Jerry Schilling had his life all mapped out. He was a history major at a college in Memphis, and he knew exactly what came next.
He told GRAMMY.com in 2022 that he planned to be “a football coach and history teacher.” It was a good, steady plan for a young man who’d paid his own way. He was in his last semester, and he’d been picked to do his practice teaching with a grade-school class.
Then Elvis Presley stepped in.
The two went way back. Jerry first met Elvis in July 1954, when he was only 12, at a Sunday pickup football game in North Memphis. By the time Jerry was finishing college, he was one of Elvis’s closest friends.
So when Elvis wanted him around for good, he didn’t beat around the bush. They were on the front porch at Graceland when Elvis said it plainly: “I need you to come work for me.”
Jerry could have asked a dozen things. He only asked one: “When?”
Before we get to Elvis’s answer, it’s worth meeting Jerry himself. In this TV interview from 2023 on This Morning, he looks back on growing up alongside the King, and you’ll get a feel for the kind of friend Elvis trusted.
Jerry Schilling looks back on growing up with Elvis
So what did Elvis tell him? “Well, now.”
Elvis meant right then, semester or no semester.
Jerry’s reply is the best part of the whole story: “Well, can I go home and get some clothes?”
That was a yes, and the next morning he had to make it real. “The next day, I had to quit two jobs,” he said. He also had to face the school. “I had to tell the university that I wasn’t going to practice to teach.”
The hardest talk was still ahead. Jerry had to tell his father.
His dad had only finished grade school, and Jerry knew how much college meant to him. In Jerry’s words, “he was so proud that I worked my way through college.” Now his son was walking away from the classroom before he’d even stepped into it.
But his father didn’t argue. He said, “Well, I’ve always trusted your judgment. You sure this is what you want to do?”
Jerry was sure. He officially joined Elvis’s circle in 1964. Soon he was making the 2,000-mile trip with Elvis from Memphis to Los Angeles, and he ended up living in Bel-Air. That’s a long way from a grade-school classroom in Memphis.
And he never really drifted off. Jerry stayed close to the Presley family through the years and later became creative affairs director for Elvis Presley Enterprises. He told the whole story of their friendship in his memoir, “Me and a Guy Named Elvis.”
If you’d like more of Jerry’s memories in his own easygoing voice, this long call-in chat is a treat. He phoned in on the anniversary of the day he met Elvis to talk about their friendship, so settle in.
Jerry Schilling calls in to talk about his years with Elvis
Lots of young men in Memphis would have jumped at that offer. Jerry had a teaching job lined up and a proud dad at home, and the only thing he asked for before he left with Elvis was a chance to grab some clothes.