Gary James' Interview With The Author Of
Elvis And The Colonel
Marshall Terrill



There have been quite a few books written over the years about Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager, but none like this. This is an insider's look at the Colonel like I've never read before. And that's because it is from a true insider, Greg McDonald. Greg McDonald worked under Colonel Parker for years. So, he had a ringside seat of how The Colonel conducted business. Sadly, Greg McDonald pass away recently. We talked with co-author Marshall Terrill about the book, Elvis And The Colonel: An Insider's Look At The Most Legendary Partnership in Show Business. (St. Martin's Press)

Q - Marshall, I thought I knew a lot about the people who surrounded Elvis, but I never heard of this guy, Greg McDonald. Did he find you? Did you find him? And why did he decide so late in life to talk?

A - (laughs) I'll tell you how I found him. We have a mutual friend in Ruth McCartney. Ruth is the step-sister of Paul McCartney. Greg passed away last year (2024). He was diagnosed with cancer three months after the book came out. So, I've been doing all the interviews. He was living in Palm Springs. I did a book with a guy named Mel Haber. Ruth did the Social Media for Mel Haber and his place called the Eagleside Inn. So, that's kind of how we all knew each other. Greg saw the Elvis biopic and I think that was kind of the final straw for him. He kind of stayed behind the scenes all these years because Colonel Parker surrounded himself with very, very loyal people. It was interesting that of all the people he employed, he never employed Greg. They never spoke about him because they were so loyal to him, although they had to live for years with what people said about Colonel Parker. So, the Baz Luhrmann movie was the final straw. That's when Greg decided he wanted to talk. When we were introduced, when we met, we met in Palm Springs. He showed me this collection of items that he had which was basically everything that Colonel Parker had accumulated from their partnership, from '54 or '55 all the way to 1977. We're talking contracts, canceled checks, and letters. So, that led me to believe that he must have had a very, very tight relationship with Colonel Parker. But here's where it gets confusing. So, he actually never worked for Colonel Parker other than he had the one time employment with Boxcar Enterprises. But for the most part, Greg was raised by Colonel Parker. He met Elvis and Colonel Parker when he was like eleven or twelve, on the same day. Colonel Parker said, "Why are you out of school?" He said, "I accompany my Dad on the road," and Marie was there too and she said, "A boy like you should be going to school!" So, Colonel Parker and Marie made arrangements for Greg to attend school in Palm Springs. And so, Colonel Parker pretty much raised him and then he raised him in the business. By the age of nineteen Greg was putting on shows in the Palm Springs area and he was quite successful at it, to the point where if Colonel Parker asked him to come work for him he said, "I can't afford the pay cut," because he was doing quite well for himself. But what he did was, he had this great friendship with Colonel Parker, treated him like his Dad and then accompanied him wherever he went. He drove him to and from Los Angeles for all of the big meetings, weekly meetings. He did that because he wanted to acquire knowledge. So basically he was Colonel Parker's protege.

Q - There are so many things in your book that I have never read before. And I thought I knew everything there was to know about Colonel Parker.

A - I'll tell you where that came from. So, when I did this book with Greg he had, on a thumbnail drive, the book that Colonel Parker was going to write. I think the title was going to be called How Much Does It Cost If It's Free?. So, I think in the '80s and '90s he had a friend who was a P.R. guy, but he really had never written before. So, he had written all this stuff and I had all this great background and all this detailed information. Now of course there are things that Colonel Parker had told Greg all along, but this was straight from Colonel Parker's mouth. That's where all that great information came from. He always talked for years about selling that manuscript for millions of dollars, but he said, "Publishers want dirt and I'm not a dirt farmer." By the way, that manuscript wasn't very good, but what was good about it was he had this great detail about his background. So, we could use that in the telling of his story.

Q - When I watch Elvis' bodyguards on cable TV they will relate a story of Elvis onstage, slurring his words, and Colonel Parker downstairs gambling. If Colonel Parker really cared about Elvis, and let's face it, Elvis was his meal ticket, why wasn't he upstairs saying to himself, "We have to do something here. Elvis needs help." Or is there nothing he could have done?

A - He was powerless in a way because you'll see he did everything he could at the end, in his power, to get Elvis help, including someone else to buy his contract out so that Elvis could take some time off the road and come back as a Gospel artist. So, that was one thing. The other thing was that he felt Elvis on the road was much better than Elvis in the house, taking drugs, sleeping all day and medicating himself. He also gave Elvis the choice, "Do you want to work?" Elvis needed work because he needed the money and the one big theme in the book is that Elvis made a lot of artistic choices based on his pocketbook, not necessarily because these were the best projects he had to do. If you're going to use your words, that was his meal ticket. He was going to do everything in his power to take care of his meal ticket. You'll see some of the letters to his father (in the back), that's the only person who could reach Elvis, pleading, "You gotta get this boy help. We've go to do something. Look at those terrible reviews." Now, when you say he's downstairs at the gambling table, not watching shows, maybe that's one person's account. Then you've got other people who were in the Memphis Mafia who praised Colonel Parker, like Sonny West. Sonny basically said the same thing as Colonel Parker did. He felt that Elvis on the road was much better than Elvis in the house. You have everybody's accounts of what happened. The thing with Colonel Parker with the Memphis Mafia is he didn't necessarily get along with all of them. The ones he didn't get along with were basically the ones whispering in Elvis' ear, "You need to get new management." When you're in that Manager position you don't necessarily take too kindly to somebody who basically, essentially is a gopher, giving Elvis career advice when Colonel Parker has done very well for almost twenty years.

Q - I was watching a clip online where Bill Maher and Trace Adkins said that Elvis died of bad management. But that's not really true. Those two guys went on to say that the Colonel couldn't get a visa, but that's not really true. The concern was how was Elvis going to get all of these drugs he was taking through Customs in Europe.

A - Correct. Sonny West even said this to me, it was drugs and guns. In the United States, Colonel Parker could protect Elvis. But the other thing to keep in mind is in the book there's a passage by Charles Stone, who was Elvis's Road Manager, and he said that for the first time in several years, in England, Wembley had an opening for ten days straight. This was the arena, not the stadium. It held maybe 10,000 to 12,000 people. He said they had it booked. Greg even had the application for the plane flight. So, there was proof that Elvis would have gone to England and done like a ten to twelve night stand there, but he passed away before that happened. The other thing to take in consideration was Elvis did not necessarily want to go. He didn't want to go out of the country. And, let's be honest, Elvis was an addict, and addicts want their creature comforts. They don't want to venture outside of their home. They don't want to do anything other than do what they do. And, trust me, I know people like this. They're given opportunities and they don't want to do it because it's not comfortable for them. So, I imagine going to Europe was not comfortable to him. One other consideration, touring Europe in those days was not really where the money was. The money is always in the United States. I kind of remember The Rolling Stones always talking about doing Europe every three years. They did it because they had to keep their fan base there, but it was not a money maker. Mick Jagger always said America is where you make money, not in Europe. You just kind of break even. So, Elvis and Colonel Parker were very, very different in that matter. They wanted to make money. They didn't want to just break even.

Q - One promoter offered Elvis a million dollars to perform in Australia. Colonel Parker said, "If we ever need a million dollars we'll let you know." Do you remember that?

A - (laughs) I don't remember that, but I don't doubt that. Colonel Parker could get that kind of money in the blink of an eye. And whatever people offered, he'd always say, "That's fine for me, but what about the boy?" He ended up getting people two and three times what they were offering. That was Colonel Parker's way of saying you gotta really up the ante if you want us to come to Australia.

Q - There's something else that was going on. Elvis was kept in the dark about his popularity around the world. One time he turned to somebody and said, "Are we big over there in England?" He just had no idea how many records he was selling. No one was providing that information to him.

A - Well, you know, I'm going to refute that and just say isn't it up to the artist, this is his career, to keep abreast of what his career is? Isn't it up to the artist to know that information himself? Where does Elvis personal responsibility come into play?

Q - Certain artists would do what you're saying, but not Elvis. Remember what Colonel Parker said early on about Elvis, "When I met Elvis he had a million dollars worth of talent. Now he has a million dollars." So, Elvis put his complete trust in Colonel Parker.

A - But, where does Elvis personal responsibility start and end? Didn't he have the ability to pick up a newspaper and find out? Didn't he have the ability to pick up a phone and find out?

Q - He should have, but he didn't.

A - Well, that's my point. He couldn't completely rely on Colonel Parker. I have an agent. I'm not going to completely rely on him for information. I'm going to learn all that I can about the book industry and what titles publishers are seeking. I'm just not going to leave everything in his hands. You know what I'm saying? The same responsibility goes to every single artist out there.

Q - I would guess that Elvis got completely caught up in the lifestyle of being Elvis, and left all business matters to the Colonel. And maybe he didn't think too much about record sales. I don't know.

A - It's a possibility. But I can tell you after Germany he told friends and intimates; he told Sonny West that he had no interest in going to Europe or other countries. He could have done that easily if he wanted to, in the snap of a finger, but he didn't.

Q - Vernon Presley had a private autopsy done on Elvis in 1977. He then had it sealed for fifty years, which means in 2027 we may know, if it's released, what Elvis' medical problems were that caused him to take all those pills.

A - I keep hearing about the ailments and I just find that a straight out excuse. He had an issue with prescription drugs. If there was an issue with his health I would think Vernon would want to let everyone know right away. Why would you hold it for fifty years? To me, that signifies somebody trying to hold on to a secret.

Q - And stop any embarrassment to his immediate family.

A - Right. And what would be more embarrassing, his health or the drugs?

Q - Don't forget all those prescription drugs were not just for Elvis. They were for his bodyguards as well. They were all taking uppers and downers.

A - And I don't deny that. In the end, Sonny West didn't. Red West certainly didn't. Dave Hebler certainly didn't. Sonny plead guilty to taking uppers in the '60s, but he didn't like the way they made him feel and so he stopped. And I think Red stopped at the end. Of course, they recognized that was a major problem. The drugs hijacked Elvis' personality and they made a plan for him to stop and they of course stopped shipment. And they threatened anybody who tried to get it to him. But, Elvis did that with his women too. He wanted everybody to be on his wavelength. It wasn't a matter of they had addictions too. It was a matter of Elvis was the guy in charge who could get the stuff. He dreamed of one day having his own drug store. You can't just blame those guys. Elvis was the guy in charge.

Q - How many bodyguards did Elvis have?

A - Well, it was rotating and depended on if he was making movies and depended on if he was on tour. Sonny (West) was called a bodyguard, but really on tour he was an Advance person. I think Red West would certainly be considered a bodyguard and Dave Hebler and a couple of the other guys. I think it all depended on the day and the time. Most of 'em were just there just to kind of hang out.

Q - Would two or three guys have been enough to protect Elvis?

A - I'll go to bat with Elvis on this one. The Beatles always used to say, "We felt sorry for Elvis, having to go through what he did because he didn't have anybody. We had each other." The four Beatles had each other. I think Elvis had an extended family of guys he could hang out with. If you look at boxers, boxers have entourages like that. So, I totally get that. In a way it was his family. I feel like the Memphis Mafia kept him alive. They kept things interesting. They kept him sane. So, that's why he had them around.

Q - He was providing those guys with not only a salary, but homes, cars, jewelry, vacations. No doubt he thought, "Who are my real friends?"

A - Right. But again it was him offering. To give Elvis his due he was a very generous guy. He wanted to share all that stuff with his friends. I just don't think he was ready for marriage when he married Priscilla. That's why he put it off as long as he did. He just wanted to hang out with his buddies. Those were the things you do in your twenties and thirties. He just wasn't really ready to settle down. He liked giving and he probably thought those were the things that they needed so that they could be around each other. For example, like the cars and the homes and the horse trailers. At one point they were all going to be ranchmen on Elvis' ranch. Circle G Ranch.

Q - In that summer of 1977, had Elvis gained weight? Did he gain something like fifty pounds?

A - You know, his weight fluctuated quite a bit and that was due to several different diets. Of course pills will do that to you as well. They'll clog up your system. He tried all sorts of fad and crash diets. When you look at the last special he had on television, he certainly looked fifty pounds overweight.

Q - Which begs the question, what was he going to wear onstage? Had new costumes been ordered? Had the old costumes been changed to fit his weight gain? If not, did Elvis know he wasn't going to do that tour?

A - Well, I mean, does anybody know when they're going to die? I would think that he felt like he was going to live. That's a hard, hard question to answer because I'd have to be inside the mind of Elvis Presley and I certainly don't profess to be. Look, he was forty-two years old and he probably felt that even though he had put on some pounds... How could he possibly anticipate he was going to die at age forty-two?

Q - If you talk to some of the people I've talked to over the years, they would tell you his medical issues were very serious.

A - Again, the medical condition thing has been brought up over the years to cover up the fact that he was a drug addict. A lot of people don't want to hear that. A lot of people don't want to hear that about their hero. There are certain celebrities that get granted this sainthood status. I think Muhammad Ali is one. Elvis is another. Perhaps John Lennon is another. People don't want to accept the truth of the situation. The health thing keeps getting brought up because it hides the fact that he had a prescription drug habit.

Q - Did you see that Elvis movie where Tom Hanks portrayed Colonel Parker?

A - Absolutely.

Q - That accent that Tom Hanks attributed to Colonel Parker was all wrong, wasn't it?

A - (laughs) The funny thing is the people that knew Colonel Parker had no clue. They didn't know it was a Dutch accent. They didn't know where he was from. It wasn't brought up until after Elvis' death. I listened to audio of him and he sounded like he had a Southern accent. I think the research that they did, they probably felt like he had a Dutch accent. So they wanted to play that up.

Q - This Elvis movie was sanctioned by the Presley Estate. Did they understand that Colonel Parker wasn't the person they portrayed in that movie?

A - You have to understand something about the Elvis Presley Estate, and that is it's run by a group of people that want to keep the narrative that Elvis was the good guy and Colonel Parker was the bad guy. Isn't it funny that Colonel Parker has never even received a display at Graceland? His entire display signifying all the wonderful things he did for Elvis.

Q - Your book is the first book to come along that gives a thorough documentation of what Colonel Parker's contribution was.

A - Yes, and that comes from Greg McDonald knowing Colonel Parker and knowing his heart. You mention documentation, and documentation to me is important because it really shows for example letters between Elvis and Colonel Parker. If Colonel Parker was this hard driving manager, you would get these letters in harsh times. He was never, ever harsh. He was always a gentleman. He would always say something nice.

Q - I was surprised to read in your book that after The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein died, Paul McCartney called Colonel Parker and asked if he would be willing to manage The Beatles.

A - It's a shocker. Greg was actually in the office when that call took place. Colonel Parker excused himself and he probably knew what the call was about and so when he came back he said, "I had to tell him Elvis was my boy." That certainly says a lot. Most managers would jump at The Beatles, given they were much hotter than Elvis at the time. Elvis, in the '60s until his '69 comeback, was really focused on movies. The Beatles were just churning out hit after hit and getting bigger and bigger each year. That would've been the smart move if Colonel Parker chose to go that route, but he chose to stick it out with Elvis.

Q - The Beatles would have been a handful.

A - Managing The Beatles would have meant he would have had to uproot his life in the South. He had a home outside of Nashville and he had his office set up there and he had his place in Palm Springs. There's that consideration. Why go to another foreign country where you're not running things? And of course America is the bigger market. Why would you do that? That is how I would think in terms of if I were the manager.

Q - What have people been saying about this book of yours?

A - Well, the interesting reaction that I have found is that younger people are more willing to accept this version of the truth, whereas the older fans are steeped in, "Colonel Parker was a crook. He took all of Elvis' money." I will say the Baz Luhrmann film has brought a whole new slew of younger fans to the Elvis kingdom and those fans are hungry for information and hungry for knowledge. They're not as judgmental as the older generation. What's going to really be interesting is when Peter Guralnick's book comes out in August (2025) and let's say that his narrative was that Colonel Parker was actually a good guy. What then will happen with the general public? I mean, Greg McDonald knew and worked with Colonel Parker, but when a biographer like Peter Guralnick comes out and says he was actually a pretty good dude, what are people going to say then?

Buy a copy of Elvis And The Colonel on Amazon.

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