Presley Elvis - The seeker king : a spiritual biography of Elvis Presley

About the Author

Gary Tillery was born in Phoenix in 1947. Beginning in 1968, he served in Vietnam with the United States Air Force. When his enlistment was over in 1970, he earned a Bachelors degree in Latin American Studies from Arizona State University and a Masters degree from the American Graduate School of International Management.

After two decades as a co-owner of an advertising agency in suburban Chicago, Tillery turned to his lifelong passion for literature and art. He published a collection of interrelated short stories set in Vietnam titled Darkling Plain and began a series of humorous novels featuring soft-boiled detective Jack Savagethe first two titled Death, Be Not Loud and To an Aesthete Dying Young. Tillerys fascination with John Lennon led him to write The Cynical Idealist, in which he constructs a coherent view of Lennons philosophyone that was idealistic yet pragmatic. In Working Class Mystic, Tillery examines the life and spiritual development of beloved Beatle George Harrison.

Tillery is also a professional sculptor, using the traditional mediums of metal and stone to express contemporary ideas. His most prominent work is the sculpture for the Vietnam Memorial in Chicago. He has displayed in galleries from Pennsylvania to New Mexico and appeared in shows as far away as Shanghai. His works are in the private collections of Patricia DuPont and General Tommy Franks, and the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago possesses two pieces in its permanent collection.

Authors Note

W hile Elvis Presley left an enormous body of creative work, it came in the form of his performances of other peoples songs or writings, not as articulation of his own thinking. Even so, it isnt that difficult to distinguish what held special meaning for him. His deep spirituality is evident in his gospel recordings, as well as in many of the pop songs he chose to record over the years. I mention a number of these songs in the text and call out certain of them at the end of major sections. If you would like a soundtrack to this book, I urge you to listen to them. The songs are not selected with any thought of sales or popularityno Heartbreak Hotel or Suspicious Minds, for example. However, listening to the emotion in his voice while he sings Peace in the Valley or How Great Thou Art makes it clear just how important his spiritual quest was to Elvis.

Bibliography

Alexander, A. L. Poems that Touch the Heart. Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1956.

Beatles, The. The Beatles Anthology. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2000.

[Benner, Joseph S.]. The Impersonal Life. Marina del Rey, CA: DeVorss, 1998.

Bmg Marketing. Elvis: The 68 Comeback Special (Three-Disc Deluxe Edition). June 22, 2004.

Cheiro. Cheiros Book of Numbers. New Delhi: Goodwill Publishers, 2008.

Dundy, Elaine. Elvis and Gladys. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.

Elvis 56: In the Beginning, DVD. (Narrated by Levon Helm). Los Angeles: Lightyear Video, 2000.

Elvis Presley: Official Site of the King of Rock n Roll. http://www.elvis.com.

Elvis Presley Fan Clubs. http://www.elvis.com/fan-relations/.

Elvis Australia. Egil Bud KroghTell Me About Elvis Visit to the White House. May 17, 2002. Accessed June 4, 2012. http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/tellmeaboutelvisvisittothewhitehouse.shtml.

Garbarini, Vic and Brian Cullman. Strawberry Fields Forever: John Lennon Remembered. With Barbara Graustark. New York: Bantam, 1980.

Geller, Larry and Joel Spector. If I Can Dream: Elvis Own Story. With Patricia Romanowski. New York: Avon Books, 1990.

Gibran, Kahlil. The Prophet. New York: Knopf, 1971.

Guralnick, Peter. Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley. New York: Back Bay Books, 2000.

. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. New York: Back Bay Books, 1994.

Harrison, Ted. Elvis People: The Cult of the King. London: Fount, 1992.

Klein, George. Elvis: My Best Man. With Chuck Crisafulli. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2010.

Krogh, Egil Bud. The Day Elvis Met Nixon. Bellevue, WA: Pejama Press, 1994.

Marcus, Greil. Dead Elvis: A Chronicle of a Cultural Obsession. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1999.

Mohn, Tanya. Celebrating Elvis: The Kings Legacy Lives on in 2012. Itineraries on msnbc.com, January 5, 2012. Accessed May 31, 2012. http://todaytravel.today.com/?nvo=500&47524586%7Ca%7Cnu%7C30%7C1%7Ct%7Ca%7C500=18.

Moody, Raymond A., Jr., M.D. Elvis After Life: Unusual Psychic Experience Surrounding the Death of a Superstar. New York: Bantam, 1989.

Moore, Scotty. The Circle Theater. Accessed May 31, 2012. http://scottymoore.net/circletheater.html.

Moscheo, Joe. The Gospel Side of Elvis. New York: Center Street, 2007.

Nash, Alanna. Baby, Lets Play House: Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him. New York: It Books, 2010.

. Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia. With Billy Smith, Marty Lacker, and Lamar Fike. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.

National Archives. We Were There When Elvis Met Nixon. Accessed June 3, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaMyHw6NeXo&feature=relmfu.

Nichopoulos, George, M.D. The King and Dr. Nick: What Really Happened to Elvis and Me. With Rose Clayton Phillips. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009.

Osborne, Jerry. Elvis: Word for Word. New York: Gramercy, 2006.

Presley, Priscilla Beaulieu. Elvis and Me. With Sandra Harmon. London Arrow Books, 1986.

Ritz, David, ed. Elvis by the Presleys: Intimate Stories from Priscilla Presley Lisa Marie Presley, and Other Family Members. New York: Crown, 2005.

Schilling, Jerry. Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley. With Chuck Crisafulli. New York: Gotham Books, 2007.

Schrer, Andreas. Private Presley: The Missing YearsElvis in Germany. New York: William Morrow, 1993.

Sheerin, Jude. How the Worlds First Rock Concert Ended in Chaos. BBC News Magazine, March 20, 2012. Accessed April 20, 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17440514.

Spoto, Donald. Rebel: The Life and Legend of James Dean. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

Stearn, Jess. Elvis Search for God. Murfreesboro, TN: Greenleaf, 1998.

. The Truth about Elvis. With Larry Geller. New York: Jove, 1980.

Strausbaugh, John. E: Reflections on the Birth of the Elvis Faith. New York: Blast Books, 1995.

Victor, Adam. The Elvis Encyclopedia. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2008.

Warner Home Video. Elvis on Tour (Spring, 1972). August 3, 2010.

. Elvis: Thats the Way It Is (Two-Disc Special Edition). August 7, 2007.

West, Red, Sonny West, and Dave Hebler, as told to Steve Dunleavy. Elvis: What Happened? New York: Ballantine, 1977.

West, Sonny. Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business. With Marshall Terrill. Chicago: Triumph, 2007.

Tupelo

E lvis Aaron Presley was born in one of the poorest parts of America at the very bottom of the Great Depressionat 4:35 a.m. on January 8, 1935. Gladys Love Smith Presley, unable to afford a hospital visit, gave birth to him in a little two-room house at 386 Old Saltillo Road in East Tupelo, Mississippi. Three women, including Vernon Presleys mother, Minnie, and a midwife named Edna Robinson, helped Gladys until the delivery neared. Then Vernon brought Doctor William Hunt to take over.