Elvis and Gladys

by Elaine Dundy

Book Overview

Who on the planet doesn't know that Elvis Presley gave electrifying performances and enthralled millions? Who doesn't know that he was the King of Rock 'n' Roll? But who knows that the King himself lived in the thrall of one dominant person? This was Gladys Smith Presley, his protective, indulgent, beloved mother. Elvis and Gladys, one of the best researched and most acclaimed books on Elvis's early life, celebrates the extraordinary role Gladys played...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0025539108
• ISBN13: 9780025539105
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.

Customer Reviews

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I found this book hard to follow. Maybe it's just me, but it jumps around way to much.As far as genealogy, it's very involved on his mothers side.

New Insights

What impressed me most was the account of Elvis' intense, enduring interest in performing beginning at an early age. She cites his participation in school shows, contests and courthouse jamborees, his involvement with entertainer Mississippi Slim, and his 240 mile hitch hike to compete at the Jimmie Rogers Festival. Elvis's association with Bill Black, his first bass player, occurred long before that famous Sun session that produced his first hit. Those who think that Elvis was just a truck driver that lucked up on a record hit are sadly mistaken. Elvis was into the music scene from the get go. He may have been lucky, but like they say, you make your own breaks. He was there, prepared, looking for the opportunity and taking the initiative. The life of Gladys and her influence on Elvis are well documented. I've read several Elvis books, and none provides a better description. Gladys had her own dreams of stardom which filtered through to Elvis. The author does a thorough, excellent job of researching and developing her own independent conclusions. For the most part, her logic rings true. In a very few instances, she may infer too much.

Thought Provoking Book

Elvis & Gladys is a very thoughtful book. I liked this book alot. It's almost like a history book. Not only does it tell a story of Elvis & his mother, but it paints a a vivid picture of the Southern culture that Elvis grew up in. The book also traces his mother's family coming to America (approx 200 yrs before Elvis was born). I thought it was a very interesting book to read.

The Best Elvis Book!

And there are many, many books. But this one is truly the best because it is highly focused on the MOST important relationship in Elvis's life. And that begs the question: why did it have to be? Certainly, Dee Stanley is clinically insane, but there is a tiny kernel of truth to her perverse fantasy and that is that not all dysfunctional parenting (and I do hate that term - dysfunctional, but it's late and I'm at a loss for a better term) is not maliciously "abusive" in any way at all. Gladys did what many poor people are forced to do: share uncomfortable and perhaps inappropriate sleeping accomodations with a child long after such conduct should have ceased (and would have, were they not so desperately poor and Gladys so desperately lonesome [and I do not mean that in any kind of sinister sense: just truly non-sexually lonely and alone - Vernon gone so often to Memphis during the War years to get work and so on . . .]). One visit by a social worker (or even a friend) at any time after Elvis was school-age (and then a very young 'tween) would have solved the problem with an explanation of how boys develop a sense of sexual identity during pre-pubescence and puberty would have instantly panicked Gladys into finding an alternative solution to the lack of space and her own sadness in the depths of the darkest nights of their lives. Gladys would never have deliberately harmed Elvis and we all know that. It's just one more instance in Elvis's tormented life where no one cared enough to even make a comment or suggestion. So many times, it was just the two of them, surviving bitter poverty, alone and without a solid support system. Yes, Gladys had many siblings, but she also seemed so very much alone. And Elvis was an only child. They depended on one another for emotional survival in very difficult circumstances. Yes, the many effects of Elvis's impoverished early youth took its toll later in life. No, he couldn't have relations with any woman who had delivered a child. It was not the only scar: as Dundy makes clear, poverty of the type the Presleys endured left so many. People called Vernon terrible names because after spending long stretches of time lifting heavy paint cans all day at work, he finally destroyed his back. Before that, he worked quite hard to try to make ends meet. He had a bad rep in Tupelo because of Parchman Farm and was likely denied legal employment there. So he lit out for Memphis where he found only literally back-breaking labor until he could labor no more. Remember, Vernon did stoop labor in the fields since he was 12. It eventually brought him down. So many people delighted in calling him lazy and worse names, but he certainly tried to be a good man and and a good Daddy to his son. And I am sure his own lonliness caused him to engage in activities that embarrassed or angered Elvis, who was too young to truly understand. But the three of them did love each other and did their best. Under some circumstances, sometimes a family's

The "mama's boy" who would be king!

The definitive story of a loving mother and son. Of all the horrible things written about this loving and decent man, the most horrific has been the allegations written by his disgruntled stepmother and perpetuated by the media, that Gladys sexually molested Elvis. If you use your own eyes, you could see how false this is. Children who are sexually abused by a parent, will go to great lengths never to be seen exchanging touches and kisses in public. It would be as if outsiders would know their shame and therefore they keep their distance. No matter who or how many people were around, Elvis unabashedly and unashamedly hung all over Gladys, like a doting, loving son, even with the cameras were rolling. If Vernon didn't like having his son in the bed with him and his wife, he should've worked harder to provide better accomodations for his family. Mama wasn't going to have her boy sleeping on no floor. Incredibly well researched, it is a warm historical account of what a mother's love can do for a shy insecure boy.

Absorbing, informative, worthy of its subjects

The relationship between Gladys Presley and her son Elvis is lovingly detailed in this excellent book. Both people were larger than life and this book explores their profoundly deep kinship, their effect on one another and how he would have to go on without her. Definately worth reading, even if you are not a disciple of the King; by the way, if you're not, why aren't you?