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Transcription: [00:21:21]
{SPEAKER name="Warren Perry"}
I had heard — and this is me remembering from when I was a kid,

[00:21:25]
and I don't know how accurate it was — I had heard that he was worth about 5 million dollars at that time.

[00:21:31]
But there were always problems with Elvis, either not listening to his father, or not listening to-

[00:21:39]
to Colonel Tom Parker. Colonel Tom always wanted there to be more money.

[00:21:43]
Vernon said, you can't keep squandering - Vernon Presley, Elvis Presley's father - said you can't keep squandering all this money away.

[00:21:49]
The whole coterie of guys who surrounded Elvis - his bodyguards and his buddies -

[00:21:55]
they were called the Memphis Mafia and they were always on salary.

[00:21:59]
The interesting thing about the Memphis Mafia— Colonel Tom liked them to be around because it kept Elvis from going out and and

[00:22:05]
and being assaulted by the public. These guys, I mean they literally, they flanked him on all sides whenever he would go around.

[00:22:11]
It cost money to support those guys.

[00:22:14]
He spent a lot of money on whimsical things.

[00:22:17]
And if you ever go to the the house down at Graceland, you see what obviously cost a lot of money— he had 3 TVs in one room.

[00:22:25]
He had- His pool room had, uh, had this amazing cloth arrangement on the ceiling to dampen sound.

[00:22:31]
He could go through a lot of money. Of course since his since his death, the estate has, ah, has become a cash cow.

[00:22:39]
So, there is an entire Elvis industry that- that's been around for 32 years now.

[00:22:45]
And Lisa Marie Presley is the beneficiary of that, although she sold —

[00:22:49]
I want to say, 80% of the rights to that — to, ah, to a large firm in New York and now they manage Elvis' enterprises in Memphis.

[00:22:57]
{SPEAKER name="Audience-1"}
I'd say it's worth a whole lot more--

{SPEAKER name="Warren Perry"}
It's worth a lot now. Yes, ma'am.

[00:23:01]
{SPEAKER name="Warren Perry"}
Any other questions? (Great question!)

[00:23:03]
{SPEAKER name="Audience-2"}
Are you gonna sing any of his-- [[laughter]]

{SPEAKER name="Warren Perry"}
No! 'Cause we want to people to stay friendly to the National Portrait Gallery. [[laughter]]

[00:23:10]
But I'll sing with YOU if you want, Syd. [[laughter]]

[00:23:14]
{SPEAKER name="Audience-3"}
In the '70s, before he died, his career really went downhill though, right? All he could do is perform in Vegas?

{SPEAKER name="Warren Perry"}
He did a lot of performing--

{SPEAKER name="Audience-3"}
And--
[00:23:22]