The King's best friend
Elvis's longtime right-hand man Joe Esposito is coming to the PNE's Elvis night
John Mackie, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, August 31, 2007
VANCOUVER - Joe Esposito was there when Robert Goulet's image flashed across Elvis Presley's TV screen and Elvis took out his gun and blasted the TV to smithereens.
He was there when Elvis noticed a little old lady admiring a brand new Cadillac Coupe de Ville, and bought it for her.
And he was there when Elvis's last girlfriend, Ginger Alden, called him upstairs in a panic, because the King of Rock and Roll was lying dead on his bathroom floor.
Today is the 50th anniversary of the Elvis Presley concert at Empire Stadium on Aug. 31, 1957, the last show Elvis ever played outside the United States. The Pacific National Exhibition is marking the occasion with a special Elvis night at the Rogers Ampitheatre at 7:30 p.m.
Disc jockey Red Robinson will emcee the event, just as he did the original show. Local rock manager Bruce Allen will be on hand to talk about his love for Elvis, and Elvis imitators will be there to recreate his music.
But the main attraction will be Esposito, Elvis's right-hand man, the head of the legendary Memphis Mafia.
The 69-year-old Esposito met Elvis when they were both in the U.S. Army. They hit it off so well that Elvis offered him a job when they finished their armed forces stint. Aside from one falling-out, he worked for Elvis until Presley's death in 1977.
These days, Esposito works in Las Vegas, squiring "high rollers" around for Vegas legend Steve Wynn at Wynn's casino. But he's also a big draw on the Elvis circuit, making lots of personal appearances and dispensing Elvis stories via his website tcbjoe.com, which has the motto "Remember Elvis, Celebrate Elvis, Elvis Straight Up."
Like many showbiz types of his generation, Esposito is disarmingly easy to get hold of -- you just phone him up and he'll talk to you, without any interference from an agent or manager. And he'll answer any question.
That said, Esposito remains a loyal friend, and not the kind of guy who would ever say a nasty word about the king or his manager, Col. Tom Parker. Regrets? Sure, he's had a few, but you'll never see Joe Esposito telling Elvis's dirty little secrets like Memphis Mafia member Red West did in the best-selling 1977 expose Elvis: What Happened.
To Esposito, Elvis was "the nicest guy in the world."
"He really was. Just a real nice man, very polite. Treated everybody the same, no matter if you were a millionaire or you swept streets. It didn't matter to him, it was individuals that he liked. He was raised that way from his mother, you know, just treat everybody the same."
Still, after he became famous, Elvis lived his life in a bubble. Which is why he surrounded himself with the Memphis Mafia, largely composed of buddies from high school.
"You've got to remember, he came from a real poor neighbourhood back in Mississippi, and then when he went to Memphis he was always the strange kid on the block," Esposito says.
"He didn't wear jeans with the rolled-up T-shirt, crew cuts and all that. He always had long hair, wild-looking clothes. So he didn't have too many friends when he was young. So when he got older and became a celebrity, he picked his friends that he knew from school and that was it. "
Well, he didn't hang out with only the Memphis Mafia. Wherever Elvis went, women would follow.
"Oh, they loved him," Esposito says. "He loved women, loved women. He had to have a woman around all the time."
This included the time he was married to Priscilla. Elvis the Pelvis was never monogamous, from the time he became a star.
"Never happened," says Esposito.
"That's the sad, sad situation. That's why his marriage never lasted. Everybody knew he was not a one-woman person. That was him, and that's the way we all were. That's why I got divorced 10 years after I got married. My famous statement I make to people is 'Our wives were married and we were single.' That's the way it really was. It's terrible."
Terrible in one respect, but hanging out with Elvis sounds like it was a lot of fun.
"Working for a friend is always nice," Esposito says.
"[But] when you worked for Elvis, it was not just your 9-to-5 job, it was seven days a week, 24 hours a day. 'Cause he wanted things done in the middle of the night. We didn't have certain restricted hours, we worked our asses off. But it was great, 'cause we did everything together. We vacationed together, we played together. We did everything together."
Except the prescription pills that eventually killed him. How did Elvis get into pills, anyway?
"Well, you know, you get hooked on medication," says Esposito.
"Elvis was an addictive person. He didn't do anything in small ways, you know? He did it all the way. One car, 10 cars. Not one pill, four pills. What happens eventually, [with] pain medication, you get hooked on it and you can't get off it. We thought one of these days he'd wake up and say 'What am I doing to myself?' and get his act together ... 'cause you know if he had set his mind to doing it, he could have. But he didn't, he didn't. And you can't make a 42-year-old man do something he doesn't want to do."
One thing Elvis did like to do was give things away.
"We were buying some Cadillacs one time at the Cadillac dealership in Memphis," Esposito recounts.
"We were standing inside the dealership and Elvis looks outside and there's this elderly black lady looking in the window at this yellow two-door Coupe de Ville. Elvis sees her, and she's looking at it and looking at it. He goes outside and starts talking to her. He says 'You like that car, huh?' 'Oh, yes, yes, that beautiful car.' He says, 'Would you like to have one of those?' 'Oh I could never afford one of those cars.' He said, 'Just a minute.'
"He goes back inside the dealership, goes to the sales manager and says 'Give me the keys to that car.' Gives him the keys, he goes out and says 'Ma'am, the car is yours.' She just couldn't believe that Elvis just gave her that car. She was just in awe. Just couldn't believe it. He said 'It's yours, enjoy it.'
"That's the kind of guy he was. He liked to give people things he knew people couldn't afford on their own."
Elvis never forgot his roots as a poor kid, but he did enjoy some of the show showbiz aspects of singing, such as his glitzy Elvis suits. He loved the style of his suits, but there was also a practical reason he wore them.
"The reason he got jumpsuits was because when he used to have pants or a suit onstage, he did his karate moves and would do his high kick and would tear the seats out of his pants," Esposito relates.
"'Oh, excuse me. Give me a break, I have to go upstairs and change my pants.' And the people would just die laughing. The band would keep playing music, and sometimes, he'd walk offstage and we'd have extra pairs of pants there. And he'd be still singing while he was changing."
As for the legend of Elvis shooting the TV every time Robert Goulet's face appeared, well, it's somewhat true. But it only happened once, and Esposito insists Elvis bore no hatred for Robert Goulet.
"Yeah, [he did it] once. But not because of Robert Goulet, no no. He just did it for effect. He liked to shock people, that's all."
Did it shock him?
"Oh yes, absolutely. A gun shot in a house? It was 'What the hell was that for?' He said 'Well, I just wanted to wake everybody up.'"
John Mackie, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, August 31, 2007
VANCOUVER - Joe Esposito was there when Robert Goulet's image flashed across Elvis Presley's TV screen and Elvis took out his gun and blasted the TV to smithereens.
He was there when Elvis noticed a little old lady admiring a brand new Cadillac Coupe de Ville, and bought it for her.
And he was there when Elvis's last girlfriend, Ginger Alden, called him upstairs in a panic, because the King of Rock and Roll was lying dead on his bathroom floor.
Today is the 50th anniversary of the Elvis Presley concert at Empire Stadium on Aug. 31, 1957, the last show Elvis ever played outside the United States. The Pacific National Exhibition is marking the occasion with a special Elvis night at the Rogers Ampitheatre at 7:30 p.m.
Disc jockey Red Robinson will emcee the event, just as he did the original show. Local rock manager Bruce Allen will be on hand to talk about his love for Elvis, and Elvis imitators will be there to recreate his music.
But the main attraction will be Esposito, Elvis's right-hand man, the head of the legendary Memphis Mafia.
The 69-year-old Esposito met Elvis when they were both in the U.S. Army. They hit it off so well that Elvis offered him a job when they finished their armed forces stint. Aside from one falling-out, he worked for Elvis until Presley's death in 1977.
These days, Esposito works in Las Vegas, squiring "high rollers" around for Vegas legend Steve Wynn at Wynn's casino. But he's also a big draw on the Elvis circuit, making lots of personal appearances and dispensing Elvis stories via his website tcbjoe.com, which has the motto "Remember Elvis, Celebrate Elvis, Elvis Straight Up."
Like many showbiz types of his generation, Esposito is disarmingly easy to get hold of -- you just phone him up and he'll talk to you, without any interference from an agent or manager. And he'll answer any question.
That said, Esposito remains a loyal friend, and not the kind of guy who would ever say a nasty word about the king or his manager, Col. Tom Parker. Regrets? Sure, he's had a few, but you'll never see Joe Esposito telling Elvis's dirty little secrets like Memphis Mafia member Red West did in the best-selling 1977 expose Elvis: What Happened.
To Esposito, Elvis was "the nicest guy in the world."
"He really was. Just a real nice man, very polite. Treated everybody the same, no matter if you were a millionaire or you swept streets. It didn't matter to him, it was individuals that he liked. He was raised that way from his mother, you know, just treat everybody the same."
Still, after he became famous, Elvis lived his life in a bubble. Which is why he surrounded himself with the Memphis Mafia, largely composed of buddies from high school.
"You've got to remember, he came from a real poor neighbourhood back in Mississippi, and then when he went to Memphis he was always the strange kid on the block," Esposito says.
"He didn't wear jeans with the rolled-up T-shirt, crew cuts and all that. He always had long hair, wild-looking clothes. So he didn't have too many friends when he was young. So when he got older and became a celebrity, he picked his friends that he knew from school and that was it. "
Well, he didn't hang out with only the Memphis Mafia. Wherever Elvis went, women would follow.
"Oh, they loved him," Esposito says. "He loved women, loved women. He had to have a woman around all the time."
This included the time he was married to Priscilla. Elvis the Pelvis was never monogamous, from the time he became a star.
"Never happened," says Esposito.
"That's the sad, sad situation. That's why his marriage never lasted. Everybody knew he was not a one-woman person. That was him, and that's the way we all were. That's why I got divorced 10 years after I got married. My famous statement I make to people is 'Our wives were married and we were single.' That's the way it really was. It's terrible."
Terrible in one respect, but hanging out with Elvis sounds like it was a lot of fun.
"Working for a friend is always nice," Esposito says.
"[But] when you worked for Elvis, it was not just your 9-to-5 job, it was seven days a week, 24 hours a day. 'Cause he wanted things done in the middle of the night. We didn't have certain restricted hours, we worked our asses off. But it was great, 'cause we did everything together. We vacationed together, we played together. We did everything together."
Except the prescription pills that eventually killed him. How did Elvis get into pills, anyway?
"Well, you know, you get hooked on medication," says Esposito.
"Elvis was an addictive person. He didn't do anything in small ways, you know? He did it all the way. One car, 10 cars. Not one pill, four pills. What happens eventually, [with] pain medication, you get hooked on it and you can't get off it. We thought one of these days he'd wake up and say 'What am I doing to myself?' and get his act together ... 'cause you know if he had set his mind to doing it, he could have. But he didn't, he didn't. And you can't make a 42-year-old man do something he doesn't want to do."
One thing Elvis did like to do was give things away.
"We were buying some Cadillacs one time at the Cadillac dealership in Memphis," Esposito recounts.
"We were standing inside the dealership and Elvis looks outside and there's this elderly black lady looking in the window at this yellow two-door Coupe de Ville. Elvis sees her, and she's looking at it and looking at it. He goes outside and starts talking to her. He says 'You like that car, huh?' 'Oh, yes, yes, that beautiful car.' He says, 'Would you like to have one of those?' 'Oh I could never afford one of those cars.' He said, 'Just a minute.'
"He goes back inside the dealership, goes to the sales manager and says 'Give me the keys to that car.' Gives him the keys, he goes out and says 'Ma'am, the car is yours.' She just couldn't believe that Elvis just gave her that car. She was just in awe. Just couldn't believe it. He said 'It's yours, enjoy it.'
"That's the kind of guy he was. He liked to give people things he knew people couldn't afford on their own."
Elvis never forgot his roots as a poor kid, but he did enjoy some of the show showbiz aspects of singing, such as his glitzy Elvis suits. He loved the style of his suits, but there was also a practical reason he wore them.
"The reason he got jumpsuits was because when he used to have pants or a suit onstage, he did his karate moves and would do his high kick and would tear the seats out of his pants," Esposito relates.
"'Oh, excuse me. Give me a break, I have to go upstairs and change my pants.' And the people would just die laughing. The band would keep playing music, and sometimes, he'd walk offstage and we'd have extra pairs of pants there. And he'd be still singing while he was changing."
As for the legend of Elvis shooting the TV every time Robert Goulet's face appeared, well, it's somewhat true. But it only happened once, and Esposito insists Elvis bore no hatred for Robert Goulet.
"Yeah, [he did it] once. But not because of Robert Goulet, no no. He just did it for effect. He liked to shock people, that's all."
Did it shock him?
"Oh yes, absolutely. A gun shot in a house? It was 'What the hell was that for?' He said 'Well, I just wanted to wake everybody up.'"
Labels: elvis presley, joe esposito, life with elvis
posted by Elvis Presley Fan Club @ 3:03 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home