Baby, Let's Play House

by Alanna Nash

  Wood, Natalie, 176, 180, 182, 184–85, 186, 188, 192, 193, 194–96, 197, 207, 232

  WREC radio, 63, 64

  Wright, Ginny, 82–84, 94, 96

  Wynette, Tammy, 186

  Yarnall, Celeste, 451–52, 453, 480

  Young, Faron, 82, 94, 102, 107, 143, 218

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Though only one author’s name appears on the dust jacket of this book, the process of researching and reporting the facts within its pages was a decidedly collaborative process.

  First, I am indebted beyond words to clinical psychologist Peter O. Whitmer, Ph.D. His groundbreaking book, The Inner Elvis (out of print, but available in a Kindle edition), moved me to explore the sexual psyche of Elvis, particularly in relationship to his status as a twinless twin, or a twin who survives the death of his sibling at or near birth.

  Peter was the first person I interviewed for Baby, Let’s Play House, and he educated me in many important ways. Furthermore, he became so excited by the book, by the niche he felt it filled (“You have the ‘take’ that has been missing”), that he shared many transcripts of the original interviews he did for his own book, and read each of my chapters immediately after I wrote them. He not only kept me on point with Elvis’s psychological motivations, but he offered editorial advice, caught typos, and kept my spirits buoyed throughout. Nobody writes a funnier e-mail, and no author could ask for a better friend.

  Tony Stuchbury, Elvis aficionado and my dear “little brother” in England, was my chief cook and bottle washer. He gathered a myriad of pertinent articles from publications I couldn’t find, checked obscure facts, provided screen catches of key moments in Elvis’s films, demonstrated that he has more Elvis information rattling around in his brain than I will ever hope to learn, and was always quick to help in any way. Like Peter Whitmer, he kept me going when the journey grew long and lonely. Please see his Web site: http://www.elvispresleyscrapbook.co.uk.

  Roy Turner, the celebrated Tupelo, Mississippi, historian, is also the kind of angel who watches over errant authors. He answered what must have seemed like a thousand questions—never complaining of the drain on his time—and fact-checked the first two chapters twice as new information came to the fore. Then, at the last minute, he provided the amazing Parchman Penitentiary letters. The day he called me “Mate,” I felt as though I had earned my first merit badge, and I shone like a new brass button.

  Suzanne Finstad, author of Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, was the kind of generous biographer writers dream about. She also fact-checked chapters, and offered telephone time and more while on deadline for a book herself. Her finest compliment came in an e-mail: “We are comrades.”

  Super-sleuth Patrick Lacy, author of Elvis Decoded: A Fan’s Guide to Deciphering the Myths and Misinformation, was a constant co-detective, helping me run down rumors and hard to access documents. While I was repeatedly impressed at the depth of his reporting skills, I also found him to be an amazing and indefatigable copyeditor, photo scanner, and friend, always offering help, hope, and long-distance hand-holding, no matter what the hour.

  When the project was still in its infancy, Robin Rosaaen, Elvis collector and fan extraordinaire, began offering contact information, insider stories, and much-needed enthusiastic support. She was there at the end, too, opening her vast Elvis photo collection, and providing unusual and never-before-published photographs.

  Andreas Roth also demonstrated remarkable kindness in allowing me to reprint a rare photo from his The Ultimate Elvis in Munich Book. His exciting e-mails added a new depth to my understanding of Elvis’s army years and his off-base activities in Europe.

  David Troedson of the terrific Web site Elvis Australia (www.elvis.com.au), likewise provided a number of pictures, and publicized the book at the beginning to help me find interview subjects.

  And Nancy Kozikowski was incredibly generous to lend her spectacular photographs and memories of her remarkable 1956 Elvis adventure in Las Vegas, which made my heart beat fast.

  Very special thanks go to Randall Elkins, who was both my photography guru—scanning, corralling, and tracking essential images around the globe—and my reality check. Sometimes I would struggle with a paragraph for days, trying to distill a complex idea into a few sentences, only to have him speak it back to me in one concise and poetic sentence that would have me nearly on my knees.

  I am also hugely indebted to Shirley Dieu, who after sharing her own memories, encouraged others to speak with me, including Joe Esposito, who continues to “TCB” after all these years. Joe, in turn, answered more questions than any one man should be burdened with, and also made numerous calls on my behalf. His kindness astonished me, as did Shirley’s. She stayed with me ’til the end.

  Barbara Hearn Smith became like a big sister to me after our interview, and offered assistance in ways too many to enumerate. Sheila Ryan Caan and June Juanico also won my heart after our talks, and Joyce Bova, Carolyn Bradshaw Shanahan, Barbara Leigh, Jackie Rowland, Regis Wilson Vaughn, Kay Wheeler, Reeca Smith Gossan, and Nita Lynn Zahn, too, proved unforgettable.

  Kittra Moore, already a dear friend, suggested a great number of wonderful ideas, and Elizabeth Clifford never failed to take a frantic phone call when the going got rough. Gale Nash Snyder, my sister, and Richard H. Nash Jr., my cousin, taught me to love Elvis at the very start.

  My most unsung hero, however, is my neighbor, Carolyn Shircliffe, who transcribed almost all of the interview tapes, and managed to remain both sane and pleasant throughout. She has my undying love, admiration, and gratitude.

  Of course, the book would not exist were it not for my editor, Kate Hamill, who put up with more author abuse than anyone dare imagine, fought hard for the book to be what I envisioned, and never lost her cool with me, though I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had. She is one incredible pro, and an Elvis fan through and through. I cannot thank her enough. Deep appreciation also goes to production editor Andrea Molitor, and to my agent, Amy Hughes, of McCormick & Williams.

  Finally, I express my gratitude to everyone who in some way helped to make this book a reality: Lew Allen; Louise Alley; Betty Amos; Troy Atwood; Phillip Barber; Piers Beagley of the Elvis Information Network; Tom Bearden; Jean Beaulne; Steve Binder; Anita Wood Brewer; Michael Brohm; Maxine Brown; Gary Brumburgh; Jeff Burak, Time Inc.; Connie Lauridsen Burk; Trevor Cajiao; Meridel Carson; Imelda Lopez-Casper; Marshall Chapman; Cher; Petula Clark; A. J. Craddock; Yvonne Craig; Tony Curtis; Colonel Eugene Desaulniers; James Dickerson; Martha Ebberman (aka Ann Raye); Barbara Eden; Kevin Eggers; JoCathy Brownlee Elkington; Randy Erdman; Colin Escott; Lamar Fike; Bruce Fretts; David Friend; Lea Frydman, of the Web site Elvis Presley News; Gillian Gaar; Judy Geller; Larry Geller; Chris Giles; Larrian Gillespie; Meg Grant; R. M. Dolores Hart, Pr., O.S.B.; Andrew Hearn; John Heath; Susan Henning; Norma Horvitz; Nick Hunter; Wanda Jackson and Wendell Goodman, Wanda Jackson Enterprises; Joey Kent; Kevin Kern, of Elvis Presley Enterprises; Rich Kienzle; Marty Lacker; Paul Lichter; Maureen Mackey; Michael McMullan, the Commercial Appeal; Larry McMurtry; Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield; Diana Magrann; Constant Meijers; Mindi Miller; Mary Ann Mobley; Herbert C. Moretz; Norma Morris; Kevin Neal; Judy Nettles, Reference Department, Eudora Welty Library, Jackson, Mississippi; Chris Noel; Sally O’Brien; Frank Page; Patti Parry; Jacque Carter Parsley; Cynthia Pepper Pazillo; Jeanne Pellicani; Ann Pennington; Siouxzan Perry; Pallas Pidgeon; Michael Radovanovic; Paul Richey; Bryan Ritter; James V. Roy; Tura Satana; Karen Schoemer; Bob Shatten; Ross Sibert; Bill Sloan; Billy and Jo Smith; Sister Barbara Spencer; Michael Streissguth; Feifei Sun; Marshall Terrill; Linda Thompson; Tanya Tucker; Richard Weitze; Raquel Welch; Al Wertheimer; Kathy Westmoreland; Jan Willis, Director, Lee County Library, and Betty Cagle, of the Mississippi Room Collection, Lee County Library, Tupelo, Mississippi; Rodney Woliver; Ginny Wright; Celeste Yarnall; Fran Zichanowicz; Belle Zwerdling.

  I also thank Ginger Alden Leyser for her e-mail correspondence.

  In t
he years since Elvis Presley’s death on August 16, 1977, scores of people have contributed to my knowledge of his life, his music, and his career, many of whom, particularly Bill E. Burk and Alan Fortas, have passed on. However, both the quick and the dead continued to be guides as I readied my manuscript.

  On the day that Elvis died, my father, Allan Nash, came home, stood in the door, and fixed me with a look that was more of a directive than anything else: “Now you have something to write about.” Pop passed on in 2005, but his spirit occupied the second chair at the computer as this book took form.

  Allan Nash and Elvis Presley were both iconic figures in my life, and in a way, they will always be entwined. Most people would never think of the two in the same sentence. But my tall, erudite, father—always commanding in an impeccably tailored three-piece suit—and Elvis, who looked resplendent in a custom-made jumpsuit, had many of the same invisible tattoos beneath the skin.

  Pop, born in 1917 as a contemporary of Gladys and Vernon Presley, grew up in Paris, Tennessee, 138 miles northeast of Memphis, to a rural family that counted two sets of twins among its ten children. Fiercely independent, he went by his middle name, but the fact that his first name was Jesse, and that his birthday was January 9—only one day off from that of Elvis and the lost Jessie Garon—resonated with me from the day in 1956 that Elvis first became a presence in my life.

  In many ways, my father, to whom music and poetry were second only to family, inspired this book. I thank him and my mother, Emily Kay Nash, for both my musical and journalistic education, and for realizing that rock and roll was every bit as important as Rachmaninoff.

  About the Author

  Winner of the 2004 Country Music Association Media Achievement Award, ALANNA NASH is the author of six books, including The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley, winner of the 2004 Belmont Award for the best book in music; Dolly: The Biography; Behind Closed Doors: Talking with the Legends of Country Music; and Elvis and the Memphis Mafia. She also coedited the Belmont Award–winning Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America, and is the recipient of the 2009 Charlie Lamb Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism. She has written about music for such publications as the New York Times, Vanity Fair, People, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, Ladies’ Home Journal, USA Weekend, TV Guide, and Reader’s Digest, where she was a contributing editor from 2004 to 2008. Nash, whom Esquire named one of the “Heavy 100 of Country Music,” was the first journalist to see Elvis Presley in his casket. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Also by ALANNA NASH

  Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America (coeditor)

  The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley

  Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia

  Behind Closed Doors: Talking with the Legends of Country Music

  Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch

  Dolly

  Copyright

  BABY, LET’S PLAY HOUSE. Copyright © 2010 by Alanna Nash. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  FIRST EDITION

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

  ISBN 978-0-06-169984-9

  EPub Edition © 2009 ISBN: 9780061987632

  10 11 12 13 14 WBC/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

  25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)

  Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

  2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

  Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited

  P.O. Box 1 Auckland,

  New Zealand

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  77-85 Fulham Palace Road

  London, W6 8JB, UK

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  10 East 53rd Street

  New York, NY 10022

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com