Col. Tom Parker first tried to sign Reeves to a management contract (as I reported in my book), before he latched onto Elvis.
Of course, Jim and Elvis worked shows together, especially in the early days, and Elvis was a hungry young man like so many performers were in those days. He would occasionally eat at Tom and Billie Perryman's home (and they were of course close friends of Jim and Mary Reeves).
Jim and Elvis also would run into each other at RCA and Jim recounts one such episode in a taped interview.
Ted Staples, one of Jim's closest friends in Texas, tells me of the day they were out walking and chatting and Ted made a comment about Elvis which Reeves thought was not accurate. He asked Ted "Have you ever met him? You need to get to know him. He's not at all like his public image. That's all an act." (I'm paraphrasing).
When they were looking at ranch land together, Jim also remarked to Ted that one particular piece of property was large enough to accommodate a runway, and that this would also please Elvis.
There are references to Presley on 50 pages in my book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story."
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