Sonny West was Elvis Presley�s close friend and bodyguard for years. And he speaks of The King without any celebrity attachment. West is refreshingly open that theirs was a winding, pothole-riddled road of friendship. He has just released a second book on Presley called �Still Taking Care of Business�. In his first book, �Elvis, What Happened,� West and co-authors talked about Elvis� sad journey into the abyss of addiction. �He had become rude and insulting,� West said, aware how definitive his choice of words were. �We were told to leave it alone. Elvis said, �I can quit when I want to.� Obviously he was in total denial. My brother [Red] and I didn�t back off.�
West�s voice, now audibly shaken, almost whispers, �If I�d have written that book when Elvis fired me for speaking out about his prescription drug use towards the end of 1976, I really feel he�d be alive today.� Today, West speaks so fondly of the legend it appears to be true love and not mining for gold that drove him to pen the new book. �I couldn�t let that first book, which openly challenged Elvis, to be my final word.�
Then completely switching gears, possibly to prevent his own tear shed, West began to tell a tale about Elvis� power of charisma. �In 1970 Elvis once brought me to see President Nixon. Actually, I was in a whole different room. But I knew if Elvis said I�d meet the man, he�d do it somehow. �A few seconds later the phone rings. The guard turns and says, �Come on, you�re going to meet the president.��
When the duo got to the oval office,
West said there was Elvis acting like he
ran the place. �He was in his
deep-purple fur suit with the huge belt
buckle and a cane and those tinted
glasses. And the president was in a
conservative suit.� �The president says
to him, �You dress kind of wild, don�t
you son.� Elvis said, �Mr. President,
you have your show to run and I have
mine.�� Then Nixon says to us, �I have
something for you.� And he hands us each
a little 14 karat gold keychain withthe
presidential seal on it.�
Elvis springs into action, �He said,
�Mr. President, they�ve got wives, too.�
Nixon went to his desk drawer and
offered up two other items.� This year
marks 30 years since Elvis passed away.
But West speaks of the man as if they�d
just hadbreakfast at a Memphis IHOP. And
West was there almost from the start of
Elvis� phenomenal career. His brother,
Red West, certainly was. �My brother was
a tough dude. They were in the same
class and he protected Elvis in high
school.�
West was in the same school, but a few years behind the future icon. He said it wasn�t until 1958 that he and Elvis were actually introduced, which then lead to employment. He said Elvis had only one request. �I�d had a flattop haircut. And he said to me, �Sonny, that hair is not gonna cut it out in Hollywood. You gotta let that moss grow. You gotta get that Tony Curtis look.� The cover of �Still Taking Care of Business� was taken just months after the request. He said, �You can see it�s growing out.�
Source: EIN.
Posted: 21st. June. 2007
