From Elvis to Elvira: My Life On Stage
Chapters
Author’s Note
Prologue: Stage Left
Chapter One: Dolce Vita
Chapter Two: Black Coffee
Chapter Three: This is Your Bunk
Chapter Four: Suite Life
Chapter Five: Potential & Perseverance
Chapter Six: Silver Jingle, Gold Records
Chapter Seven: Oom Poppa Mau Mau
Chapter Eight: Brothers
ChapterNine: Heading for Home
Chapter Ten: Boom Boom
Chapter Eleven: Reinvention
Acknowledgements
Highlights
- Spend a day behind the walls of Graceland as Elvis hosts friends for an unforgettable experience that ends speeding through the streets of Memphis!
- Hear the encouragement offered by the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, and experience the heartbreak surrounding the death of his beloved wife, June.
- Sit at the control board and experience the recording process of a great song and watch as it becomes a worldwide hit.
- Learn never-before-heard, behind-the-scenes details of the Oak Ridge Boys through their unparalleled successes, their devastating split, and their triumphant reunion.
- Witness the bravery and showmanship of legends as varied as Sammy Davis Jr., Glen Campbell and Roy Clark.
- Hear the never-before-told details of the last time Richard and Elvis were together, in 1975, and what Elvis asked him.
- What is the one song Richard wishes the Oaks had never sung?
- Take a memorable look inside Air Force One, the White House and private times spent with four presidents of the United States.
- Listen in as Elvis rehearses for concert appearances, recording sessions and for his Golden Globe winning documentary.
- Who is considered the fifth Oak Ridge Boy? Fans have heard him sing, and probably never knew it!
- Ronald Reagan was known as the “Great Communicator.” Which Oak Ridge Boy does Richard consider the best communicator?
- Which Oak Ridge Boy does Richard think is the best singer?
- Watch a young Garth Brooks transform overnight into the showman that changed the face of country music.
- Read about the record producer who nearly ruined the singing career of his most famous bass singer, and the regimens the singer has practiced to overcome lifelong vocal challenges.
Excerpts
Glen Campbell
We became close with Glen Campbell in the early days of Branson, in 1992, when we both performed at The Grand Palace Theatre.
The Grand Ole Opry
We’d been asked to perform in a guest slot, as we had done many times before. Though I noticed several old and important friends milling around backstage, I still didn’t quite sense that anything different or special was about to occur.
What Happened?
Friends and enemies, reporters and fans all wanted to know what happened and why.
The First Time I Met Elvis
It sounds like a fantasy or a cliché, but I swear you could almost sense him before he walked into a room.



