Peter Guralnick

The conclusion of critically acclaimed music writer Peter Guralnick's Elvis trilogy, focusing on his relationship with the 'Colonel', his infamous manager.

In early 1955, C olonel Tom Parker - the manager of the number-one country musician of the day - heard that an unknown teenager from Memphis had just drawn a crowd of more than 800 people to a Texas schoolhouse, and headed south to investigate. Within days, Parker was sending out telegrams and letters to promoters and booking agents about the man who would become a global icon and legend: Elvis Presley. The close personal bond between Elvis and the C olonel proved impossible for outside observers to understand - not during their lifetimes, and not in the decades since. It was a long-standing, deeply committed relationship, founded on mutual admiration and support. From the outset, the C olonel defended Elvis fiercely and indefatigably against RC A executives, Elvis' own booking agents, and movie moguls. But in their final years together, the story grew darker, and the relationship strained, as the C olonel found himself unable to protect Elvis from himself - or to control growing problems of his own. Featuring troves of never-before-seen correspondence from the C olonel's own archives, revelatory both for their insights and - particularly with respect to Elvis - their emotional depth, The Colonel and the King provides a groundbreaking dual portrait of the relationship between the iconic artist and his legendary manager and a unique perspective on not one but two American originals. A tale of the birth of the modern-day superstar (an invention almost entirely of Parker's making) by the most acclaimed music writer of his generation, it presents these two misunderstood icons as they've never been seen before: with all of their brilliance, humour, and flaws on full display.