Conspiracy! The Show 283: The Death of Elvis Presley Pt. 1: Orion

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Welcome to Conspiracy The Show,
the world’s most trusted

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conspiracy theory podcast, with
your hosts Adam Todd Brown and

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Olivia Hydar.
Hey everybody, welcome to

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Conspiracy the show.
I’m your host Adam Todd Brown.

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Joining me is Co host this week.
Oh my favorite Co host of all.

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No Co host.
I don’t even have guests this

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week.
I am going it alone, which is

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the thing I haven’t done in
quite a while on this podcast.

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But here’s the thing.
I’m diving back into the theory

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that music icon Elvis Presley
faked his death.

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Now, this is not NPR, so I won’t
insult your pop culture

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knowledge and pad this out by
spending the next 10 minutes

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explaining who Elvis Presley was
and why he mattered to people

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the way he did.
Everyone knows that part.

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And hey, if you don’t just
Google it, you know, why am I

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doing this episode alone?
I don’t know.

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In my opinion, this is one of
those conspiracies where it

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borders on pointless to even try
to talk to people about it

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anymore.
Granted, I’m wasting that time

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talking about it with you, but
you can’t fire back your

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objections at me in real time.
That’s what I’m trying to avoid

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by not having a Co host here.
Because I will be the first to

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admit there are several parts of
the Elvis faked his death theory

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that seem pretty damn
unbelievable.

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And I’m going to talk about a
bunch of them today.

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Over the years, and this is
another reason I don’t have a

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guest on this episode, the idea
that Elvis might have faked his

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death has come to be viewed as
more comedy than anything else.

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And if you even sort of believe
it, you are now part of that

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joke also.
But it wasn’t always that way.

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If you listen to my series on
Jonestown, you might recall that

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back when Jonestown happened,
there were plenty of mainstream

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outlets and even an elected
official or two who legitimately

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questioned if the CIA was behind
what happened there.

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But since then, the idea that
the CIA might have been involved

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in Jonestown has become complete
conspiracy theory nonsense in

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the eyes of most people.
Same thing here.

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In this case, the ABC News
program 2020 dedicated an entire

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hour to the very valid questions
surrounding the medical

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examiner’s report in the death
of Elvis Presley.

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And on the next episode, I will
dedicate an hour, probably not a

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whole hour, to talking about
that hour of television because

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it conveniently still exists
online.

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As for today, I want to talk
about different piece of Elvis

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conspiracy media.
It’s a 1988 book called Is Elvis

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Alive?
By a writer named GAIL Brewer

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Giorgio.
If he you don’t know, and you

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almost certainly do not.
Gale Brewer Giorgio is, for all

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intents and purposes, the
architect of the theory that

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Elvis faked his death.
And the story of how she got to

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that point in her life is
covered in this book.

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It’s one of two of her books
that I want to cover.

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If you’ve listened to me talk
about the Elvis theory enough,

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you know my theory of choice is
that he faked his death and

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joined the witness protection
program.

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And you’ve probably heard me
mention that a woman wrote a

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book about that theory back in
the day.

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GAIL Brewer Giorgio Is that
woman.

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Is Elvis Alive?
Is not that book.

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As it turns out, GAIL Brewer
Giorgio kind of made a career

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out of writing books about
Elvis.

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Death Is Elvis Alive was the
first, although it was initially

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titled The Most Incredible Elvis
Presley Story Ever Told.

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And indeed, GAIL Brewer Giorgio
does have a highly incredible

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story to tell, and we’ll get to
that shortly.

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But first, let’s talk about a
little bit of weirdness

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surrounding the availability of
those books.

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A lot of her books are out of
print now, but most of them are

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readily available on eBay and
book reseller sites for real

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cheap.
Most of them.

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One book, 1997’s Elvis Is Alive,
is hard to find and

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approximately 10 times more
expensive than all of her other

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books.
And wouldn’t you know it, that

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is the book that’s about the
theory that Elvis teamed up with

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the FBI on an investigation into
a criminal syndicate and then

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joined witness protection
afterward.

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Go figure.
But don’t worry, provided the

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feds don’t intercept it, a copy
of Elvis is Alive is on its way,

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and I’ll cover that book on a
episode in the very near future.

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As for now, let’s get into GAIL
Brewer, Giorgio’s first Elvis

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book, which again is called Is
Elvis Alive?

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The first thing I want to talk
about is the cassette.

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This version of the book, the
version called Is Elvis Alive,

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comes packaged with a 60 minute
cassette that features GAIL

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Brewer Giorgio being interviewed
about a mysterious recording

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that was given to her that it
was claimed was Elvis talking to

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an unnamed friend in 1981.
Pretty tough to pull off if he

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actually died.
On August 16th, 1977, this

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recording was sent to a voice
expert of some sort and they

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concluded that the voice on the
recording is Elvis.

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She has a copy of the report
from that voice expert in the

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book, so that’s exciting.
However, there’s another book

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out there that is also called
Elvis Is Alive by a writer named

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Xavient Hayes.
OK, one, judging from the

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reviews, people seem to clean
goddamn hate that book.

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But I did read a little bit of
it on Google Books, and it

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claims that the tape included
with the GAIL Brewer Giorgio

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book is the voice of Elvis
because that recording is pieced

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together from two previous
recordings.

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It existed before he died.
What I find interesting about

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that claim is that the first
version of Gales book, back when

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it was called The Most
Incredible Elvis Story Ever

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Told, did not include that
cassette.

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So after publishing the claims
in this book, someone approached

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GAIL Brewer Giorgio and said,
hey, you have no idea how right

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you are.
Here’s a tape that proves it.

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And it turns out that tape is a
fake, but also one that’s faked

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well enough that it could sort
of fool a voice expert.

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Do you really have no other
questions here?

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Guy who wrote the other Elvis is
a live book.

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Who made that tape?
Why did they make it?

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Why did they give it to GAIL
Brewer Giorgio?

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Those are all things I would
love to know because it sounds

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like it could just as easily be
a Mirage Men kind of thing where

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the government will give a
person, person who’s on to

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something, fake information so
they can discredit them once

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they go public with that fake
information.

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Here is GAIL Brewer, Giorgio
talking about receiving that

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tape.
And this is from the cassette

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that comes with the Is Elvis
Alive book.

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A lot of things had happened
during that period, of course,

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that’s why I’ve written a book
about the book.

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But last year I was presented
with a tape in front of

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witnesses.
There were two ladies actually,

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that presented me with a tape.
Yeah.

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Was this an audio tape or a
videotape or?

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Audio.
Strictly audio.

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Audio.
I was told right up front that

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the tape had been doctored.
The person that the voice is

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talking to has cut their voice
out deliberately.

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The voice on the tape had been
talking on the telephone to

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someone who was recording.
The women who had given me the

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tape really didn’t want to say
too much.

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There are other reasons for
that, their identity, their

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personal involvement with Elvis
Presley, and also they believed

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that Elvis Presley or more than
believed.

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They told me he was alive and
that they understood why the

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things happened to my book that
did.

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I was told to get a voice print.
Well, the voice print expert was

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in Texas, had some association
with the Watergate tapes, et

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cetera, and they compared it
with known interviews with Elvis

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Presley.
The voice print came back

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December 15th of 87 and it came
back as positive.

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Positive meaning.
Meaning that the voice on the

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mystery Cape and that of the
known element being Elvis

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Presley with a reasonable
assurance with one and the same.

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What they were unable to
ascertain is when it was

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actually done.
So the writer who says this tape

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was spliced together from other
recordings says it’s from a

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monologue that Elvis did at a
show and a 1962 interview.

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Those two things are spliced
together to make this recording,

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and they also very helpfully add
this clue.

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Fans should check out the Elvis
Aaron Presley box set for the

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monologue and golden celebration
for the interview.

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Helpful, but also easier said
than done.

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The Elvis Aaron Presley box set
seems to not be on any streaming

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services so my only course of
action here is to buy it on CD.

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Golden Celebration is on YouTube
and it is three hours long with

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no helpful chapters to tell you
what track starts where or where

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in this three hour recording.
This interview that ends up

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being about 10 minutes.
Where’s it at in there?

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I don’t know, but I’m going to
fucking look into it and I will

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get back to you.
I trust that I will find

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everything Elvis says on this
tape in those two recordings,

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but who knows, maybe I won’t.
Until then, there’s plenty of

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other weirdness to get to when
it comes to the book Is Elvis

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Alive?
Weirdly enough, GAIL Brewer

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Giorgio’s version of events
starts with a novel called

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Orion.
She says she started writing

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this book a few days after Elvis
died, and that it took all of 54

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days to finish, as if the book
just wrote itself.

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Here’s a quote from the book Is
Elvis Alive?

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About the plot of Orion, My
hero.

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Orion would be a singer, would
win a great prize, and would

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possess psychic attributes.
Because of his gifts, his life

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would suffer and he would be in
great danger.

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He would sing one last time,
then fake his own death by going

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to a distant shore.
End Quote.

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Or even better, here’s GAIL
talking about it on that tape

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that comes with the book.
And I created Orion out of a

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combination of mythology,
religion, brought it together

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into a singer.
I wrote the book in about 50-4

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days, at least the first draft.
You have to remember, there were

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literally no books or
biographies out about Elvis

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Presley.
So I didn’t have anything to

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copy, and I didn’t want to copy.
If I had wanted to write a

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biography, I would have.
Basically, I wanted to create a

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hero of fiction, and I wanted
that hero to hoax his own death.

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Now, how did you come up with
that idea?

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Well, in mythology, basically
the legend Orion has a a

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derivative which is Orion ARION
and it’s about a man who sang.

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He was being penalized for being
a great singer.

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His life was in danger and so in
order to save his life, he’s out

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to sea and he begs the sailors
let him sing once more.

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He jumps to the ocean and is
saved by the dolphins and is

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taken to an island and they
think he’s dead.

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The whole story actually comes
from the mythology Orion, and

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it’s amazing how close it may
have come to the life of Elvis

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Presley.
I guess that’s when my troubles

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began.
She includes the prologue from

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Orion in this book about Elvis,
and it will be clear why when

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this story gets even goddamn
crazier in a few minutes.

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But she claims she was not
trying to write about Elvis

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directly, but instead quote
decided to use the story of

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Jesus together with mythology
and create a contemporary hero,

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a man who via music was given
the gift of tongues.

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Now this is where it starts to
get real weird.

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GAIL says a friend of hers read
the Orion manuscript and

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suggested that she send it to a
woman named May Axton, who as it

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turns out was the Co writer of
the Elvis hit song Heartbreak

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Hotel.
GAIL says she did not know that

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part.
She also says that one of the

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first things May Axton said to
her was, quote, I can’t believe

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what you’ve written.
How do you know so much?

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End Quote.
And by how do you know so much,

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she meant, how do you know so
much about Elvis and Gale

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Brewer?
Giorgio does not know that much

218
00:13:33,240 –> 00:13:36,520
about Elvis, at least not at
this point in her life.

219
00:13:36,840 –> 00:13:41,120
And keep in mind, Elvis died
young, so the market wasn’t

220
00:13:41,240 –> 00:13:45,840
flush with Elvis biographies
like it started to become after

221
00:13:45,840 –> 00:13:48,280
his death.
She was basically writing this

222
00:13:48,280 –> 00:13:50,120
book.
At the same time.

223
00:13:50,280 –> 00:13:54,120
The people responsible for that
glut of Elvis biographies after

224
00:13:54,120 –> 00:13:57,160
his death would have been
writing their books also, so she

225
00:13:57,160 –> 00:14:00,360
could not have used them for
source material.

226
00:14:00,720 –> 00:14:03,920
She also includes a copyright
from Orion that is dated June

227
00:14:03,920 –> 00:14:07,400
1978.
O at the very least, that would

228
00:14:07,400 –> 00:14:11,760
put it on the market right
around the time that glut of

229
00:14:11,800 –> 00:14:13,880
other Elvis biographies showed
up.

230
00:14:14,040 –> 00:14:18,440
But nevertheless, she apparently
nailed a bunch of details about

231
00:14:18,440 –> 00:14:22,800
Elvis that the public didn’t
necessarily know at the time.

232
00:14:22,800 –> 00:14:25,960
Weird stuff.
One example, according to May

233
00:14:25,960 –> 00:14:30,600
Axton, was the fact that the
hero in Orion had medical issues

234
00:14:30,800 –> 00:14:35,320
relating to his eyes, and Elvis
was apparently secretly

235
00:14:35,320 –> 00:14:38,160
struggling with glaucoma right
before he died.

236
00:14:38,360 –> 00:14:42,000
There are letters from May Axton
about Ryan included in this

237
00:14:42,000 –> 00:14:44,880
book, where she confirms that
the book seems like it was

238
00:14:44,880 –> 00:14:49,360
written directly about Elvis.
So Mae Axton suggests that she

239
00:14:49,360 –> 00:14:52,800
send this manuscript to a guy
named Bob Neal at the William

240
00:14:52,800 –> 00:14:57,320
Morris Agency, one of the most
prestigious literary agencies in

241
00:14:57,320 –> 00:15:00,480
the whole world.
He was a former radio DJ who was

242
00:15:00,480 –> 00:15:03,240
instrumental in some of Elvis’s
early success.

243
00:15:03,440 –> 00:15:06,400
And GAIL claims that in their
first phone call, he had the

244
00:15:06,400 –> 00:15:09,280
same question.
How do you know so much?

245
00:15:09,480 –> 00:15:12,720
Meanwhile, in Gail’s mind, she’s
just written a work of fiction

246
00:15:12,840 –> 00:15:16,760
based on details she made-up.
But this book starts getting a

247
00:15:16,760 –> 00:15:20,560
lot of interest, especially
within William Morris.

248
00:15:20,760 –> 00:15:22,400
That part will be important
later.

249
00:15:22,600 –> 00:15:26,360
An uncomfortable amount of
interest, actually, as far as

250
00:15:26,360 –> 00:15:28,280
GAIL was concerned.
Here’s a quote.

251
00:15:28,400 –> 00:15:30,640
They were giants in the literary
world.

252
00:15:30,840 –> 00:15:34,600
We, meaning her and her husband,
also shared a feeling of

253
00:15:34,680 –> 00:15:37,320
something happening beneath the
surface.

254
00:15:37,520 –> 00:15:40,800
I was not famous or powerful
enough to warrant this type of

255
00:15:40,800 –> 00:15:42,960
courtship.
I felt uneasy.

256
00:15:43,120 –> 00:15:47,400
End Quote.
So she decided to not sign with

257
00:15:47,400 –> 00:15:51,200
William Morris, which in and of
itself is a very bold move.

258
00:15:51,440 –> 00:15:54,680
And she starts shopping her book
around to other publishers.

259
00:15:55,000 –> 00:15:58,520
And that is when this story
takes the first of many very

260
00:15:58,520 –> 00:16:03,160
weird twists.
By 1979, GAIL Brewer Giorgio had

261
00:16:03,160 –> 00:16:05,840
signed a hardcover publishing
deal for Orion.

262
00:16:06,000 –> 00:16:11,360
And almost as soon as she did, a
mysterious masked singer named

263
00:16:11,400 –> 00:16:16,480
Orion, who sounded a whole lot
like Elvis, released his first

264
00:16:16,480 –> 00:16:21,360
album on Sun Records, Elvis’s
original record label.

265
00:16:34,440 –> 00:16:36,880
I’m going to put you in my
washing machine.

266
00:16:37,720 –> 00:16:40,120
I’m going to wash and wash until
you come clean.

267
00:16:40,920 –> 00:16:44,080
Now when I get through with you,
you’re going to look where nude

268
00:16:44,600 –> 00:16:46,840
soon.
You’ll see what I mean.

269
00:16:47,440 –> 00:16:49,640
I’m going to put you in my
washing machine.

270
00:16:50,600 –> 00:16:55,240
Even weirder, the liner notes of
the album included names that

271
00:16:55,240 –> 00:17:00,280
were lifted directly from GAIL
Brewer Giorgio’s Orion

272
00:17:00,480 –> 00:17:03,400
manuscript.
Also, I mentioned earlier that

273
00:17:03,400 –> 00:17:08,000
she put the prologue for Orion
in this book about Elvis.

274
00:17:08,160 –> 00:17:13,960
That prologue is on the back
cover of this Orion album in its

275
00:17:13,960 –> 00:17:16,720
entirety.
In other words, a few short

276
00:17:16,720 –> 00:17:21,319
years after his death, Elvis’s
original record label started

277
00:17:21,319 –> 00:17:25,960
releasing albums by a guy who
sounded exactly like Elvis, had

278
00:17:25,960 –> 00:17:30,520
hair like Elvis, wore a mask to
conceal his identity, and his

279
00:17:30,520 –> 00:17:34,480
first album was called Reborn.
You can Google all of these

280
00:17:34,480 –> 00:17:36,880
things.
I will link to the album in the

281
00:17:36,880 –> 00:17:40,040
show notes.
Everything about it is so

282
00:17:40,120 –> 00:17:44,440
aggressively weird and it all
definitely happened.

283
00:17:44,440 –> 00:17:48,120
You can listen to this Reborn
porn album on any streaming

284
00:17:48,120 –> 00:17:50,880
service of your choosing.
You can buy it on vinyl.

285
00:17:51,000 –> 00:17:54,640
This really happened and all of
it was done without GAIL Brewer

286
00:17:54,640 –> 00:17:57,560
Giorgios permission.
She says she approached Sun

287
00:17:57,560 –> 00:18:00,920
Records about this and that the
meeting ended with them telling

288
00:18:00,920 –> 00:18:03,720
her quote.
So sue us, End Quote.

289
00:18:03,880 –> 00:18:07,600
And as far as I can tell, Sun
Records has never disputed that

290
00:18:07,600 –> 00:18:10,280
claim.
The book actually came out after

291
00:18:10,280 –> 00:18:13,760
the album, So GAIL spent a lot
of time in interviews answering

292
00:18:13,760 –> 00:18:16,440
questions about the real life
Orion.

293
00:18:16,520 –> 00:18:20,080
And she says she just kind of
played along with it because,

294
00:18:20,080 –> 00:18:23,120
one, it was good promotion for
her book.

295
00:18:23,280 –> 00:18:26,600
Sun Records started promoting
the book also, but they bought

296
00:18:26,600 –> 00:18:28,960
them at wholesale, so GAIL
didn’t make any money from it.

297
00:18:29,120 –> 00:18:31,920
So there was that.
And also she didn’t have the

298
00:18:31,920 –> 00:18:35,760
money or the power to sue a
company like Sun Records.

299
00:18:35,960 –> 00:18:38,760
So when she’s out trying to
promote her book, she’s just

300
00:18:38,760 –> 00:18:41,400
getting questions about this
other Orion guy.

301
00:18:41,640 –> 00:18:45,680
And at one of these stops where
she’s promoting her book, she’s

302
00:18:45,680 –> 00:18:50,200
taken aback by a question she
gets about Orion, which is why

303
00:18:50,200 –> 00:18:53,640
are there 2 Orion’s?
She said she was taken aback by

304
00:18:53,640 –> 00:18:56,640
that question because to the
best of her knowledge, Orion was

305
00:18:56,640 –> 00:18:59,880
just a guy named Jimmy Ellis.
He’s a country singer who does

306
00:18:59,880 –> 00:19:02,800
actually sound a whole lot like
Elvis.

307
00:19:03,160 –> 00:19:07,360
And I think at one point he just
started recording as Jimmy

308
00:19:07,360 –> 00:19:09,760
Ellis.
So there was nothing weird

309
00:19:10,200 –> 00:19:13,040
there.
She knew that this Orion fella

310
00:19:13,240 –> 00:19:16,760
wasn’t Elvis, but she also
thought there was only one this

311
00:19:16,760 –> 00:19:20,320
person she was talking to.
She went to an Orion show and

312
00:19:20,320 –> 00:19:23,960
claimed that after the show she
approached the tour bus and

313
00:19:23,960 –> 00:19:26,400
since the door was open, she
just walked up that little

314
00:19:26,400 –> 00:19:28,640
flight of stairs that’s on every
bus.

315
00:19:28,880 –> 00:19:32,440
At which point she saw two men
in the back of the bus, both

316
00:19:32,520 –> 00:19:35,880
dressed like Orion, and that
when they saw her, one ducked

317
00:19:35,880 –> 00:19:38,760
into the bathroom, the other
came out and started signing

318
00:19:38,760 –> 00:19:41,720
autographs for people.
Later, there’s another story

319
00:19:41,720 –> 00:19:44,120
from a girl who was the
president of one of the litany

320
00:19:44,240 –> 00:19:47,760
of Elvis fan clubs.
She went to an Orion show and at

321
00:19:47,760 –> 00:19:51,360
one point he stopped to run off
stage and grab a drink of water.

322
00:19:51,600 –> 00:19:55,000
She says that when he left, he
had huge sweat stains under his

323
00:19:55,000 –> 00:19:58,640
arms, and when he returned, he
did not, but also he wasn’t off

324
00:19:58,640 –> 00:20:00,320
stage long enough to change
clothes.

325
00:20:00,520 –> 00:20:04,000
And then she claimed that she
was convinced that the person

326
00:20:04,000 –> 00:20:06,320
who came back out was actually
Elvis.

327
00:20:06,640 –> 00:20:09,920
And that she could tell because
he had dimples in his butt that

328
00:20:09,920 –> 00:20:13,480
the first Orion did not.
So what they’re getting at here

329
00:20:13,640 –> 00:20:19,320
is that Orion was a front that
Elvis used to keep recording and

330
00:20:19,320 –> 00:20:22,200
performing after he faked his
death.

331
00:20:22,600 –> 00:20:26,200
I don’t know if I believe that.
I think GAIL might have been

332
00:20:26,200 –> 00:20:30,440
getting gaslighted a little bit
on that front, but that doesn’t

333
00:20:30,440 –> 00:20:33,440
make the fact that someone took
her novel and turned it into a

334
00:20:33,440 –> 00:20:36,400
real person without her consent
any less weird.

335
00:20:36,600 –> 00:20:40,520
It does seem like someone,
somewhere was interested in

336
00:20:40,520 –> 00:20:45,560
making sure this book did not
raise a bunch of questions about

337
00:20:45,640 –> 00:20:49,360
the real Elvis.
And so from there, she gets into

338
00:20:49,360 –> 00:20:53,880
some of the various clues that
Elvis fans have obsessed about

339
00:20:53,960 –> 00:20:58,320
over the years that they think
point to Elvis having faked his

340
00:20:58,320 –> 00:21:01,200
death.
Honestly, the most compelling

341
00:21:01,200 –> 00:21:07,680
piece of evidence to me is one
that I have always dismissed,

342
00:21:07,880 –> 00:21:11,720
and it’s one that I think people
dismissed the quickest in

343
00:21:11,720 –> 00:21:15,360
general, which is that his
middle name is misspelled on his

344
00:21:15,360 –> 00:21:17,560
gravestone.
My question about that has

345
00:21:17,560 –> 00:21:20,560
always been to what end?
What would be the purpose?

346
00:21:20,760 –> 00:21:25,960
As it relates to the conspiracy
itself, Yale Brewer Giorgio I

347
00:21:25,960 –> 00:21:30,120
think maybe nails it in this
book when she points out that

348
00:21:30,160 –> 00:21:35,880
Elvis and his parents both were
highly religious and highly

349
00:21:35,880 –> 00:21:39,200
superstitious.
Putting your living child’s name

350
00:21:39,440 –> 00:21:44,320
on a gravestone to that family
would have been seen as tempting

351
00:21:44,320 –> 00:21:47,400
fate.
And I know that seems like a

352
00:21:47,400 –> 00:21:51,920
silly explanation, but I would
argue that it was just an

353
00:21:51,920 –> 00:21:56,560
accident that no one ever fixed
is also a silly explanation,

354
00:21:56,760 –> 00:22:00,440
even on its surface.
If it was just an error, you

355
00:22:00,440 –> 00:22:04,120
could just have it corrected.
We’re talking about a plaque on

356
00:22:04,160 –> 00:22:06,840
a gravestone.
You can remove it and put a new

357
00:22:06,840 –> 00:22:10,440
one there.
Why would they not fix it if it

358
00:22:10,440 –> 00:22:14,800
was just a mistake?
And Elvis was, beyond being

359
00:22:14,800 –> 00:22:19,320
religious, a very spiritual guy.
He was obsessed with mysticism

360
00:22:19,360 –> 00:22:22,280
and parapsychology, all that
weird shit.

361
00:22:22,360 –> 00:22:28,080
So that might seem like a silly
concern to you, but to someone

362
00:22:28,240 –> 00:22:31,920
like Elvis and his super duper
religious family, putting a

363
00:22:31,920 –> 00:22:35,400
living person’s name on a
gravestone is not a minor thing.

364
00:22:35,520 –> 00:22:39,880
And the other problem with the
idea that, well, I was it was

365
00:22:39,880 –> 00:22:42,720
just a mistake.
They probably didn’t fix it

366
00:22:42,720 –> 00:22:44,440
because it wasn’t that important
to him.

367
00:22:44,680 –> 00:22:47,720
Bullshit.
Elvis’s middle name is a

368
00:22:47,800 –> 00:22:52,200
reference to his twin brother
who did not survive the

369
00:22:52,200 –> 00:22:54,800
pregnancy.
Elvis was supposed to be a twin.

370
00:22:54,840 –> 00:22:58,200
His twin died in childbirth, I
think maybe even before.

371
00:22:58,320 –> 00:23:02,120
So Elvis’s mom still named that
kid.

372
00:23:02,320 –> 00:23:08,080
And she gave Elvis and that kid
weird middle names for the sole

373
00:23:08,080 –> 00:23:10,760
purpose of them rhyming and
seeming similar.

374
00:23:10,960 –> 00:23:13,800
And she did it.
So every time Elvis said his

375
00:23:13,800 –> 00:23:17,360
name, he would think of his twin
brother.

376
00:23:17,520 –> 00:23:23,200
And in this book, there are so
many documents, bills, receipts,

377
00:23:23,200 –> 00:23:25,720
everything where Elvis signs his
name.

378
00:23:25,720 –> 00:23:30,480
Elvis Aaron Presley 1A.
There is no point in his life

379
00:23:30,480 –> 00:23:33,560
where he for some reason
switched to doing 2A’s.

380
00:23:33,560 –> 00:23:34,800
Why would you?
Why would you?

381
00:23:34,920 –> 00:23:39,000
That makes no sense.
And I think the name was

382
00:23:39,000 –> 00:23:42,080
important enough to him and
important enough to the family

383
00:23:42,560 –> 00:23:45,280
that if it was just a mistake,
they would have fixed it.

384
00:23:45,400 –> 00:23:48,280
And so while that might seem
like the weakest evidence of

385
00:23:48,280 –> 00:23:51,840
all, I think that’s just because
it seems like a trivial detail

386
00:23:51,840 –> 00:23:54,520
when the truth is it’s not
trivial at all.

387
00:23:54,640 –> 00:23:57,960
It’s just not a mistake that
would have been made and not

388
00:23:58,000 –> 00:23:59,760
corrected.
Don’t buy that.

389
00:23:59,880 –> 00:24:02,800
The book also goes a little bit
into the weirdness with the

390
00:24:02,800 –> 00:24:05,840
medical examiner’s report.
But seeing as how that is the

391
00:24:05,840 –> 00:24:09,840
entire focus of the 2020 episode
that I’ll be covering next, I’ll

392
00:24:09,840 –> 00:24:12,960
save all that for later.
But another detail that comes up

393
00:24:12,960 –> 00:24:16,160
in this book that I so far have
not found an explanation for it

394
00:24:16,160 –> 00:24:19,920
is that while Elvis definitely
had a life insurance policy, no

395
00:24:19,920 –> 00:24:22,400
one ever cashed it in.
That’s a highly weird thing in a

396
00:24:22,400 –> 00:24:25,800
case like this, unless the
person didn’t actually die and

397
00:24:25,800 –> 00:24:28,200
you’re trying to not commit
fraud about it.

398
00:24:28,360 –> 00:24:31,200
There’s also the detail that he
was supposed to leave for a 16

399
00:24:31,200 –> 00:24:35,840
date tour the day he died, but
had ordered absolutely zero

400
00:24:36,080 –> 00:24:39,920
costumes for said tour.
His hair and sideburns were also

401
00:24:39,920 –> 00:24:42,880
not dyed.
And tell me one time you saw

402
00:24:42,880 –> 00:24:45,880
Elvis performing with Gray hair.
He dyed his hair and his

403
00:24:45,880 –> 00:24:49,240
sideburns before his tours.
There’s also the question of why

404
00:24:49,240 –> 00:24:53,680
there was so much Elvis merch
available in stores immediately

405
00:24:53,680 –> 00:24:56,600
upon his death.
And the answer to that is that

406
00:24:56,600 –> 00:24:59,800
he had a tour planned.
But then that raises the other

407
00:24:59,800 –> 00:25:04,640
question of did they plan a tour
because he was going on tour, or

408
00:25:04,640 –> 00:25:07,320
did they plan a tour as an
excuse to have a shit ton of

409
00:25:07,320 –> 00:25:10,720
merch to sell when he died?
Because weird detail about

410
00:25:10,720 –> 00:25:13,520
Colonel Tom Parker, who’s going
to come up again later.

411
00:25:13,760 –> 00:25:17,480
Elvis’s manager, terribly played
by Tom Hanks in the movie.

412
00:25:17,520 –> 00:25:22,040
When it was announced that Elvis
had died, Tom Parker did not go

413
00:25:22,400 –> 00:25:25,560
to Memphis.
Tom Parker flew to New York and

414
00:25:25,560 –> 00:25:29,000
signed a new merchandising deal.
I mean, make of that what you

415
00:25:29,000 –> 00:25:31,920
will, I guess.
But it’s also pointed out here

416
00:25:31,920 –> 00:25:35,560
that GAIL wasn’t the only one
asking those questions.

417
00:25:35,680 –> 00:25:39,040
Here’s a bit from the tape.
Why isn’t this out?

418
00:25:39,040 –> 00:25:41,160
Why aren’t people running around
whispering and?

419
00:25:41,280 –> 00:25:43,920
Actually, it is out.
That’s the strange part about

420
00:25:43,920 –> 00:25:46,400
it.
Merle Haggard made a comment in

421
00:25:46,400 –> 00:25:50,480
People magazine about he feeling
that Elvis Presley was alive.

422
00:25:50,800 –> 00:25:55,000
People have reported seeing him,
but let’s face it, Jeff, if you

423
00:25:55,000 –> 00:25:58,560
were sitting on an airplane next
to someone who looked like Elvis

424
00:25:58,560 –> 00:26:02,520
Presley, you might look at him
and say you know he looks like

425
00:26:02,520 –> 00:26:04,680
Elvis Presley or an older Elvis
Presley.

426
00:26:05,280 –> 00:26:08,440
And even if he told you he was,
you probably wouldn’t believe

427
00:26:08,440 –> 00:26:12,280
him #1 #2 if you did believe
him, there’s very few people who

428
00:26:12,280 –> 00:26:13,560
believe you.
That’s right.

429
00:26:14,080 –> 00:26:18,000
So I think that was his cover
also is that people just simply

430
00:26:18,000 –> 00:26:21,520
aren’t going to believe it.
There was also a magazine called

431
00:26:21,520 –> 00:26:26,160
Photo Screen that in 1980 ran a
cover story questioning if Elvis

432
00:26:26,160 –> 00:26:29,120
faked his death.
There’s also Merle Haggard

433
00:26:29,200 –> 00:26:33,240
famously told a People magazine
interviewer at the time that he

434
00:26:33,240 –> 00:26:37,320
wouldn’t be surprised if Elvis
and Colonel Tom Parker cooked up

435
00:26:37,400 –> 00:26:41,040
a scheme to fake his death.
As this all started coming out

436
00:26:41,200 –> 00:26:45,640
and coupled with the reaction
she received to Orion Gale

437
00:26:45,640 –> 00:26:49,760
Brewer, Giorgio starts wondering
if, in writing Orion, a work of

438
00:26:49,760 –> 00:26:52,520
fiction, she’d actually written
about something real.

439
00:26:52,640 –> 00:26:54,640
This is a quote.
The sudden appearance of a

440
00:26:54,640 –> 00:26:57,560
masked singer.
The late night telephone calls.

441
00:26:57,760 –> 00:27:00,840
The two Orions.
The Sun Records connection.

442
00:27:01,160 –> 00:27:05,040
May Axton.
Bob Neal twenty 20s independent

443
00:27:05,040 –> 00:27:08,360
investigation of a cover up, the
misspelled name on the grave.

444
00:27:08,600 –> 00:27:11,040
The contradictions in the
medical examiners report

445
00:27:11,240 –> 00:27:16,160
constantly made me wonder if
indeed unwittingly, I had tuned

446
00:27:16,160 –> 00:27:20,120
into something that, written as
fiction was instead fact.

447
00:27:20,640 –> 00:27:23,160
End Quote.
And if that sounds silly, take

448
00:27:23,160 –> 00:27:26,040
this next thing into account.
She eventually signed a deal to

449
00:27:26,040 –> 00:27:29,600
publish the book in paperback
and later received a letter

450
00:27:29,600 –> 00:27:34,240
saying she was not to mention
Elvis at all in relation to the

451
00:27:34,240 –> 00:27:36,720
promotion of the book, lest they
get sued.

452
00:27:36,920 –> 00:27:40,720
Again, this is purely fiction.
She was not suggesting that

453
00:27:40,720 –> 00:27:44,040
Elvis faked his death.
She wrote a fictional book about

454
00:27:44,040 –> 00:27:49,600
a dude named Orion that was
moderately inspired by the fact

455
00:27:49,600 –> 00:27:53,480
that Elvis had just died.
Given the timeline we’re working

456
00:27:53,480 –> 00:27:57,960
with, she could not have based
the book on the conspiracy

457
00:27:57,960 –> 00:28:01,040
because the conspiracy didn’t
exist yet.

458
00:28:01,200 –> 00:28:04,080
Orion exists.
It’s also very hard to find, but

459
00:28:04,080 –> 00:28:05,920
it’s out there.
It’s a book about a singer who

460
00:28:05,920 –> 00:28:08,720
faked his death, and it happened
to come out shortly after Elvis

461
00:28:08,720 –> 00:28:10,760
died.
It really does seem, though,

462
00:28:10,760 –> 00:28:14,720
like she struck a nerve with
someone somewhere in the Elvis

463
00:28:14,720 –> 00:28:18,320
camp, and I’d sure like to know
why, if he did really die in

464
00:28:18,320 –> 00:28:21,640
1977.
It seems like of all the books

465
00:28:21,640 –> 00:28:26,040
that came out about Elvis,
including one called Elvis, What

466
00:28:26,040 –> 00:28:31,040
happened that came out before he
died that was highly critical of

467
00:28:31,040 –> 00:28:35,240
Elvis made some shocking claims
about Elvis.

468
00:28:35,440 –> 00:28:37,480
There were no threat to legal
action over that.

469
00:28:37,560 –> 00:28:41,280
But for some reason this book
about a fake singer named Orion

470
00:28:41,400 –> 00:28:42,800
was going to get this woman
sued.

471
00:28:42,960 –> 00:28:46,480
And not long after her book was
released, an actual biography

472
00:28:46,600 –> 00:28:50,640
called Elvis was released.
She bought a copy and one was

473
00:28:50,640 –> 00:28:54,680
startled to find how much her
character Orion did actually

474
00:28:54,680 –> 00:28:58,600
sound like Elvis, especially the
part where her character and

475
00:28:58,600 –> 00:29:01,920
Elvis himself both thought they
had a special connection,

476
00:29:02,000 –> 00:29:04,880
connection with Jesus.
But what really shocked her was

477
00:29:04,880 –> 00:29:09,640
Chapter 10, which was all about
Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis’s

478
00:29:09,640 –> 00:29:12,520
connection to who?
The William Morris Agency.

479
00:29:12,760 –> 00:29:17,680
The same people who so very
enthusiastically pursued her

480
00:29:17,680 –> 00:29:22,800
book and then almost certainly
passed it on to Sun Records so

481
00:29:22,800 –> 00:29:24,920
they could craft a fake
character around it.

482
00:29:25,000 –> 00:29:28,320
Her suspicion was that they
wanted to buy the book to kill

483
00:29:28,320 –> 00:29:30,280
the book.
She says she was also told by a

484
00:29:30,280 –> 00:29:33,720
literary agent that when Orion
did finally get published,

485
00:29:33,920 –> 00:29:37,040
Colonel Tom Parker approached
that publisher, Simon and

486
00:29:37,040 –> 00:29:40,240
Schuster, and encouraged them
to, quote, hang the book out to

487
00:29:40,240 –> 00:29:42,600
dry.
Which basically means they stop

488
00:29:42,600 –> 00:29:45,440
promoting it and stop sending it
to bookstores.

489
00:29:45,640 –> 00:29:49,200
And that is what happened after
Orion hit shelves.

490
00:29:49,680 –> 00:29:53,960
It sold something like 70,000
copies right away and then just

491
00:29:54,160 –> 00:29:57,840
disappeared.
And the singer Orion, who

492
00:29:57,840 –> 00:30:01,360
mysteriously appeared when that
book first came out, he also

493
00:30:01,360 –> 00:30:03,800
vanished around that same time.
Weird.

494
00:30:04,040 –> 00:30:06,160
Here’s a quote.
It was obvious there was little

495
00:30:06,160 –> 00:30:08,400
I could do.
I could prove my connection with

496
00:30:08,400 –> 00:30:11,280
the William Morris Agency.
I could prove the Colonel and

497
00:30:11,280 –> 00:30:13,760
Elvis’s connection with the
William Morris Agency.

498
00:30:13,880 –> 00:30:16,000
I could prove a connection
between the William Morris

499
00:30:16,000 –> 00:30:19,520
Agency and Simon and Schuster.
I could prove Orion was gone.

500
00:30:19,680 –> 00:30:22,600
What I couldn’t prove was did it
all connect.

501
00:30:22,880 –> 00:30:25,560
And again, this book is not the
one that makes the connection

502
00:30:25,560 –> 00:30:29,400
between Elvis, his dad, and that
FBI investigation.

503
00:30:29,520 –> 00:30:33,360
But she does get close when she
talks about how aside from

504
00:30:33,760 –> 00:30:36,600
peanut butter and bacon
sandwiches, two things Elvis

505
00:30:36,600 –> 00:30:41,080
truly loved were law enforcement
and the idea of living a double

506
00:30:41,080 –> 00:30:43,040
life.
That last part has been

507
00:30:43,040 –> 00:30:46,520
documented in a bunch of Elvis
biographies, and it all ties

508
00:30:46,520 –> 00:30:50,280
back to that twin brother.
As for law enforcement, we all

509
00:30:50,280 –> 00:30:53,440
know about that famous trip to
meet Richard Nixon and how the

510
00:30:53,440 –> 00:30:56,440
government made Elvis an actual
government agent.

511
00:30:56,520 –> 00:30:59,240
That’s an incident that we all
laugh it up about, like it was

512
00:30:59,240 –> 00:31:02,520
just some bullshit ceremonial
thing, but not really.

513
00:31:02,640 –> 00:31:05,000
There’s a quote in this book
from a couple of writers who

514
00:31:05,000 –> 00:31:09,200
were researching their own book
about Elvis, and the quote comes

515
00:31:09,200 –> 00:31:12,760
directly from correspondence
they had with the ATF.

516
00:31:13,000 –> 00:31:15,760
Here goes.
During the period of 1974 to

517
00:31:15,760 –> 00:31:20,120
1976, Mr. Presley provided one
of our undercover narcotics

518
00:31:20,120 –> 00:31:23,280
agents who was a musician, a job
cover.

519
00:31:23,400 –> 00:31:27,000
Mr. Presley confirmed to anyone
inquiring that the Agent Slash

520
00:31:27,000 –> 00:31:30,440
musician was a member of one of
his travelling bands.

521
00:31:30,640 –> 00:31:33,040
End Quote.
And listen, a cab includes

522
00:31:33,040 –> 00:31:36,320
Elvis.
But also, it’s pretty clear that

523
00:31:36,320 –> 00:31:40,160
his ties to law enforcement went
a little further than just

524
00:31:40,320 –> 00:31:43,240
ceremonial badges.
It’s also brought up the Colonel

525
00:31:43,240 –> 00:31:46,760
Tom Parker knew a thing or two
about crafting a new identity

526
00:31:46,880 –> 00:31:49,880
and not being found out.
There have for a long time been

527
00:31:49,880 –> 00:31:53,080
rumblings that he was actually
from Holland and was in the

528
00:31:53,080 –> 00:31:57,080
country illegally the entire
time he was representing Elvis,

529
00:31:57,520 –> 00:32:00,960
and he was just so good at that
shit that he did not get caught.

530
00:32:01,040 –> 00:32:03,560
Which also explains why Elvis
never toured overseas.

531
00:32:03,760 –> 00:32:06,440
Tom Parker didn’t want to have
to worry about going in and out

532
00:32:06,440 –> 00:32:08,560
of the country and getting
fucked and deported.

533
00:32:08,760 –> 00:32:12,960
And again, he also seemed to be
completely unbothered by Elvis’s

534
00:32:12,960 –> 00:32:14,640
death.
Instead of going to Memphis the

535
00:32:14,640 –> 00:32:17,040
day he died, again flew to New
York.

536
00:32:17,240 –> 00:32:20,080
Sign a merchandising deal.
The matter of the public viewing

537
00:32:20,080 –> 00:32:21,680
of Elvis’s body comes up in
this.

538
00:32:21,680 –> 00:32:24,160
Also.
For starters, having a public

539
00:32:24,160 –> 00:32:27,440
viewing was apparently way out
of character for his family.

540
00:32:27,680 –> 00:32:31,080
Elvis and his dad both got
really upset when Elvis’s mom’s

541
00:32:31,080 –> 00:32:33,640
funeral turned into a publicity
circus.

542
00:32:33,800 –> 00:32:39,320
So it’s kind of unlikely that
Vernon Presley would seek out a

543
00:32:39,320 –> 00:32:42,080
public spectacle type of funeral
for his son.

544
00:32:42,240 –> 00:32:45,200
But doing it this way gave
people something to look at to

545
00:32:45,200 –> 00:32:48,240
confirm Elvis was dead and that
there were no questions to be

546
00:32:48,240 –> 00:32:50,840
asked.
It didn’t exactly work because

547
00:32:50,840 –> 00:32:53,120
people have asked questions.
For one thing.

548
00:32:53,400 –> 00:32:57,200
Pictures of Elvis in that coffin
eventually circulated, and

549
00:32:57,200 –> 00:32:59,840
people remarked that it didn’t
really look like him.

550
00:33:00,040 –> 00:33:02,560
Here’s a quote from a country
singer named Lacosta, who is the

551
00:33:02,560 –> 00:33:05,840
sister of also country singer
Tanya Tucker.

552
00:33:05,960 –> 00:33:08,200
Here goes.
We went right up to his casket

553
00:33:08,200 –> 00:33:11,040
and stood there.
And God, I couldn’t believe it.

554
00:33:11,120 –> 00:33:13,440
He looked just like a piece of
plastic laying there.

555
00:33:13,560 –> 00:33:17,080
It didn’t look like him at all.
He looked more like a dummy than

556
00:33:17,080 –> 00:33:19,040
a real person.
You know, a lot of people think

557
00:33:19,040 –> 00:33:21,280
it was a dummy.
They don’t think he’s dead.

558
00:33:21,480 –> 00:33:25,640
And finally, here’s GAIL Brewer,
Giorgio talking about the

559
00:33:25,640 –> 00:33:29,200
funeral service in that casket.
And of course, that raises a

560
00:33:29,200 –> 00:33:33,680
very, very basic question.
Who was that then in the coffin

561
00:33:33,760 –> 00:33:40,640
at Graceland on August 17th,
1977, lying in state as hundreds

562
00:33:41,080 –> 00:33:44,080
thousands of people passed by
the coffin inside the.

563
00:33:44,400 –> 00:33:47,200
Including you, I understand that
you were sent I.

564
00:33:47,200 –> 00:33:51,680
Would like to know who that was.
There’s a lot of speculation.

565
00:33:51,680 –> 00:33:55,920
Obviously, the majority of the
fans have written in their

566
00:33:55,920 –> 00:33:59,600
newsletters and periodicals.
I’ve had journalists call me.

567
00:33:59,600 –> 00:34:03,800
I’ve been a journalist that
guess it was a wax dummy.

568
00:34:04,520 –> 00:34:09,159
There’s been questions as to why
the coffin weighed 900 lbs.

569
00:34:09,360 –> 00:34:14,800
Some have speculated that it had
a cooling unit in it to cool wax

570
00:34:14,800 –> 00:34:17,159
dummy.
I don’t know who was in the

571
00:34:17,159 –> 00:34:20,719
coffin, but that seems to be the
number one guess.

572
00:34:21,600 –> 00:34:24,040
And it seems to be the number
one question, I think, among the

573
00:34:24,080 –> 00:34:25,560
lot of the sceptics, does it
not?

574
00:34:25,560 –> 00:34:29,280
Well, a lot of people wonder why
Vernon would have even put his

575
00:34:29,280 –> 00:34:32,880
son on display.
It was vow protests, too much

576
00:34:32,880 –> 00:34:35,840
kind of thing.
When Elvis’s mother died, he was

577
00:34:35,840 –> 00:34:39,159
very upset, and so was Vernon
that her funeral had turned into

578
00:34:39,159 –> 00:34:42,480
a circus.
It seems very, very odd that

579
00:34:42,520 –> 00:34:47,719
with great deliberation that
this particular viewing and

580
00:34:47,719 –> 00:34:50,880
funeral had turned into a circus
by invitation.

581
00:34:52,199 –> 00:34:55,360
So the only thing I can think of
is if they had had a very, very

582
00:34:55,360 –> 00:34:59,800
quiet, dignified, private kind
of funeral, people would not

583
00:34:59,800 –> 00:35:03,080
have believed he died.
Therefore, put the body or

584
00:35:03,080 –> 00:35:05,880
whatever on display.
And again, this is all

585
00:35:05,880 –> 00:35:08,440
guesswork.
And it’s not simply my

586
00:35:08,440 –> 00:35:11,040
guesswork.
I’m mimicking thousands of fans

587
00:35:11,040 –> 00:35:14,320
out there.
Put something on display and say

588
00:35:14,320 –> 00:35:16,400
there he is now you can leave
him alone.

589
00:35:16,400 –> 00:35:18,640
Go away.
There’s nobody here anymore for

590
00:35:18,640 –> 00:35:20,680
you to see.
I can’t come up with another

591
00:35:20,680 –> 00:35:23,360
reason.
And that’s where this episode

592
00:35:23,360 –> 00:35:25,720
ends.
I have by no means covered

593
00:35:25,720 –> 00:35:28,400
everything there is to cover in
this book, so if you want to

594
00:35:28,400 –> 00:35:31,680
know more, just go buy a copy.
They are all over eBay.

595
00:35:31,680 –> 00:35:36,080
If nothing else, I will warn you
that my copy serves as a stark

596
00:35:36,080 –> 00:35:40,120
reminder that the notion that
paper books are superior to

597
00:35:40,120 –> 00:35:45,320
digital books is crazy talk.
The only thing my copy of this

598
00:35:45,320 –> 00:35:50,080
book has over an e-book is that
it reeks of grandma perfume and

599
00:35:50,080 –> 00:35:53,760
I feel like I need to wash my
hands every time I touch it.

600
00:35:53,880 –> 00:35:56,720
All this despite it being
factory sealed when I bought it.

601
00:35:56,840 –> 00:35:58,600
But yeah, it’s out there if you
want to read it.

602
00:35:58,720 –> 00:36:01,320
I know a lot of the evidence
covered here today in this

603
00:36:01,320 –> 00:36:04,280
episode is kind of
circumstantial, bordering on

604
00:36:04,280 –> 00:36:06,560
superficial.
That’s because I skipped over

605
00:36:06,560 –> 00:36:09,480
all of the Medical Examiner
Report stuff, which I’ll talk

606
00:36:09,480 –> 00:36:13,920
about next week when we dive
into that 2020 report spoiler.

607
00:36:14,120 –> 00:36:17,240
It’s got Geraldo Rivera in it,
but it’s back when he was still

608
00:36:17,240 –> 00:36:20,240
a journalist, so it’s fine.
And hey, that’s it for now.

609
00:36:20,320 –> 00:36:24,080
Please go read my writings over
at adamtoddbrown.substack.com

610
00:36:24,080 –> 00:36:27,600
before the government crafts a
fake character around him to

611
00:36:27,640 –> 00:36:29,320
discredit me.
And thanks.

612
00:36:29,480 –> 00:36:36,600
Goodbye, everybody.
We love you people of Earth.

613
00:36:37,520 –> 00:36:40,120
Your planet just has to destroy
you.

614
00:36:40,720 –> 00:36:51,120
Japan has got to be destroyed.