Elvis and the Colonel

Author Peter Guralnick wrote the definitive two-volume biography of the King: "Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley" (1994), and "Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley" (2000).And now, his latest is about Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis' legendary manager.

Asked if he found anything surprising, Guralnick replied, "It totally surprised me.""The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World" (Little, Brown & Co.) is the story of a partnership that rocked popular culture, and how Parker's marketing savvy and enduring loyalty helped the King get his crown.Guralnick says Parker did not create the template for being the manager of a musician: "It wasn't original to him, it wasn't brand new.

But he carried it, I think, to a far greater extent than anyone had before."In 1955, the 20-year-old Presley was playing the Louisiana Hayride when Parker first caught his act."It took no more than a few days after seeing him for the first time that he booked Elvis when nobody else was willing to book him," Guralnick said.

Parker, who was then handling Hank Snow, quickly put Elvis in the show.Elvis would sell more than 12 million records in 1956.

The Colonel negotiated his recording contract, his movie deal, and oversaw all his marketing.  As he would write, "I don't [just] sit here and smoke cigars hoping for something to happen." Guralnick said, "There is so much love in some of his early letters to Elvis.And in one he says, you know, 'You are just like me.

You are sensitive, you're easily hurt.But only those we love can hurt us.'"Presley would write back, "I love you like a father."Colonel Tom Parker wasn't actually a colonel; he also wasn't American.

In fact, Andreas van Kuijk was a stowaway from Holland, who arrived in the U.S.in 1926, barely speaking English.

The 16-year-old soon invented an origin story."Once he declared himself to be Tom Parker, born in West Virginia, his identity was never q...