The Colonel (68 page)

CHAPTER 18: GEEK FEVER

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“Ah, I don’t know what makes ’em say that”:
Elvis Presley, press conference, New York City, June 9, 1972.

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“He said, ‘Mr. Kahane, they’re animals out there’ ”:
Elvis Presley quoted by Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer,
raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“so many flashbulbs”:
Joe Guercio to Karen Schoemer, raw interview transcript, 1997.

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“A Prince from Another Planet”:
Chris Chase,
New York Times,
June 18, 1972.

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“
His usual protocol”:
Lamar Fike to author, 1993.

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“in the history of the record business”:
RCA press release quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“It’s very hard to comprehend”:
Elvis Presley quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“The next morning”:
Marty Lacker to author, 1993.

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“from seeing each other on stage”:
Colonel Tom Parker in letter to Elvis Presley quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis
Day by Day
.

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“as the disease progressed”:
Sandra Polk Ross to author, 1997.

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“The Colonel always felt”:
Freddy Bienstock to author, 1997.

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“she presented me”:
Nick Naff to Art Nadler for author, 1997.

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“Most people have no idea”:
Loanne Miller Parker to Constant Meijers, raw interview transcript from the documentary
Looking
for Colonel Parker,
1999.

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“really pay attention”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted by Joe Esposito at Colonel Tom Parker’s Memorial Service, Las Vegas,
January 25, 1997.

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“compromising circumstances”:
John Mott in e-mail to author, 2002.

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“I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen”:
Elvis Presley quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“I figured it would take a big check”:
Mel Ilberman to author, 1998.

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“He wasn’t sick”:
Marty Lacker to author, 1994.

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“One night when I was about five or six”:
Lisa Marie Presley quoted in
Life,
December 1988.

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“hard addict”:
Dr. George Nichopoulos quoted by Marty Lacker to author, 1994.

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“There was more dope in that outfit”:
Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“Organized crime”:
Informant report, FBI file, January 31, 1974.

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“one of the most ill-prepared”: The Hollywood Reporter
quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“Elvis was worse”:
Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.

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“nervous as a chicken”:
Duke Bardwell to author, 2002.

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“He said to me one time”:
Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“every performer has good days and bad days”:
Colonel Tom Parker to Larry Hutchinson, chief investigator to the district
attorney general for Memphis, 1980.

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“lack of humanity”:
Duke Bardwell to author, 1999.

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Boxcar would become:
Corporate reports, Boxcar Enterprises, Report to Guardian
ad litem,
September 30, 1980.

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“actually almost lived”:
Bruce Banke to Karen Schoemer, raw interview transcript, 1997.

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“he knew he had to have other irons”:
Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.

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“He knew talent”:
Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.

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“He played stupid”:
Bitsy Mott to Dirk Vellenga, raw interview transcript, 1983.

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“I’ll pull your goddamned tongue”:
Bootleg tape, Elvis Presley live in Vegas, 1974.

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“And my manager, Colonel Tom Parker”:
Bootleg tape, Elvis Presley live in Vegas, 1974.

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“It never got better”:
Billy Smith to author, 1994.

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“He would be so damn drugged”:
Lamar Fike to author, 1994.

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“they’d kill any type of body odor”:
Billy Smith to author, 1994.

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“We used to con him into the bathtub”:
Lamar Fike to author, 1994.

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“went for it, definitely”:
Jerry Schilling to Jerry Hopkins, JHC/UM.

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“Mr. Presley has indicated”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“There was never no plan”:
Colonel Tom Parker to Craig Rivera,
Inside Edition,
January 1993.

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“but he knew if negotiations broke down”:
Jerry Schilling to Jerry Hopkins, JHC/UM.

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“deep down”:
Lamar Fike to author, 1994.

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“People aren’t going to remember me”:
Elvis Presley quoted by Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.

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“Elvis came out to the bus”:
Lamar Fike to author, 1994.

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“you could almost”:
Billy Smith to author, 1993.

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“I was with the Colonel”:
Gaylen Adams to author, 1998.

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“we all thought it was going to happen”:
David Briggs to author, 1998.

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“Colonel was adamant”:
Loanne Miller Parker to Constant Meijers, raw interview transcript from the documentary
Looking for
Colonel Parker,
1999.

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“To deny him that”:
Duke Bardwell to author, 1999.

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“I was there”:
Mike Crowley to author, 1997.

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“I hate that old man”:
Elvis Presley quoted by Billy Smith to author, 1993.

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“He’s really screwed up”:
Joe Guercio quoted by Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“scared shitless”:
Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“He didn’t do twenty minutes”:
Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“It is hereby understood”:
Agreement between Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis
Day by Day
.

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“Felton would come back”:
Joe Galante to author, 1998.

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“The Colonel almost shit”:
David Briggs to author, 1998.

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“We’d come to the house”:
Tony Brown quoted in Cronin, Isler, and Rowland, “An Oral Biography.”

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“Why are you sitting out here, Elvis?”:
Felton Jarvis quoted by Ray Walker to author, 1977.

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“There was a lot of dissension”:
Tony Brown to author, 1998.

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“he had locomotive attacks”:
John O’Grady quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day By Day

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“Hookstratten, Priscilla, and I”:
John O’Grady to Jerry Hopkins, JHC/UM.

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“I don’t want anybody to know”:
Elvis Presley quoted by Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.

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“As I told Vernon today”:
Colonel Tom Parker in letter to Elvis Presley, June 16, 1976, quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day.

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“I was gambling”:
Mike Growney in the documentary
Mr. Rock & Roll,
1999.

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“I understand you’re trying to sell”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted by Joe Shane to author, 1998.

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“We had a nice camaraderie”:
Joe Shane to Constant Meijers, raw interview transcript from the documentary
Looking for
Colonel Parker,
1999.

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“You are the biggest entertainer”:
Tom Hulett quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“depressingly incoherent”:
Bob Claypool, quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“It was really bad”:
Lamar Fike to author, 1994.

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“What would the point be?”:
Joe Guercio quoted by Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“I said, ‘He’s putting us on’ ”:
Bruce Banke to Karen Schoemer, raw interview transcript, 1997.

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“One walks away”:
Bill Burk quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“feeling that I wasn’t worth anything”:
Linda Thompson to author, 1977.

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“Get off your tail”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“contend the singer’s new girlfriend”:
Quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“He had us go on stage”:
Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.

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“seeming not to care”:
Quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“He stunk the joint out”:
Quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“absolutely no plans”:
Laura Eipper, “Manager Denies Presley or Sale,”
Tennessean,
April 30, 1977.

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“he was pale, swollen—he had no stamina”:
Quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“At the finale”: Variety
quoted in Guralnick and Jorgensen,
Elvis Day by Day
.

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“I’m going to look fat”:
Elvis Presley quoted by Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.

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“I’m so tired”:
Elvis Presley quoted by Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.

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“He’ll never see”:
Lamar Fike to author, 1994

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“Parker and Presley”:
Richard Harrington,
Washington Post,
January 24, 1997.

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a staggering $30 million: People,
March 5, 1984.

CHAPTER 19: “WE THINK HE OD’D”: THE DEATH OF ELVIS

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“in a very good mood”:
Larry Geller to author, 2001.

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“Ain’t no problem”:
Elvis Presley quoted by Billy Smith to author, 1994.

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“They’ve never beat me before”:
Billy Smith to author, 1994.

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“It’s okay”:
Billy Smith to author, 1994.

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“Billy . . . son . . . this is going to be my best tour ever”:
Elvis Presley quoted by Billy Smith to author, 1994.

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“I’m going to go in the bathroom”:
Elvis Presley quoted by Billy Smith to author, 1994.

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No, if they ain’t heard from him:
Billy Smith to author, 1994.

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“Who’s on duty?”
Ginger Alden quoted in Esposito and Oumano,
Good Rockin’ Tonight
.

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“What happened to him?”:
Ulysses Jones quoted by Marty Lacker to author, 1994.

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“He’s gone”:
Dr. George Nichopoulos quoted in Esposito and Oumano,
Good Rockin’ Tonight
.

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“It’s Lisa”:
Lisa Marie Presley quoted by Linda Thompson,
Life,
February 10, 1995.

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“I have something terrible to tell you”:
Esposito and Oumano,
Good Rockin’ Tonight
. Loanne Miller Parker says the
news came in two phone calls, the first alerting the Colonel that something awful had happened, and it was unclear whether Elvis was dead or alive.

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“Okay, Joe”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted in Esposito,
Good Rockin’ Tonight
.

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“The Colonel wants to see you right now”:
Tom Hulett quoted by Lamar Fike to author, 1994.

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“I don’t want”:
Colonel Tom Parker as quoted by Loanne Miller Parker to Ken Vrana, 2002.

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“Bob, I hope to hell”:
Bruce Banke to Karen Schoemer, raw interview transcript, 1997.

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“I must have been”:
Bruce Banke to Karen Schoemer, raw interview transcript, 1997.

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“Would everybody get off the plane?”:
Marty Harrell quoted by Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript,
1994.

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“The operator was crying”:
Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“I can’t waste time mourning”:
Colonel Tom Parker to Chris Hutchins,
The People,
January 26, 1997.

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“He knew exactly what was going to transpire”:
Joe Shane to author, 1998.

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“He was like, ‘The boy’s dead”:
Joe Shane to Constant Meijers, raw interview transcript from the documentary
Looking for Colonel Parker
1999.

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The estate would eventually be valued at $7.6 million:
Sources differ as to the estimate. See
People,
December 1, 1980,
Tennessean,
December 7, 1990; and Woody Baird, “Graceland Earns Millions for Heir,” Associated Press, August 14, 2002.

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The Colonel could advance the estate:
At his death, Elvis had $1.4 million in a non-interest-bearing checking account and about $750,000 in
savings, though sources close to Presley believe that Parker advanced the bulk of the money to the estate.

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“Elvis didn’t die”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted in Jerry Hopkins, “Playing the Elvis Presley Game,” unpublished
manuscript, JHC/UM.

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“It don’t mean a damned thing”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted in Tosches,
Country
.

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“This changes nothing”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted in
Irish Times,
January 24, 1997.

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“I am deeply grateful that you have offered”:
Vernon Presley in letter to Colonel Tom Parker, August 23, 1977.

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“If Elvis looks down”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted in Jerry Hopkins, “Playing the Elvis Presley Game,” unpublished
manuscript, JHC/UM.

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“every time he would go past the coffin”:
Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“He didn’t talk to many people”:
Larry Geller to author, 2001.

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“I could see there was pain”:
Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.

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“No sir”:
Colonel Tom Parker to Chris Hutchins,
The People,
January 26, 1997.

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“Elvis committed suicide”:
Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“When I joined the TCB group”:
Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“I can’t straighten it out by telling another lie”:
Vernon Presley to author, 1977.

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“hypertensive heart disease”:
Dr. Jerry Francisco, press conference, Memphis, 1977, quoted in Thompson and Cole,
The Death
of Elvis
.

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“not that it specially concerned me”:
Colonel Tom Parker to Larry Hutchinson, chief investigator to the district attorney
general, Memphis, 1980.

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“It was just like”:
Robin Rosaaen in e-mail to author, 2001.

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“We made a hell of a team”:
Colonel Tom Parker to Robert Hilburn,
Los Angeles Times,
1978, quoted in “Colonel Tom
Parker,”
Journal of Country Music,
vol. 19 (no. 1).

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“I sat with him there”:
Jackie Kahane to Peter Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

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“You could say the Colonel killed him”:
Sandra Polk Ross to author, 1998.

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“I thought I would die”:
Sandra Polk Ross to author, 1998.

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“I said, ‘You know I made 488 pairs’ ”:
Dennis Roberts to author, 2000.

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“It cost me about $135,000”:
Dennis Roberts to author, 2000.

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“it was a shock to all of us”:
Priscilla Presley to Katie Couric,
Dateline,
August 13, 2002.

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“We weren’t aware”:
D. Beecher Smith II, in Soocher,
They Fought the Law
.