Customer Reviews

Elvis and Gladys

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The relationship between Gladys Presley and her son Elvis is lovingly detailed in this excellent book. Both people were larger than life and this book explores their profoundly deep kinship, their effect on one another and how he would have to go on without her. Definately worth reading, even if you are not a disciple of the King; by the way, if you're not, why aren't you?

And there are many, many books. But this one is truly the best because it is highly focused on the MOST important relationship in Elvis's life. And that begs the question: why did it have to be? Certainly, Dee Stanley is clinically insane, but there is a tiny kernel of truth to her perverse fantasy and that is that not all dysfunctional parenting (and I do hate that term - dysfunctional, but it's late and I'm at a loss for a better term) is not maliciously "abusive" in any way at all. Gladys did what many poor people are forced to do: share uncomfortable and perhaps inappropriate sleeping accomodations with a child long after such conduct should have ceased (and would have, were they not so desperately poor and Gladys so desperately lonesome [and I do not mean that in any kind of sinister sense: just truly non-sexually lonely and alone - Vernon gone so often to Memphis during the War years to get work and so on . . .]). One visit by a social worker (or even a friend) at any time after Elvis was school-age (and then a very young 'tween) would have solved the problem with an explanation of how boys develop a sense of sexual identity during pre-pubescence and puberty would have instantly panicked Gladys into finding an alternative solution to the lack of space and her own sadness in the depths of the darkest nights of their lives. Gladys would never have deliberately harmed Elvis and we all know that. It's just one more instance in Elvis's tormented life where no one cared enough to even make a comment or suggestion. So many times, it was just the two of them, surviving bitter poverty, alone and without a solid support system. Yes, Gladys had many siblings, but she also seemed so very much alone. And Elvis was an only child. They depended on one another for emotional survival in very difficult circumstances. Yes, the many effects of Elvis's impoverished early youth took its toll later in life. No, he couldn't have relations with any woman who had delivered a child. It was not the only scar: as Dundy makes clear, poverty of the type the Presleys endured left so many. People called Vernon terrible names because after spending long stretches of time lifting heavy paint cans all day at work, he finally destroyed his back. Before that, he worked quite hard to try to make ends meet. He had a bad rep in Tupelo because of Parchman Farm and was likely denied legal employment there. So he lit out for Memphis where he found only literally back-breaking labor until he could labor no more. Remember, Vernon did stoop labor in the fields since he was 12. It eventually brought him down. So many people delighted in calling him lazy and worse names, but he certainly tried to be a good man and and a good Daddy to his son. And I am sure his own lonliness caused him to engage in activities that embarrassed or angered Elvis, who was too young to truly understand. But the three of them did love each other and did their best. Under some circumstances, sometimes a family's best just isn't good enough for a child.
And so Elvis washed the pain down with pills and injection vials. And still, the pain of it all returned, always. Dundy's account, so caring as it is, allows one to understand Elvis's inner world of unspoken torment. And he finally died the early death he expected. And the topper is that he left behind an angry, hurting 9-year-old girl who sings today with such rage. And I doubt she really understands why she is so angry. Oh, we do: we know her Daddy left her too early. But she lives life as a "Smith": still, a stranger in her own home town, just like Daddy, and just like Daddy before him. And Gladys added her sadness to Elvis's psychic stew, and he probably passed some of that down the line, too.
Maybe the next generation will be happier, and won't think so much, as Gladys's grandaughter does "about that damn back lawn."

Love and good wishes to all Elvis fans, friends, and family,
RM

The author, Elaine Dundy, not only tells the story of Elvis and his mother, she traces back several generations into the history and psyche of Elvis' ancestors: the Scotch and Irish who settled the Southeast and tamed the Mississippi Delta. Although she is British, her extensive research and comments about post-Civil War Southern society, customs, lifestyle, and mindsets are dead-on. I grew up in the rural Deep South and many of the influences peculiar to the South that Dundy sites in this book were still a part of my mid-20th century experiences.

The reader closes the book with one thought about Gladys (and Vernon) and that is that these two parents loved their son more than life itself and that they simply did the best they could. They were handicapped from the beginning by poverty, ignorance, and also quite possibly genetic pre-dispositions towards depression, obsessive/compulsive disorders, and addictions. It was not uncommon throughout the 19th century and into the 20th that first cousins would marry and have children. The inter-marriages within the Smith and Presley families were pervasive and no doubt exacerbated genetic tendencies.

Gladys' relationship to Elvis was very close in that she put his needs above everything else in her life. She was the only person who could have ever "saved" Elvis from his excesses. But unfortunately, she succumbed to her own drinking habits early on. Once she was gone, his life spiraled out of control.

Elaine Dundy leaves the question unanswered: If Elvis had such a close relationship with Gladys, why wasn't he ever able to form an equally enduring and intimate relationship with a lover? The answer comes from the reader's personal conclusion that the mother-son relationship was close to the point of crippling to Elvis. Just as he reached young adulthood his fabulous success story began. He was stretching out for independence and Gladys figuartively and literally abandoned him -- through death. Elvis was always able to keep the "enduring" part of a relationship going (i.e. he could never let Priscilla go) but his love affairs seemed to mirror his relationship with Gladys in bizarreness, obsessions, and misery.

The definitive story of a loving mother and son. Of all the horrible things written about this loving and decent man, the most horrific has been the allegations written by his disgruntled stepmother and perpetuated by the media, that Gladys sexually molested Elvis. If you use your own eyes, you could see how false this is. Children who are sexually abused by a parent, will go to great lengths never to be seen exchanging touches and kisses in public. It would be as if outsiders would know their shame and therefore they keep their distance. No matter who or how many people were around, Elvis unabashedly and unashamedly hung all over Gladys, like a doting, loving son, even with the cameras were rolling. If Vernon didn't like having his son in the bed with him and his wife, he should've worked harder to provide better accomodations for his family. Mama wasn't going to have her boy sleeping on no floor. Incredibly well researched, it is a warm historical account of what a mother's love can do for a shy insecure boy.

What impressed me most was the account of Elvis' intense, enduring interest in performing beginning at an early age. She cites his participation in school shows, contests and courthouse jamborees, his involvement with entertainer Mississippi Slim, and his 240 mile hitch hike to compete at the Jimmie Rogers Festival. Elvis's association with Bill Black, his first bass player, occurred long before that famous Sun session that produced his first hit. Those who think that Elvis was just a truck driver that lucked up on a record hit are sadly mistaken. Elvis was into the music scene from the get go. He may have been lucky, but like they say, you make your own breaks. He was there, prepared, looking for the opportunity and taking the initiative.

The life of Gladys and her influence on Elvis are well documented. I've read several Elvis books, and none provides a better description. Gladys had her own dreams of stardom which filtered through to Elvis.

The author does a thorough, excellent job of researching and developing her own independent conclusions. For the most part, her logic rings true. In a very few instances, she may infer too much.

I grew up poor (though not as poor as the Presleys). There were 6 people living in a 2-bedroom home. That Elvis slept with his parents (it gets cold in northern Mississippi and Tennessee) doesn't really shock or surprise me.

What does surprise me is that someone like Dee Stanley, who put her own sons in foster care so she could pursue Vernon Presley, would condemn them.

I am also not surprised that Elvis was never able to form a long-lasting relationship with a woman. Most of the women I have read about seemed only interested in what they could get from him. not what they could give to him; a total contrast to his Mother.

I thought Elaine Dundy did a masterful research job. Too bad the history books kids use in school don't usually match this level of research and dedication to facts.

This book is not just about Elvis, it is about poverty and how it shapes people and stays with them throughout their lives.

Buy this book, you will treasure it.

I've read quite a few books about Elvis and this one is excellent. The author spent a lot of time with people who knew Elvis back then and uncovered some very interesting and heart-warming stories. I learned a lot about his childhood and school days that I hadn't heard before. I'd recommend it for any Elvis fan.

Elvis & Gladys is a very thoughtful book. I liked this book alot. It's almost like a history book. Not only does it tell a story of Elvis & his mother, but it paints a a vivid picture of the Southern culture that Elvis grew up in. The book also traces his mother's family coming to America (approx 200 yrs before Elvis was born). I thought it was a very interesting book to read.

This book is truly welcome from the myriad of Elvis books that repeat the same stories and don't give any new substance to this legend named Elvis.
Finally a book that explores his roots and early history. It is written with compassion and was researched extensively. There is a part of this history that seems to go on too long, but it's worth getting through it because it does get interesting again and even gets better the more you read. This is not the end-all in Elvis biographies, but it will help you understand where he came from and learn some truth behind the reported myths. For instance, Elvis didn't go to Sun Records to record a song for his Mom's birthday. He wanted to get discovered! Many more truths come out. Elvis's maternal grandma was Jewish. That had to be kept secret in the south.
Beside this book, I recommend If I Can Dream, Last Train to Memphis and Jerry Schilling's book.

the Presleys were poor. no -- they were POOR.

his father Vernon borrowed $180 from the landowner to build the house Elvis was born in. five years later in 1938 (when Elvis was 3), with the loan still not fully repaid, the landowner evicted the Presleys.

as Elvis himself said of their leaving Tupelo for Memphis in 1948, "We were broke man -- broke."

even in Memphis, where WWII had brought better times, the Presleys would often do odd jobs for neighboring black families, just to have enough to eat.

as can be seen from school photos taken at the time, though his classmates had regular clothes for that period, "Elvis's first 'jump suit' was a pair of overalls."

but, as his fifth grade teacher (a niece of the landowner who had evicted the Presleys) later said, "There is something nice about everyone. There is everything nice about Elvis."

Hill and Range was the music publishing company that Elvis did business with from age 20 until his death at age 42. its owner, Jean Aberbach, stated without qualification, "Elvis was the finest human being I've ever met."

the thrust of this excellent book by Elaine Dundy (who died last year) is that no matter how poor they were, Gladys was determined to raise Elvis to be the finest human being anyone who ever met him had ever met.

"Elvis never forgot his raisin'." (Cousin Annie Presley)