There is the legend of an afternoon where you and Leiber cranked out four classic Elvis film songs in just a few hours Jailhouse Rock, Treat Me Nice, I Want to Be Free and (Youre So Square) Baby I Dont Care pretty much because someone trapped you in a hotel suite and compelled you to be prolific. In an. He never left the carnivals, really. The Colonel, who was neither a colonel nor named Tom Parker, was born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in the Netherlands and came to the U.S. without documentation at the age of 20. Anyway, whats Elvis need? However, Parker claimed that his issue with overseas performances was over security issues, as well as poor venues not suitable for the star's stature. With the Coasters, who you were just as prolific with, you had a whole style of songwriting going that was based in storytelling, almost like mini-musicals you called them playlets.. Variety fried it. We dont have approval on scripts only money. Dean Reed was an incredibly handsome guy. He did not know how to say no to someone who had already made all of his dreams come true. I told him pay us our regular fee and if Elvis gets the Oscar well give him his money back. From the beginning, Luhrmann had Hanks on his shortlist. The Colonel promoted Elviss first big tour with Hank Snow. Johnny (Otis) said, Are you familiar with Willie Mae Thornton? I said, no. As opposed to the more methodical camera coverage Hanks is accustomed to, Luhrmann is more free-wheeling. That interview gets at the heart of what both Hanks and Luhrmann wanted to say about the Colonel and the give-and-take between manager and artist. She growled it both times. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox, A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry. We had no contract and we were not compensated, but it turned out OK. And it still gets produced; it played in New York again in 2018 and in London last year. "It's possible to be driven mad by it," the actor says. You and Jerry had projects you wanted to do for Broadway with original stories and song scores. As a producer/director/actor, if you could get the financing to make anything you want, what would you make and why? Elvis never knew how many shows he played free to satisfy Parkers enslavement to the roulette wheel and the craps table. He was a very disciplined man, but also a guy who you might want to check your wallet to make sure you still have all those fives and 10s. The actual Parker diedJan. 21, 1997, at the age of 87. In addition, he revealed his dream project, which would be about Dean Reed, who was an American actor and singer that decided to become a communist behind the Iron Curtain. [Stoller adds that the rabbit lyric might have been added by a lounge act Presley was believed to have seen and liked covering the song in Vegas prior to his taking it on.]. No, it never did. Loanne Parker, wife of Colonel Tom Parker, passed away earlier this week.Loanne had a strong connection to Las Vegas, Nevada - even though she was from southern Ohio - and she had an even stronger connection to Elvis. Elvis Information Network, May-June 2022). Hanks recalls. Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. He was astonished to discover Parker was a poorly dressed, slovenly PR hack, rather than the authoritarian, ram-rod image the word "Colonel" summons. The Coasters were different characters. The hotel would bring a roulette wheel to his room. He did not have an artistic thought in his body. In his interviews, Parker did seem to have a slight trace of an accent but it sounded almost Cajun so it would have been believable to . That can be found in detail in two Parker biographies published in recent years Colonel Tom Parkerby James Dickerson (2001) andThe Colonelby Alanna Nash (2003). I tried to put together, and it was tricky, this story of There was a guy named Dean Reed. He was in for a surprise. Hanks has portrayed real-life people in a number of films, from Jim Lovell in Apollo 13 to Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood to Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger in Sully - and many more. And there's the fault that I think also has to land in both of them because Elvis could have said no. King and Little Richard later. They hurl a litany of accusations at Presleys former manager he took too much of Elvis money, he mismanaged Elvis movie career, he pressured Elvis to work when he was in poor health, he even tried to capitalize on Elvis name after he died. He liked it that Elvis did what brought folks into the big tent. With writer-director Baz Luhrmanns Elvis opening in theaters this weekend around the world, I recently got to speak with Tom Hanks about playing Colonel Tom Parker in the biopic. In the meantime, Colonel Parker had nixed all offers for Elvis to appear on stage, as he had for Presley to appear on TV. Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy, and director Rob Marshall share the tale behind making their underwater musical with a groundbreaking Disney princess. He was also a consultant to the Hilton, where he gambled every day. He made him. We picked up the script, which we hadnt looked at yet, that was in the corner of the room with the Whats On Broadway magazines. As it is, we both take bows and if it doesnt hit maybe they get more blame that us. Im not leaving without them. And he pushed this big chair in front of the door. The single record was done with the Jordanaires and with D.J. Its shown as being Parkers idea to get him away for a while to put a lid on the sexual energy and image. Presleys schedule didnt allow it anyway, according to Parker. Hanks explained that he was days away from shooting the film in March when he contracted COVID-19. Dont worry about it. I think Jerry said, You cant, were unmanageable. Which was somewhat true. Elvis could sing whatever he wanted. Colonel Parker is the devil to many Elvis Presley fans. Tom Parker wasn't a household name before Elvis, but it's clear that after the biopic, it soon will be. Why dont you wait outside? So we waited, trying to imagine how we were going to be rewarded for bringing this great plumb. From your memoir, it sounds like Peggy Lee might have been the least fun? Every hero needs a villain, and in the case of Elvis Presley, the man who made him was also the one who destroyed him. ", So maybe we never win an Oscar but were going to win a few box office awards. However, there were some interesting omissions from the award announcements. And heres a guy who carries his pictures by himself the rest of the guys on the list have three or four stars to back them up., Fessier pointed out that the Presley-Parker partnership was one of the few in Hollywood that confined its demands to money. Dont call us sir. After all, we were all of two years older than he was! THE ELVIS movie biopic stars Tom Hanks as The King's manager Colonel Tom Parker, who the actor has described as both a 'genius' and a 'scoundrel'. What about Presleys entrance into the Army? He cited several reasons primarily security and not big enough venues, or said the money wasnt right. No, no, not at all. He was a wonderful man, and I wish he was alive today. For a while he lied about his early years, claiming to have been born in Huntington, West Virginia and that he had run away at an early age to join a circus run by an uncle. Well, they were a lot of fun. We'll make a lot of money." But the first take was great. And then, of course, there was (the film) Jailhouse Rock (also retitled after a song Leiber and Stoller came up with), which was where Elvis heard the demos and wanted to meet us. Snow had a big ego and resented the fact that Elvis quickly became the draw on his shows, not Snow. Sadly, the blues do not sell well. But once Elvis was onstage, controlling the music, he did what he wanted. We did some that were not quite so successful. "They made some of the most brilliant moves in the history of show business," he reflects. He attended Elvis funeral dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and baseball cap, avoiding any display of emotion. And I mean, we enjoyed being in the studio with Elvis; we enjoyed being in the studio with the Drifters, with Ben E. King, with Peggy Lee. Elvis would invite B.B. I recently spoke with Baz Luhrmann to discuss the 20th . The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member (class of 1987) told us about everything from why he never much liked Presleys version of Hound Dog Big Mama Thornton was a hard act to follow to how he realized a Broadway musical rooted in the duos songs, Smokey Joes Cafe, could be a smash if they just dispensed with a storyline and script. And when I got to New York and stepped off the gang plank, Jerry ran up to me I hadnt seen him in almost four months and said, Mike, we got a smash hit! I said, Youre kidding. He said, Hound Dog. I said [incredulously], Big Mama Thornton? He said, No, some white kid named Elvis Presley. And thats how I heard about Elvis. So when they call you and tell you Eminem wants to incorporate a song of yours into his, do you just say sure, or ask to hear it? The music publishers for Elvis were there. Butler is superb in the role and actually sings Presleys early songs in the film. He says, "I said he should sing this kind of thing." We went back to my house and, in about 10 or 15 minutes, we wrote Hound Dog and took it back. Jimmie later went to Graceland in 1958 to talk to him about how he had given up drinking and doing pills on the road and had turned his life over to Jesus. Privately, Parker referred to Elviss family as shit and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. Elvis took care of what Elvis did and Colonel took care of what Colonel did. Did Parker really install Elvis dad, Vernon, as business manager to make sure he, the Colonel, could really run all things? Its a very strong film; I really like the movie. It has been my thought that Elvis was afraid that his success would evaporate, and therefore it was business, a formula that worked. "Playing Elvis is like playing Jesus, and it doesn't really matter who plays Pontius Pilate because if you have a good Jesus, you got it," Hanks says. In 1958, Parker encouraged Elvis to voluntarily enlist in the Army (part of Elvis' true story) after he received a draft notice and serve a two-year stint as a regular soldier, showing the world that he was just like any average American. Luhrmann describes another story in the aftermath of Presley's death where the Colonel immediately called RCA and instructed them to produce more records, knowing demand would skyrocket. Well, yes and no. The Tom Hanks Tom Parker portrayal was certainly a different type of role for the actor, who is known for taking on characters like the sunny Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Gaining or losing weight, taking on accents, and experimenting in a variety of genres that pushed his limits as an actor, Hanks has built a career out of challenging roles. Parker returned to the carnival (one not-too-dissimilar to the 1950s carnival in American Horror Story thanks to the setting), where he made his living for a time before getting involved in music promotion, working with the likes of Gene Austin, Minnie Pearl, Eddy Arnold, and Hank Snow. Is the portrayal of Elvis relationship with Priscilla, however briefly that is dramatized, basically accurate? I told him that if were doing so badly maybe next year he wouldnt want us at all, said the Colonel, and we better get all we can while we can and I hiked the price. Are the liberties worth it for creating an artistic picture? He didn't care what Elvis (Austin Butler) sang from the. Anything can happen during those first three days. Yes. A nice thing is that the characters names are the real names of the first cast, and its kind of sweet those first members of the cast have been immortalized. So I went to Europe for three or four months with my first wife, who I had just married a year before. Colonel Tom Parker absolutely did diabolical things. The Colonel is a complicated character, and while he always took too much of Presleys money, he made some very sound decisions for him. You seem right.' Elvis wasnt ready for hear all that yet. And I was very happy with the way my songs were used. What dreams do you have? How many times do you want your name on the record? He was annoyed! He dreamed about that. Elvis never knew. I Want to Be Free had a kind of special meaning, because we wanted to get out of the goddamn hotel room! Colonel Parker is seen as under pressure from secretive governmental forces who want to keep Elvis from corrupting youth and to try to get him to tamp down Presley, they threaten to expose.
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