Elvis and the Memphis Mafia
Feb 2012 · Aurum
4.6star
34 reviewsreport
eBook
850
Pages
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About this eBook
A monumental oral biography filled with raucous joy, aching loss and terrible poignancy, Elvis & the Memphis Mafia is the first book to capture the King – the man and the phenomenon – in his full complexity. Through revealing interviews with three of Elvis’s closest friends, who were also his protectors and rescuers, Nash achieves the first true mapping of Elvis’s psyche.
Billy Smith – Elvis’s first cousin and the person he reputedly loved most after his own mother – Marty Lacker – best man at his wedding and foreman of the ‘Memphis Mafia’, the King’s handpicked group of gatekeepers and confidants – and Lamar Fike – the touring crew member who accompanied him into the Army – were with Elvis from his teens to his final days and provide unique access to the greatest of all rock and roll legends. The revelations cut through every aspect of Elvis’s life, from the childhood seeds of his drug dependency, through his fear for his mother’s life and his plan to change his identity, to his bizarre self-mutilation. No one who reads this symphonic blending of three proud, ribald, sad and ultimately wistful voices can fail to be profoundly moved.
Billy Smith – Elvis’s first cousin and the person he reputedly loved most after his own mother – Marty Lacker – best man at his wedding and foreman of the ‘Memphis Mafia’, the King’s handpicked group of gatekeepers and confidants – and Lamar Fike – the touring crew member who accompanied him into the Army – were with Elvis from his teens to his final days and provide unique access to the greatest of all rock and roll legends. The revelations cut through every aspect of Elvis’s life, from the childhood seeds of his drug dependency, through his fear for his mother’s life and his plan to change his identity, to his bizarre self-mutilation. No one who reads this symphonic blending of three proud, ribald, sad and ultimately wistful voices can fail to be profoundly moved.
Ratings and reviews
4.6
34 reviews
Rubio Apricot
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29 December 2015
As an ardent Elvis fan this book was enjoyably informative yet shocking in the extreme. Elvis was not a God but a human being with all the good and bad things in his being we all have. It was often raw in its telling. An awesome read that left me bereft in the need for more at its end. A book that I believe tells the true story.
2 people found this review helpful
Yaergermeister 77
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29 September 2014
I've read all the books on Elvis Presley and this one of the top three. Excellent read for the fan.
6 people found this review helpful
John Russo
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5 August 2015
Facts I never knew about Elvis Presley
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Alanna Nash is also ‘responsible for the best Elvis book to date (Uncut magazine): Elvis Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia. A feature writer for the New York Times, she lives in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2004, Alanna was awarded the CMA Media Achievement Award as well as the 2004 Belmont Book Award.
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