"Me and a Guy Named Elvis" - Review
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PEP recently posted this interesting view of Jerry Schilling's new book on the FECC messageboard:
What can be written and said about Elvis almost 30 years later....?
Well, really not too much is left in my opinion......
Yet, the catch 22 is, it still can be fairly interesting to read another version of Elvis' private and public life from someone who was there.
In this case, we are able to read the long over due book by Jerry Schilling....
Schilling's book wasn't a book which I expected was going to tell us anything new about Elvis' prescription drug problem... or present more explanation in detail of his business dealings, nor provide us with more information as to what was filmed and what wasn't filmed...or even provide us with new information as to what might be left in the vaults or what the future might hold for Elvis fans.....
The reality here was in fact he didn't end up saying anything new about any of those things.....
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But what he did do was give us a look in side as to how his friendship developed over the years with Elvis and show us once again Elvis over all was a pretty good guy.... But we all knew that.....now, didn't we.... Still nice to hear or read about it again...
You couldn't help but sit back at times while reading this book and get the feeling you would have done anything to be in Schillings shoes or even be him for that matter.....
As Schilling was one of the few M/M members who still to this day isn't a bad looking guy for his age and what seems to be outside looking in, he himself appears to have a pretty good personality and was and is a pretty nice a loyal guy...to Elvis and his family....
Schilling appeared wanting not to be entirely dependant on Elvis while still being allowed to enter the Elvis circle every now and again an still have Elvis wanting him as his friend.....
The last part to a certain degree I think he did achieve.......
Do I end up thinking after reading his book he was any better than most of the other guys?? For somethings yes for other things no.... Elvis appeared to always be there to somehow catch him when he would fall....which was really no different than it was for any of the other members who were close and not so close...
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The most interesting part of the book for me were the first few chapters.
As Schilling explain how he met Red and Elvis for the first time and how the relationship developed through football games on Sunday afternoons...from that to seeing him on stage to end up being with him back stage by flukes of fate in the early 50's.... It certainly was a cool position to have been in as fate would have it for Schilling....
Schilling at times did end up sugar coating or maybe the better word is he "diplomatically" touched on certain things without really putting Elvis down for what we all know Elvis did to himself. |
Ironically, the explanation really wasn't so different in my opinion as to how Sonny, Red or Dave explained
it in their book "Elvis What Happened" some 29 years ago..... or How Priscilla explained it in her book or how Lisa has talked about it in some of her interviews.... But of course for them it was just a difference of timing.......
After reading the book did I expect more than what I got? For some things yes for other things No....
Schilling had a way about him in the book where he would bring up whatever story out of the blue, which one might find interesting but he would drop the ball so to speak and go on to something else, leaving you
thinking he didn't finish the story....or provide enough detail in words leaving one dissatisfied.....in the result of playing it out this way.
I was a little dissapointed he didn't talk about his feelings as they were for some of the other M/M
members, no real insight was given about really any of them... It almost, at times seemed as tho he didn't even really know them.... Surprisingly it was Geller who he seemed to think wasn't such a bad guy....and who he felt was a positive influence for Elvis....
When it came to the picture section this was really dissapointing....like 90% of the pictures had been seen before and the ones that we haven't seen before were not anything special... |
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The thing I really did like about the book was his way of explaining how he kinda moved up the latter with Elvis so to speak and what he would be doing during his down time without Elvis.... Yet, it still seemed like Elvis was always there as his Guardian Angle almost right to the end.
Over all for the few faults the book had, or for what it was lacking in bite I would still recommend the book to anyone......
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EIN will publish its review of Jerry Schilling's book in the next week
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