#memphis mafia

[rjmartin11]

Happy Birthday to Jerry Schilling! My favorite member of the Memphis Mafia!

[ladelinee]

OMG I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW 😭😭😭😭😭😭💕💕💕💕

I bought Shirley’s book and I received it signed.

I am screaming and shouting and oh god. Is this real? I have the signature from someone from the memphis mafia 😭 I CANT BELIEVE THIS 😭😭

Omg and the pink packaging 💕⚡

[getyourpresleyfix]

Happy Birthday to Lamar Fike!

[hooked-on-elvis]

"All The King's Men"

Real Entertainment, 1997 - FULL DOCUMENTARY Billy Smith (cousin) and friends Lamar Fike, Sonny West, Marty Lacker and Red West share a few of their memories living and working with the King of Rock and Roll.

If you're a fan (but specially if you're not) it's essential to hear those guys stories because once you listen to them Elvis Presley is not only a music legend, a sex symbol and a remarkable character in the world's history anymore, he's also human - which sometimes is so hard to believe even for the fans (I'm included in this). Those guys (thank God) were there to let us know about something that Elvis himself often worried about not being so easily understood by his fans… that he was just like any of us (in some ways more than the others, of course). The King's human side is just as fascinating, intriguing and amusing as the achievements he had during the successful career built in the entertainment business in the course of only over two decades.

Elvis and the Memphis Mafia. Left to right are Billy Smith, Bill Morris, Lamar Fike, Jerry Schilling, Roy Nixon, Vernon Presley, Charlie Hodge, Sonny West, George Klein, and Marty Lacker, Dr. Nichopoulos, Elvis, and Red West.

Vol 1.

Vol 2.

Vol 3.

Vol 4.

Vol 5.

Vol 6.

[dailyallthingsjerryschilling]

Attending George Klein's Wedding.

[polksaladava]

i actually would trust jerry schilling and charlie hodge with my life. everyone else in the mafia can get fucked. this is purely vibes based btw

[elvisbooty76]

[zanygardenherowobbler]

Elvis Presley - Karate Demo ( part 2 ) REACTION

[stastrodome]

Artist's rendition: Memphis Mafia member Marty Lacker tells a story of how he heard Elvis say he heard a bird that could quote the sayings of Jesus.

[alienelvisobsession]

Jerry Schilling Appreciation Society

I just finished Jerry’s book (Me and a Guy Named Elvis) and oh my god, he’s the bestest friend. Unlike many others who wrote books about Elvis, he’s very tactful and respectful. His love for E is obvious and sincere, but it’s not just that. He seems to be just a very good person: honest, insightful and introspective. He doesn’t bad-mouth anybody, not even the people who didn’t like him. I loved reading about his shenanigans with E, like going to see Nixon or the taco contest they had in Hawaii! Oh and also, he’s hot, ya know?

Jerrah is love. ❤️ Let’s take a moment to appreciate hunka Jerry.

[headfullofpresley]

i'm meeting dave hebler next month- do i fight him or nah?

[getyourpresleyfix]

Happy Birthday to George Klein!

[hooked-on-elvis]

I'm shocked (not really, but it's shocking to hear this anyway) to learn that at some point in life Priscilla sued Marty Lacker for a money Elvis gave him. She dropped the lawsuit when Marty counterclaimed it. Marty says "She messed with the wrong guy, but she was trying to use me as a test case against the other guys. She is a lovely person."

(1) February 25-26, 1965: Elvis signing autographs for fans in Nashville while he was in town for the recording session for the "Harum Scarum" movie soundtrack. Marty Lacker is seen by Elvis' side.

YOUTUBE - INTERVIEW WITH MARTY LACKER BY JOE KREIN PART 3 (out of 4) (go to 30:00 to listen his story about the lawsuit by Priscilla)

Now, this is just my personal comments on this but for all I've learned about Marty Lacker so far I believe he had the best interests at heart concerning Elvis. He helped EP with his music career A LOT. The way he puts it, it seems he worried with Elvis' name in the business because: 1. Marty knew EP had so much to offer (as everybody else knew), so much talent to go to waste on unworthy movies and its soundtracks and on general commercially weak songs, and 2. I bet it wasn't funny to see people mocking his friend for the kind of music and movies Elvis was making. Marty, as well as some other Memphis Mafia guys, worried about Elvis' personal satisfaction and well-being for multiple reasons... maybe not all of them being selfless but I still believe they did care about Elvis as a friend and human being even if they had hidden interests and whatever was the nature of them.

Now, all of those guys (all the people) around EP were seeing him killing himself little by little while trying to numb the disturbing thoughts in his mind and the sorrow in his soul... they were witnessing all of the sad incidents happening over the years where Elvis would end up hurting himself or almost dead. Marty was one of the few people that would go against Colonel Parker when he convinced Elvis to try something new for his career, something that would end up giving Elvis a great refreshing moment in his life, something he was hoping for deep down but somehow couldn't imagine how to make it happen himself and the ones who were in the place to advice him were too busy with their own personal agendas to care about the King's aspirations for his career.

Marty was the one to manage getting Elvis into the American Sound studio (later at the Stax too), and Marty was also the one to recommend the Sweet Inspirations to work on Elvis' concerts. Just by that alone, ALONE, could you really think Marty deserved a lawsuit for a money Priscilla didn't even need? I mean, where is the gratitude to some of the close friends of the man she allegedly says she loved?

As he said in the same interview, Marty was no saint… he wasn't a leech either. There was a time when Elvis lent him some money and Marty paid him back some time later, so Elvis was deeply touched by it because normally no one would pay him back ever! That shows something, right?

Maybe I don't know enough yet because I'm relatively a new born in the Elvis fandom, and I absolutely don't agree with every statement I've listened/read coming from Marty but in general I see him as one of the good guys from the Memphis Mafia bunch. I mean, every story has two sides. Maybe Priscilla sued Marty after being counselled to do so by some lawyer she had, like she was when she decided take Elvis to the court again in 1973, asking for more money after the divorce settlement had been set in 1972 - and by this I mean she could've been convinced to sue Marty instead of having the idea herself, which at least would make things a little less awful. But any reason she had to do that, I mean... why? There's things in life we just don't do. Even if she didn't personally liked the guy (and we know from Elvis' friends the ones she really liked were Joe Esposito and Jerry Schilling), she had to admit Marty was a great contributor to the Elvis Presley estate from which she benefits until today. I think for all Marty did for Elvis' career it's reasonable to think that any money he could've borrowed from EP would have already made its way back into the Presley's bank account in other ways. Maybe a little bit of gratitude and respect to him wouldn't hurt. I mean, I'm not totally against Priscilla... in some ways I can understand her, I really can, but not on this. Not when it comes to her greediness.

I just wonder what would Elvis think.

(2) The Presley's wedding day, February 1, 1967. Marty with Elvis and Priscilla.

FURTHER INFO: On July 17 1973, "in the papers presented to the court Priscilla's new attorney seeks to set aside the original divorce settlement." - Excerpt from 'Elvis Day by Day' by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen. Now in addition to what has been agreed on the August 1972 divorce settlement, from the 1973 new settlement Priscilla would also receive, among other things, Spousal support, additional $625,000 (in cash) to the original $100.000 agreed and 5% of Elvis' royalties.

[p-oolshark]

Anyone else think Sonny West was fine back in the day too or am I just crazy?

[kiankiwi]

My TCB pendent came today! I’m definitely wearing it to work to show it off lol.

@mooodyblue

[elvis1970s]

On April 29th, 1977, while Elvis was Duluth, Minnesota, for one night at the 7 700 seat Duluth Arena, he was probably a little surprised to find out that he was, according to one newspaper, up for sale.

The Nashville Banner, citing 'authoritative sources' in Nashville, Memphis and Los Angeles, claimed that Colonel Parker had decided to sell Elvis' contract for 'health and financial' reasons. The story claimed that Parker needed a fast million dollars to replace money lost gambling at the Las Vegas Hilton in December 1976, when Elvis was playing what would prove to be his final Hilton residency.

Definitive Elvis biographer, Peter Guralnick, points out that the paper's alleged sources were anonymous, and the article contained factual inaccuracies, including the incorrect assertion that Elvis' Las Vegas Hilton contract had expired, leading to the reporter's conclusion that Parker would no longer be able to trade Elvis' services to pay off his debts, hence the sale. In reality, Elvis was booked to play his most significant engagement in Vegas since 1969 - the grand opening of the new 5 000 seat Hilton Pavilion showroom, scheduled for October, 1977.

Colonel Parker was in St Paul, MN, overseeing preparations for the following night's show. He spoke to rival Nashville paper, The Nashville Tennessean, describing the Banner's story as a 'complete fabrication'. "I’m here, I’m working with Elvis, I’m in good health, and I don’t have any debts—at least none that I can’t pay."

Joe Esposito also weighed in, describing the relationship between Elvis and Colonel Parker as 'cordial' and stating that neither had any plans to break their long-standing agreement that had begun with a handshake.

The 'consortium of West Coast businessmen' who were the alleged buyers never materialised, if they ever existed at all.

Having said this, Peter Guralnick concluded;

"… but it was apparent to anyone who knew anything about the recent history of their tangled relationship that the story was, in essence, true. Too many people had heard Colonel complaining that Elvis was more trouble than he was worth, that he was intractable and could no longer be effectively managed. And too many people were aware, as Elvis' Los Angeles lawyer Ed Hookstratten was inclined to put it, that Colonel was "servicing a problem of his own." Elvis had no doubt about the story in any case: he knew in his bones it was true. And while the consortium of 'West Coast businessmen' who were supposed to be buying his contract never surfaced, driven off presumably by the glare of publicity, Elvis had never felt more betrayed or more alone…"

(Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley - 1999 by Peter Guralnick.)