(About) 100 Words on...Steve Dunleavy's Elvis: What Happened?
Elvis: What Happened?Sonny West, Red West, and Dave Hebler as told to Steve Dunleavy
Ballentine Books
1977
Elvis: What Happen?, a crude tell-all about Elvis Presley as dictated by his three recently fired bodyguards was published July 12, 1977, just days prior to Presley's August 16, 1977 death. The previous July, the singer’s father VernonPresley fired his son’s bodyguards, Red West, Sonny West, and David Hebler, reasoninga need to reduce operating expenses. Red West had been a friend of the singer's since the 1950s. The three were justifiably hurt by the snub and agreed narrate the book, ostensibly to give Presley a wake-up call that his behavior was damaging himself and others. The result was a poorly written series of loosely connected vignettes detailing some of Presley's more outrageous behavior.
To be sure, the stories in Elvis: What Happen? are more than like true and not the victim of hyperbole. Recounting them is not necessary as Elvis stories have solidified into Urban Myth. While unflattering to Presley, the book does reveal him as an immature, selfish, egocentric personality, a personality profile since identified and associated with the chemically dependent. The three body guards were rightfully hurt and angry by Presley's apparent dismissal of them and they wanted to send the King a message. It was a poison one as validated by Sonny West and Marshall Terrill's 2008 Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business (Triumph Books). Elvis: What Happen? should be considered a part of the Elvis Presley Story rather than a description of it.
Posted by liberationtheology at 2/12/2010 12:38 PM 
Categories: Book Reviews
Tags: Sonny West Elvis Presley Dave Hebler Memphis Mafia Red West
Categories: Book Reviews
Tags: Sonny West Elvis Presley Dave Hebler Memphis Mafia Red West
Comments