11 Chapter 10 Downhill

Chapter 10 Downhill It was a great comeback. The string of sold-out concerts and hit records jump-started Elvis Presley's career. He was incredibly popular again. In 1973, another Elvis TV special made history. Aloha from Hawaii was shown in forty countries to more than one billion people. But his personal problems didn't go away. For a little while, Elvis had done things his way. He had fought hard to make the 1968 comeback special and to sing songs that Colonel Parker didn't think were right for him. Now Elvis was working harder than ever. He began to wear out. And when he got more tired, he found it harder to resist Colonel Parker. Deep down, he also believed they were a team. Elvis never forgot how Colonel Parker had kept his

career alive while he was in Germany. Colonel Parker took control again. Elvis performed more than 1,100 concerts from 1969 to 1977. Elvis's marriage had been strained for many years. Now it fell apart. In 1973, Elvis and Priscilla got divorced. More and more, Elvis depended on the members of "the Memphis Mafia." This was the nickname for guys Elvis called friends. The members of the Memphis Mafia spent all their time at Graceland. Why not? Elvis had so much money that he would buy them cars or motorcycles. In return, they kept Elvis company. The plain truth is, Elvis was a drug addict. His body needed the pills to get through each day. Elvis should have gotten help for himself. Instead, he got angry whenever anyone suggested he had a

problem. His friends also didn't push hard enough. They were scared of saying something he didn't want to hear. Elvis had a bad temper. The guys also liked the way things were. They didn't want the fun to end. Elvis started acting strange. One time, in December 1970, he decided he had to see President Richard Nixon. So Elvis hopped on a plane and headed straight for Washington, D.C. At the White House, he demanded a meeting. Sure enough, he got one. President Nixon met with Elvis that very night.

As the 1970s wore on, Elvis grew sicker. He had never taken care of himself. He ate too much junk food. He loved milk shakes and fried peanutbutter-and-banana sandwiches. He rarely exercised. All his bad habits started catching up with him.

Again, he gained a lot of weight. His face got puffy, and he couldn't fit into clothes. This embarrassed Elvis. He began to struggle onstage. Sometimes, he forgot the words to his most famous songs. Other times, Elvis had to miss a concert. One time he stomped off the stage in the middle of a show. In 1973 Elvis collapsed and had to go to the hospital.

Life went on like this for a few years. No one stepped in to stop it. The Elvis everybody knew was gone. What fans saw now was a broken man.