Elvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley - Hardcover

Klein, George; Crisafulli, Chuck

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0307452743 ISBN 13: 9780307452740

Publisher: Crown Archetype, 2010

Synopsis

When George Klein was an eighth grader at Humes High, he couldn’t have known how important the new kid with the guitar—the boy named Elvis—would later become in his life. But from the first time GK (as he was nicknamed by Elvis) heard this kid sing, he knew that Elvis Presley was someone extraordinary. During Elvis’s rise to fame and throughout the wild swirl of his remarkable life, Klein was a steady presence and one of Elvis’s closest and most loyal friends until his untimely death in 1977.

In Elvis: My Best Man, a heartfelt, entertaining, and long-awaited contribution to our understanding of Elvis Presley and the early days of rock ’n’ roll, George Klein writes with great affection for the friend he knew—about who the King of Rock ’n’ Roll really was and how he acted when the stage lights were off. This fascinating chronicle of boundary-breaking and music-making through one of the most intriguing and dynamic stretches of American history overflows with insights and anecdotes from someone who was in the middle of it all. From the good times at Graceland to hanging out with Hollywood stars to butting heads with Elvis’s iron-handed manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to making sure that Elvis’s legacy is fittingly honored, GK was a true friend of the King and a trailblazer in the music industry in his own right.

About this title

About the Author

GEORGE “GK” KLEIN is a Memphis native and a pioneering disc jockey and television host. He and Elvis met in eighth grade at Humes High in North Memphis, and they became lifelong friends. Today, Klein hosts a program for Sirius XM Radio’s Elvis channel, Memphis Sounds for WYPL-18 TV, and the Elvis Hour for WMC radio in Memphis, where he lives with his wife, Dara. He misses Elvis every day.

CHUCK CRISAFULLI is a veteran entertainment journalist and author, most recently of Go to Hell: A Heated History of the Underworld, and Me and a Guy Named Elvis, with Jerry Schilling.

Reviews

Klein’s paean is awfully sincere but, in its folksy naiveté, oddly fetching. Maybe it’s the bio the King would have most wanted. Klein, who met Elvis in eighth grade, has been in the music business most of his life. He hosted early rock shows on Memphis radio and TV, was close at hand during Elvis’ early career, and remained a member of the inner circle to the end. Since then, he has hosted various Elvis-related radio shows and produced an Elvis documentary, and been interviewed by the likes of Larry King, Oprah, and Geraldo Rivera. He recalls a 1955 colloquy in which he suggested Elvis had already risen to such heights that he was “competition” for “Webb Pierce and Ferlin Husky and Hank Snow.” Tellingly, Presley “shook his head and let out a little snort of a laugh. ‘No, George, I’m shooting for Bill Haley,’” he replied. Soon enough, Elvis was at the top of the pop as well as the country charts, and Bill Haley was looking for a new hook. --Mike Tribby

Edition details

• Publisher: Crown Archetype
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0307452743
• ISBN 13: 9780307452740
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320