Memphis Mafia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The "Memphis Mafia" was the nickname for a group of friends, associates, employees and "yes-men" whose main function was to be around Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

from 1954 until he died. Several filled practical roles in the singer's life. For instance, they were employed to work for him as bodyguards or on tour logistics and scheduling. In these cases Elvis paid salaries, but most lived off fringe benefits such as gifts, cars, houses and bonuses. Over the years, the number of members grew and changed, but for the most part there was a core group who spent a lot of time with the singer.

Early members

Elvis preferred men around him who were loyal, trustworthy and deferential. Thus family members and friends of his youth were very important to him. "For the first time in his life, he had a group of male friends to pal around with, and he relished being the leader of the pack." The group began with Elvis' first cousins Junior and Gene Smith (Gladys Presley's sister Levalle's children) who accompanied Elvis everywhere, along with Elvis' high school friend Red West

Red West

Red West is an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter.West was born Robert Gene West in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lois and Newton Thomas West. He was a close high school friend of rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. An excellent athlete and former U.S...

and rockabilly

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

singer Cliff Gleaves. At that time Judy Spreckels

Judy Spreckels

Judy Spreckels is an American writer, publisher and trial historian. She was a friend of Elvis Presley during the rock 'n' roll singer's rise to stardom.-Spreckels' relationship with Elvis Presley:...

seems to have been the only woman. She describes herself as having been like a sister to Elvis, a companion, confidante and keeper of secrets in the exciting days of his early career. "Elvis was surrounded by the first wave of what would become known as the Memphis Mafia." She says that she "was with him and the guys all the time." They drove bumper cars in Las Vegas

Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

, rode horses in California and hung out at Graceland

Graceland

Graceland is a large white-columned mansion and estate that was home to Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee. It is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the vast Whitehaven community about 9 miles from Downtown and less than four miles north of the Mississippi border. It currently serves as...

. "There wasn't a crowd then, just a few guys," and she emphasizes that she "had nothing to do with being a yes man for him and obviously he trusted me." Among "the first to live, travel and play with Elvis" were also Sonny West

Sonny West

Sonny West is a rock and roll-musician. West wrote and recorded both "Oh, Boy!" and "Rave On" on the Atlantic label in the late 1950s...

, Joe Esposito

Diamond Joe Esposito

Joe Esposito is a veteran author and publisher, who along with his long time business partner Daniel Lombardy, have several best selling books to their credit....

, Charlie Hodge

Charlie Hodge (guitarist)

Charles Franklin Hodge , better known as Charlie Hodge, was an American singer, vocal coach and musician who was a confidant and associate of Elvis Presley.- Early music career :...

, and Lamar Fike: "Over the years they were joined on the payroll by the Stanley brothers - Ricky, Billy and David, Jerry Schilling

Jerry Schilling

Jerry Schilling is a veteran music industry professional, best known for his association with Elvis Presley since 1954 . He briefly managed The Beach Boys and Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie....

, Larry Geller, Marty Lacker, Dave Hebler and numerous others."

Origin of the nickname

Around 1960, the media dubbed these people "The Memphis Mafia." This first referred to their image, as they usually cruised the city in black mohair suits and dark sunglasses. According to one account, a crowd of people in front of the Riviera Hotel

Riviera (hotel and casino)

The Riviera is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. The hotel has over 2,100 rooms, many located in a 23-story tower. The casino has of gaming space.-History:...

watched as two big black limousines arrived. Elvis and his friends got out of the two cars and someone in the crowd yelled, "Who are they, the Mafia?" and a newspaper reporter picked up the story. The Memphis Mafia members themselves say on their website that Elvis liked the name and it stuck. However, Presley's former wife Priscilla

Priscilla Presley

Priscilla Presley is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the ex-wife of singer Elvis Presley, and the mother of singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley....

wrote that Presley didn't like the name because of a frightening Mafia

Mafia

The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

connotation which the general public was then unaware of, and that members of organized crime

Organized crime

Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...

had attempted to take over Presley's career, something reported as having happened earlier to Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

.
It's important to note that Elvis might have chosen to surround himself with such friends because he knew that it might have been the only way out of poverty for all his childhood friends.

The acronym TCB

Presley and his friends and employees also adopted the acronym TCB which meant "Taking Care of Business". Presley had the tail of his private jet painted with the initials "TCB" and a lightning bolt and gave away TCB & TLC on gold chain necklaces as gifts.

Opinions by different people

William Otterburn-Hall describes the men as close around the star "like a football scrum after a loose ball." He relates that they were a "friendly bunch" who, when Elvis began to sing just for fun during his interview, followed "suit, singing, clowning, all on their feet". But there was more. According to Patrick Humphries, they "acted as Elvis' bodyguards, babysitters, drug procurers, girl-getters, mates and car buyers." The author also mentions other functions of the guys: "various members of the Memphis Mafia had ... played vital roles in keeping Elvis' numerous dirty secrets out of the public eye. A couple of them had been arrested with false prescriptions attempting to collect drugs for Elvis, quite a few had taken physical hits in the service of protecting Elvis and none were paid more than $500 a week. For that they were often shouted at, abused and belittled by the King when he felt like it." Buzz Cason

Buzz Cason

Buzz Cason is an American rock singer, songwriter, producer and author....

saw these "combination bodyguards-hangers-on good ol Southern boys ... constantly coming in and out of the various rooms, making phone calls and promptly responding to any need that Elvis might have." Greenwood calls the men Elvis collected as buddies, "men who lacked any real ambition or abilities. The one trait they did share was a willingness to do Elvis's bidding and contentment to take whatever handouts Elvis was offering. Typically, he doled out the presents regularly and basked in his sense of largesse. But for as well as he treated his army buddies, Elvis showed flashes of unaccountable meanness, bordering on cruelty, with a lot of people..." In similar terms, Jerry Eden states that it really made him "sick to see Elvis' two-faced cousins, members of the so-called Memphis Mafia, who hung around him for the money, clothes, cars, and leftover girls." He adds that these leeches "were mostly his second and third cousins from Mississippi. With the exception of a couple of the guys, like Charlie Hodge

Charlie Hodge (guitarist)

Charles Franklin Hodge , better known as Charlie Hodge, was an American singer, vocal coach and musician who was a confidant and associate of Elvis Presley.- Early music career :...

and Red West

Red West

, most of his friends were simply ignorant hillbillies out to get everything they could from him. ... They had a real sweet thing going that's for sure. They called themselves bodyguards, but in reality they were only flunkies falling over each other to kiss El's ass." Larry Geller is often regarded in the poor light due to his spiritual influences on Presley when he had just been employed as a hair dresser.

However, according to Memphis Mafia member Marty Lacker, "Most of the guys had responsibilities and they were far from leeches, hangers on or whatever else they were called." "They all had jobs to do so that Elvis could do his and as far as being there for the money, that's laughable because there really wasn't much in that area to be there for." Marty went on to say, "Most of us were not there for the money, we were there because we all cared about Elvis and each other like brothers."

Additionally, according to Elvis Presley Expert and Historian Jeff Schrembs of www.ElvisCollector.info, the Members of the Memphis Mafia had specific jobs. Joe Espositio handled money and cross referenced the extensive travel arrangements. Charlie Hodge harmonized with Elvis and specked out each stage before the concert. Lamar Fike handled Elvis' stage lighting. Red and Sonny West were Elvis' bodyguards (although Red West also had a talent for writing songs, including some recorded by Elvis such as "If everyday was like Christmas" and then "Separate Ways"). Marty Lacker was a brutally honest sounding board, Jerry Schilling gave advice about what other groups were using for audio equipment etc., and Elvis' Cousin Billy Smith was a man of all trades.

Party life

Peter Guralnick

Peter Guralnick is an American music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra...

writes that Elvis spent all day and night with the members from the Memphis Mafia: "For Elvis and the guys [...] Hollywood was just an open invitation to party all night long. Sometimes they would hang out with Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....

, or check out Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...

at the Cloister. Nick Adams and his gang came by the suite all the time, not to mention the eccentric actor Billy Murphy

William Murphy (actor)

William “Bill” Murphy is an American actor active from the 1940s through the 1970s.The eccentric actor was a long-time friend of John Wayne and Robert Mitchum and spent many nights together with Elvis Presley and his guys from the Memphis Mafia, and regarded Hollywood as an open invitation to party...

, longtime friend of John Wayne

John Wayne

Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...

and Robert Mitchum

Robert Mitchum

Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...

..." Guralnick adds "The Colonel

Colonel Tom Parker

"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...

joked that they looked like a bunch of old men, but the Memphis Mafia had become almost as well known around town as Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

's Rat Pack

Rat Pack

The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...

" and that Elvis and his guys were all "living on speed and tranqs." For Joe Esposito, "it was a party like you wouldn't believe. Go to a different show every night, then pick up a bunch of women afterwards, go party the next night. Go to the lounges, see Fats Domino

Fats Domino

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....

, Della Reese

Della Reese

Delloreese Patricia Early, known professionally as Della Reese , is an American actress, singer, game show panelist of the 1970s, one-time talk-show hostess and ordained minister. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You...

, Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson

Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...

, The Four Aces

The Four Aces

The Four Aces is an American male traditional pop music quartet, popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", "Tell Me...

, the Dominoes

Dominoes

Dominoes generally refers to the collective gaming pieces making up a domino set or to the subcategory of tile games played with domino pieces. In the area of mathematical tilings and polyominoes, the word domino often refers to any rectangle formed from joining two congruent squares edge to edge...

- all the old acts. We'd stay there and never sleep, we were all taking pills just so we could keep up with each other."

Bodyguards, road managers and other employees

When Presley emerged as a major celebrity in 1956, he was constantly besieged by adoring fans and the press, making a normal lifestyle impossible. However, Presley's enormous wealth allowed him an ability to separate himself from the general public, especially in his home city of Memphis. For example, he would rent an entire movie theater to watch a film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

. Among Memphis natives, he was most known for renting out the entire Memphis amusement park

Amusement park

thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

Libertyland

Libertyland was Memphis, Tennessee's only amusement park. Opened on July 4, 1976, it was located at 940 Early Maxwell Blvd. It was structured under the nonprofit 5014 US tax code. It closed due to financial reasons in 2005.-History:...

in order to ride his favorite roller coaster

Roller coaster

The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...

the Zippin Pippin. Professional handlers and celebrity security experts had not yet evolved. Presley faced repeated threats of physical violence from outraged moral extremists and death threats from fanatics, as would later happen when he performed in Las Vegas. These threats were kept out of the press for fear of triggering even more.

For both his security needs and touring support, Presley hired people chosen from among those he could trust and depend on to manage his public appearances. This entourage included first cousins and several of Presley's friends from his boyhood in a poor Memphis housing project plus junior and senior high school friends and early employees from Memphis such as Alan Fortas, nephew of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas

Abe Fortas

Abraham Fortas was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice from 1965 to 1969. Originally from Tennessee, Fortas became a law professor at Yale, and subsequently advised the Securities and Exchange Commission. He then worked at the Interior Department under Franklin D...

. Many people were employed with the group through the years but some of the more prominent members were Joe Esposito, Lamar Fike, Alan Fortas, Marty Lacker, Billy Smith, Richard Davis, Red West, Sonny West, Dave Hebler, Al Strada, Dr. Nick, Rick, David and Billy Stanley (Elvis's step brothers), Larry Geller, Charlie Hodge

Charlie Hodge (guitarist)

Charles Franklin Hodge , better known as Charlie Hodge, was an American singer, vocal coach and musician who was a confidant and associate of Elvis Presley.- Early music career :...

, Jerry Schilling

Jerry Schilling

Jerry Schilling is a veteran music industry professional, best known for his association with Elvis Presley since 1954 . He briefly managed The Beach Boys and Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie....

and Gene Smith.

Each man had specific duties. Joe Esposito officiated as Chief Road Manager and Chief Personal Aide for almost 17 years. Marty Lacker served as Elvis' Chief Personal Aide for 3 of those years Esposito claims. Esposito and Lacker served as Presley's Co-Best Men at his wedding. Sonny West was responsible for security at Presley concerts. Red West

Red West

was one of Presley's earliest friends from their school days, his first bodyguard which he would remain until the last year of Presley's life, and in 1954 had acted as a driver for Elvis, Scotty Moore

Scotty Moore

Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III is an American guitarist. He is best known for his backing of Elvis Presley in the first part of his career, between 1954 and the beginning of Elvis' Hollywood years...

and Bill Black

Bill Black

William Patton "Bill" Black, Jr. was an American musician who is noted as one of the pioneers of rockabilly music. Black was the bassist in Elvis Presley's early trio and the leader of Bill Black's Combo....

when they first toured the American South performing as the "Blue Moon Boys." Priscilla Presley said these employees were paid an average of $250 per week during the 1960s, which rose to $425 per week in the 1970s. Each Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

all Presley employees received bonus checks. Some members of this inner circle became close friends who served as replacements for a lack of normal everyday friendships Presley's fame would not allow. Marty Lacker and Elvis' cousin, Billy Smith, were probably the closest true friends of Elvis according to some in the group. Known for his generosity (attributed by Presley himself to an impoverished childhood), he bought some of these employees homes as wedding gifts and frequently bought new Cadillac

Cadillac

Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...

automobiles for employees, relatives and friends.

"Parasitic presence"

Elvis's father Vernon distrusted and disliked the Memphis Mafia, whom he thought exercised an unhealthy influence over his son. "Surrounded by the parasitic presence of the so-called Memphis Mafia, it was no wonder", says John Harris, that as the singer "slid into addiction and torpor, no-one raised the alarm: to them, Elvis was the bank, and it had to remain open." Jerry Eden says that the guys didn't like Priscilla Beaulieu

Priscilla Presley

Priscilla Presley is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the ex-wife of singer Elvis Presley, and the mother of singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley....

. "When Priscilla came on the scene, she made them move out of Graceland, keeping just a couple of them in the house to act as bodyguards."

Substitute parents

Elvis Presley reportedly spent day and night with his friends and employees from the Memphis Mafia. They were a big family and Elvis lived in a "milieu of a protective brotherhood." Gerald Marzorati says that Elvis "couldn't go anywhere else without a phalanx of boyhood friends." Even the girls he dated deplored, "Whenever you were with Elvis for the most part you were with his entourage. Those guys were always around..." According to the singer's cousin Billy Smith, Elvis got into bed with Smith and his wife Jo "many times at Graceland

Graceland

when we would spend the night there in Lisa's room, or on tour in the hotel, and at the trailer on the property at Graceland. ... we were all three there talking for hours about everything in the world! Sometimes he would have a bad dream and come looking for me to talk to, and he would actually fall asleep in our bed with us. That happened a lot of times, and we thought nothing of it."

Playing dangerous games

When they rented the Rainbow Rollerdrome in Memphis, Elvis and the "Memphis Mafia" usually played "a game called 'War', of which Elvis was the proud inventor. ... There were two teams, and the object of the game was to knock over as many members of the opposing team as possible by any means." Another game was called the 'Whip' game. "Elvis's idea of an exciting game was that it should be as dangerous as possible", such as the game that involved fireworks. "Some of the Memphis Mafia would buy up to $15,000 worth of fireworks in today's money, including skyrockets, baby giants, firecrackers, and ... chasers, which moved rapidly and unpredictably until they exploded. Since the emphasis was on large and potentially lethal fireworks, everyone had to wear air force jump-suits plus gloves, helmets, and goggles. When they were all dressed up, they divided themselves into Blue and Red teams, and started hurling fireworks at the other team ... Elvis was left with a big scar on his neck from one firework, and one of his friends nearly lost an eye."

Handling of girls and claims of homosexuality

Byron Raphael, an assistant to Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker

Colonel Tom Parker

"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...

, worked for Elvis in 1956-57 and procured several girls to climb into bed with the star, including some well-known movie stars. This was also one of the tasks of the men from the Memphis Mafia, as many girls wanted to get in close touch with the star. In her memoir, model and actress Peggy Lipton

Peggy Lipton

Peggy Lipton is an American television actress. She played "Julie Barnes" in The Mod Squad, and Norma Jennings in Twin Peaks.- Personal life and background :...

writes that she felt trapped in Presley's bed as the star was impotent with her and she "couldn't just amble out into the next room to get a breath because all his guys were in the front of the suite gearing up for show time. I could hear their piercing laughter and loud voices against the background of the blaring TV." Buzz Cason even saw a fascinating "guest-bedroom with two-way mirrors, where the highly mischievous Memphis Mafia clowns could eavesdrop on visitors who might slip away there for a little romantic action." According to Raphael's eye-witness account, actress Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...

was upset when Presley refused to have sexual intercourse with her. She made a snide remark to the members of the Memphis Mafia that she "was not the only one to think Elvis and the guys might be homosexual, especially since Elvis often wore pancake makeup and mascara offstage to accentuate his brooding intensity, à la Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...

and Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...

, his favorite movie actors." Erika Lee Doss also emphasizes that Elvis "wore ruffled pink shirts and black pants with pink stripes, deliberately claiming 'girl' colors (pink being the female color of the 1950s) for himself." Douglas Brode adds that his homosexual fans liked it. Indeed, Alan Fortas writes, there was "the speculation among some of the show business community that Elvis was homosexual, latent or otherwise" and that this was one of manager Parker's reasons "for wanting to see Elvis settled down and married". Even Marty Lacker confirms that in the early years in Hollywood, "a lot of people thought" that the Memphis Mafia members "were all gay.... Little did they know that the house was packed with women". Byron Raphael and Alanna Nash

Alanna Nash

Alanna Nash is an American journalist and biographer.Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books...

add in their article that there "were also rumors that Nick Adams swung both ways, just as there had been about Adams’s good pal (and Elvis’s idol) James Dean

James Dean

James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...

. Tongues wagged that Elvis and Adams were getting it on. But Elvis was frightened of homosexuals; the Colonel had told him to be on the lookout for them in Hollywood. He was even scared of Lizabeth Scott

Lizabeth Scott

Lizabeth Scott is an American actress and singer widely known for her film noir roles.-Early life:She was born Emma Matzo in the Pine Brook section of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of six children, to Ruthenian parents who had emigrated from Uzhgorod, in what is now Ukraine...

, the icy blonde who played romantic scenes with him in 1957’s Loving You, since Confidential magazine had recently outed her as a lesbian with a busy little black book." Goldman also says that Colonel Parker "used to warn the Guys: 'Watch what you say about Jews and homosexuals out here in Hollywood because you never know when you're talkin' to one of 'em.' " Indeed, homophobia was "deeply embedded in American culture of the 1950s and 60s." Marty Lacker says that Adams "was really [Elvis's] only actor friend. He liked him a lot". However, "Elvis having homosexual encounters with Nick doesn't sit right with me". He further claims that he didn't know "that Nick was homosexual" and that nobody in the group was gay. "Somebody got the rumor up after Elvis's death that he and I had been lovers and that I was writing a book about it. That's a sick lie..." Douglas Brode writes that "in the 1970s, rumors abounded that Elvis was gay and that the real reason his marriage failed (...) wasn't his [or Priscilla's] infidelity, but his preference for the all-male company of his Memphis Mafia. Elvis was not homosexual in his activities, withdrawing from friendships if he felt a man might be interested in him 'that way'. Such extreme reactions might be viewed as homosexual panic. Clearly there's a hint of homo-eroticism in Elvis' preference for the male group over one woman." According to Geoffrey C. Ward and Robert Atwan, Elvis's supposed fear of homosexuals "is interesting Freudian fodder."

Books by former "Memphis Mafia" members

Since the late 1970s, some former members of the Memphis Mafia have written books on Elvis. The first exposé book, Elvis: What Happened? appeared in 1977 shortly before Elvis's death. This so-called Bodyguard book came from the West cousins and Dave Hebler. They wrote about Presley's years of prescription drug

Prescription drug

A prescription medication is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a medical prescription before it can be obtained. The term is used to distinguish it from over-the-counter drugs which can be obtained without a prescription...

abuse which eventually led to his death. Elvis's youngest stepbrother says the singer "was devastated by the book. Here were his close friends who had written serious stuff that would affect his life. He felt betrayed. Red was honest with Elvis about his medication problems and I think this was one of the reasons he was fired. For the guys they were fired, but not by Elvis. That must have hurt." Elvis had "even offered the publishers money not to go ahead with it. For Vernon the book was proof of his long-held distrust and dislike not just of those three but of the whole of the Memphis Mafia ..."
In 2007, Sonny West released Elvis: Still Takin' Care of Business, which was a softer look at his relationship with the King.

List of books

Elvis: What Happened by author Steve Dunleavy
Steve Dunleavy
Stephen Francis Patrick Aloysius Dunleavy , is a journalist best known as a columnist for the New York Post...

(with input from Red West
Red West
Red West is an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter.West was born Robert Gene West in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lois and Newton Thomas West. He was a close high school friend of rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. An excellent athlete and former U.S...

, Sonny West, Dave Hebler) (1977) Bantam Books
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

(ISBN 0345272153)
Elvis: Portrait of a Friend by Marty Lacker, Patsy Lacker and Leslie S. Smith (1980) (ISBN 0553138243)
Me' n Elvis by Charlie Hodge (1988) Castle Books, (ISBN 0-91669300-7)
Elvis, From Memphis To Hollywood by Alan Fortas (1992) Popular Culture, Ink., (ISBN 1-56075-026-X)
Good Rockin' Tonight : Twenty Years On The Road And On The Town With Elvis by Diamond Joe Esposito
Diamond Joe Esposito
Joe Esposito is a veteran author and publisher, who along with his long time business partner Daniel Lombardy, have several best selling books to their credit....

,(1994) Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...

(ISBN 0-671-79507-4)
Elvis' Man Friday by Gene Smith (1994) (ISBN 0-9642566-0-6)
Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia by Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash is an American journalist and biographer.Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books...

, Billy Smith (Contributor), Marty Lacker (Contributor), Lamar Fike (Contributor) – HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...

(1995) (ISBN 0060176199), including gossip describing Elvis' decline during the latter part of his life as viewed by Billy Smith, Marty Lacker and Lamar Fike along with other events.
Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business by Sonny West with Marshall Terrill Triumph Books (ISBN 978-1-57243-939-9)
Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley by Jerry Schilling
Jerry Schilling
Jerry Schilling is a veteran music industry professional, best known for his association with Elvis Presley since 1954 . He briefly managed The Beach Boys and Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie....

, Chuck Crisafulli (August 17, 2006) Gotham Books (ISBN 1-59240-231-3)
Remember Elvis Produced by Diamond Joe Esposito
Diamond Joe Esposito
Joe Esposito is a veteran author and publisher, who along with his long time business partner Daniel Lombardy, have several best selling books to their credit....

and Daniel Lombardy, (2006) TCBJOE Publishing (ISBN 0977894525)

External links

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