agreed upon , the Colonel expressed an utter lack of concern . Instead , he said politely , he would continue on the course that he and Elvis felt made the most sense for this artist ’ s career .
The Colonel refused to be involved in any way in discussions about the manner or content of Elvis ’ music ; whether in the recording studio or in his television appearances , his artist was going to present himself in the manner that he chose , and the Colonel was prepared to defend that choice down the line . For unexplained reasons of his own , Elvis did not even perform “ Heartbreak Hotel ” until his third Stage Show appearance , on February 11 , but the Colonel refused to interfere . And when three months later his television performances began to generate strident criticism and moral outrage from national columnists and civic leaders alike , in the face of panicked reactions from RCA record executives and other grand high poohbahs in the business ( Couldn ’ t he get his client to tone it down ? was the general thrust ), Colonel Parker ’ s attitude remained one of imperturbable calm .
“ The writers are having a field day with this new personality ,” he wrote in response to one worried note . “ I ’ m sure one of them will come up with a good write-up before long , as they will get tired of writing the same thing all the time .”
This pattern of crossed wires and purposefully missed signals continued all through the spring . Colonel Parker seemed oblivious to RCA ’ s concerns , choosing to concentrate instead on his protégé ’ s prospective movie career and an engagement in Las Vegas which proved to be one of the few missteps ( the audience was simply too old and had come to see the headliner , Swing- Era bandleader Freddy Martin ) in the Colonel ’ s almost flawless advancement of his act . Neither the record company nor anyone
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