Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia (Paperback)

by Alanna Nash (Author), Billy Smith (Author), Marty Lacker (Author), Lamar Fike (Author)
Key Phrases: burning love, trauma room, guns poolside, Elvis Presley, Aunt Gladys, Palm Springs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Alanna Nash has succeeded in creating a portrait of Elvis that gives new revelations into the heart and soul of the man and his music...[The book contains] broad, rich strokes of color that could only come from interviewing those who knew him best... If you're a fan of Elvis Presley's--as I am--this is a book you won't want to put down." -- Brenda Lee

"Intimate gossip, close-up gems, and stunning allegations...an essential addition to the Presley [library]." -- Entertainment Weekly

Product Description
Based on in-depth interviews with Presley's cousin Billy Smith, his best man Marty Lacker, and touring crew member Lamar Fike, a detailed portrait of Elvis covers his teen years through the final days of his life. Reprint.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 976 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (Mm) (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006109336X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061093364
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #759,504 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sad Revelations Indeed--I feel sorry for Elvis!, July 27, 2007

By	Charlotte Drobnicki "jolliedd" (NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia (Hardcover)

It's no wonder Elvis called what the Memphis Mafia did 'the worst betrayal.' Men who supposedly cared for him turned against him and the contents of this book are unbelievable or perhaps in-credible. A reader learns so much about Elvis that he/she is left in a state of shock. and not only that, but the reader is left confused.
Here is the private Elvis none of us knew. Lisa Marie even credits the Memphis Mafia for raking her father's reputation over the coals for the past thirty years and it's true. This book is a compilation of years of interviews by men who were with Elvis at every given hour of the day. The book shows a side of Elvis who tried to be in control but couldn't be his own person, was volatile, expressed his anger, fears, and tears. It showed his likes, dislikes, deepest desires, hopes, dreams, emotions, and even his weaknesses. In other words, we see Elvis as a human. It's obvious in this book as well as others I have read, that Elvis' life was never HIS. Still, though he surrounded himself with these men who were to protect him, he kept a private part of himself from even his closest friends, and his mafia.
Billy Smith, Elvis' first cousin, was far more sympathetic in his revelations than Lamar Fike and Marty Lacker, and it was good that where Fike and Lacker's details were either sketchy or in half truth and sometimes untrue, Billy elaborated on the truth about the real Elvis we all know and love.
To think that Colonel Parker who took 50% of his earnings at one point! To Elvis, I say, Mister Presley, I would have been mad too.' If you are an enemy of Elvis, you will enjoy this book, but if you are a die-hard Elvis fan like myself, you will be offended. The book is in many ways is heartbreaking. Elvis led a sad life and, it left me wondering: Yes, these men perhaps loved Elvis, but sometimes isn't it better to leave the past in the past and let Elvis' life remain the icon that he is (with a bit of mystery that adds to his mystique. Why not let him have his dignity, and let him Rest In Peace?

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Money Talks, December 23, 2006

By	Dina D. Potter - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia (Hardcover)

Oh That Old saying : "MONEY TALKS" ! No wonder Elvis just wanted to be loved, and felt people loved him for his money and his name, and just for whatever anyone could get from him ! Isn't it funny how when Elvis was alive, not one of his so called "friends", would cut him up, They were afraid the $'s would stop. Sonnie and Red only wrote there book on all Elvis dirt for the $'s, because they were fired, and needed a buck ! And anyone who would have stopped getting everything from Elvis would do the same, for a dollar. Elvis always felt everyone was around him for his name and his money, not for who he really was as a person, and oh how right he was. I think it's so sad.........to love anyone for money, and not for there heart, and the person they are. With "friends" like this, Elvis sure did'nt need enemies. I sure don't know how these people sleep at night------Oh ya.........I know............IT's FOR THE MONEY !!!!!!!! Dina

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Court Jesters behead the King, October 11, 2003

By	Manford Porter (Marblehead, MA) - See all my reviews

Why any author would take the time to commit the moronic insights of these men about the most complex of people onto paper, is beyond me. Hey guess what everyone, Elvis abused drugs. I have now encapsulated this novel in one sentence. Why did it take Nash nearly 1000 pages? Every story is as boring as it could be and then it ends in Elvis using drugs. For those of you who have never walked past a checkout stand in the last 25 years I guess this is sensational. It is some kind of endless diary more than a novel. *Elvis went to the movies, ate a whole pizza then went home and did drugs.* Elvis lost his temper because the lowlifes around him were stealing everything they could get their hands on.* Elvis cheated on his wife with every foxy star and starlet that could get their hands on him . . . Other than Bily Smith, who should've never associated himself with this book considering how good Elvis was to him and his whole dirt scratching family, the contributors of this book were the people Elvis abused the most. Marty Lacker was the class bafoon at Humes and Lamar was Elvis' human toilet for 20 years. They never miss an opportunity to pay "The Boss" back with tales from the toilet. Without Elvis these guys are a bunch of dung shovelers and this book is nothing but road kill. Fortunately the real Elvis has finally been chronicled this year in the novel AROUND ELVIS by fan club president Thorne Peters.