122 - Elvis Presley & Colonel Tom Parker with Peter Guralnick

2026-06-28

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We welcome legendary music writer Peter Guralnick as we take a deep dive into the fascinating relationship between Elvis Presley & his manager Colonel Tom Parker. Peter first gained access to Parker’s archives in the mid 1990s & what he found may change your view of Tom Parker & his relationship with Elvis.Parker was born in Breda, Holland in 1909 & came to the US in 1926, renaming himself Tom Parker, he creates an origin story about his life in the US & never returns to Europe. In his early years in the United States he travels as a h...

We welcome legendary music writer Peter Guralnick as we take a deep dive into the fascinating relationship between Elvis Presley & his manager Colonel Tom Parker.

Peter first gained access to Parker’s archives in the mid 1990s & what he found may change your view of Tom Parker & his relationship with Elvis.

Parker was born in Breda, Holland in 1909 & came to the US in 1926, renaming himself Tom Parker, he creates an origin story about his life in the US & never returns to Europe.

In his early years in the United States he travels as a hobo, works on travelling carnivals before beginning to manage musical artists. Scoring huge success with country stars Eddy Arnold & Hank Snow.

In early 1955 Parker first hears about a singer from Tupelo, Mississippi named Elvis Presley after he draws 800 people to a nearby show. Bowled over by what he finds & the hysterical crowd reactions, Parker begins to promote Presley immediately.

Parker gets Elvis off Sun Records for a more lucrative deal with RCA, after RCA meet Sun founder Sam Phillips $35,000 number to agree to the deal. His first new recording for RCA is Heartbreak Hotel.

We also debunk numerous parts of the relationship between The Colonel & The King including Parker’s part in Presley’s acting career, the lack of foreign touring, the famous 50/50 revenue split & the sale of his master recordings to RCA.

Parker never worked with another artist following Presley’s death, turned down a million dollar deal to write a memoir, didn’t give interviews & rarely spoke in public.

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