Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Ah even the King himself recognised the Truth, the Way and the Life.
Ezabelle.
A gospel singer recognizing his gift is from the True King. His back up singers would warm up before a concert by singing gospel music with Elvis. They would hold hands and bow, then give God the praise in prayer, and run out onto the stage.
This, I recall, from a documentary on Elvis.
Then there’s the agents, managers and pills. Family and friends. Success and failure.
Fame is costly.
Yes sadly.
As a new movie sets to come out about Elvis, it will be an introductions to the generations of younger people, of the man who brought black music to the masses, in a way nobody else ever did or could. He has been idolised for decades now and generated $$billions after his death from his music, merchandise, tourist attractions and his followers (including impersonators).
But with that sort of grandness came a lot of untruths- he was labelled a racist amongst other things. He wasn’t- no black associate ever came out and said he treated them as inferior. And considering the origin of his music and the people he worked with how could he be labeled a “racist”.
His manager had a a lot to do with his demise- a fraud and a very good one at that. Afterall he was a money-making machine who had to keep on performing to keep the hangers-on benefiting which is why they made sure the drugs and food kept him distracted from his pitiful existence.. Shamefully, this included his own father. I read he was close to his mother who died early on in his career. And those who worked with him generally had good experiences working with him.
I’m looking forward to watching Baz Lurhmanns “Elvis”, even if Luhrmann has a tendency to embellish the truth slightly.
Gis who served with Elvis in the Army said that he was a nice, regular guy, very unpretentious. He was a magnificent talent, but he trusted too many bad people who helped make a mess of his life.
Ezabelle, I’ve watched the Elvis movie, (twice!), and be assured the claim that Elvis was a racist is not supported and is in fact disputed. He is shown attending Black tent revival meetings as child, is friends with B.B. King and is a fan of Little Richard.
Yes there are exaggerations by Baz Luhrmann but Tom Hanks playing Colonel Parker is so slimy you want to boo the screen. Austin Butler as Elvis is amazing. He should win the Oscar.
Philip,
“Fame is costly.”
Yes absolutely! I am reading Bill O’Reilly book, “Killing the Legends” about Elvis, John Lennon and Mohammed Ali. The subtitle is, “The Lethal Danger of Celebrity.”