My Brother Elvis by David Stanley

[Ricky]

I accidently met David at the Fox & Hound restaurant in Southaven, MS on 8/16/17. Along with my best friend, we sat at the bar and talked like old friends for a little over an hour. I asked him tough questions. I even told him if he got offended, I'd let him punch me in the mouth. He declined and told me I could ask anything I wanted. I walked away with a whole new outlook. There was one thing he said that will stay with me forever. he stated that, " there was some things he wished he hadn't said and some things he wished he had". During the talk, I was amazed, that 40 years ago to the day, I was sharing a beer with someone who was upstairs in Graceland that fateful day only miles down the road.

After returning home, I found out he had written yet another book and requested an autographed copy by messenger on Facebook. I only found two small inconsistencies, but they didn't change the course of the book. I hadn't given it much thought he was only 17 when he started working on the road with Elvis and of course only 22 yrs old when all ended. I found the book very honest and revealing about himself. Especially the part after Elvis death, when Vernon gave him his final paycheck and told him, "his work was done here". It was here he realized, he and brothers, meant very little to Vernon since Elvis & Dee had passed. Yes, the last two years with Elvis is not the best part of the book, but it is what it was. I'm glad I met him and I'm glad I read this particular book. I believe it's 100% true and honest.

I got to pass on this one tidbit before you may read it. We were discussing the various rockers that David introduced to Elvis and Elton John at the Capital Centre 1976 came up. When he asked Elvis if he knew who Elton John was, Elvis teased him and answered. "Isn't he that guy that sings that song, Don't Let Your Son go down on me? Classic Elvis!

[brian]

Just because David Stanley was a nice guy to you doesn't mean that he is a reliable source for information. Dee Stanley didn't pass away until a couple of years ago.

[Ricky]

Your right, I missed led you. I meant in 1977, she was no longer in the picture. No, of course not, I would never expect such a close member of the Presley family to be reliable? Before you discount me, after 50 years of collecting and reading the Presley books, I often find myself cross indexing his or her versions against everyone else. No mistakes in this version. Sorry pal.

[elvis-fan]

My parents taught me if I didn't have anything nice to say about someone, I shouldn't say it.
David Stanley can go f*** himself...

[Ricky]

I understand and somewhat agree with you. Read the book, it's really a little more about him than Elvis at age 62.

[Robert]

David did an exhibition in Amsterdam years ago, saw him there.
An easy talker and the guy has no filter spreading Elvis personal details and insights.

But at the same time his statements seem usually based on reality.
There seemed to be a more disconnected relationship towards the end given Elvis life style and David pushing back a little more.

I wonder if the stephbrothers would have been still around in ‘78/‘79 had Elvis survived August 16..

[sundial77]

He can always put the things he hasn't said in the couple of dozen books he's sure to release while there's breath in his body.

[elvisjock]

David wasn't in that bathroom on August 16. He was sneaking his friend, Mark, off the property. Yet, he tells us that he "discovered" Elvis' body on that fateful day.

Ricky, while I am sure it was an interesting exchange, David was and is a consummate BS artist.

The day Vernon met Dee would ultimately have severe ramifications on Elvis' life and legacy. All four of the Stanleys did lasting damage.

[Ricky]

David wasn't in that bathroom on August 16. He was sneaking his friend, Mark, off the property. Yet, he tells us that he "discovered" Elvis' body on that fateful day.

Ricky, while I am sure it was an interesting exchange, David was and is a consummate BS artist.

The day Vernon met Dee would ultimately have severe ramifications on Elvis' life and legacy. All four of the Stanleys did lasting damage.

Fantastic BS artist and a excellent motivational speaker I might add. But am I wrong? He returned to Graceland after dropping Mark off at home (close by) and found the ambulance in the drive. Running upstairs, he found everyone in the bathroom trying to revive Elvis. He even blurted out, "it's an overdose". IIRC, he somewhat cleaned the room of drug paraphernalia, before leaving for the hospital.

I get why he's disliked.... I think he does too. All I'm saying, it was good read. When I was 22, I should not have been protecting anyone either. Having Ricky, David and Dean around for support was not a good idea. Al, Joe, Charlie and Dick gave up to a certain degree.

[elvisjock]

I'd have to go back and review the various accounts, but I don't think he was ever in the room.

Al Strada opened the front door for the paramedics, and it was Al that said, "He's upstairs and I think it's an OD."

I hate to quote Goldman, but he was correct in saying that at the end, Elvis was surrounded by "kids and rent-a-cops."

[brian]

People can obviously decide for themselves whether the things David Stanley says has any merit or not. I wouldn't expect anyone though to change their minds about David Stanley because he was nice to Ricky when he met him. I must say I have never heard of David Stanley being rude to fans who have met him.

[matilda]

I accidently met David at the Fox & Hound restaurant in Southaven, MS on 8/16/17. Along with my best friend, we sat at the bar and talked like old friends for a little over an hour. I asked him tough questions. I even told him if he got offended, I'd let him punch me in the mouth. He declined and told me I could ask anything I wanted. I walked away with a whole new outlook. There was one thing he said that will stay with me forever. he stated that, " there was some things he wished he hadn't said and some things he wished he had". During the talk, I was amazed, that 40 years ago to the day, I was sharing a beer with someone who was upstairs in Graceland that fateful day only miles down the road.

After returning home, I found out he had written yet another book and requested an autographed copy by messenger on Facebook. I only found two small inconsistencies, but they didn't change the course of the book. I hadn't given it much thought he was only 17 when he started working on the road with Elvis and of course only 22 yrs old when all ended. I found the book very honest and revealing about himself. Especially the part after Elvis death, when Vernon gave him his final paycheck and told him, "his work was done here". It was here he realized, he and brothers, meant very little to Vernon since Elvis & Dee had passed. Yes, the last two years with Elvis is not the best part of the book, but it is what it was. I'm glad I met him and I'm glad I read this particular book. I believe it's 100% true and honest.

I got to pass on this one tidbit before you may read it. We were discussing the various rockers that David introduced to Elvis and Elton John at the Capital Centre 1976 came up. When he asked Elvis if he knew who Elton John was, Elvis teased him and answered. "Isn't he that guy that sings that song, Don't Let Your Son go down on me? Classic Elvis!

I thought that none of the Stanley Brothers were there at the scene when elvis was found.
One was supposed to be on duty, but he left.
And i think that one Stanley came after elvis was transported to the hospital.
So i think its wrong to assume that one of the brothers were there when elvis was found.

[elvisjock]

People can obviously decide for themselves whether the things David Stanley says has any merit or not. I wouldn't expect anyone though to change their minds about David Stanley because he was nice to Ricky when he met him. I must say I have never heard of David Stanley being rude to fans who have met him.

Honestly, he's got chutzpah to even show his face at Elvis events, based on his long track record of spouting embarrassing information about his stepbrother.

[Ricky]

It really wasn't much of an event per se', it was put on by Patsy & Donna Presley and Ricky was suppose to be there, not David. I don't think there were 30 people in the bar that day and I just happened to be staying at a Hilton property next door. As far as who was in the house August 16th, ya'll need to check the events of the afternoon. Ricky was on duty earlier that night and David was suppose to come in that afternoon. If I'm wrong, please give reference to a more correct report.

And furthermore, I stated he was upstairs that fateful day, not the first to arrive on the scene. But he was present while the group was trying to revive Elvis,

[TheMaskedClown]

So many who were there at the time want to tell their story. It is all about $$$$$.

[TheMaskedClown]

What happened to the other Stanley brothers?

[Ricky]

Ricky is living in Augusta, SC and continues to preach. Billy I believe, is living in Nashville and David is in Cordova, TN outside Memphis,

[elvis4life]

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/elvis-brother-still-lives-king-111226184.html

Elvis’ brother still lives in The King’s Las Vegas hotel. We met him.
Adam Bloodworth
Fri, 19 April 2024 at 7:12 am GMT-4

David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis at Graceland. He still lives in the same Las Vegas hotel where the pair spent nine years working together. He talks about the dark drug years and the moments of joy with Adam Bloodworth.

This’ll get you shook up: Elvis is in the building.

Well, his stepbrother is anyway. David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis from age four, and spent years with The King during his Las Vegas residency in the 1970s when he worked as the singer’s bodyguard and assistant.

Forty seven years after his death, he still stays in the same hotel where he worked so closely with Elvis all those years ago.

Presley, who died in 1977 from complications to do with drug abuse, lived on the 30th floor of the Las Vegas Hilton where Stanley and he would spend many intimate moments. Between Elvis’ shows the duo would talk about girls and mess about on the rooftop, hitting golf balls towards the mountains.

Stanley was one of the closest confidantes to Presley, and now City A.M. The Magazine is the first publication to peer inside his 29th floor suite, located just metres below the original Elvis Suite where The King’s drug abuse continued to spiral.

Elvis in Las Vegas: the singer spent months in the hotel between 1969 and 1977 as part of his residency, documented in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic

“Fifty-three years ago I came here when my brother opened it, now I live here representing it. It’s kind of a cool thing. It feels good,” Stanley tells me. “What a full circle.”

These days the 67-year-old works as an ambassador for the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino (formerly the Hilton), greeting hotel guests and talking about the history of Elvis. Stanley performs his ‘My Brother Elvis’ show in the International Theater on the same stage where The King strutted in shimmering catsuits for two shows a day between 1969 and 1977.

“There are times I will be sitting in my suite looking out the window and go, ‘God this is so surreal’,” says Stanley. “I was here when it was happening, I lived the history. They look at me at the Westgate as a historical figure who can check what’s real and what’s not. There are people who say a lot of things about Elvis that are just not true.”

Ask nicely and he’ll walk with you to the statue of Elvis in the hotel lobby to take a picture. He also pens screenplays, has written the book, My Brother Elvis, and is writing another about life after the singer’s passing.

“He’s gone but he will never, ever be completely gone,” says Stanley. “The book reveals many truths and facts. I’m not naturally a creative person, but when I’m writing about my life during the Elvis years it all flows well. It makes me feel good to get it on paper.”

How did it all happen? Stanley’s mother Dee married Elvis’s father Vernon Presley in 1960, and when Stanley was four he moved into Graceland. Presley regarded him as a younger brother, spoiling him with gifts and expensive toys.

The suite David stays in when he’s in Las Vegas is 1,200 square feet with views of Downtown Las Vegas and the mountains. Guests can book similar suites for around £550 per night. The original Elvis Suite no longer exists but the Markus Klinko Icons Sky Villa stands where it once did. If you want to sleep where The King did, that villa – with its own private rooftop pool – costs £15,000 per night – for die-hards it’s surely worth the splurge.

The King is having a moment. New films Elvis by Baz Luhrmann and Priscilla by Sofia Coppola have led international film festivals, and Luhrmann’s was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. In London there’s a new exhibition featuring his clothes, cars and film posters and an Elvis hologram is to gyrate its eerily realistic hips for thirsty fans in London this year.

Spotify figures from December 2022 show he had more listeners than Cardi B, DaBaby, Jay-Z and Lizzo.

“He would be very humbled,” says Stanley.

“He would just be freaked out if he saw it today, with the movie and the Elvis impersonators. Elvis is as big now as he was when he was alive. He once said: ‘This will never last, they’ll love me for a while but I’ll never be remembered.’ Well he got that wrong because he’ll never be forgotten. He’d probably think it’s funny, the wedding chapels. He’d say: ‘Whatever, people love me I guess.’”

So who was the real Elvis? Restaurants like the Golden Steer steakhouse near the Westgate Resort claim you can eat at ‘Elvis’ table’, and there is much in the city paying homage to the singer, but he wasn’t a party guy.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘boring’ but this was a job,” says Stanley. “People go ‘Oh fascinating, Elvis Presley…’ It was his job, man. It’s what he did for 20 years.

“We’d lay in the sun or go out and hit golf balls off the roof, we’d train in karate ‘cos we were martial artists, me and him and a couple other guys. There was a big floor area where we’d train for an hour or two. On Sundays we’d watch football – we just lived here, like I live here now. He couldn’t go out because he was Elvis Presley.”

The Westgate offers vistas of the Nevada mountains that encircle Las Vegas. It’s a city of constant change, but that view is the one thing that’s remained the same.

“He’d say: ‘They’re beautiful… really beautiful view’, but he didn’t have this massive love affair with Las Vegas.”

With its 68,000 crystals in the chandeliers in the lobby dating to 1969, the Westgate is an antidote to the ever-changing modernity of Las Vegas. A few of the staff worked there during the Elvis years and still push pens at the Westgate today.

There’s a lovely pool where Stanley hangs out in his downtime and, new for this year, there are relaunched rooms and themed accommodation, including the kitsch Plaid Suite, clad in blood-red tartan. It looks like the sort of place you could throw a darn good party.

Stanley saw the best and worst of the bequiffed legend. When he had energy he’d shower Stanley with praise.

“He’d say ‘believe in yourself, eliminate the fear, use your gifts, you’re big, you’re strong, you’re a competitor’.” He’d offer girl advice. “‘Treat her this way, treat like a lady, treat her like she’s the best thing in the world. She’ll hurt you but treat her that way anyway.’ He was very big-brotherish and talked a lot about faith. He believed in Christ, that was his biggest advice: ‘embrace your faith’.” Then there were the dark days.

Stanley has devoted his life to breaking the stigma around Elvis’ drug abuse. “I used to say to him ‘It’s a little much’,” he remembers of the pill popping that would take his life.

“He’d say ‘None of your business, if I want your opinion I’ll give it to you. If you have a problem you can always leave’.”

He was there that day at Graceland when he died; when I ask, he diligently recounts the story, as he must have done hundreds of times before. We’re talking in an ordinary meeting room just off from the hotel’s timeshare sales area. There’s clearly still a rawness to recounting the singer’s final hours; you can feel that it hurts to remember the blow-by-blow of those minutes out loud.

My Brother Elvis is Stanley’s way of shining a light on the abusive relationship Elvis had with drugs, as well as his own.

“I hope that these revelations of my time with Elvis might save others from the pain I suffered during the final years of his life,” he says. “It’s my way of reaching out to those who loved Elvis in the hopes of touching their lives as much as he touched mine. I felt it was my responsibility to write a book about these realities of Elvis beyond the glitz, glamour and fun. He was human, and his very human frailties and vulnerabilities cost him his life. If addiction could happen to Elvis, it can happen to anyone.”

[TINML]

Leeches gonna leach, I'm in Vegas at least twice a year and you couldn't pay me to visit the Westgate to see this charlatan.

[drjohncarpenter]

Appreciate the update, but Adam Bloodworth didn't do his homework. It's really just stenography.

This part right off the bat was irritating:

David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis at Graceland. He still lives in the same Las Vegas hotel where the pair spent nine years working together. He talks about the dark drug years and the moments of joy with Adam Bloodworth.

This’ll get you shook up: Elvis is in the building.

Well, his stepbrother is anyway. David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis from age four, and spent years with The King during his Las Vegas residency in the 1970s when he worked as the singer’s bodyguard and assistant.

My understanding is David Stanley was born August 30, 1955 in Newport News, VA.

So he did not spend "nine years together" in Las Vegas with Elvis. In fact, when the star began his return to Sin City on 7-31-1969, David was 13 years old. From what I can recall, he was seen as early as the June 1972 tour when he was 16. But . . . a clear role as bodyguard is not apparent until Lake Tahoe in May 1974 when he was 18.

That puts his time in this role as about three years max.

And David did not grow up with Elvis "from age four." He turned four in August 1959. Presley was in the army. His mother brought all the children to Memphis when the singer returned from the army in the spring of 1960. They only lived at Graceland for a short time before Elvis had them moved to a nearby house instead.

Finally, he was never Elvis' "brother." He was a STEP brother.

Man, these people.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/elvis-brother-still-lives-king-111226184.html

Elvis’ brother still lives in The King’s Las Vegas hotel. We met him.
Adam Bloodworth
Fri, 19 April 2024 at 7:12 am GMT-4

David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis at Graceland. He still lives in the same Las Vegas hotel where the pair spent nine years working together. He talks about the dark drug years and the moments of joy with Adam Bloodworth.

This’ll get you shook up: Elvis is in the building.

Well, his stepbrother is anyway. David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis from age four, and spent years with The King during his Las Vegas residency in the 1970s when he worked as the singer’s bodyguard and assistant.

Forty seven years after his death, he still stays in the same hotel where he worked so closely with Elvis all those years ago.

Presley, who died in 1977 from complications to do with drug abuse, lived on the 30th floor of the Las Vegas Hilton where Stanley and he would spend many intimate moments. Between Elvis’ shows the duo would talk about girls and mess about on the rooftop, hitting golf balls towards the mountains.

Stanley was one of the closest confidantes to Presley, and now City A.M. The Magazine is the first publication to peer inside his 29th floor suite, located just metres below the original Elvis Suite where The King’s drug abuse continued to spiral.

Elvis in Las Vegas: the singer spent months in the hotel between 1969 and 1977 as part of his residency, documented in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic

“Fifty-three years ago I came here when my brother opened it, now I live here representing it. It’s kind of a cool thing. It feels good,” Stanley tells me. “What a full circle.”

These days the 67-year-old works as an ambassador for the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino (formerly the Hilton), greeting hotel guests and talking about the history of Elvis. Stanley performs his ‘My Brother Elvis’ show in the International Theater on the same stage where The King strutted in shimmering catsuits for two shows a day between 1969 and 1977.

“There are times I will be sitting in my suite looking out the window and go, ‘God this is so surreal’,” says Stanley. “I was here when it was happening, I lived the history. They look at me at the Westgate as a historical figure who can check what’s real and what’s not. There are people who say a lot of things about Elvis that are just not true.”

Ask nicely and he’ll walk with you to the statue of Elvis in the hotel lobby to take a picture. He also pens screenplays, has written the book, My Brother Elvis, and is writing another about life after the singer’s passing.

“He’s gone but he will never, ever be completely gone,” says Stanley. “The book reveals many truths and facts. I’m not naturally a creative person, but when I’m writing about my life during the Elvis years it all flows well. It makes me feel good to get it on paper.”

How did it all happen? Stanley’s mother Dee married Elvis’s father Vernon Presley in 1960, and when Stanley was four he moved into Graceland. Presley regarded him as a younger brother, spoiling him with gifts and expensive toys.

The suite David stays in when he’s in Las Vegas is 1,200 square feet with views of Downtown Las Vegas and the mountains. Guests can book similar suites for around £550 per night. The original Elvis Suite no longer exists but the Markus Klinko Icons Sky Villa stands where it once did. If you want to sleep where The King did, that villa – with its own private rooftop pool – costs £15,000 per night – for die-hards it’s surely worth the splurge.

The King is having a moment. New films Elvis by Baz Luhrmann and Priscilla by Sofia Coppola have led international film festivals, and Luhrmann’s was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. In London there’s a new exhibition featuring his clothes, cars and film posters and an Elvis hologram is to gyrate its eerily realistic hips for thirsty fans in London this year.

Spotify figures from December 2022 show he had more listeners than Cardi B, DaBaby, Jay-Z and Lizzo.

“He would be very humbled,” says Stanley.

“He would just be freaked out if he saw it today, with the movie and the Elvis impersonators. Elvis is as big now as he was when he was alive. He once said: ‘This will never last, they’ll love me for a while but I’ll never be remembered.’ Well he got that wrong because he’ll never be forgotten. He’d probably think it’s funny, the wedding chapels. He’d say: ‘Whatever, people love me I guess.’”

So who was the real Elvis? Restaurants like the Golden Steer steakhouse near the Westgate Resort claim you can eat at ‘Elvis’ table’, and there is much in the city paying homage to the singer, but he wasn’t a party guy.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘boring’ but this was a job,” says Stanley. “People go ‘Oh fascinating, Elvis Presley…’ It was his job, man. It’s what he did for 20 years.

“We’d lay in the sun or go out and hit golf balls off the roof, we’d train in karate ‘cos we were martial artists, me and him and a couple other guys. There was a big floor area where we’d train for an hour or two. On Sundays we’d watch football – we just lived here, like I live here now. He couldn’t go out because he was Elvis Presley.”

The Westgate offers vistas of the Nevada mountains that encircle Las Vegas. It’s a city of constant change, but that view is the one thing that’s remained the same.

“He’d say: ‘They’re beautiful… really beautiful view’, but he didn’t have this massive love affair with Las Vegas.”

With its 68,000 crystals in the chandeliers in the lobby dating to 1969, the Westgate is an antidote to the ever-changing modernity of Las Vegas. A few of the staff worked there during the Elvis years and still push pens at the Westgate today.

There’s a lovely pool where Stanley hangs out in his downtime and, new for this year, there are relaunched rooms and themed accommodation, including the kitsch Plaid Suite, clad in blood-red tartan. It looks like the sort of place you could throw a darn good party.

Stanley saw the best and worst of the bequiffed legend. When he had energy he’d shower Stanley with praise.

“He’d say ‘believe in yourself, eliminate the fear, use your gifts, you’re big, you’re strong, you’re a competitor’.” He’d offer girl advice. “‘Treat her this way, treat like a lady, treat her like she’s the best thing in the world. She’ll hurt you but treat her that way anyway.’ He was very big-brotherish and talked a lot about faith. He believed in Christ, that was his biggest advice: ‘embrace your faith’.” Then there were the dark days.

Stanley has devoted his life to breaking the stigma around Elvis’ drug abuse. “I used to say to him ‘It’s a little much’,” he remembers of the pill popping that would take his life.

“He’d say ‘None of your business, if I want your opinion I’ll give it to you. If you have a problem you can always leave’.”

He was there that day at Graceland when he died; when I ask, he diligently recounts the story, as he must have done hundreds of times before. We’re talking in an ordinary meeting room just off from the hotel’s timeshare sales area. There’s clearly still a rawness to recounting the singer’s final hours; you can feel that it hurts to remember the blow-by-blow of those minutes out loud.

My Brother Elvis is Stanley’s way of shining a light on the abusive relationship Elvis had with drugs, as well as his own.

“I hope that these revelations of my time with Elvis might save others from the pain I suffered during the final years of his life,” he says. “It’s my way of reaching out to those who loved Elvis in the hopes of touching their lives as much as he touched mine. I felt it was my responsibility to write a book about these realities of Elvis beyond the glitz, glamour and fun. He was human, and his very human frailties and vulnerabilities cost him his life. If addiction could happen to Elvis, it can happen to anyone.”

[Jokerlola]

Appreciate the update, but Adam Bloodworth didn't do his homework. It's really just stenography.

This part right off the bat was irritating:

David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis at Graceland. He still lives in the same Las Vegas hotel where the pair spent nine years working together. He talks about the dark drug years and the moments of joy with Adam Bloodworth.

This’ll get you shook up: Elvis is in the building.

Well, his stepbrother is anyway. David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis from age four, and spent years with The King during his Las Vegas residency in the 1970s when he worked as the singer’s bodyguard and assistant.

My understanding is David Stanley was born August 30, 1955 in Newport News, VA.

So he did not spend "nine years together" in Las Vegas with Elvis. In fact, when the star began his return to Sin City on 7-31-1969, David was 13 years old. From what I can recall, he was seen as early as the June 1972 tour when he was 16. But . . . a clear role as bodyguard is not apparent until Lake Tahoe in May 1974 when he was 18.

That puts his time in this role as about three years max.

And David did not grow up with Elvis "from age four." He turned four in August 1959. Presley was in the army. His mother brought all the children to Memphis when the singer returned from the army in the spring of 1960. They only lived at Graceland for a short time before Elvis had them moved to a nearby house instead.

Finally, he was never Elvis' "brother." He was a STEP brother.

Man, these people.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/elvis-brother-still-lives-king-111226184.html

Elvis’ brother still lives in The King’s Las Vegas hotel. We met him.
Adam Bloodworth
Fri, 19 April 2024 at 7:12 am GMT-4

David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis at Graceland. He still lives in the same Las Vegas hotel where the pair spent nine years working together. He talks about the dark drug years and the moments of joy with Adam Bloodworth.

This’ll get you shook up: Elvis is in the building.

Well, his stepbrother is anyway. David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis from age four, and spent years with The King during his Las Vegas residency in the 1970s when he worked as the singer’s bodyguard and assistant.

Forty seven years after his death, he still stays in the same hotel where he worked so closely with Elvis all those years ago.

Presley, who died in 1977 from complications to do with drug abuse, lived on the 30th floor of the Las Vegas Hilton where Stanley and he would spend many intimate moments. Between Elvis’ shows the duo would talk about girls and mess about on the rooftop, hitting golf balls towards the mountains.

Stanley was one of the closest confidantes to Presley, and now City A.M. The Magazine is the first publication to peer inside his 29th floor suite, located just metres below the original Elvis Suite where The King’s drug abuse continued to spiral.

Elvis in Las Vegas: the singer spent months in the hotel between 1969 and 1977 as part of his residency, documented in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic

“Fifty-three years ago I came here when my brother opened it, now I live here representing it. It’s kind of a cool thing. It feels good,” Stanley tells me. “What a full circle.”

These days the 67-year-old works as an ambassador for the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino (formerly the Hilton), greeting hotel guests and talking about the history of Elvis. Stanley performs his ‘My Brother Elvis’ show in the International Theater on the same stage where The King strutted in shimmering catsuits for two shows a day between 1969 and 1977.

“There are times I will be sitting in my suite looking out the window and go, ‘God this is so surreal’,” says Stanley. “I was here when it was happening, I lived the history. They look at me at the Westgate as a historical figure who can check what’s real and what’s not. There are people who say a lot of things about Elvis that are just not true.”

Ask nicely and he’ll walk with you to the statue of Elvis in the hotel lobby to take a picture. He also pens screenplays, has written the book, My Brother Elvis, and is writing another about life after the singer’s passing.

“He’s gone but he will never, ever be completely gone,” says Stanley. “The book reveals many truths and facts. I’m not naturally a creative person, but when I’m writing about my life during the Elvis years it all flows well. It makes me feel good to get it on paper.”

How did it all happen? Stanley’s mother Dee married Elvis’s father Vernon Presley in 1960, and when Stanley was four he moved into Graceland. Presley regarded him as a younger brother, spoiling him with gifts and expensive toys.

The suite David stays in when he’s in Las Vegas is 1,200 square feet with views of Downtown Las Vegas and the mountains. Guests can book similar suites for around £550 per night. The original Elvis Suite no longer exists but the Markus Klinko Icons Sky Villa stands where it once did. If you want to sleep where The King did, that villa – with its own private rooftop pool – costs £15,000 per night – for die-hards it’s surely worth the splurge.

The King is having a moment. New films Elvis by Baz Luhrmann and Priscilla by Sofia Coppola have led international film festivals, and Luhrmann’s was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. In London there’s a new exhibition featuring his clothes, cars and film posters and an Elvis hologram is to gyrate its eerily realistic hips for thirsty fans in London this year.

Spotify figures from December 2022 show he had more listeners than Cardi B, DaBaby, Jay-Z and Lizzo.

“He would be very humbled,” says Stanley.

“He would just be freaked out if he saw it today, with the movie and the Elvis impersonators. Elvis is as big now as he was when he was alive. He once said: ‘This will never last, they’ll love me for a while but I’ll never be remembered.’ Well he got that wrong because he’ll never be forgotten. He’d probably think it’s funny, the wedding chapels. He’d say: ‘Whatever, people love me I guess.’”

So who was the real Elvis? Restaurants like the Golden Steer steakhouse near the Westgate Resort claim you can eat at ‘Elvis’ table’, and there is much in the city paying homage to the singer, but he wasn’t a party guy.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘boring’ but this was a job,” says Stanley. “People go ‘Oh fascinating, Elvis Presley…’ It was his job, man. It’s what he did for 20 years.

“We’d lay in the sun or go out and hit golf balls off the roof, we’d train in karate ‘cos we were martial artists, me and him and a couple other guys. There was a big floor area where we’d train for an hour or two. On Sundays we’d watch football – we just lived here, like I live here now. He couldn’t go out because he was Elvis Presley.”

The Westgate offers vistas of the Nevada mountains that encircle Las Vegas. It’s a city of constant change, but that view is the one thing that’s remained the same.

“He’d say: ‘They’re beautiful… really beautiful view’, but he didn’t have this massive love affair with Las Vegas.”

With its 68,000 crystals in the chandeliers in the lobby dating to 1969, the Westgate is an antidote to the ever-changing modernity of Las Vegas. A few of the staff worked there during the Elvis years and still push pens at the Westgate today.

There’s a lovely pool where Stanley hangs out in his downtime and, new for this year, there are relaunched rooms and themed accommodation, including the kitsch Plaid Suite, clad in blood-red tartan. It looks like the sort of place you could throw a darn good party.

Stanley saw the best and worst of the bequiffed legend. When he had energy he’d shower Stanley with praise.

“He’d say ‘believe in yourself, eliminate the fear, use your gifts, you’re big, you’re strong, you’re a competitor’.” He’d offer girl advice. “‘Treat her this way, treat like a lady, treat her like she’s the best thing in the world. She’ll hurt you but treat her that way anyway.’ He was very big-brotherish and talked a lot about faith. He believed in Christ, that was his biggest advice: ‘embrace your faith’.” Then there were the dark days.

Stanley has devoted his life to breaking the stigma around Elvis’ drug abuse. “I used to say to him ‘It’s a little much’,” he remembers of the pill popping that would take his life.

“He’d say ‘None of your business, if I want your opinion I’ll give it to you. If you have a problem you can always leave’.”

He was there that day at Graceland when he died; when I ask, he diligently recounts the story, as he must have done hundreds of times before. We’re talking in an ordinary meeting room just off from the hotel’s timeshare sales area. There’s clearly still a rawness to recounting the singer’s final hours; you can feel that it hurts to remember the blow-by-blow of those minutes out loud.

My Brother Elvis is Stanley’s way of shining a light on the abusive relationship Elvis had with drugs, as well as his own.

“I hope that these revelations of my time with Elvis might save others from the pain I suffered during the final years of his life,” he says. “It’s my way of reaching out to those who loved Elvis in the hopes of touching their lives as much as he touched mine. I felt it was my responsibility to write a book about these realities of Elvis beyond the glitz, glamour and fun. He was human, and his very human frailties and vulnerabilities cost him his life. If addiction could happen to Elvis, it can happen to anyone.”

David seems like a likable guy but not totally reliable in his stories about Elvis. The only thing we know for sure on August 16th is that he was outside, in front of the house and drove Billy Smith and himself to the hospital. In Goldman’s second book on Elvis, which David Stanley was the source, Stanley says that he was in the bathroom and found the 3 “attack” packets on the floor and he knew then that Elvis had committed suicide and he cleaned up the evidence of that. This was the so-called bombshell of Golden’s second book. I don’t think there is any evidence or eyewitness account that David was up in that bathroom after Elvis died.

His movie “Protecting the King”, has some corroborated events like when Elvis hit Charlie and it does portray David as first starting to work for Elvis right before MSG in 72. But it shows him running up the stairs and discovering the scene of them working on Elvis in the bathroom.

[TINML]

Appreciate the update, but Adam Bloodworth didn't do his homework. It's really just stenography.

This part right off the bat was irritating:

David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis at Graceland. He still lives in the same Las Vegas hotel where the pair spent nine years working together. He talks about the dark drug years and the moments of joy with Adam Bloodworth.

This’ll get you shook up: Elvis is in the building.

Well, his stepbrother is anyway. David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis from age four, and spent years with The King during his Las Vegas residency in the 1970s when he worked as the singer’s bodyguard and assistant.

My understanding is David Stanley was born August 30, 1955 in Newport News, VA.

So he did not spend "nine years together" in Las Vegas with Elvis. In fact, when the star began his return to Sin City on 7-31-1969, David was 13 years old. From what I can recall, he was seen as early as the June 1972 tour when he was 16. But . . . a clear role as bodyguard is not apparent until Lake Tahoe in May 1974 when he was 18.

That puts his time in this role as about three years max.

And David did not grow up with Elvis "from age four." He turned four in August 1959. Presley was in the army. His mother brought all the children to Memphis when the singer returned from the army in the spring of 1960. They only lived at Graceland for a short time before Elvis had them moved to a nearby house instead.

Finally, he was never Elvis' "brother." He was a STEP brother.

Man, these people.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/elvis-brother-still-lives-king-111226184.html

Elvis’ brother still lives in The King’s Las Vegas hotel. We met him.
Adam Bloodworth
Fri, 19 April 2024 at 7:12 am GMT-4

David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis at Graceland. He still lives in the same Las Vegas hotel where the pair spent nine years working together. He talks about the dark drug years and the moments of joy with Adam Bloodworth.

This’ll get you shook up: Elvis is in the building.

Well, his stepbrother is anyway. David E. Stanley grew up with Elvis from age four, and spent years with The King during his Las Vegas residency in the 1970s when he worked as the singer’s bodyguard and assistant.

Forty seven years after his death, he still stays in the same hotel where he worked so closely with Elvis all those years ago.

Presley, who died in 1977 from complications to do with drug abuse, lived on the 30th floor of the Las Vegas Hilton where Stanley and he would spend many intimate moments. Between Elvis’ shows the duo would talk about girls and mess about on the rooftop, hitting golf balls towards the mountains.

Stanley was one of the closest confidantes to Presley, and now City A.M. The Magazine is the first publication to peer inside his 29th floor suite, located just metres below the original Elvis Suite where The King’s drug abuse continued to spiral.

Elvis in Las Vegas: the singer spent months in the hotel between 1969 and 1977 as part of his residency, documented in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic

“Fifty-three years ago I came here when my brother opened it, now I live here representing it. It’s kind of a cool thing. It feels good,” Stanley tells me. “What a full circle.”

These days the 67-year-old works as an ambassador for the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino (formerly the Hilton), greeting hotel guests and talking about the history of Elvis. Stanley performs his ‘My Brother Elvis’ show in the International Theater on the same stage where The King strutted in shimmering catsuits for two shows a day between 1969 and 1977.

“There are times I will be sitting in my suite looking out the window and go, ‘God this is so surreal’,” says Stanley. “I was here when it was happening, I lived the history. They look at me at the Westgate as a historical figure who can check what’s real and what’s not. There are people who say a lot of things about Elvis that are just not true.”

Ask nicely and he’ll walk with you to the statue of Elvis in the hotel lobby to take a picture. He also pens screenplays, has written the book, My Brother Elvis, and is writing another about life after the singer’s passing.

“He’s gone but he will never, ever be completely gone,” says Stanley. “The book reveals many truths and facts. I’m not naturally a creative person, but when I’m writing about my life during the Elvis years it all flows well. It makes me feel good to get it on paper.”

How did it all happen? Stanley’s mother Dee married Elvis’s father Vernon Presley in 1960, and when Stanley was four he moved into Graceland. Presley regarded him as a younger brother, spoiling him with gifts and expensive toys.

The suite David stays in when he’s in Las Vegas is 1,200 square feet with views of Downtown Las Vegas and the mountains. Guests can book similar suites for around £550 per night. The original Elvis Suite no longer exists but the Markus Klinko Icons Sky Villa stands where it once did. If you want to sleep where The King did, that villa – with its own private rooftop pool – costs £15,000 per night – for die-hards it’s surely worth the splurge.

The King is having a moment. New films Elvis by Baz Luhrmann and Priscilla by Sofia Coppola have led international film festivals, and Luhrmann’s was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. In London there’s a new exhibition featuring his clothes, cars and film posters and an Elvis hologram is to gyrate its eerily realistic hips for thirsty fans in London this year.

Spotify figures from December 2022 show he had more listeners than Cardi B, DaBaby, Jay-Z and Lizzo.

“He would be very humbled,” says Stanley.

“He would just be freaked out if he saw it today, with the movie and the Elvis impersonators. Elvis is as big now as he was when he was alive. He once said: ‘This will never last, they’ll love me for a while but I’ll never be remembered.’ Well he got that wrong because he’ll never be forgotten. He’d probably think it’s funny, the wedding chapels. He’d say: ‘Whatever, people love me I guess.’”

So who was the real Elvis? Restaurants like the Golden Steer steakhouse near the Westgate Resort claim you can eat at ‘Elvis’ table’, and there is much in the city paying homage to the singer, but he wasn’t a party guy.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘boring’ but this was a job,” says Stanley. “People go ‘Oh fascinating, Elvis Presley…’ It was his job, man. It’s what he did for 20 years.

“We’d lay in the sun or go out and hit golf balls off the roof, we’d train in karate ‘cos we were martial artists, me and him and a couple other guys. There was a big floor area where we’d train for an hour or two. On Sundays we’d watch football – we just lived here, like I live here now. He couldn’t go out because he was Elvis Presley.”

The Westgate offers vistas of the Nevada mountains that encircle Las Vegas. It’s a city of constant change, but that view is the one thing that’s remained the same.

“He’d say: ‘They’re beautiful… really beautiful view’, but he didn’t have this massive love affair with Las Vegas.”

With its 68,000 crystals in the chandeliers in the lobby dating to 1969, the Westgate is an antidote to the ever-changing modernity of Las Vegas. A few of the staff worked there during the Elvis years and still push pens at the Westgate today.

There’s a lovely pool where Stanley hangs out in his downtime and, new for this year, there are relaunched rooms and themed accommodation, including the kitsch Plaid Suite, clad in blood-red tartan. It looks like the sort of place you could throw a darn good party.

Stanley saw the best and worst of the bequiffed legend. When he had energy he’d shower Stanley with praise.

“He’d say ‘believe in yourself, eliminate the fear, use your gifts, you’re big, you’re strong, you’re a competitor’.” He’d offer girl advice. “‘Treat her this way, treat like a lady, treat her like she’s the best thing in the world. She’ll hurt you but treat her that way anyway.’ He was very big-brotherish and talked a lot about faith. He believed in Christ, that was his biggest advice: ‘embrace your faith’.” Then there were the dark days.

Stanley has devoted his life to breaking the stigma around Elvis’ drug abuse. “I used to say to him ‘It’s a little much’,” he remembers of the pill popping that would take his life.

“He’d say ‘None of your business, if I want your opinion I’ll give it to you. If you have a problem you can always leave’.”

He was there that day at Graceland when he died; when I ask, he diligently recounts the story, as he must have done hundreds of times before. We’re talking in an ordinary meeting room just off from the hotel’s timeshare sales area. There’s clearly still a rawness to recounting the singer’s final hours; you can feel that it hurts to remember the blow-by-blow of those minutes out loud.

My Brother Elvis is Stanley’s way of shining a light on the abusive relationship Elvis had with drugs, as well as his own.

“I hope that these revelations of my time with Elvis might save others from the pain I suffered during the final years of his life,” he says. “It’s my way of reaching out to those who loved Elvis in the hopes of touching their lives as much as he touched mine. I felt it was my responsibility to write a book about these realities of Elvis beyond the glitz, glamour and fun. He was human, and his very human frailties and vulnerabilities cost him his life. If addiction could happen to Elvis, it can happen to anyone.”

David seems like a likable guy but not totally reliable in his stories about Elvis. The only thing we know for sure on August 16th is that he was outside, in front of the house and drove Billy Smith and himself to the hospital. In Goldman’s second book on Elvis, which David Stanley was the source, Stanley says that he was in the bathroom and found the 3 “attack” packets on the floor and he knew then that Elvis had committed suicide and he cleaned up the evidence of that. This was the so-called bombshell of Golden’s second book. I don’t think there is any evidence or eyewitness account that David was up in that bathroom after Elvis died.

His movie “Protecting the King”, has some corroborated events like when Elvis hit Charlie and it does portray David as first starting to work for Elvis right before MSG in 72. But it shows him running up the stairs and discovering the scene of them working on Elvis in the bathroom.

He's filth just like his mother (sorry not sorry)

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/elvis-presley-david-stanley-documentary-b2365460.html

[Jokerlola]

I didn’t realize he’s still making crap up as recently as 2022! I thought he had apologized for the past BS and was being more honest but I guess not. I recently found video of the “Geraldo” show from the 80’s with Dee Stanley claiming that Elvis had sex with his mother. Those Stanley’s are a piece of work.

[elvis-fan]

David seems like a likable guy...

In what way?

[Jokerlola]

David seems like a likable guy...

In what way?

If you meet him one on one. He came to speak at one of our fan club meetings in the late 70’s, before their books came out.