A second issue that must be considered is one of Elvis and his dislike of confrontations. Sure, he could get angry as hell, shoot guns off over people's heads and issue death threats... but all this was impulsive behaviour. Actually having the nerve to remain incensed and confront someone was not in his makeup.

Thirdly, I think Elvis always felt a sense of obligation and loyalty to the Colonel. Loyalty was always something Elvis expected of others and it seemed to be something that - at least to the person controlling his career - he was prepared to give back (otherwise, you have no basis for a relationship). I think Elvis felt he owed the Colonel everything for the early years of promotion, the first TV appearances and films, and more than anything else, keeping him in the public eye whilst away in the army. Elvis fretted so much that he'd be forgotten while in the army but the Colonel ensured that never happened; surely, to Elvis, that was almost a life debt.

Lastly, fear held Elvis back: fear at what might happen if he did sack the Colonel. Fear that he might have gone against his own personality (by being "disloyal") and fundamentally compromised his own integrity, fear that he might fail without the Colonel's insights, fear that his career would be well and truly overall.

It's a complex issue. The blame must, however, ultimately lie with Elvis. When he defied ol' Tom in 1968 during the Comeback Special and AGAIN in 1969 at American Sound Studios, the results were magical. That, to me, says it all.

[Captain Elwood David]

Elvis did indeed have an inferiority complex, his entire life.

"Good Ol' Colonel, ....... he's still putting it out, & the people still keep coming." (Paraphrased - EP in the 70's).

EP enjoyed what he did (singing), but he also had his own demons to deal with on a number of levels. IMO, The Col. understood & used that effectively.

Gladys Presely never liked The Col.. Had she lived, things more than likely would have took an entirely different turn.

Vernon & Elvis, thought The Col. walked on water - especially in the beginning. Vernon was satisfied with The Col. all the way thru to 1979. Vernon's satisfication had everything to do with money. Elvis' dissatisfaction had to do with being unfulfilled / unchallenged artistically (again, something Elvis was @ the helm of - had he truly chose to be).

I agree with the comments that Elvis was loyal to The Col., even to a fault. That said, ........ The Col. may have also been a master at "encouraging" Elvis' dependence on him (he may have even held a lot over his head - who knows).

Elvis & The Col.; A true study in "Co-Dependency" if there ever was one.



- Capt. "EL."

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

The fact is the Colonel was a small time huxter in the big league and sold Elvis down the river on numerous occasions....................... The fact the Colonel was managing such a talent and managed to squander it beggers belief.

My belief is that neither of them were willing to part ways was purely down to money and the security blanket of the known that kept the status quo.

Their relationship was a Symbiosis with the Colonel ultimately being a parasite that killed the host.

The Colonel is not solely to blame, given the will, Elvis could and should have exerted himself more over the control of his destiny. Elvis had demons and dependencies which the Colonel could have excised, but rather, chose to use it as colateral against Elvis.

Elvis was a southern gentleman, dirty laundry was kept in close circles and a handshake sealed a deal. Ultimately Elvis was cut off from everyone because of this Ideology.

The relationship did however work, we are still here talking about the man! What ever else could have been achieved is resigned to history, how that will be rewritten and manipulated is down to EPE and such like.

Matt

[quinn53]

It's all water under the bridge now, but think of the things Parker did. He fired Leiber and Stoller, two of the greatest songwriters of our time! He contracted Elvis to do such stinkers as "Clambake"! When Elvis did get the nerve to fire him he comes up with some bogus crap that Elvis owes him millions to buy him out. No wonder Elvis took pills.