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12 The King and His Court Jester: Men-Children in the Promised Land Elvis Presley would not be the only Sun Studio artist Dewey would help convert into a superstar, but he was one of the first, and Dewey took a fancy to him right away. But if he was attracted to Elvis immediately, it is also safe to say that Presley was even more enamored of Dewey. How could it have been otherwise? Presley may have been stereotyped as an explosive, swivel-hipped rocker, but close friends well knew that personally he was the quiet boy next door. In reality, Elvis was always shy and reserved. Dewey, however, was nothing if not a human dynamo. How could an unpretentious youngster from Mississippi not help but be attracted to the top deejay in the Mid-South, who also just happened to be one of the most outrageous and colorful characters in the city? Because both hit it off famously from the start it is not surprising that they took even more delight in each other’s company after Presley’s reputation began to soar. The men not only had a good time together but also admired and respected each other professionally. There was never competition between the two, no jockeying for ego supremacy. This was particularly apparent in the way Elvis related to Dewey. No matter how quickly Presley’s popularity spread, Dewey, for Elvis, was still the man who started his career, the celebrity deejay with the name recognition. That is not to say that Elvis was one of Dewey’s obsequious groupies —not by a long shot. Even though he remained something in awe of the man who had given him the biggest break of his life, he never related to him as a fan or underling. Until Dewey’s public behavior worsened at the end of his life, he and Elvis remained close, and Presley constantly sought his company. Sam Phillips says that Elvis “was just totally fasci12 .159-174_Cant.indd฀฀฀159 2/8/05฀฀฀1:56:32฀PM DEWEY฀AND฀ELVIS 160 nated by Dewey” because “he entertained him all the time; Dewey was just fun to be around.”1 Cousin Billy Mills watched the relationship and says that Elvis was comfortable with Dewey because he “wasn’t trying to work him.” After Elvis achieved stardom, it seemed that “everybody else was trying to get something from him, whereas Dewey just liked being around him.” Elvis always appreciated that, friends report, noting that he was drawn to Dewey like a long-lost relative. Stanley Booth is probably correct in saying that Dewey, at this very early stage of Elvis’s career, was “as close to him as anyone except his mother Gladys.”2 As for Dewey himself, he was in hog heaven with his newly discovered headliner. He delighted in showing him off to the public and chumming withhiminprivate.Hecouldneverbeaccused,inBilly’sphrase,oftrying to “work” Elvis, but he liked nothing better than showing off his prize product to close friends and relatives. “He’d just ride up and down the road sometimes in Adamsville, yellin’ Elvis is going to be here at 5 o’clock this afternoon,” Max Carruthers remembers. “Then there’d be a crowd start circling our house, and I’d have to tell them that Elvis wasn’t really going to be there.” Max’s wife, Betty, quickly adds, “But still, the traffic in this block around our house would get so that you couldn’t get near here, just wanting to see Dewey himself.”3 Billy Mills and Bill Kirby recall several instances when Dewey casually invited them to drop by the house and Elvis “just happened to be there,” visiting. Moreover, whenever old Adamsville friends were in town Dewey rarely missed an opportunity to take them to Elvis’s home. The Carruthers spent an entire evening on several occasions watching Dewey and Elvis play pool. Finally, whenever some of the crowd from back home would settle in Memphis, Dewey’s preferred way of reconnecting was to take them to Graceland for a social call. Bill “Bear” McClain, the Selmer High School basketball star who became one of Dewey’s best friends, remembers just such an occasion. “He called one Christmas Eve, and said, ‘Let’s go to Elvis’s tonight.’” Bear, who thought Dewey was joking, was shocked when he picked him up and took him to Graceland. “Elvis just met us right at the front door,” McClain says. “Never...

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