Red West In Hospital

Like him or loathe him, mainly due to that infamous book which in retrospect may have contained some sad truths, there's no denying Red was one of Elvis' best friends, being there from the very beginning. So here's wishing Red a speedy recovery. Get well soon Red.

After I got past the anger of the book I realized Red and Sonny West along with Marty Lacker and Lamar Fike and Billy Smith are the true friends. Joe Esposito and George Klein along with Jerry Schilling are there for what they can get out of Priscilla and EPE. Larry Gellar is harder to figure but believe he is a decent guy. The Stanley brothers are the worst in my opinion.

To borrow a thought from one of Elvis' great Memphis '69 recordings, true friendship sometimes travels on a gravel road, and no-one knows that better than Red West. He spoke the hard truth to Elvis as he saw it, and he paid a high price for his honesty. And that, I'd say, is a real and true kind of friend. Perhaps if Elvis had more friends like Red back in the day, well, who can say? All the best to Red for a full and speedy recovery.

Yeah, well, there's that book. It did not destroy Elvis' career. To the contrary, Elvis is just as popular as ever, even 35 years after his death. I am not defending Red West, but I do believe that friends and family often say and do things out of desperation when trying to help a loved one that is addicted to drugs. People do things out of desperation when they lose their job. Throw all that into the mix of being a member of the Memphis Mafia, something we can only imagine, and the whole mess becomes really complicated. From where I sit, far removed from what really happened, I say best wishes to Red West for a speedy recovery and good health!

I really hope that west gets better real soon, but I have a real hard time believing that the book was an attempt to help Elvis, and the same goes for the phone conversation that was recorded without Elvis knowing about it. Regarding Charlie, I think he was a good friend who treated people the way he himself wanted to be treated, at least that is the impression I get from what I have seen and heard about him.

Here is the TRUTH regarding both Red and Sonny West's health. This is bang-up-to-date information that is 100% factual. Red: This evening I heard DIRECTLY from Pat, his wife for over fifty years. She wants me to thank those who have expressed concern and she informed me that Red had bypass surgery last Saturday and abdominal surgery just before that. He's doing fine, making progress every day and is expected to leave the hospital soon. Sonny: Marty Lacker has just been in touch and told me that Sonny is recovering extremely well and is now at home after being in rehab for over a month learning how to swallow and eat again. For those that don't know, Sonny was diagnosed with throat cancer and the chemo and radiation has been harsh. Thankfully, he is now in remission and hopefully the cancer will never come back. He's getting his strength back and is also much better. There is a false rumor circulating on the Internet that Sonny has had a stroke, that is completely false.

Obviously no one would in their right mind would wish badly on Red or Sonny West because of a book. I am glad to hear they are both doing well...Concerning the book, lets just be honest about it. It did have some/many truths and thanks to Steve Dunleavy, it found the bad in every situation. Take for example the story of Elvis burning and bulldozing the small house on his land. I have heard others tell this story showing Elvis in good humor and just taking care of business. Steve turned it into Elvis threatening his father to get off the porch in a swing or be bulldozed (why would Vernon be in a swing on a porch that wasn't his house??) and then trying to push Red into the fire. They had been fired (rightfully) and Elvis did it in a small way (having his Dad do it). They were mad and they wrote a mean spirited book embellished tremendously by Mr. Dunleavy. Why have hard feelings after all of these years?

Hello, I always thought the book Red West co-wrote simply told the truth about Elvis's problems. My friends on this site have diasagreed with me on this point before, but my view remains that it was far from ideal for Elvis to have friends and relatives in dual roles as employees. People like Red West were dependent on Elvis not just for their social standing but also for their livelihood and for an alternative to an unexceptionable existence. This disempowered Elvis's retinue and made it impossible for them to challenge his behaviour with sufficient candour or vigour. I wish Red West all the very best for a speedy recovery, and acknowledge the contribution he made to making the Elvis Presley story possible.

AS A Human being i cant say i want anything bad to happen to Red and Sonny, i kNEW They loved Elvis but should have looked a second time at the book before it was published , before they put it out, as I still think the stress of the book,and the New tour starting that day,Elvis obviously having to Face his fans for the first time since the publication, all this must have contributed to Stress for Elvis,and Stress is when mixed with far too many Prescription Medications ,a trigger for a major Heart Attack So Yes u can say The Book was probably a Contributing Factor in Elvis Death,But Red and Sonny Know that and have to fight there own Demons about their Decision to publish a book, even if there main intentions were good, it still helped to kill their dear old freind.

Glad to hear that both the Wests are faring well and also good to see positive comments on here. Thanks to Andrew Hearn for the update. Hope Red and Sonny continue to improve. On the subject of tone. You know it does get tiresome seeing so many negative comments on here. If this situation doesn't improve I can see comments being disabled in the future which would be a shame.

I wish Red all good wishes and speedy recovery. He was good for EAP untill it all went wrong.

I read that Red West regrets his involvement in the book "Elvis, what happened". That's good. If the book was there for Elvis to wake up, why wasn't it retreated direct after Elvis' death, because it could not serve its purpose any more. That said, I like to read the book. All best to those who deserve it.