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

Though frequently painted as a villain who destroyed Elvis Presley’s career, Colonel Tom Parker was actually a freewheeling business genius who deeply cared for his client, according to this sprawling biography. Drawing from never-before-seen letters, biographer Guralnick (Careless Love) tracks Parker from his 1909 birth in the Netherlands as Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk to his escape for America at 17, where he changed his name to Parker. He joined a series of carnivals, honing his promotional skills, which he leveraged into managing country stars such as Hank Snow. After Parker heard Presley perform in early 1955 he took him on as a client, buying out Presley’s contract with Sun Records, moving him to RCA, and garnering him TV exposure. Yet as his client’s star rose and Presley started to sink into addiction, their bond began to fracture, and the two “fired each other” during an explosive argument in 1973; though they reconciled and Parker resumed managing Elvis until his 1977 death, their relationship had been irreparably damaged. Guralnick’s brisk prose, assiduous attention to detail, and generous insights make this both an engrossing study of the complex interpersonal dynamics between two outsize personalities and a revealing peek into the making one of rock ’n’ roll’s biggest acts. Presley fans won’t be able to put this down. (Aug.)