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CNN Live Today

Interview with Robert Gordon

Aired August 16, 2002 - 13:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: With his legions of fans, the memory of Elvis Presley will never die. See the segue of the music we did for you?
Writers are also keeping the king alive with intimate books on the rock icon. "Elvis Treasures" is considered the ultimate book for fans. It even includes multimedia memorabilia.

And Robert Gordon is the author, and he joins us live from Memphis to talk all about it.

And, Mr. Gordon, you got the help or the consent from Graceland to be able to put together this multimedia book, didn't you?

ROBERT GORDON, "THE ELVIS TREASURES": Yes, I did. I worked very closely with the people here to put it together.

WHITFIELD: All right, so what makes this book so incredibly unique is that it really is kind of hands-on. There is everything from letters, samples of Elvis' handwritings, a little bit of history, things that, you know, folks may not necessarily know, even of those diehard fans, and even a CD that are in this book.

How is it that you all kind of conceptualized, this is a good hands-on approach, particularly for the Elvis fan and maybe not so big Elvis fan?

GORDON: Exactly. This was put together to reach both the people who are well-versed in his life, and also those who were just kind of interested. It's a way to also take the emphasis -- you know, there has been -- there is so much emphasis put on the icon, and this was a way to shift some of that emphasis back to the man.

You know, you -- when you hold those personal artifacts in your hand, things with his handwriting on them, you have to think about the guy who was there behind all of this furor and intensity. And I think that's a great way to note the 25th anniversary of his death.

WHITFIELD: So, for example, in this book -- this is what we're talking about when we say hands-on. I'm going to see if I can show it here. And they've got these little slots here, and you pull out letters, such as this one, and handwriting samples.

And so, one of the letters that you have, or at least a copy of the letter in this book is one to his girlfriend while he was serving in the Army, and we are not talking about Priscilla Presley. But it reads in part -- quote: "My every thought is you, my darling. Every song I hear, every sunset reminds me of the happy and wonderful times we have spent together. I tell you this, because I want you to know my feelings toward you have not changed, but instead have grown stronger than I ever thought it could."

So he kind of wrote this letter just as he would any of his songs that were written for his performances.

GORDON: Yes, I think you hit upon the piece that really kind of takes us -- I mean, when you read that thing in its entirety, you are standing over his shoulder as he is losing himself to the passion of homesickness and longing and love for a girl. So it makes you think about, you know, this guy, the man named Elvis Presley who had these feelings, who could convey all of that in the power of his songs.

WHITFIELD: And so, documenting the romantic side of him, and also documenting the business side of him, his first RCA contract. Of course, it was Sun Records, where he first made his first recording. But explain why it was so significant to have a portion of this contract which shows, you know, these guys were getting pennies at the time?

GORDON: I think it's just very interesting to see, you know, that it's one -- it's a carbon copy. You know, his copy was a carbon copy. It was typed out. You can see where they made changes in the different agreements and put a signature over on the side. It just really, to me, puts you there with Elvis as he is leaping from Sun Records to this giant label, you know. He was paid double what Frankie Lane was paid at that time. And Frankie Lane was a known quantity at that time. At that time, Elvis was just starting up. I mean, it was a phenomenal deal that he made.

WHITFIELD: And even you had a CD in here about his first interviews -- I guess radio interviews that were done involving Elvis. What did you notice about his voice...

GORDON: I loved in the early ones...

WHITFIELD: ... in his cadence of his speaking?

GORDON: He is so soft spoken. He is shy, but he's eager. And in the early interviews that date to 1955, I think you can...

WHITFIELD: OK, Robert, we've got a quick little clip of that CD, if we can listen to the first one, which we'll listen to right now.

GORDON: OK.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So when you hear rock 'n' roll, it gets you on fire or...

ELVIS PRESLEY, ENTERTAINER: Oh, I -- not when I just hear it on the radio or doing it on stage, you have to put on a show for people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. PRESLEY: In other words, people can buy your records and hear you sing, and they don't have to come out to hear you sing. You have to put on a show in order to draw a crowd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

PRESLEY: If I just stood out there and sang and never moved a muscle...

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, that's just a little bit of what you can hear when you find the book, "The Elvis Treasures." Robert Gordon, thank you very much for joining us from Graceland, as folks celebrate the 25th anniversary -- or commemorate, I should say, the 25th anniversary of the death of the king, Elvis.

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