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Posted by: Pacer May 16 2006, 12:38 PM

The Memphis Mafia were a group of friends and associates who were employed by Elvis from 1956 until the day he died.
Around 1960, the media dubbed the employee entourage "The Memphis Mafia." This nickname originated as an ironic reference to their image. According to one account, a crowd of people in front of the Riviera Hotel watched as two big black limousines arrived. Elvis and his friends got out of the two cars dressed in black suites and someone in the crowd yelled, "Who are they, the Mafia?" and a newspaper reporter picked up the story. The Memphis Mafia members themselves say on their website that Elvis liked the name and it stuck. However, in her 1985 book Elvis and Me Priscilla wrote that Elvis didn't like the name because of a frightening Mafia connotation which the general public was then unaware of. Priscilla wrote that members of organized crime had attempted to take over Elvis' career, something reported as having happened earlier to singer Frank Sinatra,though nothing has ever come to light as regards to Elvis.
When Elvis emerged as a major celebrity in 1956 he was constantly besieged by adoring fans and the press, making a normal lifestyle impossible. He would pay the cost of renting a movie theatre to watch a film or rent an entire Memphis amusement park to ride a roller coaster. At the time professional handlers and celebrity security experts hadn't yet evolved. Elvis faced repeated threats of physical violence from outraged moral extremists and death threats from fanatics (as would later happen when he performed in Las Vegas). These threats were kept out of the press for fear of triggering even more (the danger of crazed stalkers and the like later entered public consciousness in 1980 when Mark Chapman murdered John Lennon).
For both his security needs and touring support Elvis hired people chosen from among those he could trust and depend on to manage his public appearances. This entourage (the Memphis Mafia) included first cousins and several of Presley's friends from his boyhood in a poor Memphis housing project plus junior and senior high school friends and early employees from Memphis such as Alan Fortas, nephew of U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Abe Fortas. Many people were employed with the group through the years but some of the more prominent members were Joe Esposito, Lamar Fike, Alan Fortas, Larry Geller, Charlie Hodge, George Klein, Marty Lacker, Bitsy Mott, Jerry Schilling, Billy Smith, Gene Smith, Red West, Sonny West and Patty Perry (the only female member).
Each employee had specific duties and reported to road manager Joe Esposito. Red West was responsible for security at Elvis' concerts. West was one of Presley's earliest friends from their school days in 1954 he had acted as a driver for Elvis, Scotty Moore and Bill Black when they first toured the American South performing as the "Blue Moon Boys." In her book, Priscilla Presley said these employees were paid an average of $250 per week during the 1960s, which rose to $425 per week in the 1970s. Each Christmas all of Elvis' employees received bonus checks. Some members of this inner circle became close friends who served as replacements for a lack of normal everyday friendships Elvis' fame would not allow. Known for his generosity (attributed by Elvis himself to an impoverished childhood), he bought some of these employees homes as wedding gifts and frequently bought new Cadillac automobiles for employees, relatives and friends.
In his book, ''Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, Peter Guralnick writes that Elvis spent all day and night with the members from the Memphis Mafia. "For Elvis and the guys," the reputed Elvis biographer says, "Hollywood was just an open invitation to party all night long. Sometimes they would hang out with Sammy Davis, Jr., or check out Bobby Darin at the Cloister. Nick Adams and his gang came by the suite all the time, not to mention the eccentric actor Billy Murphy, longtime friend of John Wayne and Robert Mitchum ..." Guralnick adds that Elvis and his guys were all "living on speed and tranqs." For Joe Esposito, "it was a party like you wouldn't believe. Go to a different show every night, then pick up a bunch of women afterwards, go party the next night. Go to the lounges, see Fats Domino, Della Reese, Jackie Wilson, the Four Aces, the Dominoes - all the old acts. We'd stay there and never sleep, we were all taking pills just so we could keep up with each other."
In 1976 after various complaints about heavy handed tactics against fans Elvis fired Red West, Sonny West and Dave Hebler this resulted in the 3 writing a tabloid style scandal book 'Elvis What Happened ?'
The book was published just 2 weeks before Elvis' death in August '77.
After Elvis' death the members of the mafia all went there seperate ways finding various forms of employment, Joe Esposito became the manager of the Bee Gees, George Klien continued as a local DJ in Memphis and Red West turned his hand to acting.
However nowadays the survivng members tend to earn their wage on chat shows, at conventions or writing books about their amazing times with Elvis.
Below:First picture....Red West,Charlie Hodge (front),Larry Geller(back) and George Klein.
Second picture left to right...Billy Smith, Mayor Bill Morris, Lamar Fike, Jerry Schilling, Sheriff Roy Nixon, Vernon Presley,Charlie Hodge, Sonny West, George Klein, Marty Lacker.Kneeling to Elvis' left is Red West and right Dr. George Nichopoulos.

Posted by: Brad May 16 2006, 06:17 PM

Great article to read, also nice pictures. Man have they aged especially Red West, its sad in a way. They were loyal to their boss until the end I think. Thanks for the article and pictures Pacer, very nice [img]style_emoticons/default/wink.gif[/img] .

Posted by: Pacer May 17 2006, 01:25 AM

Thanks Brad I'm pleased you liked it [img]style_emoticons/default/king.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/default/king.gif[/img]

Posted by: elvisgyrl May 17 2006, 04:24 PM

Thanks for the article and the great pic's. I read the MM Book recently and found
it to be very interesting also... [img]style_emoticons/default/aggressive.gif[/img] Never saw the pics before... they
are very good.

Posted by: Eve May 17 2006, 04:36 PM

Posted by: Pacer May 18 2006, 01:33 PM

I'm pleased you like the article Elvisgyrl [img]style_emoticons/default/cheers.gif[/img]
And thanks for that great pic Eve [img]style_emoticons/default/king.gif[/img]

Posted by: The Batman May 18 2006, 01:58 PM

always a pleasure to read your posts steve just keep them coming buddy

Posted by: One Night May 18 2006, 09:21 PM

Thanks for posting this Steve...... [img]style_emoticons/default/thumbup.gif[/img]

Very interesting read

[img]style_emoticons/default/wiggle.gif[/img]

Posted by: Eve May 18 2006, 09:22 PM

Posted by: songs4u May 18 2006, 10:44 PM

Charlie Hodge was the only one that I ever saw at Graceland. At least, he's the only one that I knew who he was. I don't think at my age then I even knew there was a Memphis Mafia.

I saw him there in the '70s. I saw the picture posted above. Man, he looked so old. But, then again it's been about 30 years.

Charlie seemed to be so faithful to Elvis.

Thanks for the picture.

Posted by: Pacer May 19 2006, 01:05 AM

[img]style_emoticons/default/smile.gif[/img] Thank you for all your'e kind comments I'm really pleased you liked it [img]style_emoticons/default/cheers.gif[/img]

Posted by: BJBAmerica May 20 2006, 06:13 AM

Nice article, Steve, Thanks!

I do have to say though, that I've never been a fan of any of the "Memphis Mafia". Being the world's biggest star, Elvis sure surrounded himself with some of the lowest Hillbilly Hangers On you could ever imagine. They contributed nothing of worth to Elvis, IMO. More to the point, I feel, if anything, they were a real detriment to Elvis, his life, health, his marriage and well being. They were anything but true "friends" to Elvis, IMO.

I will exclude Charlie Hodge from this group, as he was a musician and not "gopher flunkie" like the rest of them. Old Red West did write a few decent songs for Elvis, but nothing earth shattering or anyting that would be considered "essential" in the Elvis canon of music.

Why Elvis had to go through the majority of his life with the albatross of the "Memphis Mafia" hanging around his neck, I'll never know....A bunch of sponging leeches!

Posted by: songs4u May 20 2006, 06:28 AM

I agree with you BJBAmerica about Charlie Hodge.

Posted by: Pacer May 20 2006, 03:58 PM

I appreciate your'e opinion Barry but a lot of the time people forget that Elvis himself chose to have these guys around him. They weren't hired help or necessarily there to do a specific job they were people he considered his friends and he was very protective of them. It's to easy with the advantage of hindsight to look back and criticize, we weren't there to see what really went on we only have peoples opinions of past events which aren't always correct or are clouded by their own judgement. At the end of the day they were loyal to Elvis (until Red,Sonny and Dave Hebler wrote their book) none had ever went to the press to 'tell all'
which to me speaks volumes.Don't get me wrong I'm not saying they were angels but I do think they often get the blame far to easily for a lot of problems in Elvis' life which they could do nothing about.

Posted by: Brad May 20 2006, 07:04 PM

I agree with you Pacer, to me Elvis felt comfortable with the guys around and they were his friends but since Elvis died, many of them are living off of his name theres now doubt about that.

Posted by: songs4u May 20 2006, 09:53 PM

Why is it do you think the Presleys (Priscilla and Lisa) only associate with Jerry Schilling and Joe Esposito out of the whole bunch? Do you think - they think - those guys were the only loyal ones? When I think back on the movie "Elvis and Me" , if I'm remembering correctly, it seems those two guys were about the only ones pointed out in her story. I don't recall any of the other members of the Mafia being specifically talked about in that movie.

I rented a video from the library that I had never seen anywhere else that was an interview with some of the members. It's nothing recent. I think it's called "All the King's Men". Do some of you know which one I'm talking about?

Posted by: elvisfan57 May 20 2006, 10:04 PM

i know abou all the kings men. i have only seen one of the video's though. it's supposed to be a really great set. the one i saw was great. [img]style_emoticons/default/cheers.gif[/img]

Posted by: songs4u May 20 2006, 10:21 PM

Yeah, you're right, I think there were 2 tapes there. I'm not sure if I watched both of them or not.

Posted by: BJBAmerica May 21 2006, 04:24 AM

Steve, I feel confident that the members of the Memphis Mafia, whether they be so-called "friends" or relatives, as in the case of Billy Smith, were "hired help". They all drew a salary from Elvis.

To my mind, this group of thugs were nothing more than users. A bunch of dead beat "yes men". None of them ever went before the press to "tell all" when Elvis was alive because they were all on the payroll and didn't want their gravy train to come to a stop. When it did, as in the case of West, West and Hebler, you see the results.

Over the years each of these "trusted friends" has done whatever he could do to milk the last ounces of money from their "association" with Elvis.......Did any of these people actually ever put in a true days work in their life? And by that I don't mean hanging out on a movie set all day or partying at a mansion all night or keeping fans at bay.

Elvis felt comfortable with this ramshackle bunch because they were "yes men", never questioning anything, always going along for the ride, right or wrong......Just so long as Elvis was paying the bills.

There's no defense for any of them in my book.

Posted by: songs4u May 22 2006, 12:05 AM

I think the guys in the Memphis Mafia were proud to be in that group. I do think that some of them loved the attention they got because of it.

They all claim to have loved Elvis so much. They may have loved him.

I've seen some of them on talk shows. I won't point out the ones that I think this about but, I think they really try to act important now. I don't think they're acting at all the way they used to act around Elvis.

Posted by: Pacer May 22 2006, 10:38 PM

I'm not exactly a fan myself of the Memphis Mafia but at the same time I can see there point of view in a lot of arguments that surround them.As far as the firing of Red, Sonny and Dave Hebler I think they were very poorly treated.Not so much Hebler as he had no real history with Elvis unlike Red and Sonny who went back to the very start especially in Red's case.Elvis couldn't bring himself to fire them so he had his father do it!!!
Vernon would probably have taken great pleasure in this as he didn't like the whole scene himself and they were sent packing with a month's wage after nearly 20 years, as Red said himself 'even chinese flunkies get better treatment' and quite frankly I agree.
As for Charlie (god rest his soul) wasn't it he when finding out a member of the Mafia (i forget who) had left turned round and said to the other guys' great that's all the more gravy for the rest of us'. When Elvis found out about this he was said to be deeply hurt by Charlie's remarks.
They tried to help Elvis cure his addiction by getting Priscilla and Elvis doctor and lawyer (i think) to try and sit and talk with him about it but it was all in vain Elvis knew too many people outside of the circle who were more than willing to help him for all the wrong reasons. Try being in their position you have been invited to hang out with the world famous Elvis Presley you will also go to exotic film locations, meet other famous celebs, have women falling over you to get to Elvis and on top of this you also get paid for doing it. All you have to do is be at Elvis' beck and call 24/7. Guys would you be tempted???Would you be drawn in??
OK you might argue that they still weren't true friends that they never stood up to Elvis or tried to help him get off drugs, but some of them were just as addicted as Elvis!! And what if they had stood up to Elvis for whatever reason and they were sacked. Then what would you do if it was you get a normal 9-5 somewhere,work shifts in a factory maybe, what a hell of a come down. Then out of the blue you get a call from one of the guys asking if you want to come back and work for Elvis, again what would you do??

Posted by: songs4u May 23 2006, 02:51 AM

I've never heard about this before.
Charlie Hodge was the only one I ever saw at Graceland, that I know of.
I always thought that he was supposed to have been one of the really dedicated ones to Elvis. That surprises me that he would say that.

There's one certain guy that was in the Memphis Mafia that I've seen on talk shows and the way he acts makes me not like him at all.

Posted by: Brad May 23 2006, 05:42 AM

I agree Pacer..to me they were in a bad position. They would try to talk to Elvis about the drug addiction he had but they could only go so far because if you pushed him you were out, then they couldn't help him, you could only hope that he would get better. I have heard a story that someone was getting some pills to Elvis, some heavy stuff, and Red found out and went and broke the guys toe I think and told him to stay away from Elvis. Then Elvis heard about it and Red, Joe, and someothers sat down and told Elvis what happened and Elvis looked at them and said " I need em' man, I need em' ". I heard this story on The Last Days Of Elvis, and it was very sad to hear.

Posted by: Eve May 23 2006, 10:41 AM

That's what I have.

Posted by: elvisgyrl May 23 2006, 02:10 PM

Thank you for posting the pix of those 6 tapes of All the Kings Men.
Sad to say that I have not seen even one of them but I sure will
be looking for them. Is there any one... that is the best to start with??

Thanks for sharing..

Posted by: elvisfan57 May 23 2006, 09:16 PM

thank's for posting the pictures of the 6 volumes. i have seen volume 4 and hopefully will see the rest one day. i think this is a great series and highly recomend this set to anyone. [img]style_emoticons/default/cheers.gif[/img]

Posted by: songs4u May 23 2006, 10:14 PM

Thanks Eve for the post.

I had no idea there were that many volumes.

I have seen at least one of those maybe, two.