Almost the only indisputable fact about Colonel Tom Parker is that he was the manager of the greatest performer in popular music: Elvis Presley. His real name wasn't Tom Parker - indeed, he wasn't an American at all, but a Dutch immigrant called Andreas van Kujik. And he certainly wasn't a proper military colonel: he purchased his title from a man in Louisiana. But while the Colonel has long been acknowledged as something of a charlatan, this book is the first to reveal the extraordinary extent of the secrets he concealed, ...
Read More
Almost the only indisputable fact about Colonel Tom Parker is that he was the manager of the greatest performer in popular music: Elvis Presley. His real name wasn't Tom Parker - indeed, he wasn't an American at all, but a Dutch immigrant called Andreas van Kujik. And he certainly wasn't a proper military colonel: he purchased his title from a man in Louisiana. But while the Colonel has long been acknowledged as something of a charlatan, this book is the first to reveal the extraordinary extent of the secrets he concealed, and the consequences for the career, and ultimately the life, of the star he managed. As Alanna Nash' prodigious research has discovered, the Colonel left Holland most probably because, at the age of twenty, he bludgeoned a woman to death. Entering the US illegally, he then enlisted in the army as 'Tom Parker'. But, with supreme irony for someone later styling himself as Colonel, Parker's military career ended in desertion, and discharge after a psychiatrist had certified him as a psychopath. He then became a fairground barker, working sideshows with a zeal for small-scale huckstering and the casual scam that never left him. And by the height of Elvis's success, Parker had become a pathological gambler who, at the same time as he was taking, amazingly, a full 50% of Presley's earnings, frittered away all his wealth in the casinos of Las Vegas. As Nash shows, therefore, the often baffling trajectory of Elvis Presley's career makes perfect sense once the secret imperatives of the Colonel's life are known. Parker never booked Presley for a tour of Europe because of the dark secret that ensured he himself could never return there. Even at his most famous, Elvis was still being booked to play out-of-the-way towns in North Carolina - because the former fairground barker (who shamelessly negotiated as such even with top record company and film executives) knew them from his days on the circus circuit. And Elvis was trapped playing years of arduous seasons in Las Vegas - two shows nightly, seven days a week, until boredom and despair brought on the excessive drug use that killed him - because for Parker he was "an open chit" whose huge earnings prevented his manager's losses at the gambling tables being called in. Alanna Nash knew Parker towards the end of his life, and has now uncovered the whole story, improbable, shocking, and never less than compelling, of how this larger-than-life man made, and then unmade, popular music's first and greatest superstar.
Read Less
Add this copy of The Colonel: the Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom to cart. $11.96, good condition, Sold by Hippo Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Toledo, OH, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Simon & Schuster.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. All pages and cover are intact. Possible slightly loose binding, minor highlighting and marginalia, cocked spine or torn dust jacket. Maybe an ex-library copy and not include the accompanying CDs, access codes or other supplemental materials.
Add this copy of The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom to cart. $14.14, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2010 by Simon & Schuster.
Add this copy of The Colonel Format: Paperback to cart. $15.28, new condition, Sold by indoo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Avenel, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Simon & Schuster.
Add this copy of The Colonel: the Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom to cart. $15.47, new condition, Sold by BargainBookStores rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Grand Rapids, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Simon & Schuster.
Add this copy of The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom to cart. $15.55, like new condition, Sold by GreatBookPrices rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Simon & Schuster.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 448 p. Contains: Unspecified. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of The Colonel: the Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom to cart. $15.56, very good condition, Sold by Ebooksweb rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bensalem, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Simon & Schuster.
Add this copy of The Colonel: the Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom to cart. $15.76, like new condition, Sold by Ebooksweb rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bensalem, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Simon & Schuster.
