Look you got a product, you sell it, explained Parker. Didnt he ask to become the manager of Leiber and Stoller, too and, as the story goes, he presented you with a completely blank contract? And that is the yin and the yang to his diabolical genius status. While Elvis and the Colonel carried the movie to several awards, Hanks' omission stands out above most others. 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. Beyond the vintage songs, you and Jerry Leiber get credit on two new songs interpolating your old ones, by Doja Cat and Eminem. ", "Why include the Colonel in all of this?" Well, it became a different song. I love your work so much. I mean, if youve heard Big Mamas record and the rhythm and the whole structure of the music, as compared to this kind of rockabilly [he claps out the differences in the two versions rhythms] But as Ive said: After it sold 7 million singles, I began to see some merit in it. And we finally were called in, and Jean Aberbach, in his Viennese accent, said, Vell, ze Colonel said, if you ever dare try to interfere in the career of Elvis Presley, you will never work anywhere again New York, London, Hollywood nowhere. And I dont think we ever wrote anything more for him. He didn't care what Elvis sang on stage. And I thought, wow, thats the most money Ill ever see at one time! Tom Hanks was also intrigued by the fact that the wider public knew very little about the Elvis manager, claiming this was another reason he took on the role. He was a fabulous singer, fabulous performer, and very special and hes very hot, again, still. I dont think the band is great. You seem right.' I didnt like Hound Dog, but I loved the way he did our other songs. This is Luhrmann showing us Elviss influences. No, no, not at all. And the Colonel said, What took you so long?. Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the movie is not a traditional musician biopic as it's a film that explores Elvis Presley's rise through the eyes of his manager. "And the Colonel says, 'Because of me. The piece by Michael Fessier, Jr., carried the headline, Elvis Hits $20,000,000 Gross Jackpot. The articles first three paragraphs broke down the various amounts and sources of Presleys income since 1956, with the total having reached the $20 million mark by the end of 1963. COLONEL TOM PARKER - Interview on "ABC Nightline" (Aug 15, 1987) - YouTube 0:00 / 7:03 COLONEL TOM PARKER - Interview on "ABC Nightline" (Aug 15, 1987) waylonvids 20.1K subscribers Subscribe. We did some that were not quite so successful. Alex Shoofey, the executive VP of the International, testified that Parker was good for $1 million a year in gambling, but others think that number is low. Read Next: Pink Performs Acoustic Set for No Kid Hungry, Talks Why Her Upcoming Arena Tour Will Feel Intimate. That's the thought that he had. Elvis Presley expressed his desire to go overseas frequently, but he was kept at bay with easy and fast money arranged by The Colonel on projects in the U.S. By the time they reached the final years of Elvis' career, the two were so intertwined and invested that it made more sense to stay in business than to walk away. liked him.. He could turn down scripts. Years later, I think in the 90s, we all went on a trip to Graceland and were given a private tour by Georgie Klein, who was one of Elvis Memphis mafia guys. First of all, when Colonel Parker enlisted in the U.S. Army, he declared himself a Dutch citizen, with parents born in Holland. The actor wore a fat suit and heavy make-up to appear more like Parker, but the real performance came in the mannerisms, accent, and presence of Hanks embodying Elvis' manager. We had no contract and we were not compensated, but it turned out OK. Never one to miss an opportunity to make money off of his prized client, Colonel Tom Parker jumped on Elvis' death as a marketing cash grab. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Tom Hanks during Tuesday's July 14, 2020 show. He was given the honorary title of "Colonel" in the Louisiana State Militia from Governor Jimmie Davis as thanks for the work he did on his political campaign. In addition, he revealed. And when you first buy it, you love listening to it. Elvis wasnt ready for hear all that yet. In contrast to Butler, who had to craft a version of a man everyone recognizes, Hanks had the freedom to start from scratch. He had never seen that before. Elvis would never have been so crass as to have fired Colonel from the stage. And Cornell Gunter was either the female role or some other such role. For one, Parker said, we can do some of the personal appearances we havent been able to. I do know that while researching for my book, The purpose here is not to recap the relationship between Parker and Presley. He did not have an artistic thought in his body. Why AI Has Some Viewers Asking Which Film Actors Are Real. Tom Hanks has questioned his decision to play Colonel Tom Parker who was Elvis Presley's infamous longtime manager in the upcoming biopic "Elvis." The 65-year-old Oscar winner discussed. Elvis seemed to evoke a love or hate response in anyone I knew. But what you're describing there is literally something that happens on movies. . But Gladys was a big Grand Ole Opry fan, and it was in part the Colonels introducing her to Hank Snow that got her to let her boy go with the Colonel. During the interview, Hanks talked about the way Parker was a promoter and not a manager, why Elvis never fired him, and how he prepares for a really emotional scene. Whats the real origin story of Parker hearing about and going to discover Elvis? And I was very happy with the way my songs were used. Sadly, the blues do not sell well. nothing., According to Parker, production costs for the average Presley film ran between $1.5 and $2 million, and if the studio lets it maybe a little more., The Colonel didnt seem too concerned that Elvis film popularity would dry up someday. Some people have said the movie undersells Elvis country and crooner influences to make him look like almost solely the product of blues and R&B. Within 30 minutes of their first meeting, Hanks was hooked. But first we had to pass muster with the Colonel, so we were invited to dinner by the music publishers Jean and Julian Aberbach, who also were tied in with the Colonel; they had started with Eddie Arnold, too, and met through that business relationship. So we went to dinner with the Colonel, and we had to laugh at his jokes, and then I guess we passed muster, so it was all right. 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. Baz Luhrmann's musical biopic Elvis explores the eponymous singer's career, leading up to his tragic death, and one of the characters that has caused a fair amount of controversy is Elvis and the Colonel, Tom Parker. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox, A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry. 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. I mean like ridiculously handsome guy who also happened to be a third-rate singer and a second-rate actor who just happened to become very, very, very, very famous for a record in Chile. The new Elvis film is not based on her book, nor did Luhrmann read it, by his account (although he says researchers presented him with notes from that and many other key Presley-related books). Check the list of the 10 top box office stars Elvis is right there. I played on one of the songs from those sessions (Treat Me Nice), but I wasnt that good of a player. He sells! In Elvis, out June 24, we get a portrait not only of the rise and fall of Elvis (Austin Butler), but also of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), and the co-dependent relationship between the two. "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. The 89-year-old co-writer of "Jailhouse Rock," "Hound Dog," "Trouble" and 20 more Presley tracks recalls hitting it off with Presley and alienating his manager as well as successes like the Broadway smash "Smokey Joe's Cafe. It adds a little spice. Dean Reed was an incredibly handsome guy. 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. I think thats what we sent to (Presley), and he loved it. 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. Elvis Presley had his own struggles, particularly in his later years, as his lavish spending, addiction issues, divorce, and declining health took a toll on The King. It was sad. He did not know how to say no to someone who had already made all of his dreams come true. That was in our minds (during the initial writing). In the memoir you worked on with Jerry and David Ritz some years back, Ritz quotes you as saying: Variety called it a loser. I mean, he took him away from Sam Phillips, which was not nice, but proved to be an amazing boon to his career and popularity. But you ought to see it, because theres something happening with these songs in this theater. You know, there wasnt much rock n roll or rhythm and blues in these theatrical productions that I knew of at that time. But he was being very respectful and polite. Mike Stoller plays the pianist in the film Jailhouse Rock with Elvis Presley. You had your share of contact with him during the years you were writing for Elvis. Scene is from the set of the Presley movie, Love Me Tender.. He could have said, I mean, Priscilla herself told me he could have said no to those movies. However, the tide wasn't actually changed until a 1968 TV special, produced by Scott Binder, put Elvis the singer back on top, while simultaneously showing the Colonel how close he was to losing the singer to another producer. The branding. Only then did the Presley-Parker partnership make a triumphant return to television and, soon after that, to the concert stage. But the first take was great. The article then turned to a lengthy interview with Colonel Parker, who Fessier called the commander-in-chief of the Presley forces. Parker started out by explaining how Elvis earnings were divided in those movie-making days. Instead, the focus here will be on sharing some interesting information about Colonel Parker that appeared in a rather obscure source. HANKS: It's a beast, but you are aware of when that scene is coming. He did make him by 1961 a talent that would reign eternally, probably a career that could be of import for 20 years. After Elvis' death in 1977, the Elvis Presley manager continued on as if The King were still alive. I must say, Jean Aberbach was instrumental in us doing that, just by saying, Youre not leaving till I have them., Something else you wrote on the fly, on demand, that has endured well for 65 years: Santa Claus Is Back in Town., Yeah, we did that in a hurry, also. So, after a couple dozen songs together, that was it one big strike with Parker and youre out. Your blog on the Colonel is most helpful. He dreamed about that. Elvis never knew. In actuality, he worked the carnival circuit, presenting acts like Colonel Tom Parker and His Dancing Chickens, which saw the fowls jumping because they were on a hot plate hidden under sawdust. [A movie version of Walk on the Wild Side was eventually produced in the 60s, with none of the same talent attached, and flopped.]. But the most fun we ever had in the studio working was with the Coasters. Baz Luhrmann is much like Colonel Parker. The Colonel was well-known as a strong promoter that frequently leaned into exploitation. Oh, Parker instigated that whole thing, but it wasnt to put a lid on the sexual energy. In the same interview, Hanks also hinted that he is connected to the upcoming Disney+rebootof the classicTurner & Hooch, but seemed a little confused as to how it was going to play out. So while he was gone (remember, Parker never went to Germany when Elvis was there), Parker set up all these appearances and movies for him, and the idea was to make him appeal to families the all-American boy that would have longevity, and could grow into that role as he aged. Elvis and the Colonel were associated throughout the musician's entire career, including music, movies, and TV specials. 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. Parker struggled with a gambling addiction while keeping Elvis on a short leash, halting the singer from touring overseas and pushing him into cheap projects that were frequently averse to what the artist wanted to be a part of, eventually taking 50% of Elvis' earnings, of which they both agreed upon. Its kind of like Priscilla letting Baz make Parker out to be such a villain, but is now having Hanks and Baz say they toned down the Colonels evilness once they met with her, because Parker was a good guy. The Elvis manager certainly had some unethical practices when it came to the King of Rock n Roll, and many were shocked upon viewing the film to find out that this was the case. Remember, he entered a talent contest as a child singing Old Shep warbling about dead dogs is about as country as it gets. We bought our stuff back, a lot of it. And the movies I mean, naturally I liked Jailhouse Rock, but I dont think it was a great movie. The bass was either the father or the heavy. While director Baz Luhrmann's take on the complex dynamic between Elvis and the Colonel goes far behind the black-and-white shades of good and evil, what makes it even more compelling is that the grotesque figure of Tom Parker is played by, arguably, the most beloved actor of the last 40 years, Tom Hanks. Theyre doing it in Connecticut now; a young lady who was in the show in London is directing it. Tom Hank's Col Tom Parker accent . Dont call us sir. After all, we were all of two years older than he was! He wanted us to write the score for it, and for us to help get Elvis to play the lead. He's never been identified as anything other than this mercurial or puppeteer-like, quasi-evil, greedy manager that took advantage of Elvis from the get-go. Theyre having it both ways. They went motorcycle riding together in Nashville. I Want to Be Free had a kind of special meaning, because we wanted to get out of the goddamn hotel room! Its great. Charlie Lamb, who was present that day, told me that Parker got up from the lunch table and got in his car that minute and drove to find him. My favorite rap was Grandmaster Flash on The Message, which goes back a whole bunch of years; thats the only one that I was really taken with. Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Sadly, Elvis was too much the star that he could not take lesser parts to learn and develop as an actor. He liked it that Elvis did what brought folks into the big tent. Privately, Parker referred to Elviss family as shit and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. 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 only time Parker got critical is when the shows began to falter with drugs or erratic behavior on stage. "The blues singers that we knew, Elvis knew them also," says Stoller. We did Procol Harum [in 1975]. 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. I dont remember that precisely. Then we worked with her seven years later after she was no longer at Capitol [on the critically hailed, little heard A&M concept album Mirrors). He was ascoundrel in his way, Hanks said. "They made some of the most brilliant moves in the history of show business," he reflects. Backstage, he and King had a photo made. 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. If youd like to follow Steven on Twitter or Instagram, you can expect plenty of breaking news, exclusive interviews, and pictures of cats doing stupid things. One of the first things that we saw was the kid (in the screenplay) was in prison. 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. 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. Finally, Tom Hanks wasn't nominated for Best Supporting Actor. In their rush to denounce him for failing his client in later years, many Elvis fans forget that there may not have been an Elvis Presley were it not for Tom Parkers work in those early days. I think we maybe killed them! He mentions that church in the film. There may be no one better to go to who can provide the truth on both Presley and the Colonel, in tandem, than the latters biographer, Alanna Nash. 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. Nash, a veteran music journalist, published The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley to acclaim in 2010 and her book has just been reissued with a new afterword. Leiber died in 2011 but, creeping up on 90, Stoller remains active still showing up to collect the few accolades he hasnt already received, like the Icon award BMI bestowed upon him at its annual ceremony in May, and also working on a stage musical he doesnt want to say much about at the moment. One of the offers he turned down was for Elvis to appear on the small screen for $150,000. Somebody must be making a buck. Yes. HANKS: He was a promoter and not a manager. Yes. You guys basically produced those Jailhouse Rock sessions, even though you didnt get credit? "Because I don't know what Colonel Tom Parker looks like. Still, the odds were heavily in favor that hed be a country singer and his stint on the Louisiana Hayride seemed to point him in that direction. HANKS: There's a YouTube, one was named Comrade Rockstar and another movie called Red Elvis. So we hit it off and we had a great relationship. Tom Hanks goes dark: Why our favorite good guy wanted to play the. Hanks says Luhrmann's approach to the work also helped push him to new heights. The Colonel was now looking for the next big thing. As a producer/director/actor, if you could get the financing to make anything you want, what would you make and why? Vernon needed something to do, and he was always willing to take money under the table, and Parker saw how malleable he was, and would have suggested Vernon be the so-called business manager. Because I made Elvis Presley. Country radio stations said Elvis sounded too Black to play, and the stations that played rhythm and blues said he sounded too much like a hillbilly. "And I told Baz, 'But you're describing Falstaff and Hal,' and Baz said, 'Exactly, except with millions of dollars thrown into it. And you hate the director the first day and he's okay the second. The Masked Lookalike Explained. In particular, Hanks was looking forward to taking part in a fresh look at the story, as the tale of Elvis is well-known enough to garner fatigue. 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. According to the Colonel, We make no picture deals without the great potentate Abe Lastfogel. (Lastfogel was the long-time president of the Morris agency. The Colonel is a complicated character, and while he always took too much of Presleys money, he made some very sound decisions for him. Peter (2018), So maybe we never win an Oscar but were going to win a few box office awards. Love him or loathe him, Elvis manager Colonel Tom Parker was good for Vegas They call it The King and I, which is a good title. Its both sanitized and expanded. That's what makes him so delicious.". 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. And I hated the show. Fortunately I managed to get down a Jacobs ladder into a broken lifeboat. The pattern that Parker would traditionally follow was affordability and profit over quality, which would eventually help to torpedo Elvis' career for a time. Now hes after us for two more., The Colonel went on to tell a story about a producer who wanted to trim down Elvis film fee. 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. We had a few run-ins with the Colonel. Any thoughts on that? And when he went down there, he was celebrated as though he himself was Elvis Presley. Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about. The actor has proven time and again that he's up to the challenge of playing a real-world personality and the role of Elvis and the Colonel is no different. 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. It was never told to him. Parker loved it that Elvis was like a male striptease artist like the bally girls on the carnivals. There's no substitute for going there. 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. So it gets complicated, and it probably will never get done. When we came in, Steve Sholes was the top guy at RCA Records. Colonel Parker called himself "the Snowman" because he loved snowing, or fooling, people. Was the Variety review of the New York show, or was it the out-of-town tryout in L.A.? During the interview, Hanks talked about the way Parker was a promoter and not a manager, why Elvis never fired him, and how he prepares for a really emotional scene. All Rights Reserved. Thomas Andrew "Colonel Tom" Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 - January 21, 1997) was a Dutch-born American talent manager, best known as the manager of Elvis Presley.His management of Presley defined the role of masterminding talent management, which involved every facet of the client's life and was seen as central to the success of Presley's career. Butler is superb in the role and actually sings Presleys early songs in the film. Which is not the one in the film, because the one in the film was blown out and had a bigger orchestra. Or were there things he did right that he merits credit for? And director Baz Luhrmann has teased how fans . I was expecting to hear stories about the distrust she had for Colonel Tom Parker over these many years. 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. Thats really what he was looking for all along. So I went to Europe for three or four months with my first wife, who I had just married a year before. Interview with Colonel Parker (Elvis Presley's Manager) (1993) Elvis Australia 28.6K subscribers Subscribe 635 163K views 4 years ago Interview with Colonel Parker Elvis Presley's Manager. We were blown away, and we even had some meetings with Schulberg. He is seen attending so many performances by R&B singers, whether its Arthur Big Boy Crudup as a kid or Big Mama Thornton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, B.B. However, there were some interesting omissions from the award announcements. Other than the tremendous pains Baz has taken to make this story seem woke, the liberties are essentially fair except to 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. First of all, have you seen the Elvis movie? Elvis Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker, whose sole client was the King, has long been said to have taken 50 per cent of all the rock 'n' roll icon's earnings.When asked about the deal . When watching the movie, you think about all the what ifs. On top of that, Parker found venue upon venue for Elvis to perform in, be it recording studios, Hollywood films, TV specials, and even satellite broadcasts, immersing the artist into the cultural zeitgeist while keeping him landlocked in North America. And there's the fault that I think also has to land in both of them because Elvis could have said no. "If Elvis represents the soul and the new in America the possibility in America, the rags and riches in America, all those positive, very American things the Colonel represents the sell," he says. The Black-white divide didnt mean much to the Presleys. Having been a staple in The King's life for so long, he was well known to Elvis' ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, who humored his appearances at such venues, regarding him as a family friend despite their clashes over the estate. What he didn't do later on in the 60's and to a degree in the 70's was go to this wickedly, incredibly singular talent, worthy of altering the zeitgeist in the mid-1950s. You could never have predicted the longevity of Smokey Joes Caf, surely. Is the portrayal of the 68 comeback special accurate, with Parker trying desperately to keep it a Christmas special, and resisting the rock n roll throwback elements that everyone loved, because he was kowtowing to a deeply upset TV network? But we had recorded it with a Black duo, who were out of a gospel group, that we got to do a secular song we called em Willy & Ruth on our own little Spark Records label that we had with Lester Sill. The promises. 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.
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