On the occasion of his appearance at the Frankie Moreno (Elvis) concert in January 2025, the Danish Memphis Mansion re-issued Sam Thompson’s ‘Elvis On Tour - The Last Year’ booklet, making this hard-to-get 1992 collection of personal memories available again.
Design
The A4-sized booklet is a “copied reproduction” of the original 44-page booklet with an updated cover, cleaned pages, several additional color photos, and a color upgrade for the letter of recommendation from Colonel Parker, praising Thompson.
Sam has a pleasant and engaging writing style, and as a police officer, you can tell he is a keen observer. Because of this, I felt like I was watching over his shoulder as he shared what happened.
Content
Memphis-born policeman Sam Thompson first met Elvis while skating at the Rainbow Rollerdome in the 1950s, but he was really introduced to Elvis through his sister Linda, who dated Elvis between 1972 and 1976. He traveled with Elvis on the road tours from 1972 until 1976 as Elvis' friend and companion before he started to work full-time for Elvis from July 1976 until August 1977.
He served as Elvis’ personal bodyguard and tour advance man, providing security for Elvis at Graceland, his other homes in California, and on all the road tours, including hotel and airport security. Thompson returned to his position with the Shelby County Sheriff's Department on September 1, 1977.
The book reflects Sam’s adventures with the King through words and images. What I said about Sam sitting behind his typewriter must be read as a compliment, as it is a metaphor for the content; we really get to read his personal memories as he put them on paper.
We learn how Sam met Elvis, how he found his role and position in the inner circle during the last years of Elvis’ life, and on a day-by-day / tour-by-tour basis, learning how it was to be part of the well-oiled Elvis Presley Show.
From his insider perspective, we get more stories confirming Elvis’ generosity - buying cars and houses for the Thompson family, taking them on tour as friends and family of his girlfriend - but also how hard the tours were for Elvis, despite the aforementioned well-oiled operation and hard work of the men and women involved.
It was fun to read that when the tour operations messed up or didn't meet with Elvis' standards, Elvis would “simply” walk out of the hotel in Pine Bluff to another across the street because the air-conditioning wasn’t working, or have the Lisa Marie fly him home instead of staying overnight in a local hotel.
The main part of his memories covers Elvis’ death and how he helped “take care of business” in those hard days for the Presley family.
Thompson certainly was appreciated and trusted by Elvis; otherwise, he wouldn’t have quit his full-time job at the Shelby County Sheriff's Department to join the King’s entourage when his sister and her employer broke up. The pictures, tour schedules, and even fuel cost overviews with personal notes illustrate these recollections nicely.
Conclusion
Although this is “just” a small 44-page booklet, it was an interesting and insightful read because Sam’s personal experiences from his time with the King gave me a nice insight into life with Elvis at home and on the road. It gave me a few new insights into Elvis as a friend, Elvis as an employer, and Elvis as an artist on the road.
It is good to see this book out there again. So, for those who missed this one in 1992 - 33 years ago already - this is a good opportunity to correct that mistake. And who knows, with this reprint in their hand, Sam may be inspired to put some more memories on paper and do a complete book … someone should sit down with Sam to record his stories.
Signed copies of the booklet are available from the Danish Memphis Mansion >>> webshop or >>> Bennies Fifties.