colonel tom parker interview

One thing he did with me was to say, I want you to remember this. And then he launched into this carny double-speak that sounded kind of like pig Latin. Finally, we got on the ship to sail back into New York, and we almost made it before our ship collided with a Swedish ship and sank. The Black-white divide didnt mean much to the Presleys. What is it like for you when you are getting ready to step on set for say a big emotional scene on a Monday, can you explain to me, is it weeks in advance you're thinking about that big scene? But before that he did have another big hit with a cover of one of your tunes, the ballad Love Me. Although Elvis sang it more seriously, It was surprising to read in your memoir that you had originally written Love Me as a country parody song a spoof of a subservient hillbilly who doesnt put up any objections to his lover treating him like garbage. You think you're going to get fired and nothing works. Colonel Parker is the devil to many Elvis Presley fans. First, Baz Luhrmann joined a list of directors including Joe Wright, Frank Darabont, and Lawrence Kasdan as someone who had two Best Picture nominations but didn't get a Best Director nomination either time. Parker saw his job as an elevated version of the carnival barker, the person who ensured Elvis was always in people's hearts and minds. The film opens on Parker, absolving himself of guilt for the trajectory of Elvis's life, saying, "Some would have me the villain in this story." Theres about three different uses of Hound Dog, including the original Big Mama Thornton version, and of course theres some Jailhouse Rock in there. In 1983, he was paid $2 million dollars in an out-of-court settlement, which had him turn over any and all audio and video recordings he had of Elvis and terminated his involvement in any Elvis-related earnings for five years. He made him. COLONEL TOM PARKER - Interview on "ABC Nightline" (Aug 15, 1987 That led to a colossal shouting match afterwards with Parker and talk of firing and quitting on both their parts, with Colonel ultimately presenting a bill that the Presleys could not pay. Tom Parker wasn't a household name before Elvis, but it's clear that after the biopic, it soon will be. He did make him by 1961 a talent that would reign eternally, probably a career that could be of import for 20 years. So I went to Europe for three or four months with my first wife, who I had just married a year before. Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. 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Judge says Elvis' manager's profits were 'excessive' and 'shocking' - UPI He never went to Elvis and said, "What would you like to do? What can I say? [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.]. Elvis would invite B.B. Did Parker really have huge gambling debts he was able to pay off by committing Elvis to a single Vegas hotel for years before Presleys death? ", So maybe we never win an Oscar but were going to win a few box office awards. 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. In a way, sure. Later, in Memphis, he certainly attended a white fundamentalist church, and with his early girlfriend, Dixie Locke the all-Black East Trigg Baptist Church to hear Black gospel. I played on one of the songs from those sessions (Treat Me Nice), but I wasnt that good of a player. 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. 2023 Billboard Media, LLC. Then she was hired on as Elvis' tour secretary and traveled . Everybody's very familiar with it. Tom Hanks On Colonel Tom Parker Role: Watch - Billboard 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. That convinced him this would be an opportunity to truly disappear into a different kind of role. 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. How did you finally land on the Colonels bad side? However, it soon became obvious that Elvis had staying power, with the right guidance. Colonel Tom Parker - Elvis, House & Death - Biography And he had what sounded like a slight lisp or speech impediment. Presley had other ways of making money that they could fall back on. Elvis Cast Guide: What The Characters Look Like In Real Life, illegal immigrant (the theme of the Netflix series, Elvis True Story: Who Was Orion? Headlines about how lascivious early Elvis was sold concert tickets. Elvis clearly demonstrates the ways in which Parker was integral in crafting Presley into an icon, but it also doesn't hold back in exposing the abuses and limitations of that relationship a paradox and tragedy that Hanks says became the most intriguing driving force in his portrayal. He was doing a Christmas album, and we wrote it in another room during the recording session. You and Jerry had projects you wanted to do for Broadway with original stories and song scores. Would you say Elvis was growling when he covered Hound Dog three years later, in 1956, becoming the first of the big hits he had with your songs? . Tom Hanks will be playing Colonel Tom Parker, the infamous music manager who discovered Elvis and landed him his contract with RCA. We dont have approval on scripts only money. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Butler is superb in the role and actually sings Presleys early songs in the film. Sadly, Elvis was too much the star that he could not take lesser parts to learn and develop as an actor. Elvis and the Colonel were associated throughout the musician's entire career, including music, movies, and TV specials. Every hero needs a villain, and in the case of Elvis Presley, the man who made him was also the one who destroyed him. And there certainly would've been no Elvis without Colonel Tom Parker.' But the thing that really did it for us Jerry went to a party in New York and met a producer, Charlie Feldman, who was going to do a movie of a novel by Nelson Algren called A Walk on the Wild Side. He had (Elia) Kazan to direct, Budd Schulberg to write the thing and James Wong Howe to do the cinematography. That's the standard trope that goes along with Colonel Tom Parker. Colonel Tom Parker managed Elvis Presley 's career from 1955 to 1977, overseeing almost every aspect of the star's life. And I thought, wow, thats the most money Ill ever see at one time! Within 30 minutes of their first meeting, Hanks was hooked. I tried to put together, and it was tricky, this story of There was a guy named Dean Reed. He probably initially heard about Elvis from his cronies in Texarkana when Elvis was playing little clubs while on the Louisiana Hayride. When Elvis returned home from the Army, The Colonel focused on more films, TV appearances, and albums, saturating the airwaves with Elvis. So that started a little bit of discomfort on the part of the Colonel. "It's possible to be driven mad by it," the actor says. Parker found ways to market Elvis through merchandise, TV appearances, and films, always working in some kind of cross-promotion to make more money off the endeavor. 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. Hard to do. The second take was perfect. The attitude towards the work that was Jerrys (lyrics) was, We cant use that, and other people might disagree with what he did or his take. We found that a lot of the blues singers that we knew, he knew them also, which was a surprise to us. First of all, when Colonel Parker enlisted in the U.S. Army, he declared himself a Dutch citizen, with parents born in Holland. He was also a consultant to the Hilton, where he gambled every day. 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. From the beginning, Luhrmann had Hanks on his shortlist. Born in the Netherlands, Parker entered the United States illegally when he was 20 years old. Thats total and unequivocal bunk, a complete invention in the movie. 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. When watching the movie, you think about all the what ifs. As a joke, he formed the. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox, A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry. What dreams do you have? All in all, the manager was known for some appalling behavior towards his star client, and Elvis tries its best to portray that accurately. "And I told Baz, 'But you're describing Falstaff and Hal,' and Baz said, 'Exactly, except with millions of dollars thrown into it. So, after a couple dozen songs together, that was it one big strike with Parker and youre out. Why AI Has Some Viewers Asking Which Film Actors Are Real. 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. And it still gets produced; it played in New York again in 2018 and in London last year. He claimed that at least 50% of his share went right back into the business of promoting Elvis office expenses, advertising and exploitation, etc. Elvis cut, said Parker, goes straight to the Memphis accountants., "Look you got a product, you sell it. The promises. Hanks says Luhrmann's approach to the work also helped push him to new heights. I'll tell you specifically. Why dont you wait outside? So we waited, trying to imagine how we were going to be rewarded for bringing this great plumb. "The promotion. Austin Butler on Elvis and Why it Took Months After Filming to Find Himself Again, The Best Epic Movies of All Time, According to the AFI, The 25 Best Thrillers of All Time, Ranked, The Legend Behind the Jerry Lewis Holocaust Clown Movie Youll Never See. By Ken Sharp "The King" is back in the forefront of popular culture with the new Baz Luhrmann bio pic Elvis starring Austin Butler as the hip-swiveling Memphis fireball of a singing sensation and Tom Hanks as notorious manager Colonel Tom Parker.. On the heels of the film's release comes a new re-pressing of the must-have book The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker . Elvis loved it because it was typical of blues, of rhythm and blues songs of that period, or even an earlier period. But Im very proud of its success, nevertheless. But the real insight came via a Nightline interview with Ted Koppel on the 10th anniversary of Elvis's death, in which Parker called himself the architect of Presley's success. Washburn, etc. I dont remember that precisely. He was the American that we all knew." Is it true you two were largely responsible for producer credits starting to be added to records in the mid-50s? Elvis Presley: TRUTH about Colonel Parker and '50 per cent' cut He did not know how to say no to someone who had already made all of his dreams come true. But there is some history with Varietys initial bad review that maybe we should bring up. Stand by Me as the song for the royal wedding, where they had the Black choir singing it, that was apparently Meghan Markles choice as the song for their wedding. continues Hanks. We never saw him again. He. Is it true, as portrayed, that Parker was consistently trying to pressure Elvis to tone down his sex appeal? But he worked closely with the Pentagon, planning Elvis army career and post-army concert to raise money for the U.S.S. And director Baz Luhrmann has teased how fans . And his son, Jimmie (later Jimmy), envied Elvis and yearned to counsel him on his sinful ways. In fact, Colonel didnt even have to go down to the casino. He also says in the film that if he could find an act that gave the audience feelings they werent sure they should enjoy, but did, he could create the greatest show on earth. 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. '", This notion of making Elvis and the Colonel foils to each other was what made Hanks feel like Luhrmann's Elvis would be a fresh take on the story. But what you're describing there is literally something that happens on movies. He was believed to have been in debt to the Las Vegas Hilton for over $30 million at one point, which led to his eviction from the property after Elvis' death. The branding. In the meantime, Colonel Parker had nixed all offers for Elvis to appear on stage, as he had for Presley to appear on TV. Colonel Tom Parker, as played by Tom Hanks in Elvis, was the controversial manager of singer Elvis Presley (played by Austin Butler) with a mysterious past who had a key role in both The King's success and downfall. So much so, that the Elvis estate even sued Parker for mismanagement. I thought you guys did such a great job. A proud father, a combat veteran, dog lover, gym rat, coffee enthusiast and all around equal opportunity doughnut devourer, you can follow his daily exploits on Twitter and Instagram, as well as YouTube Videos on The Arctic Ninja Network. Elvis Fact Check: How Accurate Is Baz Luhrmann's New Movie? - TheWrap A producer was complaining that an Elvis picture of his didnt do so well. Teenage Elvis, living in Memphis, certainly went to West Memphis, Arkansas and to Beale Street to hear Black performers. Elvis picked up an impressive seven Oscar nominations. But he also found rare footage of interviews Parker gave, which is how he hit on the accent that is so decidedly un-Hanks-like. Did the Colonel live out his later years being sickly in casinos, as portrayed in the movies framing device? One of the first things that we saw was the kid (in the screenplay) was in prison. And because he had these socialist inclinations, he went off and became a superstar as an American rockstar who decided to become a communist behind the Iron Curtain. Visit Billboard Pro for music business news, Kenny Loggins Talks Danger Zone Return For Top Gun: Maverick, Jim Carrey Says Will Smith Should Have Been Arrested for Chris Rock Oscars Slap, Pam & Tommy Director Lake Bell Explores Personal, Cathartic Episode Four. The timeline well, what timeline? Elvis also stars Helen Thomson as Elviss mother, Gladys, Richard Roxburgh as Elviss father, Vernon, Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley, Luke Bracey as Jerry Schilling, Natasha Bassett as Dixie Locke, David Wenham as Hank Snow, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. Its both sanitized and expanded. Would Elvis have gone to Black Pentecostal tent meetings as a kid, as seen in the film? Colonel Tom Parker [1909-1997] Colonel Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker (Born Andreas Cornelis van Kuyk) was an enigma from the day he arrived on a freighter in Tampa Bay, Florida, as an illegal immigrant at about the age of 20 until his death at the advanced age of 87 in 1997. I called Jerry the next morning and said, Hey, he wants a song. So we wrote him a ballad and made a demo of it on Sunday, and I brought it in to him on Monday. "I had the luxury of essentially recreating somebody who no one really knew. I thought the way they used the song Trouble was very effective. But we do remember Elvis and are remembering him more universally than we have since his 1977 death, thanks to Baz Luhrmanns new Elvis biopic. It was all to make him into a beloved pop idol, not a dangerous, lugubrious rock n roller. Coupled with the fact that the character of Tom Hanks' Tom Parker isn't his usual role, and Hanks was eager to play the part. Lets talk about a few of the greats you worked with who were not Elvis Presley. Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic. And Cornell Gunter was either the female role or some other such role. Yes and no. And again, he did not advise Elvis on any aspect of his performance. Of course, I had no idea what he was saying, much less remembered it. After a lifetime of earning well over $100 million managing Elvis, The Colonel's estate was barely worth $1 million upon his death. Colonel Tom Parker absolutely did diabolical things. Did Parker really install Elvis dad, Vernon, as business manager to make sure he, the Colonel, could really run all things? "The blues singers that we knew, Elvis knew them also," says Stoller. Parker was ticked that there was initially no Christmas music, though, and (TV producer) Steve Binder and Elvis threw him Blue Christmas as a bone. They went motorcycle riding together in Nashville. Colonel Parker is the devil to many Elvis Presley fans. But Baz wanted to make him seem more other. Or as Baz told me in an interview, I thought it was very important that Tom present the audience with a strangeness, a sort of What is going on with this guy?. "But he had no other client than Elvis Presley, and he lacked the imagination to see just how truly a greater social force Elvis could have been.". Read Next: Super Mario Bros. Movie Officially Smashes $1 Billion Globally, Shonka Dukureh as Big Mama Thornton in Elvis, Helping Elvis Presley, right, cut a straight furrow is his business manager and confidant, Colonel Tom Parker of Madison, Tenn. on January 7, 1957. Elvis seemed to evoke a love or hate response in anyone I knew. 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. For one, Parker said, we can do some of the personal appearances we havent been able to. But Im happy to have a show like Smokey Joes Caf in existence. The Colonel - The Colonel I ended up being the piano player on screen in the movie Jailhouse Rock. And so (on-set) Elvis asked me, Write me a real pretty ballad. That was on a Friday. Dont call us sir. After all, we were all of two years older than he was! 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..

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