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Elvis And More: The Spoils Of War

By ElvisNews.com/ Lex, December 20, 2020 | Book

Todd Slaughter needs no introduction for most Elvis-fans, certainly not the European (educated) ones. He decided to publish this autobiography. Having met Todd several times, some of those meetings being a lot longer than the total time Todd spent with Elvis, I admit being biased judging this book. Not only because I like the man, but I can place the humour used in the book so well. It is as if I hear Todd telling the stories directly to me (some of them he did, but many were new to me). And humorous the book is, very humorous, but without getting ridicule or a parody, it’s just Todd’s way of expressing himself.

I promised not to reveal too much in this piece, so I’ll try to keep that promise. For those that really have no clue who Todd Slaughter is: he is the president of the Official Elvis Presley Fanclub of Great Britain, for nearly a lifetime now (since 1967).

Anyway, the book starts with Todd’s early years with his (adoptive) parents, his school years and his early career. Suddenly Todd’s life entered a roller coaster of British entertainment, radio and tv happenings and of course all Elvis-related events during the years. In between he is very open about his personal life, blaming himself for the failures he caused. 

The book is not just summarizing events, but also gives a lot of background history of BBC programmes, radio stations, (in)famous people and a lot more (side) information. And yes… there is a lot of name dropping. There’s an anecdote about Dusty Springfield and I was actually listening to one of her albums while reading it… I will never watch the cover in the same way.

Todd’s meetings with Elvis, the fanclub trips to Vegas, the Blackpool exhibition, Elvis The Concert and many more Elvis related stories can be found in this book. We get to see a different Colonel Parker from the usual image shown of him. His involvement in many Elvis events, the regular f**k ups by EPE, they all pass by including spotlights on the people that helped to accomplish everything.

The biggest surprise to me was to find out that I am memorable, thank you for that!

The conclusion can only be that this book is a must read for most fans. The royalties of the book will all be donated to the Royal Papworth Hospital Charity, another reason to order it at your ‘local’ Amazon, so you can have it in time for Christmas!


 

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Rob Wanders wrote on December 21, 2020
For people in the Netherlands who are interested: Don't buy it on Amazon.nl, but at Amazon.uk. Its with shipping around €19 cheaper. Instead of €34, it's around €15.