The Colonel and the King
Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World
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- USD 17.99
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- USD 17.99
Publisher Description
TIME's 100 Must Read Books of 2025 | Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2025
“Engaging… Mr. Guralnick tells a story that is outlandish, tension-filled and brimming with a mystery that lingers long after the last page has been turned.” —The Wall Street Journal
From the award-winning biographer of Elvis Presley, a groundbreaking dual portrait of the relationship between the iconic artist and his legendary manager—drawing on a wealth of the Colonel's never-before-seen correspondence to reveal that this oft-reviled figure was in fact a confidant, friend, and architect of his client’s success
In early 1955, Colonel Tom Parker—manager of the number-one country music star of the day—heard that an unknown teenager from Memphis had just drawn a crowd of more than eight hundred people to a Texas schoolhouse, and headed south to investigate. Within days, Parker was sending out telegrams and letters to promoters and booking agents: “We have a new boy that is absolutely going to be one of the biggest things in the business in a very short time. His name is ELVIS PRESLEY.” Later that year, after signing with RCA, the young man sent a telegram of his own: “Dear Colonel, Words can never tell you how my folks and I appreciate what you did for me.... I love you like a father.”
The close personal bond between Elvis and the Colonel has never been fully portrayed before. It was a relationship founded on mutual admiration and support. From the outset, the Colonel defended Elvis fiercely and indefatigably against RCA executives, Elvis’s own booking agents, and movie moguls. But in their final years together, the story grew darker, as the Colonel found himself unable to protect Elvis from himself or control growing problems of his own.
Featuring troves of previously unpublished correspondence, revelatory for both its insights and emotional depth, The Colonel and the King provides a unique perspective on not one but two American originals. A tale of the birth of the modern-day superstar (an invention almost entirely of Parker’s making) by Peter Guralnick, the most acclaimed music writer of his generation, it presents these two misunderstood icons as they’ve never been seen before: with all of their brilliance, humor, and flaws on full display.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Though frequently painted as a villain who destroyed Elvis Presley's career, Colonel Tom Parker was actually a freewheeling business genius who deeply cared for his client, according to this sprawling biography. Drawing from never-before-seen letters, biographer Guralnick (Careless Love) tracks Parker from his 1909 birth in the Netherlands as Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk to his escape for America at 17, where he changed his name to Parker. He joined a series of carnivals, honing his promotional skills, which he leveraged into managing country stars such as Hank Snow. After Parker heard Presley perform in early 1955 he took him on as a client, buying out Presley's contract with Sun Records, moving him to RCA, and garnering him TV exposure. Yet as his client's star rose and Presley started to sink into addiction, their bond began to fracture, and the two "fired each other" during an explosive argument in 1973; though they reconciled and Parker resumed managing Elvis until his 1977 death, their relationship had been irreparably damaged. Guralnick's brisk prose, assiduous attention to detail, and generous insights make this both an engrossing study of the complex interpersonal dynamics between two outsize personalities and a revealing peek into the making one of rock 'n' roll's biggest acts. Presley fans won't be able to put this down.
