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Memphis Mafia

Memphis Mafia

Overview
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 an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or 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.
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Encyclopedia
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 an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or 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


As an only child, 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, and emerged in 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's 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, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of...

, 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. It is located at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the vast Whitehaven community about twelve miles from Downtown and less than four miles north of the Mississippi border. It currently serves as a...

. "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. He wrote "Oh, Boy!" and "Rave On!", which Buddy Holly recorded.-External links:*http://www.rockabillyhall.com/SonnyWest.html Rockabilly Hall of Fame...

, 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 "Charlie" Hodge was a backup singer, vocal coach and confidant, and best known for his association with Elvis Presley.- Early music career :...

, Marty Lacker, 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 also managed The Beach Boys briefly and also Presley's daughter Lisa Marie.-Elvis and Jerry:They met on Sunday July 11, 1954...

, Larry Geller, 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 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 Beaulieu Presley is an American actress and businesswoman.She is the ex-wife of singer and actor 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 Sicilian criminal society which is believed to have emerged in late 19th century Sicily, and the first such society to be referred to as a mafia . It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct...

 connotation which the general public was then unaware of, and that members of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations can be defined as a transnational grouping of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for the purpose of generating a monetary profit...

 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 a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by 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 officially named his band the TCB Band
TCB Band
The TCB Band was a group of professional musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Elvis Presley’s band from August 1969 until his death in 1977. Although personnel changed over the years, the original members were James Burton , Jerry Scheff , John Wilkinson , Larry Muhoberac and Ronnie Tutt...

, 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


Jerry Capeci calls the guys from the Memphis Mafia the "party animal buddies of Elvis Presley." 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 carbuyers." 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 (Elvis resented this title expressing on more than one occasion Jesus Christ was The King and not him) 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 "Charlie" Hodge was a backup singer, vocal coach and confidant, and best known for his association with Elvis Presley.- Early music career :...

 and 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...

, 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.

Party life


Peter Guralnick
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 Davis, Jr. was an American entertainer.Primarily a dancer and singer, Davis was a childhood vaudevillian, and became internationally famous for his performances on Broadway and Las Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's...

, or check out Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin was an American singer and musician.Darin performed widely in a range of music genres, including pop, jazz, folk and country...

 at the Cloister. Nick Adams
Nick Adams
Nick Adams was an Academy Award nominated American film and television actor. He has been noted for his supporting roles in successful Hollywood films during the 1950s and 1960s along with his starring role in the ABC television series The Rebel...

 and his gang came by the suite all the time, not to mention the eccentric actor Billy Murphy, longtime friend of John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...

 and Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer. Mitchum is largely remembered for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life and...

 ..." 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. His management of Presley re-wrote the role of talent manager and was seen as central to the astonishing success of Presley's career...

 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
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 a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the...

's Rat Pack
Rat Pack
The Rat Pack was a group of popular entertainers 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 group that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter...

" 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 is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter.-Imperial Records era :...

, Della Reese
Della Reese
Della Reese is an American actress and singer. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer and her career really took off with her 1959 hit single "Don't You Know". She subsequently became an actress, best known as playing Tess, the leading role on the television show...

, Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson Jr. was an American singer, and performer, and a 1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee. 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 singer and...

, The Four Aces
The Four Aces
The Four Aces is an American male quartet popular since the '50s. 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," "Dream," "Tell Me Why," "Its No...

, 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. He would rent a movie theatre to watch a film
Film
Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....

 or an entire Memphis amusement park
Amusement park
Amusement park or theme park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group of people. An amusement park is more elaborate than a simple city park or playground, usually providing attractions meant to cater...

 to ride a 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...

. 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. He served in that role from October 4, 1965 until May 14, 1969, when he resigned under pressure.-Early years:...

. 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 Helber, Al Strada, Dr. Nick, Rick, David and Billy Stanley (Elvis's step brothers), Larry Geller, Charlie Hodge
Charlie Hodge (guitarist)
Charles Franklin "Charlie" Hodge was a backup singer, vocal coach and confidant, and best known for his association with 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 also managed The Beach Boys briefly and also Presley's daughter Lisa Marie.-Elvis and Jerry:They met on Sunday July 11, 1954...

 and Gene Smith.

Each man had specific duties. Joe Esposito officiated as chief road manager and was Elvis' right hand man, Chief personal Aide for almost 17 years. 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
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...

 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. He is noted for being Elvis Presley's bassist.-Career:...

 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 , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...

 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 a luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors Company. Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mainly in North America....

 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 Beaulieu Presley is an American actress and businesswoman.She is the ex-wife of singer and actor 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
Graceland is a large white-columned mansion and estate that was home to Elvis Presley in Memphis. It is located at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the vast Whitehaven community about twelve miles from Downtown and less than four miles north of the Mississippi border. It currently serves as a...

 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


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. His management of Presley re-wrote the role of talent manager and was seen as central to the astonishing success of Presley's career...

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

 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 was an American actress....

 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
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is the romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex, situationally or as an enduring disposition. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is considered to lie within the heterosexual-homosexual continuum of human sexuality, and refers to an individual’s...

, especially since Elvis often wore pancake makeup and mascara offstage to accentuate his brooding intensity ..." 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 "tongues wagged" that Elvis and his best friend Nick Adams "were getting it on."

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 drug is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a 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 US-based Australian-born 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 world's largest English-language general trade book publisher. It has been owned since 1998 by the large German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing...

     (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. The worldwide CEO of HarperCollins is Brian Murray...

     (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 also managed The Beach Boys briefly and also Presley's daughter Lisa Marie.-Elvis and Jerry:They met on Sunday July 11, 1954...

    , Chuck Crisafulli (August 17, 2006) Gotham
    Gotham
    Gotham may refer to:Real places:* Gotham, Nottinghamshire, England** Wise Men of Gotham, an early name given to the people of Gotham, Nottinghamshire* Gotham, Wisconsin, United States* Gotham, a hamlet near Verwood, Dorset, United Kingdom...

      (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