MYTH-BUSTING ELVIS
Elvis Presley is usually described as the king of rock ’n’ roll, but he was also the first modern pop star. He signalled the beginning of the era of larger-than-life musical deities whose mythology subsumes them even as they live, and whose voices echo long after their bones have ground to dust.
On the 40th anniversary of Elvis’s death, what is striking is the eerie similarity between his death — expedited by an over-prescribing doctor and an addiction to prescription drugs — and that of the other King of Pop, Michael Jackson. In life, too, they both had signature clothes and moves, and both left behind an exceptional back catalogue, sprawling rock ’n’ roll residences, and many unanswered questions.
Over time it’s been possible to puncture some of the myths that built up around Elvis’s live and career, however — answered here with the help of Ray Connolly, author of biography Being Elvis: A Lonely Life, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
FALSE Elvis was racist
This unfair charge probably stems from an unsourced accusation that in 1957, at the height of his powers, Elvis stated that: “The only thing Negroes can do for me is shine my shoes and buy my records.”
The egregious slur was related by an anonymous source in a story titled “How Negroes Feel About Elvis” in a magazine called Sepia, according to Michael T Bertrand, writing in Race, Rock, and Elvis. It was allegedly made during an appearance in Boston — but, as Bertrand wrote, Elvis had never even been to Boston.
Elvis’s friends and musical peers lined up to testify that it was wildly out of character. Sammy Davis Jr said, “he’s white but he’s downhome [unpretentious].” James Brown described him as his brother. BB King authored another Sepia article that defended Elvis, writing: “All I can say is ‘that’s my man’.”
Ironically, Elvis faced racist taunts from critics at the time, who frowned on his co-option of black music and included dog-whistle racism in their reviews, describing it as “caterwauling” and “animalism”.
Today it is not unusual to see this argument flipped on its head, and hear cultural critics argue that Elvis stole black music. From there, it is not a great leap to imagine that the man from the Fifties who played rock ’n’ roll and loved the southern states harboured racial prejudices. But there is precious little evidence to support the claim — and plenty of black contemporaries willing to defend The King.
Ultimately, says Connolly: “There is no evidence that Elvis was ever a racist”.
TRUE
Elvis fitted a two-way mirror in the girls’ changing room at Graceland
Rock stars are not renowned for their proper observation of sexual mores, and Elvis had his quirks. One of these was the purchase of Scatter — a chimpanzee that had been trained to lift up women’s skirts. The other was fitting a two-way mirror in a changing room by the pool of his Beverly Hills home, according to biographer Connolly. Asked why he needed it, since most girls would take their clothes off for him anyway, Elvis reportedly said: “It’s more fun this way”.
FALSE
Elvis was afraid of leaving the USA
The rumour that Elvis didn’t feel comfortable outside of America stems from the fact that he rarely played anywhere beyond the US (except Canada). But in reality, it was his manager who prevented him from leaving the country. “Colonel” Tom Parker’s real name was Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk — and he was an illegal migrant from Holland who didn’t own a US passport.
“Elvis didn’t know that — but he suspected it,” said Connolly. “The Colonel was not the kind of guy you cross-questioned.”
When Elvis was in Germany with US Forces between 1958 and 1960, the Colonel never went to see him.
TRUE
Elvis was a voluntary agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration — and a drug addict
Elvis wrote to US President Richard Nixon asking if he could become a Federal Agent-at-large in 1970 — a move that may be interpreted as delusional or extremely canny, given that he was addicted to a cocktail of drugs that would eventually kill him. Elvis went to great lengths to medicalise his addiction. Concerned that only “junkies” shot up, he would make members of his entourage inject the opioid Dilaudid into his hip.
In recognition of Elvis’s specious devotion to the war on drugs, Nixon gave him a specially made Bureau of Narcotics badge (Elvis collected police badges). The bauble and the meeting were kept secret for years, as was Elvis’s Trump-esque letter to Nixon denouncing “Drug Culture, the Hippie Elements, Black Panthers, etc”.
“He was probably stoned when he wrote to Nixon,” said Connolly.
TRUE
Elvis used monstrous quantities of drugs
It is often written that Elvis died from years of prescription drug abuse. What is sometimes missed is the sheer quantity and variety.
Elvis’s various biographers list the opioids Dilaudid, Percodan and methadone; the sedatives Quaalude and Placidyl; amphetamines Dexedrine, Escatrol and Biphetamine; stimulant Ritalin; barbiturates Tuinal, Desbutal, Amytal, Cabrital, Seconal, and steroids. He also enjoyed getting stoned and taking cocaine — in liquid form, on Q-tips stuck up his nostrils.
He took what he called an “attack pack” of drugs, three times a day, according to stepbrother David E Stanley in My Brother Elvis: The Final Years. This contained a combination of six to 11 pills, and a few shots for good measure, which Elvis took with the express purpose of knocking himself out.
Typically each pack would include amphetamines, opioid pills and shots (with needles) and barbiturates. No doctor would now prescribe such an astonishing combination of uppers and downers.
But they couldn’t even if they tried, because many of the drugs — eg the opioid Demerol and “Black Beauty” amphetamine — have been phased out due to their harms and potential for abuse. Barbiturates in particular have been largely phased out due to the risk of death. Seconal is still available in some countries, though — as a drug for assisted suicide.
TRUE
Elvis once turned a Tommy gun on a toilet in his bathroom
Of course he shot his television. But it wasn’t the only domestic appliance to feel his wrath.
In what may be considered a prescient attack on the porcelain fraternity that would one day end him, in 1970 he turned his Tommy Gun on the toilet bowl, according to Connolly’s biography.
He died in the bathroom (after he’d fallen off the toilet)
Elvis died face down in the red shag carpet in the middle of the bathroom, “as though he’d been reaching for the phone which was attached to the wall”, biographer Ray Connolly writes. His face was swollen and purple, his tongue was discoloured, and he had been sick on the carpet. When the ambulance arrived, it was clear to the crew that he was already dead.
The cause of death was announced to the press as cardiac arrhythmia. In reality, it was far more complicated than that. Elvis’s problems included a massively enlarged heart, a blocked large intestine, and a damaged liver. Fourteen prescription drugs were found in his body — 10 of them (including codeine and Quaaludes) in toxic quantities.
Some questions around his death remain unanswered, because the autopsy were kept secret. “Either way, though, it seems fair to say that Elvis’s death was as a result of drug abuse,” wrote Connolly.
TRUE
Elvis lives (though he’s not alive)
The most famous myth about Elvis is that he is still alive somewhere, years after his death. It has prompted many cultural critics to consider the myth-making of celebrity.
According to Connolly, we believe Elvis is alive “[For] the same reason that Moslems [sic] think Mohammad galloped off into heaven on a horse and that Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day. Some people just don’t want to believe in the deaths of their idols.”
But others argue that the “Elvis lives” joke was part of an attempt to mock the new and subversive power of the pop star: “The unsettling power of Elvis was made manageable by reducing him to the comic figure in a sequined jumpsuit,” Bobbie Ann Mason, author of Penguin’s 2003 biography Elvis Presley told the Telegraph.
“Thus, those he made uncomfortable by his bold transgressions (his originality, his talent, his sexual power) keep him alive as someone to scorn.
“Even after his death, we project all sorts of things onto him.”