by Alanna Nash
512 “I saw Mommy and Mike:” Lisa Marie Presley, quoted in Nash, Alanna, with Smith, Billy, Lacker, Marty, and Fike, Lamar, Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia.
512 “She wanted some real love”: Joe Esposito to author, 2009.
513 “He kissed like a god”: Lipton, Peggy, with Dalton, David, and Dalton, Coco. Breathing Out.
515 “Boss! Boss, snap out of it!”: West, Sonny, and Terrill, Marshall, Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business.
515 “He’d say”: Marty Lacker to author, 1993.
515 “She’s a mama”: Elvis Presley, quoted in Bova, Joyce, as told to Nowels, William Conrad, Don’t Ask Forever: My Love Affair with Elvis.
516 “I was so all-consumed with him”: Joyce Bova to author, 2009.
516 “blew my mind”: Joyce Bova to author, 2009.
516 “Look at this”: Bova, Joyce, as told to Nowels, William Conrad, Don’t Ask Forever: My Love Affair with Elvis.
518 “He was so out of control”: Joyce Bova to author, 2009.
519 “very sexual”: Ibid.
519 “resting place of the soul”: Bova, Joyce, as told to Nowels, William Conrad, Don’t Ask Forever: My Love Affair with Elvis.
519 “It drove me crazy”: Joyce Bova to author, 2009.
519 “it won’t be long until I’m forty”: Bova, Joyce, as told to Nowels, William Conrad, Don’t Ask Forever: My Love Affair with Elvis.
520 “He grabbed me”: Presley, Priscilla, with Harmon, Sandra, Elvis and Me.
520 “Another man has taken my wife”: Lamar Fike, quoting Elvis Presley in Nash, Alanna, with Smith, Billy, Lacker, Marty, and Fike, Lamar, Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia.
520 “It wasn’t so much”: “Interview with Sonny West,” by Scott Jenkins, on the Web site Elvis Australia, May 13, 2005.
520 “Elvis was very upset”: Joe Esposito to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.
520 “he cursed Priscilla and Mike”: Barbara Leigh, e-mail interview with author, 2009.
520 “problem”: Marty Lacker to author, 1994.
520 “lying down on stage”: Joe Moscheo to Beverly Keel for author, 1998.
521 “He loved cuddling and petting”: Anonymous source to author, 2009.
521 “Mr. Kahane”: Jackie Kahane to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.
521 “so many flashbulbs”: Joe Guercio to Karen Schoemer, raw interview transcript, 1997.
521 “. . . A Prince from Another Planet”: Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst, Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
523 “It was like we were never divorced”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in People magazine, December 4, 1978.
524 “There was a real nice spray”: Peggy Selph Cannon, quoted in “Woman with Elvis No Longer a Mystery,” by Michael Lollar, Commercial Appeal, July 17, 2000.
524 “Elvis needed more love”: Linda Thompson to author, 1977.
524 “intensely lonely at heart”: Linda Thompson to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
524 “I thought Elvis was still married”: Linda Thompson to author, 1977.
525 “I said, ‘Well, I’ll come and meet him’ ”: Cybill Shepherd, quoted in TV Guide, April 20, 1996.
525 “The house”: Shepherd, Cybill, with Ball, Aimee Lee, Cybill Disobedience.
525 “can cause”: Cybill Shepherd, “She’s Still Here, Up for Anything,” by Margy Rochlin, New York Times, July 26, 2009.
526 “I don’t think”: Cybill Shepherd, “Shepherd Left Elvis After Late-Night Drugs Offer,” WENN News, August 15, 2009.
526 “He said, ‘Here, take these’ ”: Ibid.
526 “Let’s put it this way”: Cybill Shepherd, quoted in TV Guide, April 20, 1996.
526 “it was just a shuttle”: Anonymous source, quoted in “Love Me Tender,” by Tracy McVeigh, The Observer, August 11, 2002.
526 “The Elvis that I got to know in Memphis”: Cybill Shepherd to Larry King, CNN, 2002.
526 “Elvis looked almost like Liberace”: Raquel Welch to author, 2007.
527 “Once he was onstage”: Robin Rosaaen to author. All Robin Rosaaen quotes come from the author’s interviews in 2007 and 2008. Portions of the Robin Rosaaen material originally appeared in Reader’s Digest, February 2008.
527 “Elvis looked at me”: Larry Geller to author, 2009.
528 “It’s very hard to comprehend”: Elvis Presley, press conference, Las Vegas Hilton, September 4, 1972.
528 “Mr. Katane”: Jackie Kahane, quoting anonymous child to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.
528 “he began getting acupuncture”: George C. Nichopoulos to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
528 “He would ask”: George C. Nichopoulos to author, 2007.
529 “a basket case”: George C. Nichopoulos to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
529 “I think it’s wonderful”: Linda Thompson to author, 1977.
529 “I felt a responsibility”: Linda Thompson to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
529 “he was like my little boy”: Ibid.
529 “We both just naturally talked baby talk”: Ibid.
529 “Baby gullion”: Mailgram, Linda Thompson to Elvis Presley, quoted in Nash, Alanna, with Smith, Billy, Lacker, Marty, and Fike, Lamar. Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia. It originally appeared in My Life with Elvis, by Yancey, Becky, and Linedecker, Cliff.
530 “it hurt her”: Marty Lacker to author, 1994.
530 “It was so easy”: Ann-Margret with Gold, Todd, Ann-Margret: My Story.
530 “was so pumped up”: Marty Lacker to author, 1994.
531 “Finally, Linda came”: Ibid.
531 “I miss you”: Joyce Bova quoting Elvis Presley to author, 2009.
532 “Jerry, there’s something”: Schilling, Jerry, with Crisafulli, Chuck, Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley.
532 “He put both of his arms up”: Shirley Dieu to author, 2009. All Shirley Dieu quotes come from this interview.
532 “like he was the last piece of cake”: Billy Smith to author, 1994.
532 “I was thinking”: Marty Lacker to author, 1994.
533 “and man, he looked so fine”: “Interview with Anita Wood,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, November 25, 2006.
533 “Little, I wonder if we made a mistake?” Anita Wood to author, 2009.
533 “You know why I’m playin’ it”: “Interview with Anita Wood,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, November 25, 2006.
533 “lack of energy and interest”: Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst, Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.
533 “He didn’t have breathing room”: Alex Shoofey, in the documentary film Mr. Rock & Roll, 1999.
534 “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen”: Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst, Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.
534 “He really felt that way”: Joe Esposito to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.
535 “The man who hired the talent”: Barbara Eden to author, 2007.
535 “was wrapped up”: George C. Nichopoulos to author, 2007.
535 “One night”: Lisa Marie Presley, Life magazine, December 1988.
536 “you could have parked”: Lamar Fike to author, 1993.
536 “It was the first time”: Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst, Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.
536 “Why are you sitting out here?” Ray Walker quoting Felton Jarvis to author, 1977.
536 “one of the most”: Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst, Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.
536 “great, absolutely fantastic”: Petula Clark to author, 2009.
537 “He could see no change in his life”: Mary Ann Mobley to author, 2009.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
539 “I-I-I-I had a dream”: Linda Thompson quoting Elvis Presley to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
540 “He would be so distended”: George C. Nichopoulos to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
540 “We used to just sit”: Linda Thompson to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
540 “High Flight”: Elvis would recite J. G. Magee’s sonnet right along with it: “Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth/And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings . . .”
541 “He didn’t want”: George C. Nichopoulos to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
541 “Elvis thought”: Billy Smith to author, 1993.
542 “because the more shows he did”: George C. Nichopoulos to author, 2007.
542 “When Dr. Ghanem was there”: Kathy Westmoreland to author, 1997.
542 “nervous as a chicken”: Duke Bardwell to author, 2002.
543 “It was crazy”: Linda Thompson to author, 1977.
543 “the suite was pitch-black”: Bob Finkel to author, 1999.
543 “he calmly picked up his utensils”: Marty Lacker to author, 1994.
543 “It’s better to be unconscious”: Elvis Presley quoted in Goldman, Albert, The Last 24 Hours.
543 “If we were at home”: Linda Thompson to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
544 “They shot him”: Jackie Kahane to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.
544 “There were a good five or six times”: Lamar Fike to author, 1995.
544 “the most amazing, kind, sweet Southern gentleman”: Ann Pennington to author, 2009. All Ann Pennington quotes come from this interview unless otherwise noted.
545 “slow and draggy”: “Interview with Anita Wood,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, November 25, 2006.
545 “I felt it was a violation”: Linda Thompson to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
546 “I wondered, ‘What’s this all about?’ ”: Sherry Williams, “Elvis’s Secret Love,” Essential Elvis magazine, no. 33, 2004.
546 “on a mission”: Nanette Kuklish, “I Dated the King,” by Andrew Hearn, Essential Elvis magazine, no. 48, 2006.
546 “Elvis wanted to be happy”: Marty Lacker to author, 1994.
546 “literally twenty-four hours a day”: Linda Thompson to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
546 “She had a peach-colored outfit”: Jo Smith to author, 1993.
547 “We discussed sexual things”: George C. Nichopoulos to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
547 “I had grape juice running down my face”: Sheila Ryan Caan to author, 2009. All Sheila Ryan quotes come from this interview.
552 “I know”: Linda Thompson quoting Elvis Presley to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
553 “posed like mannequins”: Judy Geller to author, 2009. All Judy Geller quotes come from this interview.
555 “I thought, ‘Uh-oh, here it is’ ”: Susan Anton, quoted in Elvis World magazine, no. 84.
555 “She’s right here”: Elvis Presley, quoted in Guralnick, Peter, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley.
556 “I was in shock”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Guralnick, Peter, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley.
557 “He said, ‘You’ve got to come up here now’ ”: Patti Parry to author, 2009.
557 “I kicked the door in”: “Interview with Red West,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, May 29, 2008.
557 “I don’t even know”: Red West to Sonny West, “Interview with Sonny West,” by Scott Jenkins, on the Web site Elvis Australia, May 13, 2005.
557 “Oh, I was so sad!” Barbara Hearn to author, 2009.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
559 “he would be so damn drugged”: Lamar Fike to author, 1994.
559 “You probably think it’s crazy”: Reeca Smith Gossan quoting Elvis Presley to author, 2009. All Reeca Smith quotes come from this interview unless otherwise noted.
561 “I woke up”: Linda Thompson to author, 1977.
561 “People aren’t going to remember me”: Kathy Westmoreland quoting Elvis Presley to author, 1997.
562 “He was really”: “Priscilla Presley: Surviving Elvis,” by Sheila Weller, McCall’s magazine, May 1979.
562 “There was never no plan”: Colonel Tom Parker to Craig Rivera, Inside Edition, January, 1993.
562 his Hollywood career: In a 1972 audio interview for the documentary Elvis on Tour, Elvis said, “I cared so much until I became physically ill . . . I don’t think anyone was consciously trying to harm me. It was just Hollywood’s image of me was wrong . . . I was never indifferent. I was so concerned until that’s all I talked about . . . but it did not change, it did not change, and so I became very discouraged. They couldn’t have paid me no amount of money in the world to make me feel self-satisfaction inside.”
566 “Whoever got the guitar”: Elvis Presley, quoted in Guralnick, Peter, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley.
567 “That show was such a sad sight”: e-mail, Joyce Bova to author, 2009.
567 “I was just so taken aback”: “Joan Blackman Talks,” Essential Elvis magazine, no. 23, 2002.
568 “He kind of held my hand”: Melissa Blackwood, quoted in Guralnick, Peter, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley.
569 “Is that a real Elvis scarf?”: JoCathy Brownlee Elkington to Elvis, as told to author, 2009. All JoCathy Brownlee quotes come from this interview.
573 “He would come into town”: Tanya Tucker to author, 2009. All Tanya Tucker quotes come from this interview.
574 “My assistant told me”: Cher to author, 2009.
575 “Elvis was really hurt”: Linda Thompson to author, 1977.
575 “I grabbed his head”: Barbara Leigh, e-mail interview with author, 2009.
575 “He told me”: Deborah Walley to Andrew Hearn, Essential Elvis magazine, no. 13, 2000.
575 “When he did”: Billy Smith to author, 1994.
577 “there’s no way”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in People magazine, December 4, 1978.
577 “She was a terror”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Ladies’ Home Journal, July 2003.
577 “he’d say”: Jo Smith to author, 1994.
578 “we were expected to say”: Billy Smith to author, 1994.
578 “That was our intention”: “Interview with Sonny West,” by Scott Jenkins, on the Web site Elvis Australia, May 13, 2005.
578 “the major turning point”: Linda Thompson to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1995.
578 “Let’s just go away”: Linda Thompson to author, 1977.
579 “I truly, truly loved him”: Linda Thompson to author, 1977.
579 “To this day”: Linda Thompson, quoted in Elvis World Magazine, no. 82.
579 “The band was afraid”: David Briggs to author, 1997.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
581 “Elvis was so kind”: Rosemary Alden, Essential Elvis magazine, March-April, 2002.
581 “I know this sounds funny”: Ginger Alden, Essential Elvis magazine, March-April, 2002.
582 “By one account”: Cole, James P., and Thompson, Charles C. II. The Death of Elvis.
582 “All right, listen”: Larry Geller quoting Elvis Presley to author, 2009.
583 “When we left”: Wink Martindale, quoted in Elvis World magazine, #44.
583 “He was self-conscious”: Michelle Beaulieu Hovey, quoted in Elvis By the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.
583 “I knew something was different”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Elvis By the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.
583 “he didn’t want”: Paul Beaulieu, quoted in Elvis By the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.
583 “Please speak with Cilla”: Ann Beaulieu, quoting Elvis Presley in Elvis By the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.
583 “I had a sinking feeling”: Ann Beaulieu, quote
d in Elvis By the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.
583 “I’d take Lisa”: “Priscilla Presley: Surviving Elvis,” by Sheila Weller, McCall’s magazine, May 1979.
583 “We underestimated his emotional pain”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Elvis By the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.
584 “I feel so alone sometimes:” Elvis Presley, private note, as quoted in Elvis By the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor. Singer Wayne Newton ultimately bought the note and turned it into a song, “The Elvis Letter.” He told USA Today, April 17, 1992, “It reflects a man reaching to the ultimate for help. Once I digested it and got over the shock, I realized that it was feelings that I, too, had had at times . . . I realized—that kind of loneliness creeps into everybody’s life.”
584 “I don’t know who I can talk to anymore”: Elvis Presley, private note, as quoted in Elvis By the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.
584 “Sam, I love your sister”: Larry Geller quoting Elvis Presley to author, 2009.
585 “Elvis found out”: e-mail, Shirley Dieu to author, 2009.
585 “she doesn’t think it was an engagement gift.” Jo Alden, quoted in Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst: Elvis Day By Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.
585 “One walks away”: quoted in Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst: Elvis Day By Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.
586 “When Elvis met Ginger”: Larry Geller to author, 2009.
586 “See Shirley”: Shirley Dieu to author, 2009.
586 Elvis and Ginger sat on the edge: Larry Geller to author, 2009.
587 “It was like old-fashioned times”: Ginger Alden, quoted in “World’s at Standstill for Elvis’ Fiancee,” by Lawrence Buser, Commercial Appeal, August 19, 1977.
587 “When he flew my family to Las Vegas”: Jo Alden to author, 1977.
587 “Ginger and I”: Shirley Dieu to author, 2009.
588 “My most treasured moment”: Rosemary Alden, Essential Elvis magazine, March-April, 2002.
588 “Elvis liked Ginger”: Joe Esposito, quoted on the Web site Elvis Australia.
588 “We even took her out”: Billy Smith to author, 1994.
588 “It depends on how you look at it”: Shirley Dieu to author, 2009.
