Veteran Elvis biographer Peter Guralnick examines the life and legacy of Parker\u2014from his childhood in the Netherlands to his two-decade tenure as Presley\u2019s right hand man<\/a>\u2014in The Colonel and the King. The book includes dozens of Parker\u2019s personal letters to Presley and other confidantes, offering a never-before-seen look at the manager\u2019s bond with the singer.<\/p>\n The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World<\/p>\n The Colonel and the King counters the enduring perception that Parker, who lied about his origins and maintained an eccentric public persona, was an overbearing force who stifled Presley as an artist. \u201cHe completely removed himself from Elvis\u2019 creative life,\u201d Guralnick recently told The Los Angeles Times<\/a>. \u201cIt was a partnership of equals, but Parker didn\u2019t get involved in that aspect of Elvis\u2019 career.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, although Elvis once said he loved Parker \u201clike a father,\u201d the pair certainly had their share of disagreements. In fact, the pair\u2019s relationship nearly ended for good in September 1973 after a late-night concert gone wrong. <\/p>\n Elvis and Parker fired each other after a concert outburst<\/p>\n With his movie star days<\/a> behind him, Presley hoped Las Vegas<\/a> could revitalize his career. In July 1969, he played his first concert<\/a> at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, kicking off a residency that continued off and on for the next seven years. Elvis Presley began his first Las Vegas residency in 1969 and continued to be a high-profile draw to Sin City off and on for the next seven years.<\/p>\n But on September 3, 1973, Presley delivered a profanity-laced tirade during the final concert of his four-week run at the venue, which had changed its name to the Las Vegas Hilton<\/a>, to put the arrangement in jeopardy.<\/p>\n According to Guralnick, hotel management allegedly intended to fire Presley\u2019s favorite waiter, angering the singer. During a special 3 a.m. concert to commemorate his last night on stage, Elvis began berating Hilton company director and CEO Barron Hilton and replaced the lyrics to his popular song \u201cLove Me Tender\u201d with various obscenities. \u201cTo hell with the whole Hilton Hotel, and screw the showroom, too,\u201d he crooned.<\/p>\n Dive Deeper<\/p>\n The outburst understandably appalled Parker, who was seated in the front row with Loanne Miller, his future second wife. He confronted Presley after the concert and wrote a letter to the singer later that day. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are not judge and jury, but performers, and have a job to do on that stage without getting involved with hotel employees during the performance,\u201d Parker wrote. \u201cI am not aware of the reason for your outburst in this matter, but I am sure you know why you did it, and it has not made things easy to patch up.\u201d<\/p>\n Early on the morning of September 5, Elvis and his father, Vernon Presley<\/a>, determined The King and the Colonel should go separate ways. Parker immediately tended his resignation letter in response. \u201cWith all the other incidents involved, this is the best solution for all concerned. I have no ill \u00adfeelings\u2014but I am also not a puppet on a string,\u201d Parker wrote to Elvis.<\/p>\n One of the biggest partnerships in music was, seemingly, over. But Parker\u2019s letter wasn\u2019t the last word.<\/p>\n Elvis\u2019 personal life began collapsing, too<\/p>\n On top of his suddenly uncertain music prospects, Presley quickly experienced two major setbacks in his personal life that fall. The first was his divorce from Priscilla Presley<\/a>, which was finalized on October 9, 1973. Still, the pair shared custody of their only daughter, Lisa Marie Presley<\/a>, and remained on amicable terms.<\/p>\n More alarmingly, Elvis\u2019 substance abuse landed him in the hospital. According to Guralnick, he was admitted to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis for two weeks because of an addiction to Demerol, an opioid pain medication.<\/p>\n During this time, Parker had no direct contact with Presley and only heard through sources that the singer was in exploring the idea of another manager. But as Christmas approached, there were signs the tension had dwindled in Presley\u2019s camp. Namely, Parker received brief telephone calls from both Vernon and Elvis\u2019s bodyguard Sonny West. Maybe the partnership could be saved after all. <\/p>\n Elvis and Parker reunited but weren\u2019t the same<\/p>\n Soon enough, Presley called Parker himself. According to the Colonel, the first question the singer asked was: \u201cWhen are we going on tour?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI told him I could not answer that since he had never replied after he told me that he wanted to make a fair settlement [for the dissolution of their contract in September],\u201d Parker later recalled. \u201c\u2018Well,\u2019 he said, \u2018I want to start working.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n So they did. With Parker\u2019s help, Elvis continued touring and salvaged his Hilton residency despite his public blowout. He went on to perform an estimated 636 sold-out shows there by the end of his run in 1976.<\/p>\n Colonel Tom Parker began managing Elvis\u2019s career in 1955. Their close partnership was eventually tested by the manager\u2019s gambling habit and the musician\u2019s substance abuse.<\/p>\n However, his working relationship with Parker was vastly different after their reunion. As Guralnick wrote, the pair played a \u201csmall-bore game of retribution and retaliation.\u201d An example of these small slights involved Presley making the Colonel wait on the airplane tarmac in bad weather before making their way to the next tour destination.<\/p>\n When Parker questioned the musician about his drug use or a bad performance, Presley often gave the same dismissive answer: \u201cI know what I\u2019m doing.\u201d As Elvis\u2019s health declined, Parker\u2019s gambling habit spiraled downward, too. The manager sometimes spent 24 hours at the casino, and one session lasted at least two consecutive days.<\/p>\n The end of their partnership was seemingly near\u2014one way or another.<\/p>\n Presley\u2019s death devastated Parker <\/p>\n By July 1976, Presley\u2019s condition backstage at a Hartford, Connecticut, concert brought Parker to tears. \u201cThe real Elvis is sharp and clever, but the person I saw tonight didn\u2019t even recognize me,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one knows how much I miss the real Elvis. If only I knew how to bring him back. I miss my friend so much.\u201d<\/p>\n Presley\u2019s health never improved and he died of heart failure<\/a> in Memphis on August 16, 1977. Parker\u2014who was in Portland, Maine, to prepare for an upcoming tour\u2014flew back to Tennessee the following day with Miller and crew members. He ordered everyone on the plane to refrain from \u201cemotional outbursts of any kind,\u201d but his grim expression hinted at inner turmoil.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Colonel spoke these words as much for himself as for the rest of us,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI believe he felt that if he allowed himself even a little emotion, he would lose control of his emotions entirely.\u201d <\/p>\n Remembering the KingParker\u2019s public perception is complex<\/p>\n After Presley\u2019s death, Parker made multiple business arrangements to protect the Elvis trademark and handle publishing royalties from any new projects. His handling of The King\u2019s affairs came under scrutiny, though, when lawyer Blanchard Tual, later appointed an ad litem guardian for Lisa Marie, determined Parker\u2019s cut of roughly half of Presley\u2019s earnings was exorbitant for industry standards. In 1982, the Presley estate sued Parker for contract manipulations and exploitation for personal gain. The two sides reached an out-of-court settlement the next year. <\/p>\n According to Guralnick, Parker actively preserved Elvis\u2019s legacy in the following years. He organized an Elvis fan festival at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1987, enlisting Presley\u2019s friend Wayne Newton<\/a> as a headline performer. Parker was also invited to a special Graceland<\/a> event commemorating what would have been Elvis\u2019s 53rd birthday in January 1988.<\/p>\n Colonel Tom Parker, right, continued to uphold Elvis\u2019s legacy after the singer\u2019s untimely death in 1977.<\/p>\n Still, Parker, who died in January 1997 at age 87, has developed a duplicitous reputation for his alleged exploitation of Presley. Even the most recent interpretations of Parker<\/a>, including Tom Hanks<\/a>\u2019s portrayal in the 2022 biopic Elvis, have seemingly painted him in a more villainous light. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757422786-7182zBZE2hL.jpg\" "\\"The")
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