Colonel Tom Parker - Elvis, House & Death - Biography And I have asked people from Russia and Poland and said, "Are you familiar with the American singer, actor by the name of Dean Reed?" The Elvis version became a smash while you were overseas and blissfully unaware. But she got it. Known for his keen promotion and merchandising savvy, Parker, or "the Snowman," would help to make Elvis a household name, putting the singer on everything from lunch boxes to board games to trading cards and beyond. Elvis Information Network, May-June 2022). Thomas Andrew "Colonel Tom" Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 - January 21, 1997) was a Dutch-born American talent manager, best known as the manager of Elvis Presley.His management of Presley defined the role of masterminding talent management, which involved every facet of the client's life and was seen as central to the success of Presley's career. Is there a song you wrote for Elvis youre proud of that doesnt get as much attention? It adds a little spice. "But he had no other client than Elvis Presley, and he lacked the imagination to see just how truly a greater social force Elvis could have been.". The Beatles and the Stones both covered your songs (Kansas City and Poison Ivy, respectively). We never saw him again. The promises. Remembering Loanne Parker - Graceland He was ascoundrel in his way, Hanks said. Country radio stations said Elvis sounded too Black to play, and the stations that played rhythm and blues said he sounded too much like a hillbilly. And when I got to New York and stepped off the gang plank, Jerry ran up to me I hadnt seen him in almost four months and said, Mike, we got a smash hit! I said, Youre kidding. He said, Hound Dog. I said [incredulously], Big Mama Thornton? He said, No, some white kid named Elvis Presley. And thats how I heard about Elvis. So then we had to perform it for her, as I played the piano and Jerry sang. Baz Luhrmann Talks 'Elvis' With Maureen Dowd - The New York Times But first we had to pass muster with the Colonel, so we were invited to dinner by the music publishers Jean and Julian Aberbach, who also were tied in with the Colonel; they had started with Eddie Arnold, too, and met through that business relationship. But in 1964 both men seemed content with the steady and dependable flow of money provided them by the Hollywood studios. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Colonel knew what Elvis was doing and going to do. He was astonished to discover Parker was a poorly dressed, slovenly PR hack, rather than the authoritarian, ram-rod image the word "Colonel" summons. And heres a guy who carries his pictures by himself the rest of the guys on the list have three or four stars to back them up., Fessier pointed out that the Presley-Parker partnership was one of the few in Hollywood that confined its demands to money. But we do remember Elvis and are remembering him more universally than we have since his 1977 death, thanks to Baz Luhrmanns new Elvis biopic. In an. Thats really what he was looking for all along. Are the liberties worth it for creating an artistic picture? But this is Lurhmann telling us Elvis didnt steal Black music, as he has been accused of doing, but performed it in homage. Alex Shoofey, the executive VP of the International, testified that Parker was good for $1 million a year in gambling, but others think that number is low. And you hate the director the first day and he's okay the second. That's what makes him so delicious.". He wanted us to write the score for it, and for us to help get Elvis to play the lead. Baz Luhrmann is much like . Born in the Netherlands, Parker entered the United States illegally when he was 20 years old. Yeah, where the different voices was kind of commedia dellarte. The Colonel seized on the moment and put Elvis back on tour, eventually settling on a residency in Las Vegas and a non-stop barrage of venues and recordings that took the singer to the brink, as he deteriorated into a mockery of his former self. But we had recorded it with a Black duo, who were out of a gospel group, that we got to do a secular song we called em Willy & Ruth on our own little Spark Records label that we had with Lester Sill. "Because I don't know what Colonel Tom Parker looks like. First of all, have you seen the Elvis movie? I'll tell you specifically. He would sniff out talent and attempt to milk them for all they were worth, including Elvis, whom he initially saw as an act that wouldn't last more than a few years. What happened at Atlantic Records was, we said, You know, were making these records. I got to really appreciate Elvis. With the Coasters, who you were just as prolific with, you had a whole style of songwriting going that was based in storytelling, almost like mini-musicals you called them playlets.. But the thing that really did it for us Jerry went to a party in New York and met a producer, Charlie Feldman, who was going to do a movie of a novel by Nelson Algren called A Walk on the Wild Side. He had (Elia) Kazan to direct, Budd Schulberg to write the thing and James Wong Howe to do the cinematography. Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic. Elvis would never have been so crass as to have fired Colonel from the stage. He was given the honorary title of "Colonel" in the Louisiana State Militia from Governor Jimmie Davis as thanks for the work he did on his political campaign. "It's possible to be driven mad by it," the actor says. He wanted Elvis to go not to Special Services, where the army was happy to put him, but to serve his time as any other soldier. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. We told the music publishers, who were our contact with the Colonel, about this exciting opportunity not only for us, but for Elvis, who wanted to be Marlon Brando or James Dean. nothing., According to Parker, production costs for the average Presley film ran between $1.5 and $2 million, and if the studio lets it maybe a little more., The Colonel didnt seem too concerned that Elvis film popularity would dry up someday. In contrast to Butler, who had to craft a version of a man everyone recognizes, Hanks had the freedom to start from scratch. I tried to put together, and it was tricky, this story of There was a guy named Dean Reed. The other five nominations were for technical (Editing, Sound, Cinematography) and design (Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling). He was the American that we all knew." While director Baz Luhrmann's take on the complex dynamic between Elvis and the Colonel goes far behind the black-and-white shades of good and evil, what makes it even more compelling is that the grotesque figure of Tom Parker is played by, arguably, the most beloved actor of the last 40 years, Tom Hanks. The Horrifying Elvis Story Tied To The Singer's Death - CINEMABLEND He literally never made any artistic suggestion to Elvis. Hanks also reveals his dream project and its not what youre expecting. It's like you have a record, you have an album by your favorite artist. Tom Hanks Was Surprised By Priscilla Presley's Feelings About Elvis That was in our minds (during the initial writing). It's one of only a very few villainous roles that Hanks has taken in his long career in movies, making it a relatively rare departure for the actor. After Elvis' death in 1977, the Elvis Presley manager continued on as if The King were still alive. Elviss first manager, Bob Neal, told me that he had a heck of a time getting stations to play Elviss first single. On that note I got to go. He said, Well, I gotta do a session with her, so you better get Jerry and come over to my place and listen to it, because Im gonna need some songs. So we went over, and she knocked us out. But he also did extraordinarily genius things. And there's the fault that I think also has to land in both of them because Elvis could have said no. Over the next four years, Elvis movie career would indeed play out. And I would love to make a movie about that guy. So we hit it off and we had a great relationship. The one where EW follows up with the cast. In 1963, Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's audacious manager who had gotten his start selling candy apples in carnivals, read in the paper that Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidential. Elvis, especially, thought that it might even be over by the time he got out. It certainly was a big question mark then as to whether people would accept a jukebox musical that had no book at all. I mean, Big Mamas song was a woman singing it to a no-good guy, and the original lyric in the first verse was, You can wag your tail, but I aint gonna feed you no more. And the Presley version almost sounds like hes singing it to a dog: You aint never caught a rabbit, and you aint no friend of mine. I dont know where that came from. But a few of them started playing them all the time. And that is the yin and the yang to his diabolical genius status. We were having brunch one day in the suite, and Jean Aberbach came in and said, Boys, where are the songs? And I think Jerry said, Dont worry, Jean, youll get em. He said, I know I will get them. Luhrmann hasnt really given him his due by a long shot. "If Elvis represents the soul and the new in America the possibility in America, the rags and riches in America, all those positive, very American things the Colonel represents the sell," he says. I thought the way they used the song Trouble was very effective. "The Colonel is like Falstaff with a chainsaw. And it was the Colonel just wanting to do more low-budget stuff and crank it out. Dont worry about it. I think Jerry said, You cant, were unmanageable. Which was somewhat true. In Elvis, out June 24, we get a portrait not only of the rise and fall of Elvis (Austin Butler), but also of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), and the co-dependent relationship between the two. ', Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic. Parker returned to the carnival (one not-too-dissimilar to the 1950s carnival in American Horror Story thanks to the setting), where he made his living for a time before getting involved in music promotion, working with the likes of Gene Austin, Minnie Pearl, Eddy Arnold, and Hank Snow. You had your share of contact with him during the years you were writing for Elvis. From the beginning, Luhrmann had Hanks on his shortlist. Colonel Parker is the devil to many Elvis Presley fans. You always preferred Big Mamas version, right? Or were there things he did right that he merits credit for? In an exclusive interview, David E Stanley said his brother's manager Colonel Tom Parker - played by Tom Hanks in a new movie about the star - treated the iconic singer as a "product" and. All Rights Reserved. And heres a guy who carries his pictures by himself ., Colonel Parker Answered Criticism About Elvis' Movies In 1964 Interview, To what extent Parker was guilty of such sins against Elvis, Im not qualified to say. And I don't think it had been done the most righteous justice in order to capture why Elvis was this bend in the river of American culture. I think thats what we sent to (Presley), and he loved it. He was in for a surprise. And I mean, we enjoyed being in the studio with Elvis; we enjoyed being in the studio with the Drifters, with Ben E. King, with Peggy Lee. Even so, he continued to sell out shows and hit the Top 10 charts. I must say, Jean Aberbach was instrumental in us doing that, just by saying, Youre not leaving till I have them., Something else you wrote on the fly, on demand, that has endured well for 65 years: Santa Claus Is Back in Town., Yeah, we did that in a hurry, also. Interview with Colonel Tom Parker | Elvis Presley's Manager | 1987 . But we did an album of the score with an orchestra and some wonderful British singers and actors. They hurl a litany of accusations at Presleys former manager he took too much of Elvis money, he mismanaged Elvis movie career, he pressured Elvis to work when he was in poor health, he even tried to capitalize on Elvis name after he died. It was never a well-organized hand of poker. They had a piano player, Duddly Brooks, on the session. In actuality, he worked the carnival circuit, presenting acts like Colonel Tom Parker and His Dancing Chickens, which saw the fowls jumping because they were on a hot plate hidden under sawdust. I didnt like Hound Dog, but I loved the way he did our other songs. He was a very disciplined man, but also a guy who you might want to check your wallet to make sure you still have all those fives and 10s. The actual Parker diedJan. 21, 1997, at the age of 87. So when they call you and tell you Eminem wants to incorporate a song of yours into his, do you just say sure, or ask to hear it? In 1967, Parker pushed Elvis to marry Priscilla Beaulieu, hoping that it would help change the tide of his career. The second take was perfect. It was craps, roll the dice and see what you get and just keep going.". Snow eventually led Parker to Elvis Presley. Yeah, we did some that were very successful. He was also a consultant to the Hilton, where he gambled every day. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google. Hanks looks almost unrecognizable in the. Did Parker talk of things in carnival or carnie or conman terms as much as he does in this movie? They hurl a litany of accusations at Presley's former manager he took too much of Elvis' money, he mismanaged Elvis' movie career, he pressured Elvis to work when he was in poor health, he even tried to . He did not have an artistic thought in his body. Related: Every Baz Luhrmann Movie, Ranked According To Box Office Mojo. Colonel Parker Managed Elvis' Career, but Was He a Killer on the Lam? The Masked Lookalike Explained, Every Baz Luhrmann Movie, Ranked According To Box Office Mojo, Tom Hanks' Tom Parker isn't his usual role, Star Wars Rumor: Rey Would Have Been Recast In Lindelof's Canceled Film, Sisu Is The Inglourious Basterds Reboot We've Been Waiting 15 Years For, Kevin Costner Begins Western Sequel Production That Reportedly Delayed Yellowstone Season 5. Yeah, I think it was Ghost of a Chance. (The Hard Way is also on record as a temporary title.) We were blown away, and we even had some meetings with Schulberg. I do know that while researching for my bookElvis 57: The Final Fifties Tours, I became increasingly impressed with how the Colonel managed Elvis during the 1956-57 period. Davis went to have a look and went back to tell Colonel Parker all about him and how he wiggled and girls went wild. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox, A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry. Are you kidding? That interview gets at the heart of what both Hanks and Luhrmann wanted to say about the Colonel and the give-and-take between manager and artist. Parker suffered a stroke in 1997, dying at a hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada after years of declining health, survived only by his second wife. But that was in the 70s. No one is probably expecting that; any practiced watcher of biopics knows virtually any example will take deep liberties with the facts for dramatic purposes.