Review: ‘Elvis Remembered’ book by Shelly Powers: In-depth interviews with 10 of Presley’s friends

Wow! That was my reaction when I first opened this book. I have seen many, many Elvis books over the years, and I own many, many Elvis books (and I’ve even written a few of my own). The majority of Elvis books either feature a lot of text with detailed information but with minimal pictures, or focus on lots of pictures of Elvis and not much detailed text. And then there are a handful that feature both – lots of informative text and lots of great Elvis photos. This book falls into that category. 

Since it is a book featuring word-for-word transcripts of lengthy interviews, I did not expect the massive amount of gorgeous color photos of Elvis to be included from throughout his career. The interviews were all conducted several years after Presley’s death with people who knew him well. The photos span mostly through Presley’s lifetime. While many of the photos relate to the specific interviews, there are also many photos of Elvis included that don’t. So in this book, you kind of get a pictorial history of Elvis along with these in-depth interviews.

The interviews were conducted by Elvis fan, Shelly Powers, who originally did these interviews in the 2000s for a fan club magazine called Elvis International. Originally from England, Shelly moved to Las Vegas in the 2000s where she lived for several years with her husband who was an Elvis tribute artist. 

Adding intrigue to her interviews is that Shelly had a photographer accompany her to the discussions, who captured Shelly in the process of doing the interviews, as well as some great photos of her interview subjects. Shelly built a quick friendly rapport with the people she interviewed and maintained friendships with some of them after the interview. 

The book includes Shelly’s interviews with 10 associates of Elvis: Jerry Schilling, Cynthia Pepper, Patti Parry, Ed Bonja, Sonny West, Joe Esposito, Myrna Smith, Darlene Tompkins, Jimmy Velvet and Larry Geller. The interviews, intertwined with glossy color photos, are lengthy and insightful filling the large 240-page book which could be considered coffee-table size at 8.75” x 10.75”. 

This book reflects, in a sense, the post-Elvis era which encompasses the now four decades after Elvis died. It’s hard to believe that Elvis has now been gone for more years than he was alive. Elvis fans have continued to create a community celebrating Elvis in these past 46 years where the quest for knowledge from the people that knew him has been at the center of that. 

This book makes you feel like you’re at an Elvis festival or fan convention hearing a heartwarming interview with an Elvis insider. The difference is you get to keep the interview and refer back to it time and time again with this book. 

One of my favorite interviews in the book was Shelly’s interview with Patti Parry who passed away in 2011. She was the only female member of the “Memphis Mafia” and there has not been that much info available about her in the past. Shelly got along very well with Patti and she shares some memories of spending time with Patti in the months and years after the interview. 

“Girl, Elvis comes to see me all the time,” Patti confided in Shelly one day. “He talks to me, you know, what can I say?… I was his little sister.” 

Patti first met Elvis in 1960 when she was 17 years old. She lived in Los Angeles and met Elvis, of all places, while they were both driving down Santa Monica Boulevard. That led to a friendship that lasted the next 17 years until Presley’s death in 1977. She revealed that she was sitting by the stage near Elvis on the ’68 Comeback Special. 

“I wanted to have my own life, but my life was Elvis,” Patti said. “Every weekend, wherever he was — Palm Springs, Vegas — I would fly in, and I had the best time.” 

Patti, who was a professional hairdresser based in Los Angeles, shares some interesting facts about witnessing Elvis and Priscilla’s relationship from when Elvis first brought Priscilla to California in 1962: “I was there the day that he brought her to California,” Patti revealed. “We used to have parties at the house, and he said, ‘Listen, I’m bringing this little girl, so the parties are going to stop.’ So she came,” Pattie continued, “and, you know, I combed her hair for her; I did her hair. That big boomba. You have to know Priscilla loved Elvis a lot, she did. She is a wonderful woman.” 

Another favorite interview for me was with Jimmy Velvet. Jimmy was a friend of Elvis’ from the early days who became a huge memorabilia collector and opened the first Elvis museum across from Graceland in 1978. Jimmy’s stories about acquiring Elvis memorabilia over the years are fascinating, as well as his friendship with Elvis since 1955 and also Vernon Presley during the 1960s and 1970s. He even tells some interesting (non-Elvis) stories about him taking photos of UFOs.

In several instances throughout the book, there are pages which display an impactful quote about Elvis by different celebrities. It would have been nice to include the source of those quotes, especially in this day and age when misinformation runs rampant on the internet and social media. Also, there are a few typos like the spelling in the book of “Steve Bender” instead of Steve Binder, and “Richard Davies” instead of Richard Davis. 

In conclusion, this book is a great resource for Elvis fans to have these in-depth interviews all compiled in one place. Many times you may read quotes from Elvis’ friends in various books and biographies, but those just offer bits and pieces of their personal memories. And even for the Elvis people that have written books, many times they don’t reveal all the interesting details on their own as compared to when they are interviewed by someone else. Along with the numerous dynamic photos of Elvis, there is “something for everybody” in this book!

Elvis Remembered by Shelly Powers is available for purchase on Amazon at this link

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This review was written by the Elvis News Examiner, Trina Young. She is the author of 4 Elvis books, including her latest, Fact vs. Fiction in the 2022 ELVIS Movie. Read a free excerpt at ElvisBiography.net.

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