WEBVTT 1 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:20.320 Welcome to Destiny. Now here's your host, Cliff Dunning. Hey, 2 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:23.239 how are you. This is Cliff. Come on in and let's talk. 3 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:25.760 Got a good one for you this week. A new 4 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:29.800 book has been circulating the internet. It's called The Occult Elvis, 5 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:34.799 The Mystical and Magical Life of the King, by Miguel Connor. 6 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:37.759 This is our program today, and you know, we always 7 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:42.600 talk about tools for transformation, being able to access the 8 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:50.280 higher levels of consciousness, of physicality, of spirituality through practices, 9 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:57.079 practices like meditation, different kinds of yogic practices, taichi, you know, 10 00:00:57.159 --> 00:01:00.399 biohacking the body. You know what I get. I mean, 11 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:05.000 we cover so many different subjects every single week that 12 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:09.000 it's all about enhancements. It's all about enhancements. And would 13 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:12.920 you believe that the King, the King of rock and roll, 14 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:18.400 Elvis Presley, was into this stuff. He was a meditator, 15 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:22.239 he was into yoga, he was in the martial arts, 16 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:26.959 he was a black belt in karate and even got 17 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:29.879 into some situations where he had to use his martial 18 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:35.560 arts to protect himself and protect those people around him. 19 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:38.519 We're talking all about that today. But what I thought 20 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:41.719 was interesting is I had no clue. And this is 21 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.439 one of the reasons that this book called Elvis is 22 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:48.680 doing so well and there's so much great interest in it. 23 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:53.120 First of all, you know this here's a phenomenal, phenomenally 24 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:59.680 talented singer musician, and you know, his life ended so tragically, 25 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:03.920 he died at forty two. But what was he doing 26 00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:10.560 other than creating music and singing and doing live concerts. 27 00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:15.960 He was very very much interested in metaphysics, in the occult, 28 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:20.759 in spirituality. And it's so funny. I was with a 29 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:22.360 friend the other day and we were looking at this 30 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:25.240 spoken we were like, Oh, there's no way this is all, 31 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:30.080 you know, fabrication. But when you look at the life 32 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:34.759 that he'd led, it was very much into the other 33 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:39.919 levels of consciousness and the other aspects of transformation, of 34 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:47.319 moving beyond the mundane physicality of everyday reality. And he 35 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:53.280 read people like Blavatsky and Rudolf Steiner and Ananda Yogananda, 36 00:02:53.759 --> 00:03:00.000 and he also was very much involved in spiritual growth. 37 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:06.639 So it's a fascinating topic we're bringing up today, which 38 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:11.800 brings me back to what we're doing here on the program. 39 00:03:12.120 --> 00:03:19.280 Every single week we are talking about some form of consciousness, 40 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:24.840 physical enhancement. We had somebody talking about sleep. We've had 41 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:28.280 people talking, I mean really since Destiny has been around 42 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:33.120 since twenty twenty one. Every single week we have somebody 43 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:40.360 who is presenting information on the ancients, our ancestors, how 44 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:46.599 they lived, how they worked, and how they were very 45 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:50.520 much different than we are today. I think that one 46 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:52.400 of the big issues that I have today is we're 47 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:58.039 too much relying on technology, and you have to wonder 48 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:02.759 what's artificial's going to lend itself to. Is it going 49 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:06.599 to be a database that we can call on to 50 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:11.879 provide us collective information on a topic. I'm waiting for 51 00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:16.160 it to really break out and give us details that 52 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:23.079 are original, original thoughts, original information where a collection of 53 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:29.120 data is consumed and then original thinking comes out. This 54 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:32.120 may be what a lot of the fears about is 55 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:37.519 that when that happens, the intelligence, the brain, the artificial 56 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:44.360 intelligence is sentient, it's conscious, it's able to process. Now 57 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:47.800 we've had Matthew James Bailey, we have him every year 58 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:53.920 talking about artificial intelligence two point zero. He basically says 59 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:58.800 that this is not a something to worry about because 60 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:04.879 consciousness does not necessarily mean that they are divine soul, 61 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:07.759 which is where we get a lot of our information 62 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.399 from our many lifetimes that we live. But you have 63 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:17.759 to wonder will there be a time when the data 64 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:21.839 comes through uniquely. I'm still waiting for that. I mean, 65 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:27.600 it's fun to use artificial intelligence. It is a wonderful tool, 66 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:30.600 but how far will it go? We just don't know. 67 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:35.800 Can we use it as a transformational tool. Some people 68 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:37.959 are writing with it. I was writing with it for 69 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:43.240 a while. I didn't find it that exceptional, but maybe 70 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:46.040 I need to go back and review it. So, but 71 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:51.639 today's program is on Elvis Presley, a part that we 72 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:57.839 just didn't understand about him, his occult nature, his metaphysical nature, 73 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:03.800 his spiritual nature, and some of the truly unique things 74 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:08.959 that he did while he was alive. His interests are varied, 75 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:11.800 and I think you're gonna like this program. So today's 76 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:19.879 program is the occult Elvis and my guest is Miguel Connor. Hey. 77 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:22.439 Spring is just around the corner where there's going to 78 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.680 be getting better and better as we continue on into 79 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:28.079 the year, and this means it's time to think about 80 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:32.720 getting away on a vacation. 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Remember, if you want a fantastic tour 99 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:51.199 at half the normal fee, think about Earth Ancients tours. 100 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:53.920 We've been doing them for many, many years, and they 101 00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:58.720 are a blast Earth Ancients, dot Com forward slash tours, 102 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:00.360 come out, join. 103 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:17.439 Us, don't don't's what do you say? 104 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:21.120 It's the. 105 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:39.200 Ways when I feel like this and I want to kids. 106 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:41.840 There's a new book out on the internet. It's kind 107 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:45.840 of catching fire. It's called The Occult Elvis, The Mystical 108 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:49.279 and Magical Life of the King, and we have the 109 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:52.320 author today to talk about this book. I found it 110 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:55.480 interesting just because it's a huge departure from the man 111 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:59.360 we know as the King of rock and roll, and 112 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.200 I had fun looking at this material. But I'll tell 113 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:07.960 you what we've come across today is a real, real 114 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:12.000 interesting look at Elvis Presley Mike. My guest today is 115 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.000 Miguel Connor. He is a writer, voice over artist, and 116 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:21.480 host of the popular podcast Eon Bite Gnostic Radio. His 117 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:28.399 other books include Voices of Gnostissism, Stargazer, Heretic, and The 118 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:34.639 Executioner's Daughter. And I'm looking forward to chatting with him 119 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:37.679 on this book. Miguil, Welcome to Destiny. Great to see you. 120 00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:40.759 Yeah, thanks for having me on. As I say, this 121 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:43.720 ain't your grandmother's Elvis different? 122 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:47.600 Where did you come across this material, my friend, because 123 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:51.080 you know, we think of Presley as this you know, 124 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:56.759 rock and roll icon referred by so many different musicians 125 00:09:56.759 --> 00:10:01.720 today and other creative people. And you know, I'm I'm 126 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:05.360 a person who's into metaphysics, and I understand that call. 127 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.840 We interview a lot of people on the occult on 128 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:10.639 this on this channel. But where did you dig this 129 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:12.840 stuff up? Where did you find this stuff? 130 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:17.840 It's hidden in plain sight, it's not it's uh, it's 131 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:20.120 all over the place. I mean, we both know the 132 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:23.320 tabloid Elvis. Remember the days you'd go to the grocery 133 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:26.480 store and Elvis was dropped off by some aliens. And 134 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:30.559 Elvis is alive in Argentina. He was, He was conspiracy 135 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:34.799 theory before conspiracy theory was cool. Always always a pioneer, 136 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:39.120 that Elvis. But no, this is all found in very 137 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:46.679 lauded places, from very established biographies, from historians, books that 138 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:50.399 have sold millions of copies. This information is found in 139 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:54.879 Family and Friends. You can find this in Priscilla's book. 140 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:57.720 In fact, the movie that came out by Sophia Koppola 141 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:02.240 about a year ago has ten minutes of Elvis being 142 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:08.519 a complete mystic guru. And you find it in bodyguards, friends, 143 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:14.279 good articles in the Guardian, and all these things about Elvis. 144 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:19.320 Also I made sure happen when there were eyewitnesses around him. 145 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:22.559 It wasn't like he was alone and said something. And 146 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:27.080 there was always people seeing his supernatural abilities, as occult interests, 147 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:31.639 his meditation practices, and again it's all there for the taking. 148 00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:38.080 But I felt called to grab all these stories and 149 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:42.759 experiences and put him together. And the rabbit hole was 150 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:45.480 very deep because the more I looked, the more I found, 151 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.360 the more and the more I saw, and it was 152 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:49.720 an incredible experience. 153 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:54.279 Did you find We'll talk about some of the people 154 00:11:54.279 --> 00:12:01.279 that influenced him, but did you find passages of associates 155 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:07.000 or friends who were actually spiritual in nature who he 156 00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:12.840 kind of cultivated different unique friendships he did. 157 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:16.879 I mean from an early start, Elvis was a very 158 00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:21.919 sensitive and curious boy. He liked to ask questions about 159 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:25.840 Jesus and God even when he made it. And when 160 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:29.080 he was in the army, he started he turned to 161 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:33.000 believing in incarnation, started reading books like Khalil gil Brings 162 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:36.480 the Prophet because it brought him spiritual relief from the 163 00:12:36.519 --> 00:12:39.600 death of his mother, or tried aroma therapy. So he 164 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:42.600 was always very open minded. And even in his background 165 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:46.480 as a Pentecostal Christian, the idea of an altered state 166 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:50.159 of mind and healing with your hands was there. I mean, 167 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:54.960 it was nothing alien to Elvis. And he talks about 168 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:58.840 how he had the ability to ask to travel as 169 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:03.039 a kid and a teenage and the ability to hear 170 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:06.720 voices and gain premonitions, and he got this from his mother, 171 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.399 and his mother always told him, don't tell anybody. This 172 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:12.879 is not going to fly well at Tupelo, Mississippi in 173 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:16.679 the nineteen forties or fifties, right, so keep it down. 174 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:19.600 In fact, he used to wash his mouth with soap 175 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:22.000 if he started talking about the voices in his head. 176 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:25.440 So he was already the framework was there for Elvis 177 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:29.799 to be open. And once he got famous, and he 178 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.120 felt betrayed by his own religion because when he came 179 00:13:33.159 --> 00:13:37.240 out he caused a firestorm. I mean, he was the 180 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:39.799 most popular person on earth, but he was also the 181 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:43.879 most dangerous person on earth because he was upending the establishment, 182 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:47.360 the status quo. Frank Sinatra hated him and said it's 183 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:51.759 a flash in the pan. Billy Graham, the famous evangelical 184 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:55.399 luminary denounced him publicly. His own pastor turned on him 185 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:58.679 and said he was possessed by the devil. He was burned, 186 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:02.440 and so by being curious, by being burned, he it 187 00:14:02.519 --> 00:14:06.360 was almost effortless for in the early sixties for Elvis 188 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:11.080 to go into a broader spirituality. And that's when he 189 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:15.559 met Larry Geller, who would become his spiritual teacher. He 190 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:19.600 met Diamatta, who was the successor of Yogananda, and with 191 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.399 these two individuals, he was off to the races. He 192 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:27.879 was reading Manly p Hall, Freemasonry, gnostic texts, Kabbala, Taoism, Buddhism. 193 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:30.480 I mean, he really had the mind of a scholar. 194 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:34.000 And even again, biographers and family members said that he 195 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:38.360 had a very sharp mind. He could absorb things. When 196 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.639 he would go on tour or movie theater or at 197 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:45.360 the movie studio, he always had a higher group of 198 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:49.279 workers carrying two hundred books on the occult. This was 199 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:53.519 very serious people. His spirituality was just as important as 200 00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:58.559 his music career. So that's yeah, and yeah, those two 201 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:00.879 Damat and Larry Giller we the big ones, and the 202 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:02.639 rest was just books and practice. 203 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:07.679 Talk about his mother, Gladys because she was extremely important 204 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:11.480 and influential in his life. Will you give us an 205 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.720 overview about her? Of course, when she died it was 206 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:20.200 devastating for Elvis. But was she involved in any groups 207 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:25.799 or did she trigger this interest in his wanting to 208 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:29.759 know more about spiritual, metaphysical, occult subjects. 209 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:34.759 No, I would say no. Again, the Pentecostalism was right there. 210 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:38.799 She recognized that they had these gifts some lineage I 211 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.600 call it witch shaman, whatever you want to call it, 212 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:45.759 gifted people that they had extra sensory abilities. But she 213 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:49.519 kept it touched. But for the most part, she was 214 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:53.200 very much into the Pentecostal tradition and that kind of 215 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:56.639 created Elvis because she had a premonition when she was 216 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.480 pregnant something bad was going to happen. So she was 217 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:02.639 going to church all day. And this is ours in 218 00:16:02.679 --> 00:16:05.799 a Pentecostal church, it's Dan saying it's going into an 219 00:16:05.879 --> 00:16:11.519 altered state of mind. It's ours. And Elvis was part 220 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.159 of He was a twin and his other twin was Jesse. 221 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.279 So in his mother's belly, he's hearing guitar music and 222 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:23.200 jumping around, and I mean, and people forget that in 223 00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:28.080 those days, other Christians hated Pentecostalism because they used to say, 224 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:31.720 it's just mixing up Jesus and sex. And whenever you 225 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:34.200 would be gripped by the Holy Spirit and you would 226 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:36.360 start go on the isle and go, it was called 227 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:40.159 rock and rolling, So we know where this started. So 228 00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:43.559 that was a huge influence on Elvis, going to church 229 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:47.039 even as a kid and seeing all this weird Jesus 230 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:52.320 sex stuff. But tragically when he was born, before he 231 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:55.360 was born, Jesse, his twin came out and came out 232 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:57.320 still born. They had to have this birth at the 233 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:00.840 house that were so poor, dirt poor, couldn't afford a hospital. 234 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.279 And then thirty five minutes later Elvis came out. And 235 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:08.079 of course that was a huge impact on Elvis because 236 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:11.799 it's called a twinless survivor. You're growing. You come out 237 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:15.640 of the world with the survivor's guilt. You wondered what happened. 238 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:19.519 Part of you is always missing you. It's a it's 239 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:23.400 a very hard condition. Others have suffered that called like Liberachi, 240 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:26.599 Philip K. Dick and you are. You become a very 241 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:29.799 spiritual person. You're looking for the bigger questions in life. 242 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:34.039 You want to know why this happened, what is my destiny? 243 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:39.880 But twinless survivors tend to be workaholics, self destructive, prone 244 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:44.200 to addiction, can't make connections because it's it's a very 245 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:47.559 powerful state. And Jesse became sort of as guiding light 246 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:50.359 as Damon or high yourself. You would appear in dreams, 247 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:55.559 premonitions and all that. But back to Gladys. She went 248 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:58.240 to the hospital after that, and she was told she 249 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.720 would never have children, so she became a very possessive person. 250 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:07.319 And that's what you call enmeshment or lethal enmeshment, and 251 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:10.279 that was a form of abuse. She was physically abusive 252 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:14.200 to Elvis. But in Meshmann basically doesn't allow the child 253 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:18.440 to grow and create ego boundaries, and the child becomes 254 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:22.759 like this proxy husband, the king, you know what I mean. Ye, 255 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:26.359 But their egos don't form and they live in this 256 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:31.200 extreme world of being the king and being this childish, 257 00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:36.079 immature toddler. So that right there really affected Elvis. It 258 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:39.839 was very oedipal, you know, to say the truth. And 259 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.519 when she died, of course, Elvis felt like another part 260 00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:46.640 of him and died, and it was very hard on him. 261 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:50.200 And all these things sort of led them to be 262 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:52.240 who Elvis was. As I say in the book, it's 263 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:55.279 almost like Elvis had no choice but to be Elvis 264 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:57.559 from the very moment he was born. 265 00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:01.200 Talk about his brother Jesse. I had no clue that 266 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:07.720 Elvis was a twin. And you write about Elvis considering 267 00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:10.839 Jesse kind of a psychic twin, where, in other words, 268 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:14.119 he would come through. And I don't know if you 269 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.759 read passages where Elvis was saying I have a premonition 270 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.599 that Jesse was telling me this, or before I went 271 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:26.000 on stage Jesse said this. How affected was he with 272 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.480 this influence from his dead twin brother. 273 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:33.720 Yeah, Elvis never really really gave hard details. I mean, 274 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:36.200 there are other predictions he made that I give him 275 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:39.039 the book, But it was almost like his conscious it 276 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:42.599 led him to make the right decision. He would have 277 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.759 dreams like he would be in concert and Jesse would 278 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:48.599 be next to him, and that was right before he 279 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:51.559 got famous. Or he'd have dreams where he was in 280 00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:54.119 a funeral and he'd see Jesse and that was during 281 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:56.920 a time of turmoil. So things like that. But it 282 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:59.440 was a good feeling. And I mean, when you look 283 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:02.039 at Elvis his career, you've got ad meant, you know, 284 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:06.079 luck and talent ain't enough to the stratosphere of the 285 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:09.680 heights that he went. It's almost like he knew what 286 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:14.079 decisions to make and where to lean on artistically and 287 00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:14.759 so forth. 288 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:17.440 Would you say Elvis was psychic. 289 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:22.640 Yeah, he definitely portrayed psychic abilities, and again this is 290 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:26.519 well documented. He could, you'd say, read the room. He 291 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.200 knew what people were going to say before they said it. 292 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:34.440 He knew exactly what mood they were going to be in. Yeah, 293 00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:37.079 it's almost like he was connected. He really did believe 294 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:41.400 in telepathy and he would try exercises with people. He 295 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:44.559 got it from theosophy and so forth. So yeah, I 296 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:46.880 would say he was psychic, and again he got it 297 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:47.559 from his mother. 298 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:52.640 Interesting, fantastic. I want to get into his early stages. 299 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:57.759 You have a passage where he's interviewing for Sam Phillips. 300 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:03.319 He's auditioning, and it's amazing what you describe. Pretty much 301 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:08.279 the whole audition is really not very good at all, 302 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:12.480 and then towards the end he becomes what you call 303 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:19.079 possessed or as Phillips writes, unhinged in his performance, where 304 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:23.079 he's taking the spirit into his body like the Pentecostals 305 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:27.440 do and he performs and this is the beginning of this. 306 00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:31.400 Elvis Presley on stage talk about that. That's amazing. 307 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:36.240 Yeah, it's quite a story. Again, there's some destiny to it. Yeah, 308 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:42.000 Elvis drew from the blues, rhythm and blues, which at 309 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:48.200 its core is a sort of African animism, spirituality, and 310 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:51.200 these spirits are replaced by the devil. The devil's very 311 00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:55.079 popular in blues, but as a trickster, as the sort 312 00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:58.880 of force of nature. And he also drew And on 313 00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:02.759 the other hand, he drew from from gospel music. Gospel 314 00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:06.759 music was very influential on rock and roll, the experiential 315 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:11.680 kind of possessive Dionysian Jesus that takes over you, and 316 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:15.000 these two mold it together. Even Elvis used to say, 317 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:17.680 I carry heaven and Hell with me, and I have 318 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:20.279 to be careful. He was a lord of extremes, a 319 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:25.599 man of the crossroads and so forth, and that's what happened. 320 00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:29.799 Sam Phillips, the owner, knew of Elvis because he was 321 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:33.680 hanging around and he bought some recordings for his mother, 322 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.160 even though his mother didn't own a record player. So 323 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.759 we wondering what was Elvis doing. But Sam Phillips say, 324 00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:43.920 is I'm gonna do like a super group good looking kids? 325 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:47.559 And he was like, well, there's this Elvis guy. Everybody 326 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:51.519 thought he had marginal talent. His voice was okay everybody, 327 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:54.279 he couldn't read or write music, but he had the looks. 328 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:56.559 He was a good looking guy. Sam Phillips is like, 329 00:22:56.759 --> 00:22:58.640 you know, like Millie Vanilli or something. 330 00:22:58.640 --> 00:22:59.240 I don't know. 331 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.240 So they were auditioning and all day Elvis is bombing. 332 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.640 He is bombing, he can't get the notes right everything. 333 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:08.680 Sam Phillips is like, no, it's not going to work out. 334 00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:11.799 He says, let's call it a day. Boys goes into 335 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:14.839 the other room to start turning off equipment, and all 336 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.279 of a sudden something comes over Elvis and he picks 337 00:23:18.359 --> 00:23:22.599 this very obscure song called It's All Right, Mama, that 338 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.640 nobody knew about. Only somebody an artistic or in the 339 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:29.480 business like Sam Phillips would have heard about it. You know, 340 00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:32.920 he picked the right song, and he starts going full Elvis, 341 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:35.680 you know, the shaking of the hips and the hiccups 342 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:38.519 and the you know, the gyrations and singing it. And 343 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:41.519 Sam Phillips hears it and he runs out and he's like, 344 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:44.160 this is the sound I've been looking for all of 345 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:48.039 my life, this is the future of the music industry, 346 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:49.559 and signed him on the spot. 347 00:23:50.599 --> 00:24:00.240 So Phillips recognized this immense talent in this strange last song. 348 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:06.000 Would you say that he was nurturing that kind of behavior, 349 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:11.640 to let loose, to just let the music take over, 350 00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:15.720 or would you say, in the what you've discovered in 351 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:20.720 the writings that perhaps he wasn't so much nurtured, he 352 00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:22.359 was just said be yourself. 353 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:26.279 Yeah, I think so. I think it was just letting 354 00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:30.000 Elvis let be Elvis. I mean remember, out of Sun's 355 00:24:30.039 --> 00:24:34.279 studios he had Jerry Lee Lewis, John B. Cash, BB King. 356 00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:39.640 You had this whole generation of pioneering Shamans who were 357 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:43.480 very much Pentecostal Christians, very much into rhythm and blues, 358 00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:46.799 and they changed the landscape of the world. But way 359 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:49.480 at the head was Elvis. He was like head and 360 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:53.079 shoulders in the stratosphere. I mean, he couldn't have taught 361 00:24:53.079 --> 00:24:56.400 that to Elvis. Again, it was Elvis being Elvis. And 362 00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:00.400 then a year later he met Colonel Parker, and Colonel 363 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:03.680 Parker was the one who could make sure that these 364 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:07.920 oppressive record companies wouldn't touch his client, that he'd get 365 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:11.519 the best deal, that he'd be himself in the studio 366 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:14.640 to breathe, to get his energy. And once he got 367 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:18.039 Colonel Parker on Van Elvis went from a star to 368 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:19.279 a superstar. 369 00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:25.119 Yeah, talk about the And this is an interesting comparison. 370 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:33.039 You you use African shamanism as a form of foundation 371 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:37.200 for the Blues. In other words, you write that you 372 00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:41.559 believe that Elvis was a form of a shaman because 373 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:46.440 he was possessed by the spirit of this energetic music 374 00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:50.359 and you can hear it in his voice. It's funny 375 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:51.880 because when you wrote that, I was thinking, what are 376 00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:55.160 you talking about? But then when you see the early Elvis, 377 00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:00.920 the pelvis moving, the body usulating almost uncontrollably, and the 378 00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:04.759 way he's singing that it is a form of shamanism. 379 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:08.680 Describe what that is for you as a writer, what 380 00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:09.440 you see in that. 381 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:15.960 Yeah, I mean Elvis. I call him America shaman. And 382 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:19.359 the role of the shaman is a spiritual troubleshooter of 383 00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:22.640 the tribe and he's the one that goes into the 384 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:26.359 spirit world for the healing, medicine and the insights to 385 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:29.519 help the tribe. And I make the argument that's exactly 386 00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:33.640 what Elvis did with America. You had this mighty empire 387 00:26:33.720 --> 00:26:36.519 coming out of the ashes of the Great Depression in 388 00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:39.799 World War Two. You had this brave new world of 389 00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:45.400 satellites and soviets and UFOs and mass media, and Elvis 390 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:48.799 was there leading the country. The word teenager didn't even 391 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:53.319 exist before the fifties. See, he created this new demographic 392 00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:57.720 that said, look, we like alternative forms of spirituality, we 393 00:26:57.799 --> 00:27:01.599 want to go into black and Hispanic music, we want 394 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:05.240 to get rid of segregation and all this. And this 395 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:10.480 new generation came out ready to deal with this powerful empire, 396 00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:15.400 and Elvis was leading that. Again. If blues is an 397 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:20.359 experiential altered state of mind from African animism, gospel is 398 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:24.839 from this pentecostal rock and rolling sex and Jesus, and 399 00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:29.319 it all came together and culminated with Elvis. He he 400 00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:33.079 led this country into this new world as a shaman 401 00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:35.599