ELVIS IN THE ARMY: The King of Rock 'n' Roll as seen by an Officer Who Served with Him

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 16, 1995

For hard-core fans only, a dull memoir of a few months in Elvis Presley's two-year military career. Taylor, a retired army colonel and military analyst, was a 25-year-old first lieutenant stationed with the 32nd Tank Battalion in West Germany when 23-year-old Private Presley arrived in 1958. (Elvis was assigned to a scout platoon that the author had previously commanded and in which he took a special interest, Elvis aside.) Taylor's anecdotal book shows Elvis as an excellent soldier and a respectful, sensitive, regular guy: Elvis does more push-ups than anybody in his platoon; Elvis shoots well with a .45; Elvis finds it significant that Taylor's middle name is Jesse, which was the middle name of Elvis's stillborn twin; Elvis charms Taylor's wife and children; Elvis charms German girls; Elvis and Taylor play touch football. But although these stories show Elvis approximately at ease, the author readily admits that they were not buddies: Elvis was an enlisted man, Taylor an officer, and professional distance was maintained. Much of the book concerns military procedures that will hold little interest for even staunch devotees of Elvis trivia. For instance, Taylor gives a blow-by-blow account of a training operation in which he and Elvis infiltrated an ""enemy"" camp, but he reports with equal gusto maneuvers that Elvis had nothing to do with. Taylor wasn't a rock 'n' roll fan, and he communicates a vague bemusement about Elvis's celebrity. An unarresting brush-with-stardom memoir that contributes an average-Joe alternative to the familiar Elvis clich‚s.

Pub Date: Aug. 16, 1995

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Presidio

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995

Categories: NONFICTION