1
00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,440
Speaker 1: Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast AM on

2
00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,760
Speaker 1: iHeart Radio and welcome back to Coast to Coast George,

3
00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:08,879
Speaker 1: and are you with you along with Sally hoddellas we

4
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,880
Speaker 1: talk about her special book on Elvis Presley Destined to

5
00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,680
Speaker 1: Die Young. He was a good guy, though, Sally, wasn't

6
00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:21,239
Speaker 1: He absolutely absolutely, you know from I talked to girlfriends

7
00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,439
Speaker 1: from the nineteen fifties and family members and you know,

8
00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,160
Speaker 1: colleagues and whatnot in the seventies, and you know, everybody

9
00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:29,600
Speaker 1: says the same thing. And you know, from the police

10
00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:31,840
Speaker 1: officers of every city he would tour and he would

11
00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,000
Speaker 1: know them by name. The people on movie sets again,

12
00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,839
Speaker 1: from you know, the low on the ladder to the

13
00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,159
Speaker 1: high on the ladder. He would know everyone everyone by

14
00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,000
Speaker 1: name and talk to everybody and and everybody just tells

15
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,279
Speaker 1: the same story about Elvis, like what a gentleman. And

16
00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,920
Speaker 1: I remembered when I interviewed Barbara Smith, Barbara Hern Smith,

17
00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,120
Speaker 1: you know who was one of his girlfriends in the

18
00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,360
Speaker 1: nineteen nineteen fifties, and there's some famous photographs taken of

19
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:56,880
Speaker 1: the two of them at his Audubon house, And I said,

20
00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,080
Speaker 1: you know, with Elvis really this southern gentleman, Like, how

21
00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,480
Speaker 1: incredible that must have been. And she said, well, sure,

22
00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,360
Speaker 1: but all the guys were back then. But Elvis definitely

23
00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,640
Speaker 1: stayed that way. He was, you know, his mother raised

24
00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,040
Speaker 1: him that way. And when Gladys was interviewed once in

25
00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:14,360
Speaker 1: the in the nineteen fifty she said, you know, I'm

26
00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,160
Speaker 1: most proud that he is a gentleman. He's a Christian,

27
00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,200
Speaker 1: he's a good guy, and the person that re raised

28
00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,640
Speaker 1: him to be. He was very close with his mother,

29
00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,840
Speaker 1: wasn't he He was very close with his mother. And

30
00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,520
Speaker 1: you know, again, if Elvis is a victim of sensationalism,

31
00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,240
Speaker 1: I think he's also a victim of romanticism, and that

32
00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:33,880
Speaker 1: relationship is one place where that's evident. You know, there's

33
00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,920
Speaker 1: in the Elvis fan world, there's all those ideas where

34
00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,319
Speaker 1: you know, Gladys died of a broken heart because her

35
00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,120
Speaker 1: only son was going into the military, and you know,

36
00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,319
Speaker 1: those the romanticized ideas. Gladys was actually very sick, which

37
00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,360
Speaker 1: gives us a lot of information on how Elvis ends

38
00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:51,760
Speaker 1: up being sick, because they die in a very similar way.

39
00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,559
Speaker 1: You know, she's forty six, he's forty two. Both experienced

40
00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,000
Speaker 1: a four year period of degenerative health, liver or heart

41
00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,920
Speaker 1: related issues, and it's in the family tree, and we

42
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,720
Speaker 1: see that from his from her parents. You know, Elvis's

43
00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:05,880
Speaker 1: maternal grandparents were first cousins. That was kind of the

44
00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,080
Speaker 1: launching pad for this theory as well. That doubling of

45
00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,160
Speaker 1: the gene pool creates a lot of issues in his

46
00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:13,960
Speaker 1: maternal side of the tree. And we see that with Gladys,

47
00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,200
Speaker 1: We see it with three of her brothers who die

48
00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,120
Speaker 1: at forty six, forty nine, fifty eight. That's very a

49
00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,720
Speaker 1: lot of very young death in the family and liver, heart,

50
00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,040
Speaker 1: kidney related issues. So when it gets to Elvis, you know,

51
00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,480
Speaker 1: it's just no longer a coincidence. He died of his

52
00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,840
Speaker 1: August sixteenth, nineteen seventy seven. He went to the bathroom,

53
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,880
Speaker 1: died of a heart attack. How was he discovered, Yeah,

54
00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,200
Speaker 1: he was sam in the bathroom cardiac rhythmia, you know,

55
00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:42,360
Speaker 1: most likely hours after he had already passed. He was

56
00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:47,280
Speaker 1: discovered by his girlfriend at the time. Ginger Alden and

57
00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,480
Speaker 1: Paramas recalled. They'd tried to revive him, but he had

58
00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:52,840
Speaker 1: already been gone for quite some time. It was a

59
00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,560
Speaker 1: very quick death. You know, again, a drug related death

60
00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,079
Speaker 1: would be rather slow. They'd be in a coma, it

61
00:02:58,120 --> 00:02:59,600
Speaker 1: would be a rather slow death. But it was a

62
00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:02,640
Speaker 1: cardia acharhythmia. It was a very quick death, most likely,

63
00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:06,040
Speaker 1: experts believe now and it correlates to my research that

64
00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,160
Speaker 1: it was caused by something called the Velsava maneuver, which

65
00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,040
Speaker 1: is anything you do to strain, you know, whether it's

66
00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,120
Speaker 1: childbirth or whatever, it changes the blood pressure. He already

67
00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,400
Speaker 1: has these liver heart related issues. He's straining in the

68
00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,600
Speaker 1: bathroom and that creates that cardiac arrhythmia and we lose him.

69
00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,800
Speaker 1: And what a great talent. What would he upset about

70
00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,560
Speaker 1: this book? Well, you know there's been a lot of

71
00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,720
Speaker 1: conversation about that. Would Elvis want this private information out there?

72
00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,679
Speaker 1: It is private information, is health issues, you know all

73
00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:35,760
Speaker 1: of that, and he worked hard to keep them hidden

74
00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,200
Speaker 1: for a long time, right because in the nineteen seventies

75
00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,040
Speaker 1: he wanted to be a strong male. He wanted to

76
00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,680
Speaker 1: be perceived that way, and people didn't talk about their

77
00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:44,800
Speaker 1: health back then like they do now. There weren't you know,

78
00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,160
Speaker 1: constipation commercials with yogurt and whatnot, with celebrity endorsements on TV.

79
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,080
Speaker 1: It was something you kept very private, and he has

80
00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,160
Speaker 1: all these people around him, and he is ultimately the

81
00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:56,680
Speaker 1: head of that organization. He is the boss, so he

82
00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,400
Speaker 1: can appear weak. He doesn't want to appear sick. He

83
00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,040
Speaker 1: hides a lot of this stuff from everyone around him.

84
00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,320
Speaker 1: And now I think, you know, I think he'd be

85
00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:06,880
Speaker 1: okay with it. I think he'd be okay with the

86
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,600
Speaker 1: level of understanding that this research brings, because you know,

87
00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:13,520
Speaker 1: would he rather be known as this guy who took

88
00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:15,680
Speaker 1: too many pills and died in the bathroom, or would

89
00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:17,600
Speaker 1: he rather be known as this guy who was providing

90
00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,360
Speaker 1: for over a hundred people, and he was providing at

91
00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:22,520
Speaker 1: the detriment of his health. And before he goes on

92
00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:24,960
Speaker 1: that last tour and people are saying, you know, they're

93
00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:26,320
Speaker 1: on the phone with him, and you know, the nights

94
00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,640
Speaker 1: before and he says, God, I don't feel good. You know,

95
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:30,760
Speaker 1: I wish I could take a break. And they're like, oh, this,

96
00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:32,400
Speaker 1: take a break. You don't feel good. You need to

97
00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:34,719
Speaker 1: take a break. He said, too many people rely on me.

98
00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,599
Speaker 1: I can't stop. And Grace Land is still making money,

99
00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,640
Speaker 1: isn't it? It is? It is. It's the second most

100
00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,960
Speaker 1: visited house after the White House. That's that's in colonel.

101
00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:47,919
Speaker 1: Have you have you been there? You've been to the house,

102
00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,000
Speaker 1: oh like many times each year, you know, whether it's

103
00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,560
Speaker 1: for research or fun or whatever. But now I go,

104
00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,039
Speaker 1: probably for I'm in Memphis at least six times a year.

105
00:04:56,080 --> 00:05:00,240
Speaker 1: Probably is it a mansion mansion? It's not. The house

106
00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:02,680
Speaker 1: itself is not as big as you might think. There

107
00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,040
Speaker 1: is a lot of square footage there, but it is

108
00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,599
Speaker 1: a time warp, you know. It smells like an old house,

109
00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,559
Speaker 1: It looks like an old house. It is a time warp,

110
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,440
Speaker 1: for sure. So even if the house might not be

111
00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,120
Speaker 1: quite as mansion like as you would expect. The new

112
00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,040
Speaker 1: museum complex which is just you know, several years old,

113
00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,839
Speaker 1: it's a two hundred thousand square foot museum, and Elvis

114
00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,719
Speaker 1: deserves that, and all the jumpsuits in the cars and

115
00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:32,159
Speaker 1: just incredible memorabilia on display. When they found him dead,

116
00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,080
Speaker 1: did they immediately announce it? Remember that rumor Elvis is alive,

117
00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,000
Speaker 1: And it just permeated a whole over the country for years,

118
00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:44,680
Speaker 1: it did. Laugh And I just think that that speaks

119
00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,039
Speaker 1: to how beloved he was. Right, you know, the Elvis

120
00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,960
Speaker 1: sightings and the hopes that he was still alive. There's still,

121
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,839
Speaker 1: you know, segments of the fan population today that believe

122
00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,960
Speaker 1: he's still alive. And I think that just speaks to

123
00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,440
Speaker 1: the impact he had even an individual, you know, and

124
00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,480
Speaker 1: for someone who was so famous in such a mass way.

125
00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,520
Speaker 1: You know, he always say he culturally shifted the universe.

126
00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:08,520
Speaker 1: It wasn't just here in the States. I mean, he's

127
00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,440
Speaker 1: more popular in England in places like that today even

128
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,800
Speaker 1: than he is here. So he had a cultural effect

129
00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,440
Speaker 1: across the world. And yet he still has this this

130
00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,919
Speaker 1: huge impact. So you know, people are still going to Graceland,

131
00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,240
Speaker 1: they're still listening to his music, they're still experiencing all

132
00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,760
Speaker 1: of that, and some people still hope he would, you know,

133
00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:29,600
Speaker 1: when she was alive, because I just think he had

134
00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,600
Speaker 1: that big of an impact on the individual. And that's

135
00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,839
Speaker 1: partly due to Elvis being so generous with his fans.

136
00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,000
Speaker 1: You know, he would go down to the gates and

137
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,839
Speaker 1: talk to people, he would invite them into Graceland. He

138
00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:43,559
Speaker 1: always had a very personal, connected relationship with his fans,

139
00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,279
Speaker 1: and I think that's one of the reasons it's still

140
00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,800
Speaker 1: such a connected group of fans today. Would we or

141
00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:52,560
Speaker 1: have we had a talent like him since since we

142
00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:56,240
Speaker 1: lost him. Oh, I don't think so. I mean, I

143
00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,200
Speaker 1: think there's only one Elvis when you think, you know,

144
00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,800
Speaker 1: he's been gone for forty five years, and he is

145
00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,240
Speaker 1: still recognizable the world over by his first name and

146
00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,920
Speaker 1: his image alone. Even if young people don't know the music,

147
00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:08,640
Speaker 1: they know who he is, you know, and that's that's remarkable.

148
00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,520
Speaker 1: So I don't I don't think. I don't think anyone's

149
00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,120
Speaker 1: compared to Elvis. I'm not sure anyone ever will. Oh,

150
00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,040
Speaker 1: I don't think so either. Let's move on to the

151
00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,480
Speaker 1: other book, Destined to Fly, the story of Ron Stress

152
00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:21,880
Speaker 1: from Iowa to Elvis. And again, what got you to

153
00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,720
Speaker 1: write the book about the pilot? Well, you know, Ron

154
00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:26,320
Speaker 1: was the first person I met in the Elvis world,

155
00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,840
Speaker 1: as I mentioned earlier, and it was just really clear

156
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:30,400
Speaker 1: to me from day one that he was a man

157
00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,240
Speaker 1: of integrity. And I hadn't yet started out on my

158
00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,000
Speaker 1: research trips to Tupelo and Memphis, and I did several

159
00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,560
Speaker 1: of those you know, revereering documentation and interviewing people and

160
00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,160
Speaker 1: meeting lots of people. And there are so many great

161
00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:44,960
Speaker 1: people in the Elvis world, don't get me wrong, But

162
00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,480
Speaker 1: I wasn't prepared for the level of exaggeration that some

163
00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,160
Speaker 1: people would present. You know, people who were close to

164
00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,440
Speaker 1: Elvis a little bit want to grow that story. So

165
00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:55,520
Speaker 1: as a journalist, you know you have to look for that.

166
00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,480
Speaker 1: And the thing with Ron is that I've heard him

167
00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:00,720
Speaker 1: tell his stories twelve times. They never grow and they

168
00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:02,840
Speaker 1: never change. So I knew from day one that he

169
00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,120
Speaker 1: was a man of integrity and he's always just kind

170
00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,119
Speaker 1: of been my anchor in the Elvis world for that reason.

171
00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,920
Speaker 1: You know, he's just a good guy and it's a

172
00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:13,040
Speaker 1: great story. He grows up in Iowa. He has actually

173
00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,440
Speaker 1: kicked out of Catholic school in the tenth grade. That

174
00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:17,320
Speaker 1: priests called him into the office and said, you know,

175
00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,560
Speaker 1: we don't think you're cut out for school, and Ron said,

176
00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,400
Speaker 1: they were right. I liked girls in football in that order.

177
00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,200
Speaker 1: So you know, he went home to his parents and

178
00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,760
Speaker 1: of course they were very upset, but they did sign

179
00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,199
Speaker 1: for him to join the Air Force under age. He

180
00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:34,640
Speaker 1: does that. He knows he loves airplanes. He wants to

181
00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,040
Speaker 1: be a part of aviation. He now at that point,

182
00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,959
Speaker 1: believes he'll never have the education level to be a pilot,

183
00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:42,000
Speaker 1: so he figureds the best thing he can do is

184
00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:43,679
Speaker 1: go in the Air Force, learned to work on the

185
00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,160
Speaker 1: airplanes and at least be around airplanes. So he starts

186
00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,240
Speaker 1: as a mechanic, works as we have to flight engineer,

187
00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,480
Speaker 1: serves for twelve years. He flies thirty four hundred hours

188
00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:57,160
Speaker 1: during Vietnam. He flies cargo over and often fallen soldiers back.

189
00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,679
Speaker 1: What then, Elvis are afraid of flying? Elvis was afraid

190
00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:03,880
Speaker 1: of flying and you know buying. That's one of the

191
00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:05,960
Speaker 1: reasons I think he bought such a large airplane. First

192
00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:07,440
Speaker 1: of all, because he was Elvis and he was rather

193
00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,479
Speaker 1: indulgent in that way, and he had been borrowing airplanes,

194
00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,400
Speaker 1: you know, leasing them prior to be lease the Marie.

195
00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,600
Speaker 1: So he had borrowed Hugh Hefner's plane, which had a

196
00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:17,400
Speaker 1: you know, a disco ball in the back room and

197
00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,960
Speaker 1: very lavish. He had borrowed the airplane of the owner

198
00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,360
Speaker 1: of the Holiday Inn and that was a very nice airplane.

199
00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,320
Speaker 1: So he had ideas from all that. But when he

200
00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,160
Speaker 1: buys the what had been a Delta airliner, you know,

201
00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,760
Speaker 1: the convery at eighty and he had it refurbished by

202
00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,640
Speaker 1: the same people who who did Delta or Air Force one.

203
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,080
Speaker 1: So it's a very extravagant airplane, and part of I

204
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,160
Speaker 1: think buying such a big plane, he certainly liked the

205
00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:43,000
Speaker 1: looks of it and the four engines and all that,

206
00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,680
Speaker 1: but being on a bigger plane there'd be less turbulence

207
00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,439
Speaker 1: that made him more comfortable. And then he hires his crew,

208
00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:52,079
Speaker 1: you know. So there's two pilots and a flight engineer

209
00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,960
Speaker 1: and they're on call twenty four seven, which is a

210
00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:58,280
Speaker 1: huge expense to hire these professionals to always be on call,

211
00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:01,280
Speaker 1: but that also eased out the spear of flying, knowing

212
00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,320
Speaker 1: he could trust these guys, knowing that it was always

213
00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,559
Speaker 1: the same crew. But one of the very first conversations

214
00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,320
Speaker 1: that Elvis had with Ron and Ellwood, who was the

215
00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:11,800
Speaker 1: other pilot, you know, was look, if you guys don't

216
00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,600
Speaker 1: feel comfortable flying, tell me, don't let anyone around here

217
00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,040
Speaker 1: talk you into flying. If the weather is bad, if

218
00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:20,480
Speaker 1: there's a mechanical problem, I can get another airplane. That's

219
00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:22,480
Speaker 1: not a big deal. So you be honest with me.

220
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,080
Speaker 1: Because Elvis also knew that other people in the group

221
00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:26,640
Speaker 1: might think, well, we got to get to the next

222
00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:28,760
Speaker 1: tour spot, so we're going to take that risk. So

223
00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:31,440
Speaker 1: Elvis gave that power to the pilots and all of

224
00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,000
Speaker 1: that made Elvis more comfortable flying. What happened to the

225
00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:39,000
Speaker 1: pilot and of the plane after Elvis died, the plane

226
00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:44,400
Speaker 1: quickly changed hands. Ron was transfer He got a job

227
00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,240
Speaker 1: with Evergreen Airline out of Detroit, actually out of Detroit,

228
00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:49,520
Speaker 1: not to airport. Yeah, and you know, Evergreen is an

229
00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:51,320
Speaker 1: interesting story too because it was kind of it was

230
00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,280
Speaker 1: a cover for the CIA for quite some time. So

231
00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,040
Speaker 1: Ron has a lot of amazing stories that he's not

232
00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:00,200
Speaker 1: allowed to share as the other pilots who flew with him.

233
00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,319
Speaker 1: But the airplane changed hands several times. It was part

234
00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,880
Speaker 1: of like a pyramid scheme, just really you know, kind

235
00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:08,320
Speaker 1: of exploited in the same way Elvis was. After his death.

236
00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:12,440
Speaker 1: They were gonna this church and this this guy who

237
00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,800
Speaker 1: made this oil scheme, you know where you you toured

238
00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:17,520
Speaker 1: the the last Marie was going to go on tour

239
00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:20,000
Speaker 1: and people would buy a ticket and go on board

240
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,439
Speaker 1: and then they'd get a can of this oil. And

241
00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:23,040
Speaker 1: it was like this pyramid scheme because you'd have to

242
00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,560
Speaker 1: go and sell the oil. Just crazy, crazy stuff. And

243
00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:27,079
Speaker 1: then it was going to help the church guy buy

244
00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,880
Speaker 1: a new church. Very much. The airplane was exploited in

245
00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:31,719
Speaker 1: the same way Elvis was after he died, and it's

246
00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,560
Speaker 1: a crazy story I talked about in the book. And

247
00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:36,440
Speaker 1: then after that, of course that didn't work very well.

248
00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,800
Speaker 1: So after that, the owner of Service Merchandise, remember that store,

249
00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:43,480
Speaker 1: he had bought the airplane because his wife was a

250
00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:46,880
Speaker 1: huge Elvis fan. She wanted to be in the same plane.

251
00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:48,920
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, Well then they got a divorce, so he

252
00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,960
Speaker 1: didn't want the plane anymore. So then the airplane statinspora

253
00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,880
Speaker 1: for quite a while. Eventually, a group of three investors

254
00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,679
Speaker 1: in the early eighties go together buy the airplane and

255
00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:00,920
Speaker 1: then we return it to Graceland. It sits Onny people

256
00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,400
Speaker 1: of art, and you can sure it went as part

257
00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:08,960
Speaker 1: of the Gracefulan tour. Did he ever fly commercial? Very rarely.

258
00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,600
Speaker 1: I think the only time that I know of for

259
00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:13,520
Speaker 1: sure is um when he went to Washington, DC to

260
00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:17,560
Speaker 1: meet Nixon. And is it true that Nixon wanted him

261
00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,839
Speaker 1: to be a CIA drug spy. Well that's what Elvis wanted.

262
00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:26,000
Speaker 1: You know, he did want that, didn't he He did,

263
00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,120
Speaker 1: he did. He wanted that federal narcotics badge. He believed

264
00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,480
Speaker 1: that the drug culture was correcting the youth. He believed

265
00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:33,920
Speaker 1: the Beatles and that type of music you know, was

266
00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,800
Speaker 1: correcting the youth, and Elvis wanted to help combat that.

267
00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,080
Speaker 1: He also collected badges. I'm sure that was part of

268
00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,720
Speaker 1: his you know, agenda, but it's a it's a really

269
00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,000
Speaker 1: cool story the way Elvis went to DC ends up

270
00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,760
Speaker 1: meeting Nixon. They you know, Nixon didn't want to do it,

271
00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:51,720
Speaker 1: and then they ended up having a great camaraderie, as

272
00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,400
Speaker 1: most people do who who met Elvis, and those photos

273
00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:57,680
Speaker 1: of that meeting are the most requested photos and the

274
00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,880
Speaker 1: National Archives to this day. Shellie, what would you ask

275
00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:03,400
Speaker 1: Elvis if you had to sit down interview with him?

276
00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:09,000
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, that's a big question, and for you, you'd

277
00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,760
Speaker 1: love it. Oh my gosh, Yeah, because I just think

278
00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,400
Speaker 1: what was I feel like I know the answer, And

279
00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:18,320
Speaker 1: that's what my book is based on. That Elvis was

280
00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,520
Speaker 1: a provider first, even before the music and the art

281
00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:23,520
Speaker 1: and the creativity and the music and the beat that

282
00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:25,920
Speaker 1: you know, the rhythm that drove him. I believe that

283
00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,839
Speaker 1: Elvis saw himself as a provider, a person who pulled

284
00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,440
Speaker 1: his family out of poverty, especially his parents, because he

285
00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,120
Speaker 1: saw them struggle his whole life, and he felt like

286
00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:35,760
Speaker 1: he was the only one who could turn the tide

287
00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:37,880
Speaker 1: of that family. So he'd not only pulled his parents

288
00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:39,760
Speaker 1: out of poverty, but all his aunts and uncles and

289
00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,440
Speaker 1: cousins and best friends. You know, he provides for a

290
00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,120
Speaker 1: lot of people, and I think he continues to see

291
00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:46,960
Speaker 1: himself that way. And that's why when he is sick

292
00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,120
Speaker 1: and he doesn't stop, it's because he sees himself as

293
00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,439
Speaker 1: a provider. So that would be my question for him,

294
00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:54,040
Speaker 1: is you know, what did you see yourself as first

295
00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,440
Speaker 1: and foremost? And I'd be really curious to hear that answer.

296
00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,280
Speaker 1: Fascinating it truly is. And what a great he's truly missed,

297
00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,760
Speaker 1: isn't he? He is? And you know, you can talk

298
00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,679
Speaker 1: about it all day, but until you go to Memphis

299
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:11,280
Speaker 1: and you go to Graceland and you experience it. You know,

300
00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,680
Speaker 1: I've been a lifelong Elvis fan, but I still and

301
00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,000
Speaker 1: I knew he had a ton of fans, but I

302
00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:18,640
Speaker 1: had no idea what it was like until I became

303
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:20,360
Speaker 1: a part of it. And I'm so fortunate for that.

304
00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,240
Speaker 1: But I've been to the candlelight vigils and to see

305
00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:28,200
Speaker 1: tens of thousands of people show up for the candlelight vigil,

306
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:30,800
Speaker 1: you know, on the anniversary of his death every year,

307
00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:32,840
Speaker 1: and to see everyone holding a candle as they line

308
00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,480
Speaker 1: the driveway of Graceland leading up to his grave and

309
00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,960
Speaker 1: to stand for you know, four to on big years,

310
00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,320
Speaker 1: twelve twenty hours to pass that grave. Who else did

311
00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:44,560
Speaker 1: they do that for? You know, Elvis has had a

312
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:48,120
Speaker 1: huge impact and it continues today. What have the young

313
00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,440
Speaker 1: people missed by not being around when Elvis was alive?

314
00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,360
Speaker 1: Oh well, you know, if nothing else, I just hope

315
00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:57,560
Speaker 1: that young people can understand how radical he was and

316
00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,560
Speaker 1: how much he changed music and how I always say,

317
00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:02,160
Speaker 1: you shouldn't be allowed to vote if you can't name

318
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,600
Speaker 1: the three the first three presidents, and you probably shouldn't

319
00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,000
Speaker 1: listen to music if you don't know Sinatra and Elvis,

320
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,560
Speaker 1: because everything came after that was influenced by that, and

321
00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,320
Speaker 1: certainly by Elvis. So I hope that young people will

322
00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,240
Speaker 1: discover him simply because of his impact. But I always say,

323
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,120
Speaker 1: you know, one of my agendas is that Elvis be

324
00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,160
Speaker 1: recognized as a historical figure. He's not just a rock

325
00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,040
Speaker 1: and roll star. We need to appreciate him for the

326
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,960
Speaker 1: way he culturally shifted the universe. He changed things as

327
00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:31,720
Speaker 1: radically as Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, just in a

328
00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,560
Speaker 1: cultural way, and I want young people to understand that

329
00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,040
Speaker 1: and recognize it. Listen to more Coast to Coast AM

330
00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,640
Speaker 1: every weeknight at one am Eastern, and go to Coast

331
00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:43,440
Speaker 1: to Coast am dot com for more