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As the book publicity stated, "It started out like a fairy tale. She was a beautiful, hardworking Congressional aide. He was America's most explosive entertainer. They met one night in Las Vegas in 1969 - a night that changed Joyce's life forever". EIN has always been fascinated by Joyce Bova's personal take on her life with Elvis - and we were lucky enough to spend a long time recently chatting with Joyce about her story and the release of her new Ebook.
EIN: Have you updated the book for 2015 - are there any more stories or thoughts about Elvis? JB: Yes, it is an extended version of my 1994 book, revised and updated, with lots more info/stories JB: Dozens of digitally enhanced color photos, some new, some from the old book, there's a couple of the unique demo disc that Elvis gave me and signed to me and much more. JB: I’ve met many celebrities but Elvis was magnetic to the max. I can still feel his piercing blue eyes when we first met. He is the most handsome man there ever was or ever will be. And the fact that he seemed embarrassed by it, made him even more attractive. JB: Our “twin” connection had more to do with our relationship than I realized at the time. I think it was the most important ingredient of our relationship and that had a lot to do with what we shared and how I believe his life turned out. There’s lots more I could say but I have put a detailed explanation of this phenomenon in my eBook. JB: He was definitely intrigued with the military, government, law enforcement, etc. My dad was a cop, I worked on Capitol Hill and I was an identical twin… bingo!! I delve into this in my eBook. Even still it annoyed him that he could not control me and/or the government, as he controlled everything else in his life. I actually think the fact that I was not readily available intrigued him. JB: Perhaps I didn’t notice the changes in the beginning. He had drastic mood swings more and more often and, of course, the pills increased as time went by. JB: He was incredulous that someone actually wanted and was going to try to kill him. Mostly he seemed angry about it. This was when we had a particularly ugly argument that caused me to storm out of his Vegas suite.
Joyce Bova with her Mother at the Baltimore 1971 concert - (FYI- in the new book it is in colour!)
EIN: I think one of the one of the reasons that fans enjoy your book so much is that you terrifically capture some of the day to day stresses, tensions and excitement of living within Elvis' world. There are several times when Elvis' the mood swings change dramatically - sometimes causing you to walk out slamming the door. They can’t be too many of Elvis’ girlfriends who have done that and got away with it! JB: I can only speak for myself. I can be feisty and probably have a bit of a temper as well. But it was a spontaneous reaction that said I wanted to be treated like a lady and with respect. EIN: How did you personally cope with Elvis' mood swings and could you understand where he was coming from? JB: In retrospect I don’t know how well I coped, and now I understand more. I’m older and you know what they say about 20-20 hindsight. JB: Hey, I wanted to see what was going to happen, even in the drizzle I had to go and see what was going on. I’m sure the injured lady thought she had died and gone to heaven. Great scene! Actually I would have done the same thing with anyone. But because it was Elvis Presley, it showed a different side of him that shocked me…. and endeared him to me even more. What a gracious and kind man he was. You know that in those days limo windows weren’t tinted as they are now. People could always look in and see it was Elvis in the car. You could see strangers going, “Oh my God, there’s Elvis Presley!” And you know - he would stop, get out and shake their hands and sign stuff. He would never ever turn away a fan.
EIN: Your first visit to Graceland was when Elvis was very ill and suffering from glaucoma and having serious injections into his eyeballs. EIN: Although Elvis and Priscilla were obviously falling apart at the time the influence of Priscilla must have loomed large over your potential long-term relationship. How did you cope with that. So have you and Priscilla ever met or spoken? JB: No, I’ve never met Priscilla. I do appreciate who she is, and I wouldn’t want to meet me if I were she. Anyway, it always bothered me that he was legally still married. I rationalized that like women have done throughout the ages. But they did separate/divorce and he did ask me to move into Graceland. So I never considered Priscilla a threat to me.
EIN: Studio B is such an intimate and special studio, have you visited it recently? Does being in the studio bring back special feelings? JB: I have not been back to the RCA studio. I didn’t realise it was still open to visit I thought it would have been altered by now - I‘d love to do that. JB: He practiced every now and then when he was working on a new song. And he liked playing the piano and fooling around with the guys. I loved it when he did this; it was fun and spontaneous and he got a kick out of it. There was one song, “All That I Am” that I liked. I relate this in my book about how he sang it to me because I asked him to when we were flying back to DC, although I had to remind him of the words.
Elvis in 1971 signing album covers for his fans outside his Hillcrest home in LA.
JB: The drugs killed him. His poor diet helped…. and maybe a little bit of despair and disillusionment. But this is my amateur opinion. EIN: Fans often blame his doctors for over prescribing his medication. Do you also feel some blame should lay on Elvis' doctors or is it understandable that they could not say "No" to such an overpowering icon? JB: Someone should have been able to stand up to him, but no one was strong enough. On the other hand, if one doctor didn’t give him what he wanted, some other one would. Still not a good enough excuse. Looking back, maybe I wasn’t hard enough. When I walked away from the relationship I sometimes wondered if there wasn’t more I could have done. In retrospect, if I had been maybe older or wiser or something at the time… I did the best I could. I wish I could have helped him more. JB: Sorry, I really have no answer for that.
JB: My career kept me grounded. I think even then, as glamorous an idea that it was, I knew that Elvis’s lifestyle was something I could not maintain on a daily basis. As much as I loved him, I needed a life too. He was all consuming. JB: Elvis main-lined adoration and affection. But physical gratification was not what satisfied him. He needed his twin more than anything else. Someone to understand, console, approve, share in his happiness and cry with him. Only his other self could do that. There’s lots to say but I explain more about this in my book. JB: Are you kidding??!?!? Spending my birthday with Elvis at Graceland…. WOW. The best part was when he surprised me by flying to DC so we could be with me twin too. When he asked me to think about moving into his home… another WOW moment. At first I was excited and even thought/dreamed about it. As time went by I was having serious concerns about a lot of things. JB: I never counted how many shows of Elvis’s I saw. Lots. And everyone was electric with excitement. Except the last one in 1972 in Vegas when I was feeling sick. And in 1975 in Vegas when he was sick. JB: Elvis was very frustrated and disgusted with the movies he was doing. He hated them. But that’s what the colonel wanted and he obeyed. I don’t know why he acquiesced to The Colonel all the time. It was like he had some kind of hold over him. I felt that Col Parker really held Elvis back and that Elvis resented him for that.
EIN: Did you read Ginger Alden’s recent book? Can you imagine how such a young girl could cope with Elvis right at the end of his life? Have you ever met her? JB: I have not read Ginger Alden’s book nor have I ever met her. As far as her relationship with him, I can’t comment. I hope they shared something special as she was with him at the end. I shy away from reading any books about Elvis. The ones I have skimmed through are disconcerting. I learned more than I wanted or needed to know. JB: I was taking the car he gave me in for service when I heard the deejay on the radio announce that he was “dead”. I had to pull over I was sobbing so hard. A close friend was with me and my sister and mother were following in another car. We were all terribly upset. I shouldn’t have been shocked by the news, I guess, but I was. I knew he was not well, but…. dying…. no way. Not Elvis!!!
JB: I saw some of the “Memphis Mafia” when I was on my book tour in Memphis in 1994. Joe and I were also on a talk show together that year. Since then I have emailed and spoken with Sonny West quite a few times. I’ve corresponded with Joe Esposito as well, and have seen him a few times too. But I am not in regular contact with any of them. JB: I stayed employed with the House Armed Services Committee until my retirement in 1995. I am so grateful for my career. And to think it was in such jeopardy at one time. JB: I have just released it as an eBook, which is an extended version of my original book and looks so much better. So no plans for a paperback reprint, in fact I wasn’t so happy with the way the first book came out, the photographs were all supposed to be in color and they weren’t. I have included an additional chapter chronicling my life before and after Elvis and the impact he had on my life, my sister and me. I also wrote a postscript and a PPS. I share my intimate feelings about so many aspects of my life and Elvis’s, particularly with regard to this twin phenomenon. In retrospect after so many years, history becomes quite a bit clearer.
Janice and Joyce - the twins with Elvis.
EIN: What is Joyce Bova doing now? And how is Janice your twin sister? JB: My twin, Janice, is an integral part of my life. We remain close and plan to remain so forever. Janice has not remarried, but has a full and active life. She works at the prestigious Washington D.C. Design Center. JB: Elvis had an amazing/adorable sense of humor…. much of it self-deprecating. He was the quintessential jokester, especially with some of his Mafia around. I have too many favorite stories to pick just one. We’d also watch a lot of movies together, sometimes all through the night. He loved Paul Newman movies, like ‘Cool Hand Luke’ – and of course he loved ‘Paton’, anything military and also Gene Hackman in ‘The French Connection’. JB: Of course it was the quiet times when we were alone and we actually could have a conversation where he could feel free to express himself. That was usually late at night. But probably the most exciting moment was when he dedicated that song to me from the stage in Baltimore. EIN: Do you by chance have a recording of the concert that night? JB: I do but unfortunately it is a poor quality audience recording. However my husband has enhanced the audio and you can hear Elvis saying, “This is for you Joyce”. Elvis even made the band restart the song to get it perfect.
JB: Yes, it makes me crazy when I’m never factored into the Nixon meeting scenario. That’s one of the reasons I wrote my book to begin with in 1994. I was sick and tired of hearing the same story over and over again with people lying about it. I wanted to scream. So I wrote a book instead. And that wasn’t the only discrepancy. (EIN Note- Get hold of the book to understand the full truth about the 'Elvis / Nixon' meet up) JB: I did not know about his “flitting” from one girl to the next until after we were over. If I had it would have been over sooner; at least I like to think so. And, yes, it was very upsetting. What a dummy I was though. I guess I should have known. But when you’re in love, you only see what you want to see. JB: The “hotline” phone was a happy thing for me. At first my sister thought he was trying to control me too much too soon. But then she said it was “neat”. I loved it, because every time it rang my heart skipped a beat. JB: I could see the downward slope before 1972. By 1972 it was scary. JB: I don’t talk about my Elvis history often. Only if someone asks. You’d be surprised how many people don’t want to hear about it. I don’t know why. Of course there are some who are very enthusiastic and ask me lots of questions. I’m just grateful for a few close friends and family who have been supportive and excited for me, especially those who experienced parts of it with me. Hearing from so many wonderful people via my recent Facebook has given me an opportunity to express my gratitude. And I’m loving their comments. I wrote my memoir to fill in the gaps of this part of Elvis’s history. I cherish my memories. I hope he approves. EIN: I have always loved your book and I am sure Elvis approves! It is a real positive that fans can buy this updated E-book and I am glad that being part of the “Elvis World” has brought you some fun so many years after first knowing Elvis. Joyce, THANKS so much for talking with us for so long, yours is an amazing story and thanks for sharing it with us. JB: Elvis was such an amazing, decent guy and so generous. And he was so innocent and child-like even though he thought he was in control of everyone around him. It’s been a real pleasure chatting - so how do you say goodbye in Australian, “Goodbye Mate?!”.
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