In der November-Ausgabe des US-Playboy berichtete Byron Raphael davon wie er dem jungen Elvis Mädchen besorgte
und auch dass Marylin Monroe von Elvis´ dämlichen Kumpanen so angewidert war, dass sie auf ein Treffen mit Elvis verzichtete.
Gerade letzterer Punkt brachte einige von Elvis Freunden ziemlich auf die Palme (logisch).
Diesen Vertrauten von Elvis antwortet Raphael in folgendem Statement:
From Byron Raphael:
I would like to respond to the attack on me about my article in "Playboy." I also
want to clear up some of the misconceptions which have appeared on Elvis sites
and in "Elvis World" since the article appeared.
In 1956, I was Elvis Presley's first confidante on the West Coast. Everything I said
in the "Playboy" story is true, and I cherish those days with the most charismatic
man in the world.
Neither Lamar Fike nor Marty Lacker were with Elvis at the time, so their harsh
words about me are just empty rhetoric. Lamar, you remember me well, by your
own admission. You say you were there in 1956, but while you may have been in
and out, you did not really arrive on the scene until 1957. Please be honest about
this.
I respect the fact that you and Marty spent so much of your lives with Elvis. But a
lot of things happened before you joined Elvis' entourage, and certainly much
more occurred before Marty ever got there.
George Klein, I never met you. You were mostly home in Memphis during that first
year. Joe Esposito, Jerry Schilling, and Larry Geller, you all came in the '60s, and
have no right to comment on the veracity of my comments about 1956.
To Bill Burk, who says, "In checking with those closest to Elvis during his career,
EW could find no one who could even hint that Raphael ever worked for Elvis, in
any capacity, be it gofer or pimp," I want to say this.
That is patently unfair. While there is photographic evidence that I was around
Elvis (James Forsher, Trude Forsher's son, has a photo of me sitting at the lunch
table in the Paramount commissary with Elvis, Trude, the Colonel, and others), I
never claimed to have worked for him.
I was employed by William Morris and assigned to the Colonel. In that capacity, I
spent a great deal of time with Elvis. It was such a fantastic time for me! Those are
the best memories that I ever had! But I was not his employee. Now, things
changed as Elvis's entourage grew, and that's when my relationship with him
changed.
Abe Lastfogel, head of the William Morris Agency had something to do with it, and
certainly the Colonel had something to do with it. My social relationship with Elvis
ended. I didn't get girls for him after that.
Colonel didn't want me to do it. But during that first year, it was exactly as I wrote it
in "Playboy." George Klein, you may have been at the Los Angeles concert, but
you did not have the vantage point that I did. You also say that Elvis never met
Marilyn Monroe, but even Marty confirms that they had contact, though his version
of the event differs from mine.
And Bill, you ask why the police didn't arrest Elvis for indecency for dry-humping
Nipper on stage in Los Angeles. That's exactly why the authorities came the
second night, because of the raw nature of what went on the first night! Do you
think they would have come if Elvis had simply patted the dog on the head? That
is simply outrageous.
Just as I did for the Colonel, I did everything Elvis asked. The truth is, all of us who
worked with Elvis loved him and wanted above all to please him. I hope I did. I
sign this with the name Elvis gave me,
"Byron the Siren."
