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Exactly 70 years ago, a major milestone in Elvis Presley’s career was reached when he left Sun Records and signed with RCA. Part of a complex deal carefully negotiated by Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Sun didn’t want to lose Presley. But the small label was struggling financially, and the deal netted them $35,000 ($422,000 today), which they desperately needed to keep going.
“Although Sun Presley has sold primarily as a country-and-western artist,” a Billboard report said, “plans [RCA]to push his records in all three areas – pop, R&B and country and western.” It was a grand plan that turned Presley from a regional star into one of the most famous people in America.
Without Parker’s business acumen, this would never have happened. He is often portrayed as a villain. Because of the 50 percent commission he took from Elvis’ earnings, the bad films he directed him into, his inability to book shows outside the US, and his lack of musical vision.
Colonel Parker: A Playlist by Peter Guralnick
But musicologist Peter Guralnick — author of the essential Elvis biographies “Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley” and “Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley” — paints a more complex, nuanced picture in his latest book, “The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World.”
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the RCA contract, Guralnick has put together a playlist that traces Parker’s life and career – and he provides commentary for each song.
“My Blue Heaven” (Gene Austin)
When Gene Austin arrived in Tampa in January 1939 with his new, self-financed film, Songs and Saddles, he was disoriented. Austin had been a bona fide pop superstar in the ’20s (his 1927 hit, “My Blue Heaven,” later revived by Fats Domino, was the best-selling single of all time until Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”). But by 1939 he had suffered several serious setbacks.
Tom Parker, who had recently left the circus and carnival world, was living in Tampa and working in small independent promotions. He attended every one of Austin’s shows at the Park Theater and, correctly assessing the situation, offered to become Austin’s manager. Austin already had a manager. But seven months later, not anymore.
Stranded in Atlanta, he called 30-year-old Parker. He – still many years away from becoming a colonel and with no experience in the music business – came to the rescue and had the show back on track within a week. He managed Austin brilliantly for two years. He saved him from oblivion. But not before his debts. They remained lifelong friends.
“Wabash Cannonball” (Roy Acuff)
Roy Acuff was Tom Parker’s first country artist. He began working with Acuff while still serving as a county agent and animal control officer at the Hillsborough County Humane Society. A job that he liked more than almost any other because of his love of animals. In 1942 and 1943, he promoted several of Acuff’s shows under the auspices of legendary showman JL Frank, his only true mentor in the business.
He also promoted Roy Acuff’s Own Flour and organized cooking demonstrations at theaters where his star appeared. Acuff invited him to move to Nashville and become his manager. But Roy Acuff was already a big star. And Tom Parker had already turned his attention to a younger, unproven artist named Eddy Arnold.
“Walkin’ the Floor Over You” (Ernest Tubb)
But before that could happen, Parker – again through JL Frank – took Ernest Tubb on tour in early 1945. In addition to being the tour manager and key advance planner, he also served as the show’s comedian. “As soon as Ernest came on stage,” recalled Nelle Poe, who was one of the main acts with her sister Ruth, “Tom ran down the aisle and brushed people’s shoulders with a small broom…Ernest just stood there, holding his guitar and looking out at the audience as if he didn’t know what was going on.”
Parker told Nelle he was going to Hollywood and achieving great things. He remained lifelong friends with Tubb and Acuff.
“I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)” (Eddy Arnold)
A No. 1 hit in late 1947 and essentially the beginning of Eddy Arnold’s annus mirabilis. Colonel Tom Parker (he received his honorary degree from the governor of Louisiana at the end of the year) had brought Arnold to the forefront of country music in just three years. Arnold topped the country charts for 53 consecutive weeks in 1948.
Over the next five years, Eddy Arnold not only became the genre’s preeminent superstar (a position that would only be surpassed by Garth Brooks in the 1990s). But also one of the biggest pop stars on the RCA label. Parker cleverly used this when renegotiating his record contract.
“I Don’t Hurt Anymore” (Hank Snow)
Colonel was dismissed without notice by Eddy Arnold after almost ten years of working with him. (The whole story is in the book!) It hit him hard. The relationship was later repaired, and Parker continued to book Arnold occasionally. But after a few weeks, he recovered and put together the RCA Records Country & Western Caravan, an all-star tour featuring all of the label’s country stars.
He also began managing Hank Snow, who was topping the country charts at the time with “I Don’t Hurt Anymore.” Shortly thereafter, Parker booked a young stranger named Elvis Presley for one of their first tours together.