The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals (44 page)

Some deaths cause shock in Hollywood while others cause consternation across the entire United States. Occasionally, however, a death happens that seems to send quakes across the entire planet and it feels as if nothing is likely to be the same again. This was the case with Elvis Presley, whose death rocked the world to such an extent that he is still being mourned by his millions of fans even today, over thirty-five years after he left us.

Born on 8 January 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis Aron (spelt Aaron later in his life) Presley was the only child of Vernon Elvis and Gladys Love Presley following the death of his twin in childbirth. The child was shy but had a love of music that was so profound that his teachers encouraged him to enter a singing contest at the age of ten, and he learned to play the guitar shortly afterwards at the urging of his uncles. This love for music helped him to forget the fact that he was often bullied for being “shy” and “different”, and it filled a gap brought on by the reputation forced on him as something of a loner. Still, he did not let his school years get him down and by the time he left, it was pretty clear what he was going to be in life: a musician, and a good one at that.

Anyone who watches shows such as
The X Factor
and
American Idol
can be forgiven for believing that it’s relatively easy for a young person to get a recording contract in the present day. However, for Elvis and those from his era, it was anything but easy, and for some years after leaving school the young man played his brand of music in clubs and anywhere else just to get the exposure that would enable him to move up one step on the ladder and closer to his dream.

As with the pursuit of most ambitions, it wasn’t an easy ride, and Elvis Presley faced disappointment and setbacks during his journey, but eventually his persistence paid off when in January 1956 he made his first recording for record label RCA. One of the songs recorded during that time was “Heartbreak Hotel” and shortly afterwards he made his first appearance on national television, when he appeared on
Stage Show
for CBS.

From here, Elvis’s career went nowhere but up and over the next couple of years he released some of his most famous hits including “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Hound Dog”, “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock”. Girls screamed his name wherever he went; riots erupted every time he appeared in public; and young men started copying his hairstyle and clothes. In short, within a few years of making it, Elvis Presley had become a legend of almighty proportions.

As well as being a tremendously successful recording artist, he was also sought after in Hollywood, where he was cast in a movie called “Love Me Tender”, named after his hit of the same title. In the movie, Elvis plays a young man called Clint who stays home from the Civil War, while his brother Vance goes off to fight. Clint ends up marrying Vance’s girlfriend while he is away, and the jilted man turns to crime, becoming involved with a train robbery.

The film was released in 1956 and it was the first of well over a dozen Elvis movies, which would all follow a similar pattern: some acting; some singing; and generally at least a little romancing. But while fans seemed to love his films and they are still frequently shown on television today, Elvis’s work in Hollywood was not something with which he was particularly happy, as he wanted very much to be taken seriously both as a performer and an actor, something which this particular brand of movie did nothing to achieve. Unfortunately, the powers that be had other ideas; the films were money-makers and the ladies seemed to love them, so the movies would stick to the trusted format regardless of whether he liked it or not. He complained bitterly to his management team about being typecast, but in spite of any concerns the man had about this or any other aspect of his career, it seemed that nobody wanted to listen.

One film he worked on later in his career, the 1967 movie
Easy Come Easy Go
, showed Elvis attending a yoga class, where he is seen desperately trying to talk to one of the female members of the class. His actions during the session land him in hot water with the teacher, though when he attempts to leave the class, he finds he has unfortunately tied himself into a knot. This predicament then leads into a somewhat amusing – if not slightly corny – rendition of a song entitled “Yoga Is as Yoga Does”.

What is interesting about this film is that while Elvis was a true rock and roller on the outside, on the inside he was actually a very spiritual man who took the philosophy of yoga very seriously indeed. His work in films was stressful; his career in music noisy; but in his private life he would forget it all by burying his head in a spiritual book, or losing himself in a karate class. In fact, so inspired was he by the martial art that he shared with friends his desire to be a teacher; something that was not about to happen while he was still the King of Rock and Roll.

Elvis married his long-term love, Priscilla, on 1 May 1967, after they had met while Elvis was serving in the US Army seven years before. By this time his problems with the movies he was being offered had become extreme, and when his next album – the soundtrack for
Clambake
– was something of a flop, the record company realized what Elvis had been trying to tell them for several years: his films were making him look like a joke to everyone who loved serious rock and roll music.

Elvis dealt with the disappointment of his album reviews by reading his spiritual texts and meditating according to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of
Autobiography of a Yogi
. His interest in the yoga guru was not a new thing, and in fact had become so intense during the making of the 1965 film
Harum Scarum
that he had decided to be initiated into Kriya Yoga, an advanced technique of meditation which had been mastered by Yogananda after learning it from his guru Sri Yukteswar.

However, before he could be initiated, Elvis first had to study a series of lessons from the Self-Realization Fellowship, which his spiritual adviser Larry Geller arranged with Sri Daya Mata, one of Yogananda’s closest disciples. The meeting took place at the Monastic Center, atop Mount Washington in Los Angeles, and it was a great success. Daya Mata took an instant shine to Elvis, and after spending time alone with him in her living room and presenting him with two bound volumes containing lessons, she declared, “It’s so heart-warming to see someone so famous take the time and interest to visit with us.”

While Elvis’s career was still not going the way he wanted it to, he returned to Mount Washington on many occasions, and began calling Mata – his new “spiritual mother” – “Ma”. In return she encouraged the singer on his journey and gave him much-needed advice on his career, too, telling him to slow down, relax and take some time to enjoy the company of his family. But going further into his spiritual journey was taking its toll on his friends and family, and some associates worried about the amount of time he spent reading texts. Later, Priscilla recalled in her 1985 autobiography
Elvis and Me
that her husband would insist on reading metaphysical books together in bed, and wanted her to be interested in it too. This caused arguments between the couple, and as a result the relationship started to become fragile.

At one point during their marriage, the strain of balancing his life with Priscilla with his spiritual interests became so intense that Elvis decided to throw his precious library into an abandoned water well at Graceland. As if that wasn’t enough, he then apparently set fire to them all in an effort to prove to Priscilla that his spiritual books would not get in the way of their relationship again.

The marriage continued and despite still having some problems, the couple were both overjoyed when they managed to conceive a child: a little girl whom they called Lisa Marie. Elvis doted on his cherished daughter, and she felt exactly the same way about him, but sadly throughout Lisa Marie’s early childhood, the relationship of her parents continued to unravel until it was barely hanging together at all.

Elvis threw himself back into his career and in 1969 began a series of shows at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. The concerts would become some of the most successful of his career, and photographs of him in the white, sequinned jumpsuit are perhaps the most famous images ever taken of the King of Rock and Roll. Indeed, even today there are numerous lookalikes who make their livelihoods specifically from this era of Elvis’s life.

The Vegas shows received many positive reviews and his career surged into a definite upswing; but the same could not be said about his marriage. It had rumbled on for the past few years but Priscilla in particular was not happy, suspecting for some time that her husband was having affairs with some of his leading ladies. The intimacy of their relationship had all but ended, and she felt so lonely and abandoned that in the end Priscilla turned to a man called Mike Stone for the attention her husband was no longer giving her. Ironically, Stone was a karate teacher who had been introduced to Priscilla by Elvis some time before. The affair was short-lived but enough to tip the marriage over the edge, and after admitting the dalliance to her husband, the couple separated on 23 February 1972.

Despite trying to distance himself from his spiritual side at the urging of the people around him, it was to his guru, Daya Mata, that Elvis turned during this difficult time in his life. She gave him guidance and advice on how to deal with the situation, though in truth it is said that he never fully recovered from the marital separation. It is also clear to see in photographs that from this point on his health was beginning to suffer.

Presley had long been known for his love of food and after his divorce on 9 October 1973, his weight seemed to be fluctuating. He was also taking prescription drugs: he became addicted to Demerol and, shockingly, he was said to have overdosed on barbiturates twice, falling into a coma for three days during the first episode. Shortly afterwards he was admitted to hospital in a bid to rid himself of his addictions but his health was still most certainly causing concern to many people around him.

In spite of this, his management were still pushing him to do more work, and as a touring artist he was busier than ever. In truth, however, his body was breaking down and during one series of concerts he could barely function during rehearsals, standing in front of the microphone in silence, while his crew watched in shocked despair.

Elvis’s health problems did not seem to ease throughout 1976 and he spent most of his time locked behind the gates of Graceland with his group of friends, the “Memphis Mafia”, as they were known. His day-to-day life involved sitting in the house with the windows sealed, and no one from the outside world was allowed into his haven. His family were concerned by this behaviour and some colleagues believed that those surrounding him – hangers-on who were only pursuing their own ambitions – were sucking him dry. Still, Elvis seemed to appreciate their presence, particularly since he was no longer with Priscilla, and they would often be there when he became enraged and depressed over the fact that his once faithful wife had walked out on him.

The Memphis Mafia was around to see every part of Presley’s daily life, but by this time the Graceland lifestyle was wearing thin for just about everyone. One of the bodyguards, Red West, had known Elvis since school and later said that he tried to get the singer to lay off prescription drugs, but he had refused. Then things came to a head when several staff members, including West, left Graceland for good; rumours began that they had been fired by Elvis’s father Vernon after they had become too outspoken about his son’s drug dependency.

By the end of 1976 Elvis was involved with a young woman called Ginger Alden, and two months later they became engaged. Things should have been looking up but this was an illusion; during several concerts the singer was so weak that he did not seem to know what was going on, slurring his words and unable to move in the way he used to do. Several concerts were cancelled, and the people around him became more concerned than ever.

Elvis Presley’s final concert was held on 26 June 1977, and footage of the event is sad and painful to watch. His frame is bloated and beads of sweat cascade down his swollen face; everything looks to be an effort, and despite his size, in spirit he seemed to be a shadow of his former self. It is clear that he needed help, but alas no assistance seemed to be forthcoming and instead a massive series of concerts was planned for later that summer.

On 1 August 1977, Elvis learned that his former bodyguards were publishing a book about their years spent with him. He had tried desperately to halt the publication but it was no good; his health and drug problems were to be revealed for all to see, and he was devastated. But the shock of the book to fans and friends was quickly overshadowed when just over two weeks later, tragedy struck: Elvis Presley passed away, and the world of rock and roll came to a complete standstill.

Much has been written about how and why Elvis Presley died, and mysteries and whispers still surround the event over thirty-five years later. What we do know is that on the evening of 16 August 1977, the singer was scheduled to leave for his new tour. He was not looking forward to the tour, only agreeing to it because he was in need of the money. He was tired, weak and, what’s more, knew that after the publication of his former employees’ book, everyone would know precisely why he was no longer the star they had once known. He had no wish to depart Graceland. As things turned out, he was destined to leave, but not in the way anyone had imagined.

On the morning of 16 August he went into the bathroom of his Graceland home and – for whatever reason – collapsed. Several hours later, his fiancée knocked on the door of the bathroom, only to discover as she entered the room that Elvis was lying on the floor. The shocked woman slapped the singer several times in a bid to wake him before opening one of his eyelids to discover that his eye was blood red and unresponsive.