A monumental oral biography filled with raucous joy, aching loss and terrible poignancy, Elvis & the Memphis Mafia is the first book to capture the King – the man and the phenomenon – in his full complexity.Through revealing interviews with three of Elvis’ s closest friends, who were also his protectors and rescuers, Nash achieves the first true mapping of Elvis’ s psyche.Billy Smith – Elvis’ s first cousin and the person he reputedly loved most after his own mother – Marty Lacker – best man at his wedding and foreman of the ‘ Memphis Mafia’ , the King’ s handpicked group of gatekeepers and confidants – and Lamar Fike – the touring crew member who accompanied him into the Army – were with Elvis from his teens to his final days and provide unique access to the greatest of all rock and roll legends.The revelations cut through every aspect of Elvis’ s life, from the childhood seeds of his drug dependency, through his fear for his mother’ s life and his plan to change his identity, to his bizarre self-mutilation.No one who reads this symphonic blending of three proud, ribald, sad and ultimately wistful voices can fail to be profoundly moved.