Parker and the World Tour

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#262706

Post by Liverbobs »

The "right" time for Elvis to do a world tour would have been directly after the Aloha concert, then it would have given Elvis another challenge for him to rise to and he would also have something to occupy his mind and possibly keep his depression at bay, but as they say, hindsight is a wonderful thing


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#262711

Post by Joe Car »

One thing nobody can argue with, when properly challenged his dependency of prescribed meds became minimal and his focus on his work went to an untouchable level. That's what the Colonel failed to realize and that was his biggest flaw as EP's manager.




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#262731

Post by Juan Luis »

It is non of the business of a manager the personal life of an artist. One thing Elvis did with Parker was to let him know that. Maybe too much.



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#262779

Post by Peter Franks »

I don’t think Elvis not doing a world tour – or rather, not being motivated to do one by Parker and/or RCA – is particularly illogical when you look at other aspects of Elvis’ career as and see how they were managed. You can see in Elvis’ LP output and the disappointing decline of Elvis’ Hollywood career that Parker and RCA had a general policy of extracting every last bit of profit out of existing product. This is why albums like Elvis for Everyone appeared in 1965. This was not a creative response to musical changes, nor was this a representation of Elvis’ musical persona at that time. This was simply an album of leftovers used to scrape a last bit of money out of the barrel. You see it again in Elvis Sings Burning Love and Hits From His Movies and to a lesser extent in Love Letters from Elvis, Elvis Now, and a few others. Regardless of whether Elvis was an “albums artist” or not, these were not collections of music that he would have released in such a manner. They were the result of RCA favoring profit over positive exposure. The same thing happened to Elvis’ Hollywood career. I don’t think anyone, including Parker, believed that [movie X] was a great product (with notable exceptions, of course) regardless of its merit, but as long as it was still making a profit, they happily let the quality (and thus, costs) decline. I suspect Parker was simply using the same strategy for Elvis’ concerts. Holding popularity constant, the more tours Elvis did in the US, the lower the value of the ticket to an Elvis show would become (provided Elvis didn’t dramatically change the show, which he didn’t). The longer those non-US fans had to wait, the more the value (read: price) of their hypothetical tickets increased. I suspect Parker was simply waiting for the value of those tickets to change to such an extent (either far down in the US or far up everywhere else) that the decision made itself and that the right moment to strike would come along. This makes sense especially when you consider that by the time Elvis would have returned from a world tour, the value of the tickets in the US would have increased again (due to his absence), and the circle would begin anew.

The second point you have to consider is that first of all, as you said, nobody expected Elvis to die quite so soon. Second, it would be wise from a business perspective not to release too much product at once, and so Elvis would not have done a world tour in 1969 (the success of his return to the stage still being unclear at that point), 1970 (That’s the Way It Is), 1972 (On Tour), or 1973 (Aloha from Hawaii). So what you also have to consider is that, unlike what our retrospective views may now suggest, it’s not like Elvis went decades with the opportunity to go global – Parker had only put it off for four years by 1977. Perhaps Parker’s plan was to do a worldwide tour after five years. Had Elvis died in 1978, then, we would have to remove another entry from Parker’s ‘criminal’ record.

Of course, that’s just looking at the Seventies; why Elvis didn’t do a world tour in, say, 1962, makes as much sense as not doing any US shows for seven years – especially as his popularity was waning. But then, that also comes back to the milking aspect I already commented on.
Last edited by Peter Franks on Wed Apr 26, 2006 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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#262792

Post by Pete Dube »

Peter -
I believe you and I are thinking along similar lines on this issue. Historically Parker and Elvis tended to ride a winning horse nearly into the ground before trying something different or taking the next step. We should not try to put this all into Parker's lap, as I believe that in this particular (or perhaps the word should be perculiar) regard they were cut from the same cloth in their thinking.

68-73 there was a gradual progress. Each year there was a new height scaled, a new conquest achieved in terms of Elvis' career. After this Parker may very well have wanted to maintain a holding pattern until he felt they'd milked the Vegas/Tahoe/U.S. tours for all they were worth, then pull out the world tour ace-up-his-sleeve.




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#262835

Post by Ezzz »

Maybe the line that some critics take is more closer to the truth. And that simply is.............maybe Elvis was just a bit thick and spineless when it came to making adult decisions about his career, and what was best for him ?


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#262959

Post by Eileen »

likethebike wrote:I have to go back to my original post as to what makes it a big mystery to me in that it would have been such a moneymaker. Money can smooth over almost issue we've brought up.
Parker's background is a possibility. He might have been able to smooth it over however he may not have wanted it to become known. Also his lack of citizenship was certainly to his advantage in the post-probate lawsuit; he seems the type who probably enjoyed having that card in his back pocket.

Personally I doubt that Parker felt competent to pull off a world tour. When I look at Elvis's career there isn't much that would challenge management except perhaps the Aloha broadcast.

Parker had relationships with RCA so went back and forth on negotiations until he could sign Elvis with RCA, then advised him to stay for life regardless of whether or not it was the best deal. There has never been a hint of Parker putting out word that Elvis would be available for a new record deal as his contracts expired, even though it likely would have inspired furious bidding by the labels and been financially advantageous to Elvis. Same with his publishing.

The movie contracts were nothing special beyond some financial issues and again, continued reupping with the same people. Never a hint that he put out word Elvis was available for a new contract, just reup with the folks he knew.

Vegas, the same - recommended that Elvis debut in a place where Parker was comfortable and already had relationships, then continue reupping with the same people. Same again with the road tours once they got started, with the exception of the Garden deal which seemed to tax Parker to no end. It's very likely the excuses Elvis rattled off at the press conference came right from Parker (we had such trouble booking the Garden, etc.).

Parker's actions around the 68 special show someone really out of his depth. I used to see it all as just petty meglomania but upon second thought, what else did he have to offer? If he couldn't use a carny tactic like banner-hanging or animal parades, and he couldn't add a zero on a sheet of paper, he really didn't have anything to contribute. Parker was familiar with stars who stood in front of a camera singing Christmas songs so that's what he recommends to 'his boy'.

I note from the Ronnie interview on elvisbrasil, "However, our tour was "technologically challenged" as to sound, monitors, lighting & staging, compared to other major tours of that time." I don't think he meant technologically advanced.

I think the lack of a world tour is mostly about Parker's capabilities - the lack of. I think he was as much a creature of habit as Elvis was. In fact Parker, unlike Elvis, wasn't able to TCB when push came to shove (the 68 special). Most reports of his Elvis contract work outline tactics that would have fallen far short when negotiating with professionals in multiple cities around the world ('meet me at the hotel with a suitcase full of cash by noon'). Air-mailing Snowman's League badges isn't of much assistance in learning the vagaries of contracts for non-USA venues and travel.

Eileen



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#262971

Post by Cryogenic »

Elvis was an extremely furtive and fragile creature -- he often had to be goaded into making the choices that I think, deep down, he knew he had to make (e.g. overriding Parker on the Comeback Special, performing in New York at Madison Square Garden etc). Now, as much as he publically expressed what I believe was a genuine desire to come to Europe, Asia, etc, I also think he never seriously had a gameplan for doing it. The Colonel was an extremely influential man and could have made things happen if he'd wanted. But Elvis and The Colonel both knew that it was better for the both of them -- mentally (Elvis' pill addiction; The Colonel's gambling addiction) and financially -- if they stayed where they were. Why over stretch yourself and fly half way around the world when your creature comforts are beckoning you to stay? Add in Elvis' aforementioned fear of branching out and you have the answer. It's certainly the answer I find the most logical and credible.

EDIT: I like your additional thoughts, Eileen. For all of Parker's influence, it's possible he felt out of his depth projecting in his mind a tour outside of America. It's a big undertaking now -- let alone back then.



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#263005

Post by ELVIS-PRESLEY_1969-VEGAS »

Here is an intresting acrticle that i found !

http://www.elvispresleynews.com/ElvisLondonConcert.html



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#263010

Post by Joe Car »

Very interesting article, thanks. Can you imagine had EP made it to Britain in 1969, and filmed yet, how historic that concert would have been. I would like to find out if Jerry Schilling and Esposito really did make the trip overseas.




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#263022

Post by Luuk »

Joe Car wrote:Very interesting article, thanks. Can you imagine had EP made it to Britain in 1969, and filmed yet, how historic that concert would have been. I would like to find out if Jerry Schilling and Esposito really did make the trip overseas.
According to the article they did.



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#263024

Post by Joe Car »

Luuk wrote:
Joe Car wrote:Very interesting article, thanks. Can you imagine had EP made it to Britain in 1969, and filmed yet, how historic that concert would have been. I would like to find out if Jerry Schilling and Esposito really did make the trip overseas.
According to the article they did.
I've never read anything about this trip before, that's why I'm not sure if this story is true or not.



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#263090

Post by midnightx »

A world tour could have been easily pulled off by Parker. Even though he wasn't the most connected or savvy manager by the 70's, he still had the resources. Tom Hulett certainly had the ability to manage/put together a world tour. And of course there is the supposed call in 1977 from Parker to Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant about Grant putting together a world tour. Grant was the one of the best and most innovative managers in music history; he certainly could have pulled it off. Of course, Peter Grant never commented on this issue publicly and has now passed away, so it is unlikely there can ever be confirmation.

It does not make any sense. The dollar amounts that would have been generated are incredible, especially when one considers the need for funds by both Parker and Elvis in the 70's. Parker was psychotic and very protective of his image and reputation. Yes, he could have gotten a passport without much of a problem, but did he want to risk certain things about his past to become public? Was that enough to keep him from pursuing international dates?

Drugs and guns could not have been a real issue. As it has been pointed out, they were prescription drugs. But other hugely popular bands and artists toured internationally throughout the 70’s, and many were drug users. It certainly was not an issue most of the time. But did Elvis and Parker want it widely known that Elvis needed to carry so much medication? Did Parker want to risk Elvis being labeled as a drug abuser (of course by 77 with Elvis What Happened being issued, the drug abuse was being exposed)?

Most importantly, was Elvis physically and emotionally up to taking on the rigors of an international tour? By 76, that is a point that can be heavily debated.

In the end, it is absolutely amazing an artist of Elvis’ popularity never toured internationally. It is unheard of.




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#263098

Post by Juan Luis »

midnightx wrote:A world tour could have been easily pulled off by Parker. Even though he wasn't the most connected or savvy manager by the 70's, he still had the resources.
The "Aloha" special was Parker's idea and that "package" was hugely succesfull (Elvis last hurrah) and last #1 album selling over 5 million units (RIAA) #47 for the decade. Only 4 years away from the end...



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#263114

Post by ELVIS-PRESLEY_1969-VEGAS »

It say's in that article that Joe & Jerry said there would be SERIOUS security problems if Elvis went there, i seriously doubt there would be! Maybe Parker had said to Joe to say that, just my opinion



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#263127

Post by midnightx »

The "Aloha" special was Parker's idea and that "package" was hugely succesfull (Elvis last hurrah) and last #1 album selling over 5 million units (RIAA) #47 for the decade. Only 4 years away from the end...
Yeah it was successful. Led Zeppelin was offered $1 Million dollars to do a live satelite tv broadcast in Germany on New Years Eve in 1971. Parker was not an innovator with regards to the Satelite broadcast. It was a good career move for Elvis, but remember, Elvis/Parker and RCA both did not capitalize on the special. This could have been a great time for Elvis to follow his international tv special with a tour and of course RCA could have promoted that one album for easily a year instead of issuing crap shortly afterwards.
It say's in that article that Joe & Jerry said there would be SERIOUS security problems if Elvis went there, i seriously doubt there would be!
You are correct, that is ridiculous. Of course there would have been security concerns, but not any more so than Elvis usually had. It wasn't like he would have been going into hostile territory. A nice European/UK tour followed by an Australian/Japanese tour would not have been labeled as 'serious' security risks. Major artists did it all the time.

Elvis could have made a fortune touring those countries. Promoters would have bent over backwards to get him to play their respective countries.



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#263161

Post by Gregory Nolan Jr. »

ELVIS-PRESLEY_1969-VEGAS wrote:Here is an intresting acrticle that i found !

http://www.elvispresleynews.com/ElvisLondonConcert.html

Actually, at least the first paragraph about the $1 Million offer to play London's Wembley Stadium is familar. Although it did not mention the Elvis-influenced role of singer "Screaming Lord Sutch," I seem to recall it being mentioned at the end of Jerry Hopkins' first and most famed biography on Elvis, from 1971. I'll dig that up if I can.


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#263225

Post by Eileen »

Elvis sent Jerry and Joe on a fact-finding mission to London. Elvis had desperately wanted to perform overseas and particularly in Britain but he needed to know about facilities, venues, transport, sound systems, security....

ELVIS sent Jerry and Joe, because ELVIS needed to know?? I don't recall any other reports of Elvis concerning himself with management of facilities, venues, and sound systems. And with transport, nothing until he decided to buy a plane.

They reported back to Elvis and told him that security in London would be a serious problem. ...the most important factor for Elvis was that he be allowed to carry a gun for protection. ...Elvis could not carry a gun in Britain and that is one of the main reasons he did not come here...

If gun restrictions were indeed the 'most important factor for Elvis', a TCB on such information would not require a research trip to London.

In this Jerry Weintraub interview on Elvis World Japan, Weintraub paints a different picture of Elvis's tour concerns:
http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~presley/elnews233.htm

[Elvis] said to me, "Look, I'm very, very easy. I like to have six Coca-Colas when I get to the building. I don't need a dressing room. You can have one there if you want it. You can put a curtain up. I don't care. I'm coming dressed. And I want all the seats full". ...I just want you to tell me that you're gonna fill the seats. I don't want to play to empty seats". And that's all. That's the only thing Elvis Presley ever cared about.

Regarding Elvis being concerned about locations and resistant to change, Weintraub recounts:

I went to Elvis and I said, "Let's play in New York City", and he said to me, "You know, I don't really want to go to New York City". I said, "Why?" He said, "I'm not a New York City kind of artist. You know, they're not gonna like me in New York City. They like me in Alabama and Georgia and Tennessee, you know, but I don't want to go to New York City, Jerry". I said, "Elvis, you're the biggest star in the world. They're not gonna like you, they're gonna love you". He said, "You're gonna have trouble selling shows in New York City". I said, "No, I'm not. I absolutely I'm not". Anyway, he finally said to me he loved the challenge. I mean he liked to get challenged like most artists. The mundane of doing the same thing all the time is what gets him in trouble. Trying something new and he wasn't afraid to try things.

Again, no long, hard sell needed. In fact it's remarkably similar to what Binder said - assauge his fears in a few sentences and Elvis is agreeable and cooperative, even excited to do something new.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, Jerry Schilling says on this subject in his upcoming book. I'm still not hearing any solid Elvis-related reason for the lack of a world tour or overseas appearance; at least not between 1960 and 1974.
midnightx wrote:Elvis could have made a fortune touring those countries. Promoters would have bent over backwards to get him to play their respective countries.
I agree. However Parker had another idea on how to make money - selling Elvis's masters back to RCA. Once again, an easy deal within Parker's comfort zone.

Eileen


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#263230

Post by Scott Haigh 781990EP »

brilliant topic. the board at its very best!


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#263247

Post by likethebike »

Lots of good plausible responses here.

Eileen- I too have considered the idea that Parker was using his immigrant status as back pocket ace.

I find it interesting that Elvis thought he couldn't fill a New York arena because it shows him not only being isolated from the world at large but from his own fame. Didn't he see that news footage of fans waiting outside for LMT? Maybe he thought it was a Parker hype. There is an element of insecurity in Elvis' outlook that is almost at odds with his performing personality and makes it difficult to get a bead on him. He probably did believe a lot of that media beating he took in the 1950s.

I thought Elvis liked Pepsi though.




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#263260

Post by Luuk »

Let's assume there was going to be a tour of Europe. What would be the complaint from fans in Asia and Australia and Africa? They would ask why Elvis did not come to their country/continent.
Would Elvis play every country in Europe? Then the people in the countries that would be left out would complain Elvis did not appear there.

In the sixties, everybody anywhere in theworld could see Elvis on screen 3 to 4 times a year by way of his movies.
In the seventies a lot of people from Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa travelled to Las Vegas to have an 'Elvis holiday".
Even now people travel to Memphis during Elvis week.

Where would Elvis have done his shows? Stadiums were no option, I am told. With the rainy weather here in Europe that does not surprise me. However, the "concert halls" do not hold more than about 5,000 seats.
A local artist did shows in Ahoy and demand was so high that he had to do 10 shows in a row to please everybody.
These days we have stadiums that can be covered. Some artists sell out a 50,000 seats show within an hour and have to do a second show also selling out within an hour.

There was a lot of security problems when The Beatles went abroad. And they were not even as popular as Elvis! IMO there would have been a lot of security problems.

By the way, the fact Colonel Parker was in reality Dries van Kuijk from The Netherlands was known in 1960 when a Dutch woman's magazine called Rosita published about it. Dries' brother visited him late 1960 or early 1961. In 1974 The Colonel spoke in Dutch with fans from The Netherlands. But like Lisa sings on her CD: Nobody noticed.




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#263264

Post by AndrewJ »

Maybe he just liked the 'safety' of Vegas. He knew the area, he could have his suite, he had doctors on call, he could have his pills, he could take his family etc.

If Elvis wanted a world tour he would have done it - he was able to get people to do what he wanted most of his life. Parker would have realised that it was a huge money making opportunity, he did anything for money including a world tour. Maybe it was out of his comfort zone as well?

MAybe it was just one of those things they always intended to do but didn't get round to -after all Elvis was never too old to tour.

Maybe Elvis was just confortable touring the southern US - he seemed to spend a lot of time in these states.

Andrew



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#263349

Post by Gregory Nolan Jr. »

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LTB wrote:
I too have considered the idea that Parker was using his immigrant status as back pocket ace.

I find it interesting that Elvis thought he couldn't fill a New York arena because it shows him not only being isolated from the world at large but from his own fame. Didn't he see that news footage of fans waiting outside for LMT? Maybe he thought it was a Parker hype. There is an element of insecurity in Elvis' outlook that is almost at odds with his performing personality and makes it difficult to get a bead on him. He probably did believe a lot of that media beating he took in the 1950s.



Precisely, from what I've been able to read. So many of the worst, most mean-spirited critics of the time were from New York, which then as now is where so many of the biggest publications were centered. There was a rather deep class-bias in many of such critics, such as the New York Times' critic, even into the '60s movie reviews ( as shown in Jerry Hopkins' bio). The steely- contempt the press showed for Elvis' southern working class "vulgarity" is a bit shocking even to this day.

ImageImage

This did not escape Elvis' notice, who could still be deeply insecure even minutes before going out to see even a worshipful audience. His ill-fated '55 visit to Gotham for the Arthur Godfrey show couldn't have helped, either, despite later Dorsey/ Sullivan triumphs.

It's too easy to laugh off the illegal immigrant status of Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk. A world tour would have thrown everything off-balance.
Sometimes the easiest answers are also the most plausible.

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#263396

Post by Deleted User 930 »

Have you ever thought about the fact that if Parker would've applied for a passport, all the contracts he has signed during his lifetime would be void.
That could become very expensive for him. 8)




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#263401

Post by Sean Ryan »

The only reason why Elvis did not tour overseas was because of the Colonel.There is no other reason.

The safety issue stopping Elvis coming to London is laughable. :lol:

This story was put out by Sid Shaw?? Give me a break :roll:

If someone was gonna shoot Elvis it would have been done in the US.


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