Colonel Tom Parker

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"Colonel" Thomas Andrew Parker (* 26. June 1909 in Breda , Netherlands as Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk ; † 21st January 1997 in Las Vegas , Nevada ) was an American music manager who primarily as manager of Elvis Presley was known .

Career start

Parker immigrated illegally to the United States in 1929 and served there in the army for four years. However, he denied his Dutch ancestry for decades, claiming he was born in Huntington , West Virginia . He started his business in the music industry as a manager in the late 1940s. He represented country music stars like Minnie Pearl , Slim Whitman , Hank Snow and Eddy Arnold, as well as film stars like Tom Mix . In 1948 he was awarded the Governor of Louisiana Jimmie Davis the honorary title of Colonel , because he had carried out a successful election campaign for him.

Manager of Elvis Presley

Parker met Elvis Presley through his Sun Records label ; their collaboration began when Parker booked him on the Canadian Singer Show . Parker became Presley's official manager on August 18, 1955, and in November of that year convinced RCA Records to buy Presley from Sun for $ 35,000 (plus an additional $ 5,000 for outstanding royalties). In 1969 Parker met his second wife Loanne Miller, whom he married in 1990.

Tom Parker took over the business part of Presley's singing and acting career, but was never involved in artistic matters. He received a manager's commission of 25%. In 1967, at the low point of the star's career and shortly before his big comeback on stage, an amendment to the contract was agreed between Presley and his manager, which made both business partners to a greater extent than before. The contract amendment of January 2, 1967 provided for a 25 percent manager commission for Parker on all contractually agreed royalties from record sales and film contracts, but from now on he received 50% of all profits beyond these guarantees. Parker managed Presley until his death on August 16, 1977.

Ed Bonja and Al Dvorin were among his staff .

After Presley's death

Parker then worked as a personal advisor to Barron Hilton . Governor Bob Miller declared June 25, 1994 Colonel Tom Parker Day in Nevada.

Parker died on 21 January 1997 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 87 years at a stroke .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On Parker's background, see Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen: Elvis Day by Day, New York 1999, p. 4
  2. ^ Ernst Jorgensen: Elvis Presley: A Life in Music, New York 1998, pp. 224f

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Parker, Colonel Tom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kuijk, Andreas Cornelius van (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American music manager
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Breda , the Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 1997
Place of death Las Vegas