Marty Lacker talks about Elvis and The Grammys:
Elvis' close friend Marty Lacker responded to our story (see yesterday news below) about the Wertheimer exhibition at the Grammy's museum. The lack of respect that Elvis received in his lifetime from this institution still upsets Marty Lacker to this day.

Marty Lacker > "Reading your story about the Elvis Grammys exhibit in a way makes my stomach turn because of the way the Grammys treated Elvis while he was alive and now they're acting like they have been/are his champion.

To begin with other than the Living Legend Award, the only Grammys Elvis ever won was for 2 or 3 of his Gospel Records. None of his records from the 50's or 60's, the ones that changed the world's music was ever awarded a Grammy. Even though they were some of the most important and biggest records in music history and if he hadn't come along there might not be any Grammys or much of today's music.

However the biggest injustice done by the Grammys happened in the early 70's. This story was told to us by Colonel Parker. He received a call from Pierre Cossette the longtime producer of the Annual Grammys Award Shows he told Parker that the

Grammys would like to present to Elvis A Lifetime Legend Award. Parker told them that was nice of them. Pierre then said,"We'd like Elvis to do one song on the show after we present him the award." Parker asked him how much they were paying. Cossette told him the Grammys (NARAS), which stands for The National Academy Of Recording Arts and Sciences, does not pay performers for performing on the Awards Shows. Parker then told him, Elvis does not perform without being paid and he couldn't guarantee that Elvis would be at the show either. Parker said Pierre then coughed and said he'd get back to him.

A week later, Parker got a call, this time from Pierre's assistant telling him that since Elvis wouldn't sing they no longer were going to give him the award. How petty and chickenshit was that?

During the 70's I had made a name for myself in the national music industry and in addition to that I was the co-founder of the Memphis NARAS Chapter, (Grammys) and I was on the National Board Of Governors of NARAS representing Memphis. One of my good friends, Ron Alexburg who at the time was VP of Columbia/Epic Records in NY, came to Memphis for a meeting with me and my partner as our company represented his records in the south. I told him the story and he got mad and he and I went on a tirade to NARAS about the shabby treatment to Elvis and that of all people he should get a Living Legend Award.

Two weeks later, on a Monday, when I received the big music magazine issues for the week, I open Cash Box magazine and lo and behold there's a picture of Bobby Vinton and national promotion man, Pete Bennett presenting Elvis The Living Legend Award on behalf of the Grammys in his Vegas dressing room. They didn't even have the decency to give it to him on the next awards show. I never told Elvis about what I did.
- -- I just wanted to set the record straight with the truth of the matter. - Marty, January 2010.

source:
http://www.elvisinfonet.com/index.html