Colonel Tom Parker

March 26, 2001
Elvis's manager gets a good skewering in this uneven biography by Dickerson (That's Alright, Elvis, with Scotty Moore),
a veteran Nashville writer. The strength of the book lies in its early pages, when Dickerson traces Parker's sketchy background in the circus and his rise as a country music manager. The circus business gave him the ideas, Dickerson persuasively argues, that he later effectively used as a music promoter. But throughout the book, Dickerson's judgment is questionable. He argues that both Parker and Elvis were Jewish, but provides weak evidence on both accounts. And after the Dutch-born Parker—designated a colonel by a Kentucky governor—takes over Elvis's career in the mid-1950s, Dickerson exhibits little of the sympathy biographers usually feel for their subjects. Instead, he blames Parker for Elvis's ruin: "Rather than risk losing his interest in Elvis's contract to his creditors, Parker allowed Elvis to risk losing his career." Even if the colonel did push Elvis into some disastrous film roles to cover some of his own gambling debts, Parker deserves some credit for Presley's rise to demigod status, as Dickerson's own account shows ("Parker's decision to accept RCA's offer was the best thing that could have happened for Elvis' career.... ") There's little doubt that Parker was a shady character plagued by gambling problems, who tried to take advantage of Elvis. But readers hoping for a balanced account of the relationship will be disappointed. 35 pages b&w photos not seen by PW. (May)Forecast:Elvis remains such a national obsession that any book promising a little-explored angle has some commercial potential. But this one won't register on most fans' radars, for true Elvis followers prefer not to have their king upstaged, especially by the man many think betrayed him.

April 1, 2001
Arguably the most notorious manager in show business history, Col. Tom Parker (1909-97) virtually controlled every aspect of Elvis Presley's career. Dickerson (Goin' Back to Memphis) is tough but fair with his slippery subject. Although he conducted solid research and dozens of interviews, he is unable to prove several key theories that would have distinguished his book from Dirk Vellenga's Elvis and the Colonel (LJ 10/1/88). For example, Dickerson takes Vellenga's groundbreaking discovery that Parker was an illegal alien born in Holland a step further by speculating that he was actually born a Russian Jew. Dickerson himself admits that "there is no documentation to substantiate either claim." More of a stretch are Dickerson's suggestions that Elvis's father intentionally misspelled his son's middle name "Aaron" instead of "Aron" on his gravestone in recognition of Elvis's Jewish heritage and that there may have been mob connections, related to Parker's dealings, in the deaths of Elvis and his father. Otherwise, this is a well-presented biography of Parker, now reviled by many Elvis fans, who through gall and cunning created the ultimate celebrity icon. Recommended where Elvis titles are in demand; another recent Parker biography is Sean O'Neal's My Boy Elvis: The Colonel Tom Parker Story (DIANE Pub., 2001. reprint). Lloyd Jansen, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., CA

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2001
(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)