Priscilla Presley on Elvis: “He knew what he was doing”
<p>Priscilla Presley, the former wife of rock and roll superstar Elvis Presley, has spoken about her late husband’s problems in a dramatic interview for a new documentary, <em>Elvis Presley: The Searcher</em>, and at a glance it seems no topic was off limits.</p>
<p>The documentary delves into the legendary musician’s final recording session which took place at Graceland’s famous jungle room, as well as his personal demons.</p>
<p><strong>“He knew what he was doing”</strong></p>
<p>Elvis fans attending the film’s debut at South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, were stunned when Elvis’ ex-wife started talking candidly about a range of topics including the singer’s deadly addiction to prescription drugs.</p>
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<p>She said, “it was difficult for all of us, we certainly didn’t see it coming. But we certainly saw the journey he was taking. People go, well, ‘Why didn’t anyone do anything?’ Well, that’s not true. People there in the inner group did, but you did not tell Elvis Presley what to do. You did not. I mean, you’d be out of there faster than a scratched cat.’</p>
<p>“They would try and no way. He knew what he was doing.”</p>
<p><strong>How the problems started </strong></p>
<p>Presley told the crowd in attendance that Elvis’ addiction to pills began many years ago when the King was stationed in Germany for his two-year US army service.</p>
<p>“They gave them to the soldiers over there to keep them awake... He had manoeuvres that he had to do late at night, so the pills were given to the guys and that’s how he started,” she said.</p>
<p>“And if you take a sleeping pill, you have to do something to get yourself awake ... he was in uncharted territory, he truly was, and he did this and tried to do this alone.”</p>
<p><strong>But the music didn’t suffer</strong></p>
<p>Despite the drug abuse, Elvis continued to produce a legendary catalogue of music that’s loved and cherished by millions of fans right up to this day.</p>
<p>Thom Zimny, the director of the documentary, said, “when I was looking at certain tracks [from] the very end of his life ... I still have this feeling that there was a man who was connecting to the music and that this story has been told one way,’.</p>
<p>“Sitting and listening to that music and also talking at length with Priscilla, I realised that we were going to be able to touch on some of the tragic moments, not dwell in the details of it.”</p>
<p>What are your thoughts? Are you an Elvis fan? Do you think you’ll see this documentary?</p>
