Elvis and the Colonel

August 1, 2023

Having worked for years with Colonel Tom Parker, entertainment producer McDonald offers a revisionist view of Elvis and the Colonel (50,000-copy first printing). Prepub Alert.

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September 15, 2023
An admiring defense of the man behind King Elvis' throne. McDonald was a teen when the man the world knows as Colonel Tom Parker took him under his wing as a driver, confidante, and surrogate son. He owes his career as a booker and manager of musical talent (including Ricky Nelson) to his mentor. "How can you ever possibly repay someone who was everything to you?" writes the author, in collaboration with film and music writer Terrill. Apparently, by writing a book from the perspective of the man often maligned as a huckster who struck it rich. Born Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk, Parker came to America illegally when he was 20, and he found success on the carnival circuit and traveled with the owners of Parker Pony Rides. According McDonald, he lived frugally, worked hard, had a soft spot for disadvantaged kids and stray puppies, treated everyone fairly, and played Santa Claus for decades. "I am literally the last man standing who can tell his story," McDonald writes, addressing the various criticisms leveled at Parker and the rumors surrounding him--e.g., that he took financial advantage of Elvis and his family; mismanaged him through a decade of schlocky movies and questionable choices of musical material; that his shadowy past limited Elvis' future and how he should have done more to prevent Elvis' descent into drugs. The author insists that all charges are grossly unfair, even though a report commissioned by the Tennessee probate judge after Elvis' death prompted the judge to order the Presley estate to file suit against Parker and RCA Records for "fraudulent business practices." In his account, Parker was a full partner with Elvis and a mastermind when it came to generating income, but hands-off when it came to his client's spending and personal life. Everything good that happened to Elvis was to Parker's credit; everything bad was Elvis' own fault. A different perspective on a familiar story.

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September 25, 2023
In this addictive behind-the-scenes account, film and TV producer McDonald teams up with biographer Terrill (Steve McQueen) to dispel myths surrounding the relationship between Elvis Presley and his longtime business manager, Colonel Tom Parker. McDonald, who met Elvis as a teen and eventually worked under Parker, frames the “mega-manager” as the first to make “forays into today’s multimedia world of music, film, television, publishing, and Las Vegas-style entertainment.” “Seeing opportunities no one else saw,” the “Baron of ballyhoo” began representing 20-year-old Presley in 1955, and through their partnership marshaled a dizzying host of marketing strategies to boost his client’s star, including winning Elvis movie roles, licensing Elvis-themed collectible merchandise, and establishing Elvis as artist-in-residence at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1969. Contending that the view of Parker as a “malevolent leech” stemmed from tensions over Presley’s estate in the 1980s, when a judge-appointed attorney claimed Parker struck deals that robbed Presley of millions, McDonald offers instead the riveting tale of a man who used his “innate knack for creating a spectacle” to bring his client’s once-in-a-lifetime talent to the masses. Unfortunately, his adulatory tone (Parker was “fair-minded, loyal, funny... a man whose word was his bond”) precludes a more complex view of the subject. Still, this will more than satisfy fans hungry for insight into Elvis and those in his orbit. (Nov.)Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly described the author as a film director.