Dave Hebler Talks About Elvis

Subject: Dave Hebler Talks About Elvis

This post was on the Alt.Elvis.King News

This Is By And About Dave Hebler.....

"Elvis touched a chord in people when he was alive and that chord is
still ringing 25 years later," says Hebler, who now operates a karate
studio in Hillsboro, Ore. Hebler is a wealth of knowledge about the
King, some of which he will share this Friday at the Elvis-A-Rama Museum
during their Elvis commemoration. Co-author of "Elvis, What Happened?" a
best-selling book about his experiences and those of two other
bodyguards while with Elvis, Hebler was on the road with the King and
fondly remembers when they met in 1972 at a karate studio in Santa
Monica, Calif.

"We were all working out, having a good time and noticed there was a
commotion at the door. When I looked up, in walked Elvis Presley,"
Hebler recalls. "He ended up out on the mats with us, and I ended up
being his partner. He came out to my studio a couple days later and
invited me to be one of the Memphis Mafia boys." Thus began Hebler's
bodyguard journey, which ended in 1976 (a year before the King died on
his throne), for reasons that are still a mystery to Hebler. But his
memories of the King revolve around all of the good times and laughs
they shared.
Here are some of the things Hebler has taken from his years
with Elvis:

ON ELVIS AND DRUGS:
"Nobody can beat drugs, I don't care who you are. When you've got drugs
hammering your system, of course you're not in control. I've got to tell
you something: Elvis was the greatest guy I've
ever met in my life. He was warm and friendly and funny. He was
hilarious."

ON ELVIS IMPERSONATORS:
"I don't like the ones who think they're Elvis. They kind of piss me
off. But the ones who admire Elvis, and they're generally doing it from
a tribute perspective, I pretty much like them. But at the same time, I
feel a little bit sorry for them because their chosen profession is to
imitate someone else, and that means they can never win. Still, for
someone to get up and be an Elvis imitator he has to really work hard,
put out a tremendous effort, and you've got to kind of admire that. It's
like going into a gym and seeing people in the gym who are fat and out
of shape. You've got to admire them because they're in there and they're
doing it."

ON POSSIBILITY OF ELVIS LIVING:
"They (people who insist Elvis lives) try to give me facts, and it's
always something obscure. 'There was an orange that fell out the tree in
Ft. Lauderdale and when the folks picked it up it has Elvis' face on it
and that proves he's still alive.' I tell them I keep him in my closet
and feed him peanut butter and banana sandwiches fried in butter. No,
what can you say to them, 'You're stupid, you're dumb, you're crazy'?
They're convinced for whatever reason and you're not going to change
their mind."

ON THE RICHNESS OF ELVIS' LIFE:
"People say to me all the time 'It's such a shame that Elvis died so
young.' Well, let me tell you something: Elvis Presley actually achieved
the one thing that you, and I, and everybody else on the face of the
planet try to achieve. He was able to live life on his own terms. He did
everything he wanted to do, he went everywhere he wanted to go, he met
anyone he wanted to meet. I don't know how many can say that. His death
may have been premature but, by God, what a life. What impressed me more
than anything else is how enormously powerful he was. No one ever said
no to Elvis Presley."