Elvis Presley - Dick Grob Body Guard An Up Close Interviewed by Joe Krein

Elvis Presley - Dick Grob Body Guard Interviewed by Joe Krein


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He'd been assigned to keep fans away while Presley and his new bride, Priscilla, honeymooned at their home in the upscale desert community.

"I was sitting out in front of the house in a police car that didn't have air conditioning," Grob recalls. "This guy walks out of the house with a glass of lemonade, climbs into the car and said, 'Here, it looks like you need this.' "

Presley introduced himself and the two spent an hour chewing the fat and listening to the police radio in the patrol car. "He said, 'Come on in anytime you want more to drink.' "

The pair remained friends and visited whenever Presley was in town vacationing.

"Had he not been an entertainer, I think he would have been in some sort of law enforcement," Grob said.

"I think he was amazed at the brotherhood that exists among law enforcement people around the world. It transcends races, cultures, everything, much like his music did."

After much persuading, Grob left the department and joined Presley on tour. ("He made me an offer I couldn't refuse," he jokes.)

Grob devised a security plan for him much like the one he'd utilized while previously guarding President Nixon and England's Prince Phillip in Palm Springs.

"Most of it was not to protect him so much as it was to protect the people from themselves," he explains. "They'd rush toward him and somebody would fall and get trampled.

"It provided him an opportunity to get close to his fans (because) he enjoyed sitting and talking to people."

In '73, Grob, his then-wife and their young son (whom Grob claims cut his teeth on one of Presley's diamond rings) moved to Memphis, Tenn., and resided in a home not far from Graceland, the singer's famed estate.

The mansion served as the gathering place for the "Memphis Mafia," a tight-knit cluster of Presley pals and employees to which Grob belonged. (Need proof? Check out the gold "TCB" charm -- Elvis' insignia, meaning "Taking Care of Business" -- that dangles from his neck.)


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Collecting King Elvis