Peter Guralnick’s new biography The Colonel and the King offers a deeply researched and revelatory portrait of the complex partnership between Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley. The book reframes Parker not as the manipulative caricature often seen in popular culture, but as a savvy, emotionally invested figure whose loyalty and strategic insight helped transform Presley from a regional sensation into a global icon.
Drawing on a vast trove of previously unpublished letters and archival material, the book traces Parker’s journey from his early years as Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in the Netherlands to his reinvention as a carnival promoter and, ultimately, Elvis’s manager. It reveals a man of contradictions—charming and controlling, generous and guarded, ambitious and deeply insecure. Parker saw in Elvis a singular talent and kindred spirit, someone worth protecting and promoting with unrelenting fervor.
Rather than focus solely on the controversies that dogged Parker throughout his career—his notoriously high commission, his refusal to allow Elvis to tour internationally, or his role in guiding Presley toward a string of formulaic Hollywood films—the book highlights his role as a champion of Elvis’s creative ambitions. From the early hits like “Heartbreak Hotel” to the groundbreaking 1968 Comeback Special, Parker emerges as a manager who supported his artist’s growth while battling his own personal demons, including a gambling addiction and a fear of exposure tied to his undocumented status in the United States.
Spanning more than 600 pages, the book is divided into two parts: a narrative biography that details their intertwined lives, and a collection of Parker’s personal letters, filled with wit, insight, and unexpected tenderness. These documents reveal a deep emotional bond between the two men, one marked by loyalty, dependence, and the unrelenting pressures of fame.
The Colonel and the King challenges the myth of Parker as the villain behind Elvis’s decline and instead presents a nuanced exploration of a complicated, co-dependent relationship. It is both a cultural revision and a testament to the unseen labor that shapes stardom, portraying artist and manager as deeply bound by fate, each shaping the other’s legacy in ways neither could fully control.
