Q+A: JERRY SCHILLING

In "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead," playwright Tom Stoppard focuses on two minor characters and uses Shakespeare's "Hamlet" as the background of the story.

Jerry Schilling, with co-writer Chuck Crisafulli, takes a similar approach in "Me and a Guy Named Elvis" (Gotham Books, $26).

Schilling was a member of the Memphis Mafia, a tightly knit group of Elvis Presley's friends who were close at hand throughout most of The King's career. While Schilling tried to maintain his own identity and pursued his own interests, Elvis cast a long shadow over his life.

In this loving, respectful memoir, readers see Elvis through the eyes of Schilling, a relatively minor character in Elvis' story. Schilling makes no claim to having been anything more than what he was: an observer of historic events, a friend who tried to be there when he was needed and became frustrated with being unable to prevent the downward spiral that came to a crashing end with Presley's death on Aug. 16, 1977.

Schilling was a good enough friend that Presley bought him a house in the West Hollywood hills. While he doesn't avoid his hero's blemishes, Schilling does lightly apply the airbrush in spots. Rather than dig deep into the dirt, Schilling takes the higher ground and focuses on Elvis' genius and unfulfilled potential.

Ultimately, it's a tragic story. Presley was a victim of his own success, unable to break the chains that bound him to his manager, Col. Tom Parker, who was Mephistopheles to Elvis' Faust.

I never was just sitting around thinking about writing a book. I did a lot of things outside of Elvis, and there are many Elvis books out there. I really didn't feel there was a need. But then my wife (Cindy) got sick about 3 1/2 years ago During her illness, we were talking about life in general and I realized there was a story that had not been told, what with this big iconic image of Elvis. It came to me that the human side had pretty much been forgotten. I wanted to show who this guy was, his intelligence, his sense of humor and the struggles that he had. He went through a period of seven years without a hit record, and that caused a tremendous depression - that and the bad movie scripts.

It's according to who it is. Unfortunately, there are some strange-looking people that do Elvis. A lot of it's out of a sincere love for him, but some just slap on a couple of paint brushes on the side of their head and try to make fun of Elvis. They think it's funny.

A few people are damn good, and I think that helps perpetuate the legacy. I've seen a couple in Vegas that are pretty good, but in general you have these guys running around in the worst jump suits and hair - I don't know, it gives me the creeps.

I don't think it was the Colonel's fault entirely. He did so many good things for Elvis, like getting him into the movies. But he made some long-term contracts for when Elvis got out of the Army, and I think that was a bad thing. Elvis didn't have any creative control, and he grew a lot in the Army.

Everything came fast for him when he was 19. His first four movies were good, but when he came back from the Army, this is where the problems started. He was more mature, but because of the contracts the Colonel got him into, he went back to the formula movies. They were all the same scripts, just Elvis in different settings.

They weren't paying for co-stars or scripts. All the money was going into Elvis and nothing else, and he was getting tired of it. I think Elvis outgrew the Colonel, and that created a lot of tension. Especially when Elvis wanted to tour overseas and the Colonel wouldn't let him. There was a major argument over that.

There's a line in the book that explains it: "We lost Elvis through creative disappointments."

I try to go into the cause, the why he did things. We all know what he did, but this book is a backstage pass into his personality. What did he really want to do, and what couldn't he do? Everyone thought he could do what he wanted to, but that was not true.

We used to spend about three months a year, a month at a time. We'd go there a week early, rehearse and then do two shows a night for 30 nights. After the shows, when all the fans were gone, he liked to hang out, go and see other acts such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Barbra Streisand and Tom Jones and Shecky Greene. He loved entertainment; he wasn't a total recluse. We went out and saw many shows. We had lots of fun. Elvis loved Vegas. He loved playing there, but after a few years of playing the same room (at the Hilton), it took a toll on him. I think he would have been fine coming in a week or two and then going on the road. Geniuses have to have challenges. They get bored with doing the same thing all the time, and that's what happened to Elvis.

At around 40, a lot of things were happening to him. The creative disappointments - he really wanted to develop as an actor, and Barbra Streisand offered him the co-starring role in "A Star is Born," but the Colonel negotiated that away. (The role went to Kris Kristofferson.)

He was divorced, but deep down he wanted his family back and it wasn't working. Priscilla didn't want to go back to that situation.

His body was breaking down, and he was taking more and more pain medication.

He could have handled any one of these things individually, but all together they took a toll.

He would still be singing, but I think he would have had a production house.

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