‘Colonel’ keeps busy far from Memphis crowds

Press, 17 August 1987, Page 8

‘Colonel’ keeps busy far from Memphis crowds

By A. D. Hopkins of Reuters (through NZPA) Las Vegas Far away from the crowds packing Memphis to say farewell to Elvis Presley, the man who was his mentor sits behind a velvet rope presiding over a SUSS-a-head tour of his mementoes. “Single line, single line ...no ma’am, I don’t do autographs,” Colonel Tom Parker calls out in his strong southern drawl as the curious file past. “But you’re welcome to a poster of me. They’re already signed,” Colonel Parker adds to an elderly woman between bites on his cigar.

Colonel Parker seems, to have been left behind in Las Vegas while Presley fans pack the singer’s hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, 2600 km away, for the Presley lookalike competitions, the Presley karate tournaments and the dozens of other events being staged to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the singer’s death.

A steady stream of people come to the threebedroomed, SUS2SOO-a--night ($4375) Elvis Presley suite in the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel for a six-day exhibition of Colonel Parker’s mementoes.

He was adviser, personal representative and manager of Presley and guided the singer’s career for 22 years. Presley never made a career move without

proval of "the Colonel,” one of the shrewdest men in the entertainment industry. Accountants estimate Colonel Parker, whose rank is an honorary one given him by the state of Louisiana, made at least SUS2O million out of Presley’s career. Now aged 78, a heavilybuilt character who is slightly deaf and walks with a stick, Colonel Parker says he mounted the exhibition as “a tribute to Elvis”. He presides over a col-

lection of memories — photographs of him posing with stars such as Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason and others, as well as with Presley. The singer, Wayne Newton, “one of my friends,” Colonel Parker murmurs,. pops in for a brief visit At a news conference, Colonel Parker refused to comment on Presley’s battle with drugs. "We are here to honour his memory,” he snapped. ‘T djj|’t hear you very

well, thank you.” What about the wild parties Presley was said to have held in the suite when he was performing in Las Vegas? “I don’t know,” Colonel Parker said primly. “I would have been in bed in another room at the time." He and Presley were close professionally, but kept their personal lives separate. But Colonel Parker said Presley was worried when he put on weight late in his career. Referring to the late singer, Kate Smith, who had a rotund figure, Colonel Parker said with a rare grin: "I told Elvis, 'You could be a big personality like Kate Smith.’ " Fans are taken on a tour of the suite by Brian Banke, aged 21, who said he has known Colonel Parker since a child. Mr Banke tells fans Presley slept in the smallest of the three bedrooms in the suite, which is used now by high-spending gamblers and by stars appearing at the hotel. “A lot of people come in here saying the colonel made too much money out of his relationship with Elvis,” Mr Banke said. “They have a chip on their shoulder against the colonel.

“But they don’t have the right to do that. They forget the colonel paid all promotion expenses out of his cut. The colonel is very demanding, but I respect him.” $