Oh gosh, there are so many great memories
of Elvis, it is hard to say which one is the
best...My favorite thing about Elvis was the
fact that he was just a normal person.
He didn't put on any airs as if he were the
"the King of Rock and Roll."
He was just a normal guy... and an incredible
entertainer, the best entertainer I have ever
seen...and maybe the best there has ever been.
And the proof of the pudding is in the fact
that here we are 35 years later after his
death and he is still drawing huge crowds
whereever they have Elvis festivals like this...
For example, when I would take people down
to meet him in the dressing room before the
show in Las Vegas, people both men and women
would literally lose their voices...they were
just in such awe.
His presence was so...striking...
They couldn't talk.
I've seen men and women, both, start to tear
up just being there with him.
He just had a presence, a charisma, an aura
about him that you just don't find in most
people.
Or, very people ever...
It came about by the fact that I was a family
friend of Colonel Parker, who was Elvis' manager.
We knew him since the late '40s...
So, we knew him...
He managed other people -- Hank Snow, Eddie
Arnold... -- and I can remember the Colonel
being over for a Sunday afternoon dinner when
we were living in California and after dinner
he would always light up a big cigar and tell
us stories about show business...
And one afternoon, he very casually mentioned,
"I signed a new boy today and I think he's
going to be 'perty' big..."
He always said "perty" instead of pretty,
and I said, "I think he's going to be perty
big...
And his name is Elvis Presley..."
And we had 10 kids in our family, and I said,
"Elvis, what kind of name is Elvis...
I've never heard of anyone called Elvis before..."
So, that was how we got our first introduction
to him and years later when I was a little
older, uh, my brother Ron, who was in the
air force, and was into photography and research
and development, sent me a camera and said
you oughta try taking pictures, it's really
fun.
And I tried it and I liked it.
So, I enrolled in a class at the university.
A beginning photography class.
And, uh, as I said, the Colonel was a long
time family friend, and he would talk to my
mom and dad by phone all the time...
And I guess my mother told him one day that
I was taking pictures.
So, when he called me in June of 1970 and
said that he and Elvis had decided it was
time to get back into doing personal appearances,
he said he wanted to know if my brother and
I, and a cousin and another friend, would
like to come along help out on the tour...just
do whatever was necessary to make sure the
tours ran smoothly.
Loading an uploading the planes, setting up
the stage, unloading the trucks...and I said
yes.
And he said, by the way, your mother tells
me you are taking pictures now.
I said, "well, I just started taking a class..."
and he says, "Well, if you want, feel free
to bring your camera and take all the pictures
you want..."
And that sentence from him just changed my
life...
Because over the next five years with Elvis
I took over 10,000 pictures
This is not my favorite, but it is probably
my second favorite...and I happen to have
it right here...
It's a shot that I took actually the last
time that I photographed Elvis... in concert
in Memphis, Tennessee on June 10, 1975.
And this photo has been used all over the
world...for every possible means you can imagine...
and, uh, as I said, it is not my favorite...
I still have one other favorite but this is
probably second favorite...and it's an incredible
shot, I think...
Well, I had left the Elvis show 3 months before
he died... because I was dying.
I was physically, emotionally and monetarily
washed out...
Um... and I walked away from the show and,
uh, the Colonel and everyone else including
members of my family tried to get me to come
back and I wouldn't even talk to anybody...
I just stayed alone and, uh...
A friend of mine that I had trained to do
a lot of my jobs on the tour, Ron Johnson
was his name, called me the night before next
tour was coming up and he said, "I don't have
a garage, and I'm going to be gone for a few
weeks...can I park my car in your garage while
I'm gone, and maybe you can give me a ride
to the airport."
So, we went out to dinner and all after dinner,
he kept asking me, you know, why I didn't
want to come back... he said, 'just pack a
bag and come along' and I said, 'no, I am
not going back on the road...'
We drove to the airport, and on the way he
was doing the same thing...
Finally, I said, "look, Ron, I am never going
back on the road.
You've seen how Elvis has been the last couple
tours and he just hasn't looked good" and
I said, "you know, this is your only job,
your only means of income, and you could get
a call at any time and say, 'Elvis is dead,'
and then what are you going to do for a living...?"
Okay, he says, "I'll leave you alone..."
So, I drove him to the Santa Monica airport
and talked to a few fans, I mean not fans,
show members, who were there flying to Memphis
that night and staying overnight and then
picking up two of Elvis' Memphis Mafia guys
to go on to Portland, Maine and I went home
and went to bed.
The morning about 9.30am, my phone rang and
I picked it up and it was Ron Johnson's voice...
and he said, "how did you know?"
And I said, "how did I know what?"
He said, "Elvis is dead."
And to this day, he insists that I foretold
his death, and I said, "no..."
I said, anybody who was around him enough
could see that...
It was a shock, but it wasn't a big surprise.
Well, probably the main thing is that you
are around Elvis fans.
Whether you come here as a fan to watch everything
or as a guest speaker or a dealer to sell
things...whatever it is, and even if you don't
sell anything or make any money or do anything
special, being in and among Elvis people is
a reward in and of itself.
It's a happy time, around good people.
You see a lot of the same people over and
over again...
It's like renewing old acquaintances... and
it just never gets old.
I do this not only in Bad Nauheim, but also
basically all over the world.
No matter where in the world you go, whether
you have been there before or not and know
anybody, you are accepted and you accept the
people as if you have known each other forever...
and the common denominator with all of them
is Elvis.
He brings the world together...
