I was surprised when looking around Graceland to have a glimpse of a man with more intelligence than I had assumed. I think Elvis’s problem was that he was directed by Tom Parker into unsatisfying, but profitable, enterprises. He did not know who to trust and so surrounded himself with a bunch of people who knew him from before he was famous – on the premise that they liked him and not his money. Unfortunately they tended to be not the brightest or most interesting of characters. I think he could have d4eveloped a lot more than he did. He was stuck in an isolated rut.
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.
The truth is always there and will bite you on the bum.
The image is one thing and the human being is another. It’s very hard to live up to an image, put it that way.
I’m not sure we managed to see too much of the real man. Elvis had left the building. What we had was the image.
I don’t know anything about music. In my line you don’t have to.
That’s a joke. I saw the way he ran the studio. He knew exactly what he wanted. It was only during those dreadful film days when he wasn’t in control that he sidelined himself.
A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage. It’s my favorite part of the business, live concerts.
I’m glad he rediscovered that. Though the glitzy cabaret act he developed was a million miles away from the creative excitement of those early two years. That was the real Elvis for me.
Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can’t help but move to it. That’s what happens to me. I can’t help it.’
It certainly rocked my world.
People ask me where I got my singing style. I didn’t copy my style from anybody.
He was unique.
Rhythm is something you either have or don’t have, but when you have it, you have it all over.
I guess I don’t have it all over but it still shook me.
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