Jerry Schilling recalls 20-year friendship with The King
When Jerry Schilling thinks of his close pal Elvis Presley and Colorado, he recalls the legendary rocker's 40th birthday in Vail.
"He did not want to celebrate his birthday," Schilling said over the phone Monday from LAX before jumping on a Denver-bound plane. "He didn't want to hear about it."
After a day snowmobiling, Schilling and his girlfriend at the time retired to their condo. "About 11 o'clock at night, (Presley's) girlfriend, Linda Thompson, called and said she had made a little cake for Elvis and would we come over?" Schilling said.
"We were having a casual conversation over this little bitty cake. Elvis asked Linda if she had ever seen the movie Across 110th Street. She said, 'No, I never have.' Elvis started playing every part. It was one of the greatest command performances I've ever seen."
That's one of many stories Schilling has compiled in the new book Me And a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley.
One story you won't find in the book: the famous tales of Presley's trips to Denver for fried peanut butter sandwiches.
"It's one of the stories I hate; it's kind of ridiculous," Schilling said. "In reality, he didn't fly to Denver to get peanut butter sandwiches. We had friends there. We'd come here for a winter getaway.
"We'd do a lot of unauthorized night stuff on the ski slopes, such as snowmobiling, and even basic things like sliding down the slopes on cardboard boxes. Nobody knew it was Elvis; because of the cold weather, he was wearing a ski mask."
Schilling, who grew up with Elvis (they met when Schilling was 12 and Presley was 19), served as a pallbearer at The King's funeral, although he hadn't seen Elvis during the final months of his life.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't with him in the end," said Schilling who left Presley in 1974 to manage the Beach Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis and Billy Joel.
Schilling never planned on writing a book about his friendship with the rock icon.
"I thought 'Well, I wonder if there's a story here that hasn't been told.' The whole essence of who the man was hasn't been told. We know what he did, his career and his movies, but who was the man behind the scene? How did he feel about what he was doing?"
Buy Me and a Guy Named Elvis
- Interview with Jerry Schilling
- Why I Wrote Me And A Guy Named Elvis by Jerry Schilling
- Tell me about Elvis' visit to the White House
- The Day Elvis Met Nixon
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Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD
Never before have we seen an Elvis Presley concert from the 1950's with sound. Until Now! The DVD Contains recently discovered unreleased film of Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. + Plus Bonus DVD Audio.
This is an excellent release no fan should be without it.
The 'parade' footage is good to see as it puts you in the right context with color and b&w footage. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people. Highly recommended.
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD Video with Sound.
