0

Your Cart is Empty

New
Pre-Order

The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World

PLEASE NOTE:  THIS IS A PRE-ORDER ITEM AND WILL SHIP ON OR AROUND 08/05/2025.

YOUR PAYMENT METHOD WILL BE CHARGED IMMEDIATELY FOR THIS PRE-ORDER.

ORDERS THAT INCLUDE PRE-ORDER ITEMS WILL NOT SHIP UNTIL THE PRE-ORDER ITEMS ARE AVAILABLE—TO AVOID SHIPPING DELAYS PLEASE ORDER PRE-ORDER ITEMS SEPARATELY FROM IN-STOCK ITEM.

PRE-ORDER ITEMS WITH DIFFERENT ESTIMATED SHIP DATES SHOULD ALSO BE PLACED ON SEPARATE ORDERS.

IN STOCK ITEMS INCLUDED ON ORDERS WITH PRE-ORDER ITEMS MAY NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE AT TIME OF PRE-ORDER SHIPPING—TO AVOID CANCELLATIONS, IN STOCK ITEMS SHOULD BE INCLUDED ON A SEPARATE ORDER.

PLEASE NOTE: The estimated ship dates of pre-order items are provided to us by the manufacturer and are subject to change without prior notice due to unforeseen circumstances such as supply chain issues and/or delays created by the shipping carrier.

From the award-winning biographer of Elvis Presley, Peter Guralnick, The Colonel and the King is a groundbreaking dual portrait of the relationship between the iconic artist and his legendary manager, Colonel Tom Parker, drawing on a wealth of Parker’s never-before-seen correspondence to reveal that this oft-reviled figure was in fact a confidant, friend, and architect of his client’s success.
 
In early 1955, Colonel Tom Parker—the manager of the number-one country musician of the day—heard that an unknown teenager from Memphis had just drawn a crowd of more than 800 people to a Texas schoolhouse, and headed south to investigate. Within days, Parker was sending out telegrams and letters to promoters and booking agents: “We have a new boy that is absolutely going to be one of the biggest things in the business in a very short time. His name is ELVIS PRESLEY.” Later that year, after signing with RCA, the young man sent a telegram of his own: “Dear Colonel, Words can never tell you how my folks and I appreciate what you did for me…. I love you like a father.”
 
The close personal bond between Elvis and the Colonel proved impossible for outside observers to understand—not during their lifetimes, and not in the decades since. It was a long-standing, deeply committed relationship, founded on mutual admiration and support. As the Colonel wrote to Elvis in July 1973, several years before the star’s tragic death: “Without a doubt you are by far the greatest artist I have ever known, and can be even greater if you just believe in yourself half as much as I believe in you.” From the outset, the Colonel defended Elvis fiercely and indefatigably against RCA executives, Elvis’ own booking agents, and movie moguls. But in their final years together, the story grew darker, and the relationship strained, as the Colonel found himself unable to protect Elvis from himself—or to control growing problems of his own.
 
Featuring troves of never-before-seen correspondence from the Colonel’s own archives, revelatory both for their insights and—particularly with respect to Elvis—their emotional depth,  The Colonel and the King  provides a unique perspective on not one but two American originals. A tale of the birth of the modern-day superstar (an invention almost entirely of Parker’s making) by the most acclaimed music writer of his generation, it presents these two misunderstood icons as they’ve never been seen before: with all of their brilliance, humor, and flaws on full display.

Details:
  • Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
  • Hardcover
  • 752 Pages
  • Publication Date: August 5, 2025

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
News & Updates

Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more …