Who was Elvis Presley's manager?

Thomas Andrew "Colonel Tom" Parker (June 26, 1909 – January 21, 1997) was the Dutch-born manager of Elvis Presley. Their partnership was uniquely successful, Elvis being an entirely new force in popular music, and Parker an entrepreneurial genius able to market him.

A carnival worker by background, Parker moved into music promotion, earning the courtesy rank of ‘Colonel’ from a grateful singer Jimmie Davis, who had become the Governor of Louisiana. After discovering the teenage Tommy Sands, Parker discovered the then-unknown Elvis Presley, and skillfully maneuvered himself into position as his sole representative with control over much of his private life. Within months, he had won Presley a recording contract with the prestigious RCA Victor record label, made him a star in 1956 with his first single "Heartbreak Hotel", negotiated lucrative merchandising deals, made plans for TV appearances as well as a new career as an actor in film musicals.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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25 Comments

Richard G Schwartz

Nasty man.

✨KRISTA✨

The state of Louisiana "Awarded" Parker with the title, "Honorary Colonel".🙄 (from the reference, it looks like this is the only award Parker ever received)

✨KRISTA✨

Elvis had a manager before Parker, Scotty Moore and then, Sam Phillips stepped in as his manager. There should have also been something mentioned about the singer, Hank Snow, this is the artist Parker was working with before Elvis and would let go because of Presley's early success. The question is poorly worded.👎

Bank-Robber

Didn't know much about him!!!

Cheryl McMeekin

He was greedy and ruined Elvis's life because of his greed.

joycekingsmith

Tom Parker was a greedy, little man. What goes around comes around. He may have to be reincarnated to reap what he sowed.

brady

I believe he claimed half of every dollar Elvis made. Elvis had to pay everybody and every cost out of his 50%, or so I've read.

dvdeaton

I see the colonel’s name was familiar to many of us!! Wasn’t Priscilla, Elvis’s wife, related to Parker???

Francie Traschen

i thought he killed someone in the library with a candlestick

dsneed

tesla alset, 👍

dsneed

Anyone around in that era knows as well as they know their own name - Colonel Parker. Yay me.

ninakamwene

Lucky guess. Amazing Grace sung by Elvis...Heavenly. May he RIP.

Janice Ingram

Tom Parker did not discover Elvis Presley. Sam Phillips did that with notable assistance from Marian Keisker.

Betty Fortunato

He wouldn't allow Elvis to play out of the country because he couldn't get a passport.

lls

...I understand that when he worked in the carnival circuit, he had "dancing chickens." My mom told me from what she'd read that they were glassed in chickens walking around on a hotplate (hopefully, on low!) with a little coarse straw...poor chickens!