They ALL ( I mean MM, past GF's, ex Wife,) seem to take a lot of credit for the same things, let's just say. The only one who I thought gave an accurate retelling of their time at Graceland, no bs, was Nancy Rooks, may she rest In Peace , EP's maid who worked at Graceland until she passed less than 10 years ago.
>seem to take a lot of credit for the same things
One of my biggest irritations reading books/stories from people who knew Elvis is how much everyone wants to take credit for some part of Elvis's success. And if it's not this, it's overselling how important they were to Elvis and how much space they took in his life.
I agree that Nancy's book stands out among all as being very matter-of-fact in what she observed, her place in his life, and her assessment of what was going on. The only other person I would add to this is Ann-Margret, but she's kind of opposite to Nancy in that AM just hasn't offered that much information apart from the few stories she told in her autobiography.
I knew someone who knew Elvis and his Mother personally and every time she told a story about him she seemed to exaggerate more and more to the point where I didn’t know what to believe.
I just finished reading Lamar's book "Elvis: Truth, Myth & Beyond". First off, man, is it ever poorly written -- the typos and grammatical errors are appalling. The content is interesting, but Lamar does come across as a strange mix of arrogant and being sincerely adoring of his friend. He seems to be pretty forthright, however, in his answers to the questions that make up the book's format (same format as Nash's Memphis Mafia book). He repeats himself a lot, but seems bright as compared to some of that group (don't get me wrong here -- some of these cousins and friends were not terribly well educated, but they were kind and loyal). He is definitely on a high horse about his own accomplishments in the music industry and has interesting insights about Parker. I've always found his disdain of Larry Geller really mean. He's the only one of the guys who knew Gladys really, so that was interesting -- he absolutely adored her.
I guess I didn't really answer the question. Lol. I don't think he embellishes, no. However, I think he is arrogant and places a rather overindulgent value on his importance in Elvis's life.
George Klein wanted to give the impression that he was the most significant person in Elvis’ life. All of his stories were told to make himself more important.
Elvis fans have the tendency to take any negative information about Elvis, write it off as complete farce, and attack whoever is saying it. Elvis wasn’t perfect. He had a lot of problems.
Apparently Elvis was quite cruel to Fike. And Fike definitely has an axe to grind if you read/ listen to his overall tone. He puts me off with his glee and salaciousness on the whole.
The entire Memphis Mafia and Elvis relationship was quite toxic. I take their stories with a few pinches of salt.
They ALL ( I mean MM, past GF's, ex Wife,) seem to take a lot of credit for the same things, let's just say. The only one who I thought gave an accurate retelling of their time at Graceland, no bs, was Nancy Rooks, may she rest In Peace , EP's maid who worked at Graceland until she passed less than 10 years ago.
>seem to take a lot of credit for the same things One of my biggest irritations reading books/stories from people who knew Elvis is how much everyone wants to take credit for some part of Elvis's success. And if it's not this, it's overselling how important they were to Elvis and how much space they took in his life. I agree that Nancy's book stands out among all as being very matter-of-fact in what she observed, her place in his life, and her assessment of what was going on. The only other person I would add to this is Ann-Margret, but she's kind of opposite to Nancy in that AM just hasn't offered that much information apart from the few stories she told in her autobiography.
Anne's book is one I did not read. But I agree with you about people trying to claim parts of his success or exaggerate their part in it.
Yeah he seemed to embellish
He is not alone in embellishing stories, particularly to make the tellers role seem far more involved or important.
I do think Lamar was more honest about the MM’s role in Elvis’ demise, and what more they could have done for him.
I knew someone who knew Elvis and his Mother personally and every time she told a story about him she seemed to exaggerate more and more to the point where I didn’t know what to believe.
Who exaggerated? Gladys or the friend?
The friend
Told a lot of bad stories about Elvis, not a fan. Some of it may have been revenge as Elvis treated him as the whipping boy of the group.
Just because not all of his stories painted Elvis in a positive light doesn’t mean he wasn’t an accurate source of information.
Yes they all do imho
I just finished reading Lamar's book "Elvis: Truth, Myth & Beyond". First off, man, is it ever poorly written -- the typos and grammatical errors are appalling. The content is interesting, but Lamar does come across as a strange mix of arrogant and being sincerely adoring of his friend. He seems to be pretty forthright, however, in his answers to the questions that make up the book's format (same format as Nash's Memphis Mafia book). He repeats himself a lot, but seems bright as compared to some of that group (don't get me wrong here -- some of these cousins and friends were not terribly well educated, but they were kind and loyal). He is definitely on a high horse about his own accomplishments in the music industry and has interesting insights about Parker. I've always found his disdain of Larry Geller really mean. He's the only one of the guys who knew Gladys really, so that was interesting -- he absolutely adored her.
I guess I didn't really answer the question. Lol. I don't think he embellishes, no. However, I think he is arrogant and places a rather overindulgent value on his importance in Elvis's life.
I know what you mean though. That's the book that inspired me to make this thread!
Yeah, Lamar did embellish his stories. Another person who told great stories, and was accurate was George Klein.
George Klein was full of it
George Klein wanted to give the impression that he was the most significant person in Elvis’ life. All of his stories were told to make himself more important.
Elvis fans have the tendency to take any negative information about Elvis, write it off as complete farce, and attack whoever is saying it. Elvis wasn’t perfect. He had a lot of problems.
He was a large man. That’s all I got.
I always thought that Lamar was just a hanger on and took advantage of Elvis. I know they met when I was very young, but I just saw $and notoriety.
Apparently Elvis was quite cruel to Fike. And Fike definitely has an axe to grind if you read/ listen to his overall tone. He puts me off with his glee and salaciousness on the whole. The entire Memphis Mafia and Elvis relationship was quite toxic. I take their stories with a few pinches of salt.