Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley

by Chuck Crisafulli and Jerry Schilling

Book Overview

On a lazy Sunday in 1954, twelve-year-old Jerry Schilling wandered into a Memphis touch football game, only to discover that his team was quarterbacked by a nineteen-year-old Elvis Presley, the local... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592402313
• ISBN13: 9781592402311
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Gotham Books
• Length: 351 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Loved it from beginning to End

I could not put this book down. Jerry tells his story with such detail never leaving out anything. This book really goes deep into Elvis's lifestyle both good and bad. He's very honest about his feelings towards Elvis in certain situations. I found it both interesting and refreshing. Would highly recommend it.

Excellent Love Story

OMG! This book had me in tears a number of times. I truly believe that if Jerry Schilling and the other childhood friends still had been with Elvis, he wouldn't have died that night. A definite MUST READ for any Elvis fan or anyone in general. If there where more that 5 stars this would be one of the books. Thank You Jerry Schilling for your dedication and love you had for Elvis.

A MUST read!!

Jerry Shilling beautifully describes his relationship with Elvis. This is not a book about Elvis himself, but rather a story about Jerry’s friendship with Elvis. I couldn’t put the book down and finished it in 2 days. I was greatly impressed that this was not about Elvis’ good or bad behaviors that others have written in their books.

Elvis Presley from Jerry schilling book

To all Elvis Presley fans this is a excellent book that Jerry schilling wrote about Elvis I give it five stars cause it sounds very honest and very personal it's a very good read

Autobiography-Biography

Schilling's title includes the phrase "My Lifelong Friendship" and it really rings true considering this sensitively written book and his ongoing creative projects which are done with respect and class (i.e., the DVD and Cd, ELvis, By the Presleys). Jerry takes us from a local football contest back in Memphis in '54, when the local-boy-who-made-good (with "Thats Alright, Mama") joined him in a huddle. Later, they met at the Oval Office. It's interesting that Schilling constantly prefaces his commentary on Presley with his own experiences - he always points out his own miscues - before he mentions different events, situations, where Elvis...coulda-shoulda-woulda. Besides being a quality book on E.P., we get a fascinating historical look at the the music and movie industries of the '60s and '70s; when creativity was encouraged, then stifled; when inspiration gave way to formula: Elvis doing what he could with stale scripts and light songs to go with them; hearing what happened to his music mixes when his new tune was played on the radio; watching a golden opportunity drop like a piano from the ninth floor when his Management disallowed him to co-star in "A Star Is Born", a project which may have finally gotten him him the due respect in Hollywood and consequently may have taken him off the road long enough for him to regain his health. This book brings to mind another respectful work on the subject, "Me 'N' Elvis", by Charlie Hodge and Charles Goodman, Castle Books, Memphis, Tennessee. The jacket art of the new book has a common picture of Elvis on the front cover and an unflattering shot of Jery Schilling on the back flap. A large spilt-screen effect on the front would have been nice. JS has earned such a place in the Presley pantheon.

Easily one of the best biographies on Elvis

This is not only one of the best biographies about Elvis Presley, it's darn fun to read too. Just as Elvis's life really was, in this book you never know what will happen next. A meeting with President Nixon? A sudden skiing trip to Vail, Colorado? Helping out Elvis's handicapped friend Gary Pepper? Ann-Margret suddenly appearing in the parlor? There are lots of great stories here, several of which I had never heard, or contain details I had not heard, though I know quite a lot about the King. Not only that, Schilling provides a good look at Elvis's personality, and it's all told in the level-headed and fair manner that Schilling is known for. I had always admired Jerry Schilling from seeing him interviewed for documentaries about the King, and I admire him even more after reading this. Over and over he writes about the deep friendship between himself and Elvis, and there certainly are few people who were present in the King's life more than Schilling was. The main qualities about Elvis that Schilling emphasizes are his talent, his generosity, and his endless quest for meaning in life. Some of Elvis's "friends" have written and spoken about him critically to an extent that make me wonder if they were mainly trying to sell their books. In contrast, although Schilling also recounts Elvis's moodiness and bad temper, he puts that in perspective by adding that "what's remarkable to me is not the handful of times that he did let a crazy temper get the better of him - what's remarkable is that, with all that went on in his life, most of the time he chose to be a nice guy." This book is full of apt observations like that, and gives great character portraits of many people. Elvis's manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker, gets his share of vivid vignettes, and while Schilling acknowledges that Parker was often very difficult and thwarted Elvis's creativity, he again attempts a balanced view by noting that "I'd often wondered if anyone less than the Colonel could have handled this powerful, unique talent." Schilling is also a life-long admirer of Elvis's music, and discusses it to a moderate extent, but ME AND A GUY NAMED ELVIS is primarily a biography of Elvis's personal life, and also is autobiographical about Jerry Schilling himself, although most of the book pertains to his connection to Elvis. Incidentally, this book started out rather slowly for me when Schilling was describing his own early life, and only grabbed my attention after he meets Elvis when both were teenagers, so don't give up at the beginning if this is true for you as well. And there are a few odd omissions here, as, little is said about Elvis's political and social beliefs. A more comprehensive, but less personal, biography on Elvis is the 2-volume one by Peter Guralnick (LAST TRAIN TO MEMPHIS and CARELESS LOVE), but they total over a thousand pages, whereas this one is slightly less than 350. ME AND A GUY NAMED ELVIS is a very worthy addition to the books that have been written about Elvis

Schilling was there for most of Elvis' key events.

I've read all the books on Elvis. I've enjoyed them all, but Schilling's book is special because he was there playing football, just before Elvis' became famous. He drove Elvis and Priscilla to the hospital for the birth of Lisa Marie. He was in the room, after Elvis hit his head and Col. Tom layed down the law. In fact, Schilling worked for Col. Tom giving the most in depth look at Elvis' manager, that even the book on Col. Tom didn't. He was in the room when Barbara Streisand asked Elvis to be in "Star is Born". He was in the oval office when Elvis visited president Nixon. He broke the news to Elvis about the upcoming publication of Red West's book. He was on the set for many of the movies and for the Vegas shows. He was on security when Elvis got his death threat in Vegas. He was in the room when Elvis ordered a hit be put on Mike Stone. He was in the editing room for "Stay Away, Joe". He was on the editing staff for "Elvis on Tour". He cut the "Memories" montage in it. And on and on. So many of my questions about Elvis' choices have been answered in this book, such as why he continued with the movies when they became repeditive. And why he never got to Europe or Japan. Also it's the story about Schilling himself. His point of view. Things that happened to him. How he needed to break away from Elvis at one point and try a career in film editing. It's about Schilling's relationships with women that sometimes put his friendship with Elvis at risk. His marraige to a girl he met while in Hawaii, his romance with one of the "Sweet Inspirations". How Elvis bought him his dream house. How he immediatly got the cash out of the bank to buy the house before Vernon or the Col. could stop it. So I think some of reviewers of this book miss the point that this is not only about Elvis, but an auto-biography of a guy that went through the 50's and 60's with a rock icon, yet tried to make a career and life of his own. Schilling spent a lot of time with Elvis alone and recounts those conversations as close as he can remember it, so I think this book captures more than other books do. I listened to this book on CD, and although Schilling only gives the intro and interview at the end, (because the reader's voice and delivery is better)I kept putting disc after disc in to hear what would come next in Schilling's life and conversations he had with Elvis. Now that I said the above, I'll take a stand and say, "This is the best book on Elvis."

Elvis: The Human Being

Before ordering this book I read the reviews and after reading the negative ones I was pretty sure I would like the book. Schilling waited almost 30 years to write this book and I for one am glad he wrote about what Elvis meant to him. The way I gauge friendship is someone's willingness to support me when I need it, to defend me if necessary, and hopefully remember me with love and respect when I'm gone. Using this definition, I'm sure that Elvis was happy to have Jerry as a trusted friend who even now respects his memory enough that he does not try to boost sales by trumpeting (and possibly embellishing) some of the unhappier moments of Elvis' life. The book itself is well written and almost feels like you're sitting there with Jerry listening to his stories. My only regret about the book is that Jerry did not go more deeply into the conversations he had with Elvis. At times I felt there was a lot more to an episode in their lives than Jerry was telling. On the whole, an excellent book.