Illustration by Chris 'Honeysuckle' Ellis.
When George Klein died on February 5th, headlines nationwide described him as “Friend of Elvis Presley,” “Elvis Presley confidante,” or “Elvis’ best friend.” The King was a deep and important relationship in his life, but George had just as deep a connection to Memphis and its music.
They met in 1948 in the eighth grade at Humes High School. George, the mover and shaker, became president of their senior class; Elvis, the outsider in flashy clothes and styled hair, played guitar and sang at school events.
Klein found his musical passion when he spun his radio dial from the pop sounds of WHBQ 560 up to 1070, where WDIA’s black DJs played very different music for black listeners (and adventurous white kids like George). “This stuff sounded wild and a little dangerous,” he wrote in his autobiography, “and I couldn’t get enough of it.”
While in college, George was hired on at WHBQ as an assistant to DJ Dewey Phillips, whose color-blind idea of “good music for good people” influenced Klein for the rest of his life. One Sunday night, broadcasting live from all-black East Trigg Baptist Church, George looked back at the handful of white faces in the rear pews and there was Elvis, reveling in the powerful gospel music.
Klein’s career quickly grew from small Arkansas stations to powerful WMC in Memphis, where the music and his jive-talking style made Rock & Roll Ballroom a big hit. George was proud to play his friend’s new Sun records and Elvis would drop by the studio. They were kindred spirits on their way up, and their friendship grew. By 1957, Elvis was the hottest artist in the music business, and George was a prominent radio personality.
But WMC decided that rock-and-roll was just a passing fad, changed its format, and fired Klein. Elvis immediately hired him as a “traveling companion,” a charter member of his Memphis Mafia. After a year of the rock-and-roll road and movie glamor, George was back on the air at a small Millington station. Elvis returned to the road, but Klein stayed in Memphis to rebuild his radio career. He landed back at WHBQ in the early 1960s, becoming a top-rated disc jockey, later program director, and the influential host of Talent Party every Saturday on WHBQ-TV.
It was a savvy combo of music and interviews, with go-go dancing from the WHBQties, pretty high school girls who were regulars. He booked major stars by adjusting to their schedules. George drove the artists to WHBQ after their shows; the 10 o’clock news crew stayed late and recorded performances and interviews for later broadcast. Fats Domino’s appearance made Talent Party the first Mid-South TV show to feature a black artist. A galaxy of stars followed — James Brown, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and many more.
George was an unflagging supporter of all Memphis music. He constantly scouted local groups to appear on Talent Party and sent them to Sonic Recording to cut songs that they lip-synced on the show. Hundreds of musicians were Talent Party alumni, from future hit-makers to great local groups who didn’t get the right breaks. For all, the program meant higher visibility and more gigs, and George steered several to record deals. It’s fair to say that Klein and Talent Party were instrumental in the incredibly fertile local music scene of the 1960s and early ’70s.
Like the music, the performers on Talent Party were black, white, and both, and within a few years the WHBQties welcomed their first black dancer. The importance of George’s integration of Talent Party can’t be underestimated. During those unsettled times, Mid-South young people saw a vivid picture of racial harmony every Saturday for years.
Klein was also nationally known as a top disc jockey with a sure instinct for hit records. He turned down repeated offers from major market stations because he thought Memphis was where he should be.
After WHBQ, George used his well-honed PR skills in several non-radio jobs, but remained on the air with his Original Elvis Hour, the internationally broadcast George Klein Show on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, and he interviewed musical friends old and new every week on Memphis Sounds with George Klein on WYPL-TV.
Through it all he remained one of Elvis’ most loyal and trusted friends. After the King’s death Klein became a beloved figure in the Elvis fan world, sharing his memories at hundreds of events.
Forty-two years of George Klein Christmas Charity Shows raised serious money for Memphis charities, and when they ended, the show’s “rainy day fund” endowed a broadcasting scholarship at the University of Memphis.
At his funeral, childhood friends sat next to Elvis fans. Memphis Mafia widows shared pews with singers T.G. Sheppard and Ronnie McDowell. Musicians who got their first break on Talent Partyjoined friends who’d flown in from across the country. Rabbi Micah Greenstein said that he’d officiated at more than a thousand funerals, “but this is the first time I feel like I’ve come to a family reunion.”
George Klein treasured the large diverse family of friends he’d made in his long life, and he loved Memphis and its music until his final breath. May we all carry his open-hearted spirit of friendship and loyalty with us into our city’s future and our own.
Joe Mulherin is a writer, producer of video/TV and live events, and musician. He regularly wrote about music for Memphis magazine in the late 1970s.
