Biography: When I was a kid in the early 1960s, Elvis was a handsome goofball who sang showbiz schmaltz and starred in soppy Hollywood confections such as Clambake and Fun in Acupulco, total dreck that I am convinced contributed to the closure of my local cinema, The Grand, at Sutton Cross (now a supermarket).
I preferred The Beatles and The Who - artists who wrote their own songs and appeared to be saying something relevant. Later, I came to understand that the white kid who sang black and helped invent rock'n'roll had made a huge impact on popular music. Then he went to Vegas in a white jumpsuit. Thanks, but give me ZZ Top anyday.
Elvis as handsome goofball features prominently in a fascinating memoir that also offers intimate portraits of Elvis as family man, lover, Federal Agent and pill-popping mood-swinger. There are affectionate and revealing insights from his ex-wife Priscilla, daughter Lisa Marie and Paul Beaulieu (Priscilla's Dad), amongst others. It's an oddly riveting, sometimes uncomfortable experience, like rummaging through a deceased family member's secret papers.
Priscilla was a wide-eyed 14-year-old when she first met the King, then at the peak of his fame, though temporarily stationed in Germany as part of his national service. The Star wooed the teenager for years, behaving as a perfect gentleman throughout. Indeed, his impeccable manners so impressed conservative army captain Beaulieu that he allowed his underage daughter to visit Elvis in Graceland (with chaperone, of course). Priscilla quickly discovered that "There were two universes - the normal universe and the universe of Elvis". Guns and bibles played a huge part in Elvis's psychological make-up, as did expensive clothes - he refused to wear jeans because they reminded him of the poverty of his upbringing.
When the normal girl from a strait-laced family married the ultimate American icon, she called him "Fire Eyes" because when he lost his temper "his eyes lit up like flames". Elvis adored family life, and many private photos show a relaxed man in the company of his loved ones. Ironically, the birth of Lisa Marie, instead of strengthening his relationship with Priscilla, drove them apart. Elvis claimed that he could not make love to a woman once she had had a baby. Somehow, he stayed on good terms with his wife, and remained a dedicated if impulsive Dad. Lisa Marie remembers a dramatic incident while on tour with Elvis. The entourage had occupied the top floor of a hotel when the lights failed suddenly and they heard that "someone" was coming up the back stairs: "Immediately, my father grabs me and carries me in his arms. He races into a small room where he sits down - with me on his lap - and closes the door. Then he takes two semi-automatic shotguns, puts one in each hand, and aims them at the door. Fortunately, no one came in."
Later, Elvis was outraged that Lisa Marie enjoyed Elton John records. "Why is my daughter listening to him instead of me?" At the famous summit meeting with his great fans, The Beatles, the King spent the first half-hour watching TV with the sound off. Four Liverpudlian superstars sat around like starstruck kids until Elvis picked up a guitar and instigated a jam session. There was no second meeting. The Lion King did not welcome competitors in his den, not even those who revered him.
The universe of Elvis is vividly captured in a series of archive photographs as well as many specially commissioned still-lifes of Elvis Americana by Henry Leutwyler. Many of the new snaps are so ordinary yet weird that they could be stills from a David Lynch movie: Elvis's favourite turquoise-handled pistol; personal bibles featuring the King's handwritten notes; a matchbook from a hotel where Elvis and Priscilla stayed in 1962; a pants leg from the western, Charro; cigars, wallet and money clip; a gold-plated phone; and a 1970s TV with a bullet-hole mid-screen.
An intriguing aspect of the private Elvis unveiled here is the depth and sincerity of his search for spiritual fulfilment. He never recovered from the death of his beloved mother and experienced recurrent torment over his good fortune and "blessed" lifestyle. At one stage, a mystic whom he consulted reassured him that being an entertainer was "great work". However, Elvis was an instant gratification junkie at heart. Unwilling or unable to step back from his own ego, Elvis failed to achieve his spiritual goal and ended up frustrated and unhappy. Priscilla saw his predicament: "Elvis sought what could never be his - freedom from a world that worshipped him like a god." Salvation of a sort beckoned when Barbra Streisand asked Elvis to co-star in the remake of A Star is Born. But with Colonel Tom "handling negotiations", the part eventually went to Kris Kristofferson.
A spellbinding, illuminating read, this is coffee-table Elvis at its peak. It made me want to listen to Elvis's songs again, though perhaps not to anything from Clambake.
Ferdia Mac Anna is a writer and broadcaster. His memoir, The Last of the Bald Heads, was published by Hodder last November Ferdia Mac Anna
Elvis by the Presleys, Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley and Other Family Members Edited by David Ritz Century, 238pp. £20