UPDATE: This photo comes from the estate of famed Dallas disc jockey, Eddie Fadal who was a very close friend of Elvis and whose daughter was, at one time, married to Lamar Fike (to whom this photo is inscribed). Three vintage snapshots, originating from the Fadal estate, accompany this lot. The GI Blues portrait, as Eddie had them displayed in his home, can be seen in each snapshot.
Superbly rare vintage matte-finish 11 x 14 Paramount Pictures promotional photo of Elvis Presley in his U.S. Army military uniform as Specialist 5 Tulsa McLean for the 1960 musical comedy film G.I. Blues, signed and inscribed in blue ballpoint to his dear friend, Lamar Fike, a member of Presley’s close-knit ‘Memphis Mafia’—“To Lamar, Here is hoping you have very good luck in what ever you do because you deserve it. Sincerely, your friend, E.P.” Framed and in fine condition, with some light creasing to the lower left corner. Originates from the estate of famed Dallas disc jockey, Eddie Fadal who was a very close friend of Elvis and whose daughter was, at one time, married to Lamar Fike (to whom this photo is inscribed). Three vintage snapshots, originating from the Fadal estate, accompany this lot. The GI Blues portrait, as Eddie had them displayed in his home, can be seen in each snapshot.
The promotional department at Paramount Pictures released this publicity photograph in two sizes (8 x 10 and 11 x 14), and although both are extremely rare—with many fans not even aware of their existence—the larger version is the rarer of the two. In addition to its size, the photo’s imagery is also quite significant—Paramount’s promotional department pulled this version of the photo shortly after its distribution because it was decided that the portrait was not the best shot of Elvis, who is pictured looking down with a forlorn expression. When it was pulled, the department did not bother producing another, hence the further rarity of this item.
Lamar Fike is one of the original group of men—and one woman—who became known as 'The Memphis Mafia,’ so named for their black mohair suits, black limos, and their propensity to wear sunglasses at night. The term stuck and was generally used, including by Elvis and themselves, with considerable irony. Elvis considered his 'mafia' as his extended family and there is a school of thought that he kept such old friends around him to protect him from the advances of the real mob, particularly during his Las Vegas years, when he was said to have received offers that must have been difficult to refuse.
There is some confusion about how Elvis and Fike were introduced. According to one report, Fike met Elvis by hanging around the front of his house at 1034 Audubon Drive in Memphis until he was finally invited in; Elvis lived there from May 1956 to March 1957. However, it’s more likely that Elvis and Fike actually met at Sun Studios in 1954, when the 19-year-old Fike was learning how to be a disc jockey under the tutelage of George Klein, a classmate of Elvis’ and one of his friends. It’s believed that Klein and Sam Phillips introduced Fike to Elvis
With the exception of Klein and Red West, another of Elvis’ friends from high school, Lamar Fike knew Elvis the longest. An intimate member of the Memphis Mafia, Fike was fiercely loyal and protective of his famous friend. So much so that that Fike volunteered for the U.S. Army when the singer was called up in 1958. Fike was turned down because of his weight (the reason the singer nicknamed him 'Buddha'), but he followed Presley to Germany. The singer, while still being paid the standard GI pay of $78 a week, was allowed to live off-base with his father, grandmother, Fike, and another member of the Memphis Mafia, Red West.
It’s purported that it was Fike who introduced the rock 'n' roll star to a 14-year-old girl by the name of Priscilla Beaulieu, the singer's future wife and mother of his child, Lisa Marie Presley. Fike always insisted that Priscilla's father cornered Elvis into marrying Priscilla.
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