All the King's Bodyguards: The Memphis Mafia

The Memphis Mafia is a humorous nickname given to a group of friends and associates that constantly surrounded Elvis Presley. They were his entourage; his posse. Many of them seemed to simply hang around and enjoy the benefits of being associated with THE Elvis Presley. However, here were several in the group that fulfilled valid purposes, not the least of which were his bodyguards.

When Elvis became a major celebrity, he gave up all rights he had to any privacy at all. He was constantly inundated by psychotic crowds of screaming fans, and the attention was nearly too much for the would-be king. Elvis began resorting to spending outrageous amounts of money and going to great lengths for the protection of his privacy and safety, which is where his bodyguards came in. At the time, the bodyguard industry was not what it is today, so Elvis and the Memphis Mafia were on their own to figure out the best tactics to protect The King from his exceedingly loyal subjects.

Elvis's bodyguards had their work cut out for them from the word "go". His style of music was extreme for the time, and moral activist groups often threatened him with violence if he didn't stop. Elvis's bodyguards consisted of friends and family he knew he could trust, and in turn created an unlikely group of misfits to be involved in one group. Several cousins and friends, including one son of a Supreme Court Justice served as Elvis's makeshift bodyguards in a time where there really was very little need for them. The level of fame Elvis reached in his career created an unprecedented need for personal security that no other celebrity had ever required.

Elvis's group of bodyguards, aids and friends that made up the Memphis Mafia were not always good for him. His father, Vernon, distrusted the group and thought that they were a bad influence on his son. If you can imagine a group of fraternity pledges spending every day together for a decade or two, that is what it was often like with Elvis and the Memphis Mafia. Most of them lived with him at Graceland and were supported entirely by his earnings. This changed somewhat when Elvis married Pricilla. She made the majority of the group move out, but let a few of the bodyguards stay for protection purposes.

Many members of Elvis's security team came and went throughout the years, but it goes without saying that Elvis was never without a solid team of bodyguards backing him up. The Memphis Mafia couldn't protect Elvis from the greatest threat in his life, himself. As his fame grew, so did his addictions to drugs, alcohol, food and an incredibly high stress lifestyle. All the bodyguards money could buy kept out stalkers and lunatic fans, but they didn't stop him from going down a road of self destruction that led to his eventual demise. There are just some things that bodyguards can't protect you from.