Features

Long-form essays and analytical pieces that represent deeper explorations of Elvis, his work, and his cultural legacy. These posts cut across categories and eras and reflect moments where a subject warranted sustained focus.

Elvis and the Colonel: The Way It Was [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this article back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

One mistake after another occurred in the NBC television movie Elvis and the Colonel: The Untold Story, which aired in January. On the rare occasions when the movie’s makers did decide to check their sources, it appears the only reference they bothered to use was the 1979 TV movie Elvis starring Kurt Russell and directed by John Carpenter.

Below is a listing of some of the many factual errors which appeared in Elvis and the Colonel:

  • “Elvis” is shown giving his mother a pink cadillac after they were already living at Graceland. In reality, Elvis gave her the car in 1956, while they did not move into Graceland until May 1957.
  • “Elvis” is shown in Elvis and the Colonel filming the movie Change of Habit in the 1950s. In actuality, Change of Habit was filmed in 1969 and was his last acting role.
  • “Colonel Parker” mentions that “Elvis”‘ gold cadillac could be toured while he was in the Army. The real Elvis did not even purchase the gold car until after his service in the Army.
  • Preparations for the taping of the 1968 ELVIS television special (now known as ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special) are shown occurring in November of 1968. In reality, the special was taped in June of 1968.
  • The ELVIS special is a live broadcast in the movie. In actuality, ELVIS, as mentioned above, was taped in June 1968 and did not air until December of that year. It was the 1973 television special Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii that was broadcast live to some locations around the world.
  • “Elvis” is shown singing “Are You Lonesome Tonight” in a white, double-breasted suit during the ELVIS television special. In reality, “If I Can Dream” was the only song Elvis performed in the special wearing that suit.
  • “Heartbreak Hotel” in the movie concludes the ELVIS special. In actuality, “If I Can Dream” was the final song sung by Elvis in the special.
  • “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) opens “Elvis”‘ opening night performance in July 1969 at the Las Vegas International Hotel in the movie. The fact is, the real Elvis did not begin using “Also Sprach Zarathustra” until 1971.
  • “Elvis” wears a white jumpsuit for the July 1969 opening performance in the movie. In reality, Elvis wore a simple black outfit for his first concert in years. The jumpsuit worn by the actor is a distorted version of one worn by Elvis in the film Elvis: That’s The Way It Is, which was from an August 1970 performance.
  • “Elvis” sings “The Wonder Of You” at the 1969 concert in the movie, while the song was not really performed by Elvis until 1970.
  • “Elvis” is shown extremely overweight by September of 1971 in the movie, which escalates until a 1973 performance in which he appears obese. In reality, Elvis was at or near his ideal weight during these years, as proven by video and photographs.
  • “Elvis” is shown in the movie complaining to “Colonel Parker” about turning down A Star Is Born in August 1973. In actuality, Elvis had not yet been offered a role in this 1976 movie.
  • “Elvis” and “Priscilla” never divorce in the film! Despite the fact that the real couple divorced in October 1973, the movie “Elvis” tells of a nightmare in July 1976 in which he dreamed that “Priscilla” had left him. In a 1981 courtroom scene, the judge refers to “Elvis” as “Priscilla”‘s late “husband,” instead of “ex-husband.”

The Boss and the King [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 17 when I wrote this article back in 1992 for The Elvis Beat #3, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

“There have been a lot of tough guys. There have been pretenders, there have been contenders. But there is only one King. Everything starts and ends with him. He wrote the book,” rock legend Bruce Springsteen once said of Elvis.

If one were to trace Jersey-born Springsteen’s musical influences back, Elvis really would be at the start. According to Springsteen, it was after seeing Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 that he decided to become a singer. Although he was only seven at the time, he began to work toward that goal.

Springsteen struggled for years to make it in the music industry. In 1975, his Born To Run album finally brought him national attention. In a rare occurrence, he appeared on the covers of both Newsweek and Time during the same week.

It was during his “Born To Run” tour the following year that he tried to meet Elvis. Springsteen told the story at a 1985 concert in Hampton Roads, Virginia:

“We were in Memphis, and it was about 3:00 in the morning, and I got in this taxi cab – me and Steve Van Zandt. This taxi driver was going to take us some place to eat, but then he took us to Elvis’ house.

“And I remember when I was standing out in front and I saw a light in the window. And I jumped over the wall and ran up in the driveway and tried to get to the door.

“Which, when I look back on it, was a stupid thing to do, because I hate it when people do that to my house [laughs], but I did it anyway.

“And I got to the front door, and these guards came out of the woods, and they asked me what I wanted, and I said I wanted to meet Elvis. And they said, ‘Well, you know, he’s in Lake Tahoe.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but like I was like on the cover of like Time and Newsweek.’ And they said, ‘Oh yeah, sure you were. Alright, just come with us.’ And they took me and they put me back out on the street.”

On May 28, 1977, at the Philadelphia Spectrum, he saw Elvis live in concert […]. It was only two and a half months later that Elvis passed away. At the Hampton concert, Springsteen described his reaction to the news:

“There’s always events you kind of mark your lives by . . . And I always remember where I was, I was living on this farm, when a friend of mine called me and told me that Elvis Presley had died. I guess it was hard to understand how somebody who came in and took away so many people’s loneliness could have ended up so lonely . . . because he deserved a lot better.”

Elvis’ death was Springsteen’s inspiration for his song “Johnny Bye Bye,” which ends, “You didn’t have to die, you didn’t have to die.”

Springsteen has recorded or performed several Elvis songs, including “Follow That Dream.” In 1989, he recorded “Viva Las Vegas” for a United Kingdom charity album. It was during the same session that several of the songs appearing on Human Touch, one of his two latest albums, were recorded. Although his version of “Viva Las Vegas” was used in the film Honeymoon In Vegas earlier this year, it was unfortunately not included on the soundtrack album.

Recently, in Worcester, Massachusetts, during his August 14 concert at the Centrum, Springsteen said, “For Elvis, fifteen years gone,” before launching into “Follow That Dream,” his favorite Elvis song.

Springsteen said, “(Elvis) came in and kind of told everybody that you’re not alone out there. I guess that was his . . . that was one of his messages. To me, he was as big as the whole country itself, as big as the whole dream. Nothing will ever take the place of that guy.”