Gary Wells: In Context - Colonel Parker & The Presley Estate | Tommy James & Roulette Records

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This episode, our leading contributor, ‪Gary Wells (VintageWellsy), guides us through the fascinating story of Colonel Parker, the Presley Estate, and a tenacious Memphis lawyer determined to get to the truth.

In the wake of Vernon Presley’s death in 1979, court-appointed attorney Blanchard Tual presented a 300 page report detailing his forensic investigation into Colonel Parker’s financial arrangements with the Presley family, which he described as ‘excessive, imprudent, unfair to the estate, beyond all reasonable bounds of industry standards’, and stated that Parker had ‘violated his duty to Elvis and the estate’. A Memphis judge went on to assert that Parker’s behaviour ‘shocks the conscience of the court’.

We learn that the report also called for a thorough investigation into Parker’s business associates, including RCA, and find out what, if anything, happened as a result of Blanchard Tual’s devastating findings.

Gary also recounts his own memorable (and slightly starstruck) 2024 meeting with Mr Tual himself, still practising law in Memphis, and for some additional context, we look at another astonishing show business partnership; superstar recording artist Tommy James and Morris Levy of Roulette Records.

Find research sources and background at this episode’s dedicated webpage, including links to Gary’s articles on Blanchard Tual and Tommy James, as well as his account of meeting Mr Tual himself in Memphis.

Although we concede in the podcast that Colonel Parker shouldn’t be seen as any better purely because there was someone a whole lot worse, it’s an interesting exercise to consider Tommy James & the Shondells, and Morris Levy, as a matter of context.

In a 2025 interview with Noise11, Tommy James recalled;

“…Getting paid was another story…We sold over 110 million records, had 23 gold singles, and I never saw a cent in mechanical royalties. You’d ask about the money, and they’d say, ‘You’re doing fine, kid – go make another record.’ And you didn’t argue, because people who argued didn’t always have happy endings…”

Very special thanks to Gary Wells, to all our readers and listeners, to Detlef Wolff and Gainesville, and to Steve Collins.