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 тАУ the man and the phenomenon тАУ in his full complexity. Through revealing interviews with three of ElvisтАЩs closest friends, who were also his protectors and rescuers, Nash achieves the first true mapping of ElvisтАЩs psyche.
Billy Smith тАУ ElvisтАЩs first cousin and the person he reputedly loved most after his own mother тАУ Marty Lacker тАУ best man at his wedding and foreman of the тАШMemphis MafiaтАЩ, the KingтАЩs handpicked group of gatekeepers and confidants тАУ and Lamar Fike тАУ the touring crew member who accompanied him into the Army тАУ 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 ElvisтАЩs life, from the childhood seeds of his drug dependency, through his fear for his motherтАЩs 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.