LJ Talks to Jerry Schilling

David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle -- Library Journal, 8/15/2006

In his Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley (LJ 8/06), Jerry Schilling offers the impossible: an absolutely fresh take on the one and only king of rock'n'roll, who died 29 years ago this week. Readers are regaled with tales spanning innocence and indulgence, all the while getting arguably the most human portrait of Elvis.

LJ: After all these years since the death of Elvis, why did you decide to write this book?

JS I thought that the iconic image of Elvis, though a wonderful thing, needed to be put into some perspective. There was also a human side of Elvis that was important, a creative intellectual and spiritual side. I thought that human side of Elvis had never been dealt with by someone who knew him on a day-to-day basis.

I was pleased that you revealed as much about yourself as you did about Elvis in the book.

I have relationships with many of Elvis's friends and family, and at first I thought that I would interview them for the book. Then I decided that I wanted to tell the story from my own point of view, from how I felt back then. I thought that interviews would take me off track from how I felt about things from the early 1950s to 1977.

I found your description of your childhood in North Memphis fascinating. Could you expand a bit on life in Memphis as a child during the 1950s?  Did you ever go to Beale Street?  Could you describe segregation at the time?

A real important part of the book was the role of rock and roll in dealing with the racial situation. Segregation in the 1950s down in the South when I grew up was so prevalent that we hardly realized it and took it for granted. When I was a boy, segregation was an everyday part of life. We didn't know any black people unless they worked in the yard or did other such jobs. I never went to school with a black person. I started to realize the situation at my Uncle John's hamburger stand when I was six or seven years old. I couldn't understand why black people sat in the back and white people could sit in the front.

The 1950s was a kind of boring time down in the South until I started to listen to R & B music. I was a lonely kid, and felt out of place, and then I started listening to the radio. A friend of mine turned me on to [disc jockey] Dewey Phillips's show. It made a lasting impression on me. Even before Elvis recorded, a group of white kids began tuning into black music, maybe it was the first music underground. This group of kids included Elvis. Rhythm and blues in a way became more important than education and even religion to bring people together. We started to sneak down to Beale Street [in the African-American section of Memphis] to the House of Blues, the only store that sold the records that we wanted. So, when we went to concerts, we started knowing black people on a human, personal level. The music played a major role in liberating all of us. I could wear a pink shirt if I wanted, and I wouldn't get beat up. I could wear my hair long. With the music, the boring time became the most exciting time, filled with excitement and even danger that appealed to teenagers.

When Elvis first became popular in Memphis in 1954, who were his fans?  Girls and boys? Whites and blacks?

In the early days around July of 1954 when Elvis's first record come out, his fans were people who were listening to Dewey Phillips. Dewey was insane but a genius at the same time. He did crazy things like clank cowbells, talk over a record and other things. He would try anything. He attracted all the R & B fans, both black and white. Dewey's show was just about the only place that Elvis could have been played and have broken into the charts. Played on Dewey's show, Elvis appealed to both blacks and whites, both male and female. The black community listened to Elvis in the first couple of years.

If you could choose your most memorable moment with Elvis, what would it be and why?

I met Elvis the week after he recorded his first record. He was still a poor boy who could barely get six kids together to play a game of football. When I think back at the two of us then, poor kids, and 23 years later for he and I to end up in the Oval Office of the White House, it just makes me appreciate how far we had come. Going to the White House was the most memorable and historic moment for me.

You characterize Colonel Tom Parker [Elvis's Manager] more favorably than most writers.  Why did you think highly of Parker?

I had many conversations with Colonel Tom Parker about things I felt that Elvis needed, and wondered why he let him do the 1968 [TV] Special and other things. Obviously, he would be the bad guy if you didn't know him. The Colonel could be tough, overbearing and manipulative yet at the same time he was honest and straight-forward. I had a love-hate relationship with him. The Colonel would call me up for years on my birthday and sing me "Happy Birthday." Unlike many of the accounts of him, the Colonel was not a loud person, he was not a drinker. He was probably the most difficult character to deal with in the book and give some insight into who he was.

The Colonel became a close friend of mine. He was a friend when Elvis was alive, but he was never a close friend of anyone when Elvis was alive. We had a lot in common because I also was a manager, managing the Beach Boys and other acts. I spoke at his funeral. Yet, I think that with his creative instincts, Elvis outgrew the Colonel. The drugs were just a band-aid, but the lack of a creative outlet for Elvis really led us to lose Elvis at an early age. The Colonel was not trying to hurt Elvis. Like many managers, he tried to insulate Elvis as he became more creative, afraid that he might lose him.

Any good Elvis stories which never made the book?

I've got so many! I tried to put examples in the book that would hold true for day-to-day life with Elvis. One story would serve as a theme for an aspect of my life with Elvis. When I think about it, I have the best memories of being in a bus, in Los Angeles, in Vegas with Elvis and staying up all night having a conversation. He would sit around with the guys and felt relaxed, would talk and tell some funny stories. He was a guy that would really get into people. Elvis was brighter than most histories show or have given him credit for. If I would have one wish, if I would get to do one more thing before I die, I would like to go to Graceland and shoot the bull with Elvis all night.

You had an illustrious career after 1977. Will you ever publish a book about your post-Elvis experiences in the music industry?

I started to do a book on my entire career, but when I talked to three or four publishers they told me that was a different book. It might be too confusing to do it all in one book. I understand their reasoning. I put everything into this book, and I don't see me doing another one. I'm extremely satisfied with what I've written. I'm a person who likes to look forward, and to answer your question, I don't think I'll do another book.

Any final thoughts?

Not only did Elvis entertain the world, he socially changed the way we thought a little bit, the way we dressed—a pivotal part was that we helped bring the races together. A couple of weeks ago, President Bush met the president of Japan who is an Elvis fan. Not only was Elvis important 50 years ago, he will have an influence in the next 50 years.  I am proud that Elvis was my friend. I still miss the guy.