The Memphis Mafia Discuss Elvis Presley's Drug Problems - Part 1 

I could hear these guys talk Elvis stories all day long 24/7.

I'm 55 yrs old and have seen all the documentaries on Elvis and he was the man, And I believe his crew cared for him, But I don't believe for a second these mufucker's weren't just as strung out as he was PLEASE!!

You can't protect a man from himself. Unfortunately Elvis allowed his own self destruction. Nobody could have done anything except Elvis himself. Sad ending

What I'm hearing in this clip is #1, who paid for all the great times they all enjoyed in Vegas, Aspen, Hawaii? And Elvis wasn't the only one taking prescription drugs. Let's elaborate on that.

The man was a force... that still impacts today.

I am a Capricorn woman my birthday is January 1st I was born at 2:16 a.m. 2 hours and 16 minutes after everybody says Happy New Year I had a great time on everyone of my birthdays I am 77 years old now I do not do illegal drugs I have medical problems I have spine problems arthritis and Asthma my mother died at 90 her birthday was July 1st and my uncle died at 96 I come from a long line of people that live quite a long time and I can say that I do not regret not using illegal drugs but I will say also I love Elvis with my heart and soul he was the greatest entertainer on this Earth and we all will miss him thank you all for your input on him and sort of like on your life God bless you all have a great future❤😊

Wow, how interesting to hear this coming from these guys in the most inner circle. I always thought that they were all yes men and enablers to EP. I guess they were actually concerned for him but they were all caught up in it as well. Clearly, it was one hell of a ride but the bottom line is It's all fun and games til it isn't!

It is so so sad that this supremely gifted man ended his days as he did. Still he has left us his legacy of an unforgettable voice. Thank you Elvis❤

They show Prozac in this video! Prozac??!! Prozac wasn’t on the market until 1988!!…11 years after Elvis died! What else in this video isn’t accurate??!!

Christina, it's so very sad and hard to hear about all that self destruction! So much more to offer. I feel so mad and angry that HIS life was cut short, unnessessarily, at his own hand. Not to mention, the health effects on all the guys! What a WASTE!💕

Joe and all the other guys, the ‘Memphis mafia’ did their best for ELVIS I hope they all went through those pearly gates of heaven with NO REGRETS Jerry is the only one of them left, Dick having died 3 years ago No one is perfect and Elvis had his faults like every else but they sure had great life experiences Over the last couple of years both SKY Arts and the BBC have shown the films, documentaries, the 68 special and all episodes of ‘all the king’s men’ from back in the day which I remember watching then 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿❤❤❤🙏🙏⚡️⚡️🤩🤩

The military was one reason he got hooked on drugs,he found out about speed in the army, they all took it stay awake on duty !

We all live life the way we want. He lived life the way he wanted. We cant judge. If they made youtube movies about our lives people would see alot of ugly too.

How anyone could look at Elvis in his later years and not know he was strung out is beyond me. It's pretty easy to see.

The one guy told the truth when he said Elvis wouldn't share his drugs. The others made it sound like he was supporting their habits. Elvis was having enough trouble finding ways and names to use, so he sure wouldn't handing them out.

Having been in the music business (got out at age 24), one of the reasons I quit was the drugs and alcohol - very pervasive. I had done the high school experimenting and walked away from 'recreational intoxication' at age 18 - I knew it was a dead end. I got tired of unpredictable personalities in the bandmates and went back to college to finish my degree. The disappointment of loss of popularity gets to these guys (and gals). Frank Sinatra suffered through it, just like the rest of them. You can be a 'has-been' performer. It's hard to be a 'has-been' doctor, or dentist, or engineer, or etc. Pick a career where you can predict stable income. Because the biggest disappointment of loss of popularity for performers is - LOSS OF INCOME. Self-medicating to stop thinking about fears of poverty - it's predictable. Especially someone like EP who had gotten so big internationally in the 50s and 60s - the Ed Sullivan Show, the films, household name. When the 'British Invasion' occurred in the 1960s- the Beatles etc. - it was like the invention of the automobile: all those horse breeders etc. felt the *_"disruption"_* very acutely. The changes in the music business in the 1960s was a massive disruption to existing acts. Rest in Peace, Mr. Presley. .

He was the greatest. Why do people want to talk about the negative. Talk about what he did for people. I love you ep rip

I thank you for telling what really was going on.

Old news,not needed to be brought up over & over. In peace. Love the King forever. Let him rest

It’s sad and frustrating. I believe the “guys” are being truthful. The saddest part of Elvis’s life has always been “what could have been”. It’s very difficult to watch someone you love hurt himself and consequently those he loves. Those must have been some powerful drugs!

Elvis' problem was parasites.

Red West tried to tell everyone that he had a problem. But he got blackballed for it. He clearly loved Elvis and was trying to get him to open his eyes and get help. Sonny also tried. He will always be the King!!! So sad his life was cut short.

I’m a huge fan of elvis Presley’s and I love 💕 elviss music and flims too elvis will always be the king 👑 of rock and roll 🎸 my dream is to visit Graceland and communicate with elvis elvis was an amazing fantastic entertainer that ever lived and his family and friends were so good to elvis aswell too 6:31pm thanks tcb ⚡️⚡️⚡️10:27am

elvis knew what he was doing to himself and so did all the guys who partied with him

Reading about Elvis in The Army Standing Guard in Germany.. His Army Buddies would give him Uppers to stay awake.. This started his Drug Addiction ,,,

so sad but an interesting perspective. they were such good friends to him and clearly cared about him so much, its sad to see how badly they wanted to save him but addiction will always win when the person doesn't want to help themelves.

There's multiple factors at play in EP's addiction. As mentioned through out most of the comments, you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. EP had a hell of a way of rationalizing his addiction. In addition, I'm convinced some in The Memphis Mafia realized EP would kick 'em to the curb and find someone else that would help facilitate his addiction (another variable in play). In other words, railing against EP's addiction would get you no where. Again, the bottom line is, any individual that doesn't want help and that's deep into addiction, that person can't be saved. It's a sad, sad end to the greatest entertainer that ever lived. 😞

The only guy I respect is the one who admits that he was in deep. The other guys are putting on an angel act years after the fact.

VERY revealing, honest....& heartbreaking !!

Es ist eine Tragödie wenn man zusehen muss dass ein Mensch den man gern hat sich elendig zu Grunde richtet. Diese machtlosigkeit muss zwangsläufig wütend und verzweifelt machen. Alles Geld und Ruhm spielen keine Rolle mehr in diesem Teufelskreis. Ja es ist traurig und so schade um so einen wertvollen Menschen. ❤

THE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL 🎶🎸🎤🎼

No tengo nada que preguntarle... Sabes que Elvis Presley.. está vívo

Yup, guy was enormous bis G force that still travels around the world and hits the people so hard..

those guys could have walked away and gotten Jobs like The Rest of The World.

Damn, Elvis is the OG rockstar!

His severe pill addiction unfortunately started when he was in the army. He had to wake up at 5 am in the morning every day and the officers gave them pills to stay awake. His mother just died and he was in a foreign country grieving his mother‘s death and all the pressure and hard work he had to endure in the army. He was severely depressed. I blame mostly the army for how he turned out. Elvis had mental health issues along with chronic illnesses due to bad genetics. There is so much more depth and complexity behind all this. He wasn’t a druggie, he was a vulnerable, sensitive and very depressed man with a troubled soul and Elvis is so misunderstood. It‘s so easy to judge him, but all hr did was to survive as much as he can. It‘s so obvious Elvis didn’t want to live anymore especially in the 1971 that was when he was completely gone. It‘s a shock to me he didn’t dir much earlier with all the pills he took. If I would have taken all these, I would have died instantly.

It’s a sad fact. You simply cannot help an addict who is hell-bent on pursuing their addiction. They’ll get rid of you before they’ll give it up. I’ve lived with it before..it’s not fun.

You can see that these guys they really cared about him but it was such an awkward situation

So many people around Elvis were just interested in keeping him going so they could make more money off of him.

No entiendo el inglés traducir español gracias por compartir bendiciones ❤ELVIS PRESLEY FOREVER ❤❤❤2023 5 11

Very sad how self destructive he was, and what a Jerk to his “friends”! Holding their jobs over their head do he could tell them what to do! Very abusive behavior! His poor wife and girlfriends! If he said do something, even if you truly didn’t want to… you HAD to! So many people adored and still do, Elvis. Not me, he wasn’t a very nice human being

Elvis had prescribed drugs addiction like many other citizens, unfortunately. I'm always sorry to see this public health problem being so much focused about Elvis who has so many other really facinating aspects of his life and career.

Those kind of drugs that Elvis took I would stay away from. Sometimes you have no idea what they can do to you.

I read he was in pain all the time.

Elvis spent his last days so hurt and felt so betrayed by these guys! Elvis was always so giving he spent so much money in giving friends and family expensive gifts until he would have to go tour to make more money. Elvis didn’t live for himself he wasn’t a self absorbed man. His happiness was seeing others happy the problem with being that type of person that gives the people around you want more. Vernon told Elvis he was going to have to let some of the people working for him to go because it’s was just too much money. These guys talk like they care when they were right in there doing the prescription drugs with Elvis. This is nothing more than a money making scheme off Elvis Presley. Lisa Marie was so upset with these so called friends that she gave a interview to defend her dad because these guys hurt Elvis deeply with the betrayal just months before his death. Anyone that speaks about Elvis in a negative way after Elvis is gone was never really a friend. Just like Priscilla she’s done nothing but used Elvis’s name to live a luxurious lifestyle she didn’t even love Elvis when he was alive it’s always been about the money with her that’s why she never left when Elvis was sleeping around she knew she needed to get that Presley name. I believe Elvis was a very lonely man especially after his mom died. Life was moving too fast and he couldn’t catch up. When I think of Elvis I think of his pure and kind heart how he loved and cared for others. He had deep empathy for people he never let the fame go to his head. God seen he was tired and took him home.

The one and only ep the greatest of all time then now and forever tcb forever ♥️

How stupid Elvis was to give these pills to his friends & in their names. All the meds he took were so strong, meant for cancer patients, but they all interact with each other. Just so so stupid & stupid of the Dr's to keep giving them to him. Someone should have had the guts to say no to him!!!!!

These guys allowed it to happen until they were kicked off the gravy train. Once they were cut off, they ratted him out. I lost slot of respect for Red West after learning about this. A group of mooches that clung on to Elvis!

The wild west lifestyle beats the current goofy day & age we're living in any day of the week! Nowadays you can't do anything without some vulture swooping in on you. Elvis might have gone off the rails, but I'd still rather have been wild and free like he was than living under the magnifying glass of 2023 where you can't do anything without some finger-wagging asswipe giving you the side-eye.

What I don't understand, is that he was a human being that needed help big time, and nobody did enough or care, it was all about money first always. That's sad.

These liars milked him and continue to milk him

Addicts surround themselves with other addicts and enablers

As a recovering addict I know how it is.

too bad Elvis didn't have one true friend. Seems like all he had were people on his payroll that were too worried about getting fired to be real with him.

I understand, but writing a book as revenge was the nail on the coffin for him probably

I think he was fascinated with reading, and with his books. Never want to sleep, always exploring. I'dh've done it too

All had a great time..... on Elvis scumbags did nothing but had fun on Elvis.

In the 70s no one asked questions about drug abuse and mental health. If they had, The King would still be playing Vegas today.

These people saying there his friend but never tried to help him probably because he was paying for everything

When you gather with creeps, creepy things happen. It's been that way since the beginning of time.

I love Elvis and I grew up on Elvis from the time he started. Elvis had the power to change the way things were going. He chose not to! He wanted and needed the mafia around him. Loved the status quo and the friendship. He could have gotten rid of Col. Parker and set up the shows whenever and wherever he wanted. Including going to Europe or wherever. Kept the guys essential to his performing and hired out the others. Could of gone to rehab, got sober and hopefully meet a woman to live the rest of his life with. But he loved the adoration from as many woman as possible. Don't feel sorry for Elvis! He wasn't the spoiled child his mother doted after anymore. He was a grown man that helped bring on his own self destruction.

When he died at 42 years old, he looked to be in his mid-fifties. Drugs were fun for him until he was completely addicted and then it would have been a living hell for him. It was a cycle of uncontrollable madness spinning out of control.

Prescription drugs like downers , uppers ,, and synthetic opiates are the hardest drugs to come off . Considering the amount and variety of drugs Elvis, was taking his only chance to get off them was to go into a specialist clinic for 6 months. I think it would have taken that long to ween him off maybe longer. I don't think he could have stuck it out for that long but that was his only chance to give up the drugs.

Very true

Sad that he didn’t have more REAL friends who couldn’t be fired

Elvis was an addict and nobody would tell him he had a problem but I understand I really do man had a ton of pressure on him just think about it man i couldn't handle it either id have to be on something to its a shame really is such a beautiful talented man

Instead of having yes men who went along with everything Elvis did, he really needed no men. People who cared enough to stop this. No one did. That's why Elvis died at 42. The people around other stars who could clearly see death ahead, contributed to their demises as well. Judy Garland, Karen Carpenter and others. It's a shame.

The Memphis Enablers. They turned Elvis' death into a forty-five year cottage industry. Somehow, not a great look.

This is absolutely ridiculous. Do your own research on him. Hypocrisy from his friends are abhorrent.

You can't question a KING....ANY KING!!!

Lamar Fike just loves to talk...not a nice quality

Red, Sonny and David = 🐀🐀🐀 What a shame The KING didn't realize that he didn't need these jesters earlier....years earlier.

My brother was at Ft.Hood Texas in the Army the same time Elvis was. He never took drugs. So it was not what caused or started his addiction. Reality is we lost the man with the greatest voice ever. Not to mention the most handsome. Great memories..

It’s lonely at the top. He had no real friends to call him out. Who knows, it might’ve saved his life. Everyone enabled him.

It is said that both Liberace and Frank Sinatra tried to help him and it did no good. So sad.

Man it's hard to believe all those guys are gone.

My mom was the only one in my life that never gave up on me. I feel if ms glady would have love his life would be different. It’s true you have to want to get cleaned.

This part of elvis's life is rarely discussed.

Judy Garland of rock

It sad that he left us so early, and his poor mother left us at early age and his poor daughter.

Elvis started using drugs in the army. It did not happen over night.

Like the reporter asked! why didn't you guys protect him! They said protect him? How can you protect someone from them selves? You cant! Sad! We love Elvis!

Love that Elivis was getting Narcotic Scripts in his employees names and when confronted about it Elvis sa I d "I don't want people to think I'm doing these pills". Lol

The fact that he had his friends help him with his career was good. He didnt have to have strangers or unknowns helping him. Both Elvis and the guys of the memphis maphia sacrificed in there lives to work, travel, and perform concerts at strange hours. The only way they could humanly work those hours was to take pills. What if the public or fans didnt expect so much off of Elvis and the guys & just paid him more money to perform less often. Elvis worked for dirt poor wages as a performer.

They all took him money though.

I love 💕 I like him but he was a good boy 😁😁

That’s one guy is straight up bubbles from TPB

That was the problem with the old drugs they worked, i use to take preludin, doesnt get any better than that!

Dr Nick should have been jailed and his license taken away. Did any of these guys ever confront the doctor ? That's the guy that killed him .

The only good that came from all of this was it highlighted how someone with so much talent and so beloved by so many was just a human being that had faults like everyone else and was not invincible. It showed the world what prescription drugs could do and if Elvis could not control it then the rest of us were just as vulnerable. Since then things have changed others have come out famous or not and sought help and there are many places to get it but back when Elvis was alive you didn't talk about it and rehab facilities were not that common.

anyone knows the song from 5:40? pretty peaceful guitar playing in the background

wasn't Sonny west one of his so called friends who wrote that tell all book?

MJ did the same thing with names on the prescriptions… that’s when you know it’s a problem…

Lamar, Sonny, Red, Marty and his cusin Billy ... God bless them 🙏❤

I think they r telling the truth!

It is hard no what is go on must hard for you guys no what day elvis was like

🇺🇾👑❤️

WOW!! I had NOOO IDEA it was THAT Bad!!! SAD!!!

some people aren't meant 4 this world

He had the looks man I Am.playin fri man I'm happy man I have some elvis In me Ua iha