In this ‘Shock and Awe’ special, Bill discusses his struggles with fame and how fame affected the lives of Elvis Presley, John Lennon, and Muhammad Ali. See why Bill's books like 'Killing the Legends' are #1 bestsellers.
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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
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imagine having access to insights said were once reserved only for the president of the united states, introducing the president's daily brief with MIKE baker. Every day c I a veteran mike bakeries, your personal intelligence officer door, key to understanding global events like never before, with our world changing rapidly, you shouldn't be left in the dark, get briefed stay ahead. New
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so I have a book out this. We call killing the legends, the lethal danger of celebrity. If you
follow the killing history books, as is a little bit of a departure because its
cultural history.
We are living it now,
and the reason I wrote this book is
because of the intimacy
Of elvis presley John Lennon, mohammed Ali, those three individuals beginning in the mid fifties and extending into the seventies
all three of those individuals influence.
Our lives today what they did
so I decided to take a look back a historical perspective.
find out why all three of them got crushed
and there is a common thread.
and something that happened all three of them now
Celebrity is not a natural state in america, it's a sport is like football or baseball
you become famous
People then-
we and on your life, some of
people are malevolent. They want to hurt you. In fact,
when celebrities fall alive,
people are happy.
it's a psychological disorder too
take joy out of somebody's misery, but you know I know what happens.
the celebrities themselves going all the way back to an mode.
In pictures. First came up.
Very few of them were equipped.
To handle their frame,
the list is legion,.
I mean I'm Marilyn Monroe. You got all the rockers who died very young janet's job.
when Jimi hendrix michael Jackson prints river phoenix. I mean
It is an endless list of people
James D, in the fifties
who couldn't handle it.
because it's unnatural, you can't be prepared,
It is nothing to prepare you for it
Now, that's why I wrote about this. When I was a little kid I want to be famous. I want to be a baseball player
I want to be just like willie mays, the greatest player that ever saw,
but I was in good enough to be a baseball player, but
figured. Maybe I get
in two television news, and maybe I become famous in some city.
All right- and I would have been great- I want
To do that,
I wanted that recognition. I had no idea
what awaited me.
Through hard work. In some lock, I became very famous worldwide famous
In fact, I've sold now
ten million bucks off the hook,
re killing series,
fame
hit me pretty hard. I didn't do anything crazy. I never drank or take drugs rang like that. I was
fairly grounded in my working class existence, but
because I gave political opinions it came after me.
They being people wanted to destroy me. Not only because I was famous, but are we saying things they didn't like.
free society. We should be able to say things:
That you dont like without somebody,
a kill. You literally kill you or at times
Bodyguards even today
when we have the
been news and we have three under radio stations and we have shock, and ah I can't just go to the game and sit
Like everybody else, I can't
I have to have security, they called security.
most people. Ninety percent of very nice
and I don't mind- poses for the pictures he said
fees and all that everybody has itself on our mind it. But
Gotta be careful. Now this
I thing before we get to our guests, who know Elvis
lenin and mohammed Ali well.
affects everyone in the public eye. Some people, like him car, dashi and are famous just because their famous nobody knows what they do.
and they want to be famous jail. All these things
Every day in the paper they call
if they want, they love it they're addicted to it. The two
most powerful man in the united states. Right now have.
Influenced by fame way beyond what the public knows, and they are.
president Biden, Donald trump, president Biden,.
Changed his whole foundation.
in order to become president
Everything that he once believed he no longer believes.
because he wanted that thing and that power.
Donald trump was always addicted to thing from the time he was ten. You wanna be famous,
And you can make a strong argument.
And I have in my book, the united states from that's hurt, Donald trump.
because he needs the daily fame fix? It gives him a trouble.
So I wanted to bring in that overall urge to say to you, the killing, the legends, the lethal danger of celebrity is a serious history book
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And now, let's bring in scott shannon, you may know the name he's kind of famous,
in two thousand and three he was inducted into the national association of broadcasters hall of fame.
You can hear him w cbs radio in new york hosts america's greatest sits in the true old
his channel. He knows the
world, as well as any human being on this earth?
so you got killing the legends you see how I handle Elvis and John lennon. Do you have any way
for me about it. Before I get to my questions, to you
I got the book,
I'm about halfway done with it
it's amazing,
basically lead
through a lot of that book,
and I met and interviewed
Several people end about not Elvis not John lennon but
envied three at the beatles interview, Jimi hendrix jam
joplin,
I was just a kid. I wasn't a very good interviewer that time I've got a little bit better, but it was
Just an amazing trip- and at that time I didn't I
pictures. I just did the interview we didn't have selfies. This was in the rock and seventies
and you're exactly right what you say in the book what you just said
definitely affects people. I remember janis. Joplin
do in an interview, and I saw it and she said well one
I first got successful euro.
it was my dream. I wanted to be famous and then I thought
The dead fain would quench some sort of feeling that I had inside a drive, a desire, and I think she now
wait constantly, I mean she really did wasn't heavy into alcohol and
and she also and then got in a sack. She was sleeping with everybody that she could. Possibly sleep was now famous people,
and now, and then she decided to get into heavier, stop besides alcohol
continue to look for that thrill and that satisfaction from
being famous
it didn't turn out. So we never does now
This presley change american culture before now.
Came on the scene, we were
informally society coming off the eyes in our administration. Posts were war too now much rebellion a little bit, but not much elbows gets up there.
explodes young people grow their hair along the slick.
I agree sirs
asters are condemning Elvis for his shake ability.
at sullivan, show and the whole
culture trembles
as the younger american say, I don't wanna, be a conformist anymore. I wanna be a rocker. I want to be
a leather jacket, guy gal, whatever it may be happy days so.
He change that culture, almost single handedly.
Oh yeah, it was basically saying ninety percent of the people who went into that culture. It was because of Elvis to this day- and I told you- I've interviewed a lot of people because I have done top forty radio, since I was twenty years old and I
Two things popped up in
in my head and then I realized as time went by if they were all
the people,
story, goes like this,
I didn't know what I wanted to be until that night I sat there and why she had solomon, Joe and l.
This came on.
and that's when I decided I'm going to drop this violin or I don't want to play the piano anymore. I want a guitar and I want to be like Elvis I'm saying
some of the biggest names in the business like tom, paddy
was his rocket point. An
and if it later on
time, went by the
People good tell me these stories and
a change their mind. They were inspired.
by the same show ed Sullivan the night.
The beatles came on there and sang and change the course of history that,
what they were inspired by
an aid. Poor, rounded history. I just
What kind of weird?
when Elvis did change
course of history. He didn't know wade.
See, he didn't, he couldn't see it.
If not I it's not a christian,
of elvers
school, grad drive and a truck into below mississippi, whose sky you know
sudden, because most famous person in the world he didn't know it and then
All of the stimulation around him call
him. Then too
receded into a bubble and the ball
we'll kill them.
what our way out of this
There was a song one time, a done by peggy Lee.
and it was written by labour installer. God is that all there is
I call that the is at all there is syndrome because they got famous
and it didn't bring him anything but grief
they once did. You got pass the money and private jets on all that. What else was there and in and they did the nice that way
they didn't have people around them and some of that we're Elvis his fault
that they do would look out for Alice. Everybody was taken in taking and taking away from him and the whole
in collapse. That was a give another transition
from the
rock and roll sixties, already established beach boys four seasons going along big industry motown, you mentioned the two songwriters eternal motown grew,
time in amerika for music,
and then the beatles of course trumped everybody. What what lenin did is? He took every body into the sex, drugs and rock and roll era,
almost single handedly with them
braun hair long sergeant, pepper, magical, mystery tour here, where the beatles taking people in
we totally different culture. We
of course, exist today, correct, correct,
well there's another point that you make in the book
it's very interesting about love,
Elvis and lennon avail,
the beatles
They were the only to people that I can remember that really change the way young people dressed and away they wore their hair. In the way they conducted himself right, I mean
everybody when I was a kid had they Elvis hair in all the eldest hair, coming out some parents and let the kids do it. My dad was an army sergeant very strict, but when I left the house I headed like I wanted it and the same thing with the wood dressing
Yes, I guess eta. Will it change
everything in the young world
the amazing how it happened it it was, and people don't think back to that. We live in a permissive age now, where almost everything is legal and and back in the late fifties, with Elvis late sixties with the beatles it wasn't, and there was this clash now
The permissive forces have one
and then comes back down to individual.
how you raise your kids, but let himself just like Elvis.
almost exactly the same guy,
rushed
by this and tat
into heroin. Most people don't know that that would be,
got, the beatles
and when we discovered it
martin regard. Now writing the book. We knew that lend it was too heavy duty narcotics,
but we didn't know the extent of it.
Until we got the transcript of
actual drug dealer.
The guy was selling and stuff
That was well hidden from the press. Couldn't do it now, but that again,
Why would a guy like learning,
In the beatles. The biggest act in the world has everything you want to go down that dark avenue
it says that you made some points in the book,
I did not know
ever is an amazing ree ever lead taxes. Guy, like you,
I mean it's unplug, but you deserve it for what you went through in what you guys did write it
a book, theirs
story that I'll share with you and
very strange. I was
a privy
one of the first people to know that Elvis had passed away, but it was accidental, ah,
at that time, I was working in the record. Business in LOS angeles, were alive,
we'll call casablanca records. We
kiss on the label and on a summer led by its a wild man and and and
that time I was working. Hours
there and then I transition into work
rock and roll newspaper call radio and records it was run by a felony bob Wilson and then a partner.
Of my friend bob wilson- was a guy named bob car, dacia,
at the very same carnation, misery, groaned grown to know and love. His is children now, but at that time,
I'm here: divorce, their mother- and he
was a dating priscilla
a presley, so
the morning every morning, in LOS angeles, I happened to be in the office and these p
both from Memphis were trying to locate by
kardashian because they couldn't
fine priscilla to tell her that
This had passed. They didn't want to release the news, yet until she knew
I was kind of a strange story: snoring yeah they do
he's titans, all three of them
presley, Lenin and I'll they inflows
size even today
all got crush.
and last question for you
is it possible to survive. That kind of celebrity
is possible because it happens,
I always changes. Your personality
some people get through it like a terrier taylor. Swift is pretty much like she was but bore when she
we started out. She always wanted to be a singer. She always wanted to be famous her dad and mom moved the whole family to nashville, so she could chase her dream and have
after today I mean she's, busier she's got an empire to run and everything, but she still has
a motion and hard bed. She reaches out and help other people and she doesn't take a lot of credit for they keep around the download. So there's one person is sir.
found fame and fortune and survived it
I have to say
whoops, we're still here to talk about it, anyways yay yeah. I really appreciate you reading a book and coming on and talk about it thanks a lot scott great job, great job, bill foundation damage is a serious problem for many homeowners in our area. If you see cracks in brick, cracks in walls, sloping floors or chimneys separation foundation, damage could be present. Don't wait. Call the
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now over to Mohammed Ali.
As I said at the beginning,
was probably John lennon mohammed Ali are
cultural history.
The way we live today in this country. What
influenced by them
so mohammed Ali was by far
the most magnificent, successful athlete in the
forget american community.
Not only was he and I call on the united states, but all over the world
and he brought hope to black people and they will pay
out of him
and when he rebelled against the vietnam war most
african americans supported that rebellion. Even though
It wasn't brought on by him as much as the nation of Islam, which controlled him.
So muhammad ali was,
Martin Luther king jr
perhaps the most dynamic force in the
african immune merit.
Community for ten twelve years
and that is the importance,
it brings to any historical analysis.
So with us now is a man named Thomas hauser is written six books on Mohammed ali. He has a new book published by the university of arkansas. It is key,
in the inner sanctum. So.
I am fascinated by
strong man, mohammed Ali, I'm, the guy, was just the best prize fighter ever my appeal:
seating all of its autonomy and power,
to an organisation.
the nation of his lot? How do you see that.
I'll be had a firm religious belief at that time in his life that allies in my home it was a messenger of god and that he was preaching a message that was appropriate for him. Now george foreman said something to be yours later, which I think is correct. George foreman looked at mohamad alleys actions in the ninety six thieves and said he didn't believe that was actually a religious awakening. He thought that was a political and social awakening analyses part the religious awakening came later in the nineteen. Seventeen sacrilege, Mohammed died and mohammed few shifted from a believed. A nation of the swamp
two more orthodox islam, but look there are plenty of people who are believers who follow that cold weather is religious or medical, so there's no doubt about it
but ass, she gave him a buried,
Strong reason to be proud of being black at a time in his life when he and many other black
I'll need it that message, but at the same time he had to know
The nation of islam was bleeding here, pardon pardner pot financially, and we open this
on alley in killing the legends in manila,
wearily was almost killed in that fight. According to his doctor, ferdy pacheco and be check.
told
Not only ally but herbert muhammad
the sign of a larger mohammed, who was alleys, direct management, look of you
keep putting this guy in a ring. You gonna kill up, which the
didn't kill him, but they diminished him to the sense that is second of his life. He couldn't do very much so
Ellie, had you know they didn't.
that he was being used by this crew. Or am I wrong alley wanted to fight. It was
is to everybody around Ali who cared about our peoples impaired, that his skills were diminishing overtime,
he's not the only fighter and for too long, the three greatest spiders of all time: sugar, ray robinson,
louis and mohammed ali all flock too long,
they all wound up. In very, very sad, physical condition, it wasn't religion that post Joe louis sugar ray robinson to keep fighting. They were fighters, it's what they defined themselves by and they were doing it for the money. Most athletes don't stop until they're forced to that you have the baseball player or football player, and if they can't do it anymore,
or how big their name is. No team will put them on the field and in there are always people who will bleed you, especially if you're famous but Ali had to know he was almost bankrupt. He was married five times
yeah money fly and out. There are a lot of going to the nation of Islam and herbert mohammed himself
you had to know, like Elvis presley
who almost had to file for bankruptcy. That here
it's being taken advantage of ali was not in control of his life was he Ali was never one to look at, but in some ways he was a genius. Financial management was not one of them. He wasn't on any
even the national keel until he married lady AOI, his fourth and final wife and lahti was a business. Major college said about straightening out his finances, getting rid of a lot of a hanger
and seeing that things were done and I'll be allowed that
so he allowed Lonnie too.
over that, but before
She came on the scene
The hangers on were legion. Just like elvis same thing,
they were all over the place. That's like re, robbins
who made the on to rush famous just like Joe Louis who said I never needed that much money. It was the people around, maybe they're, just because somebody is a great fighter. A great singer doesn't mean they know how to manage their finances. Usually they dont generally with somebody like Mohammed, really didn't understand. Financial concepts didn't understand geo political concepts. He sorted
it. Would he did intuitively? Sometimes it was right. Sometimes it was wrong now. Do you believe that my ali control, his life
because we have a number of portions in killing a killer killing.
legends, I'm sorry that say he didn't want to
he didn't want to do this. You didn't want to do that, but he was pressure.
by the nation and islam to do it, and so he succumbed to that pressure. The hermit make its own decisions now, the key there is our options presented to them at a certain point in time you said to Mohammed: this would be good for islam, then he might do it even though,
like that'd be good for him, and even though it might not be good for islam, but he generally made up his mind tat. He was very subject to suggestion. He married sangi rises, first wife against the wishes of the nation of Islam, and then pressure from the nation of islam was one reason that he divorced her because she was not adhering to document the herbert mohammed want him to keep fighting absolutely herbert one of the money. But Mohammed did too, he was like a kid born in a circus tat. It was the only world he knew and for a good part of this life. It was what he defined himself by and it was his platform for so much of what happened, and he was also afraid
what's on the ballot fear, but he was afraid that if he stopped fighting, people would forget him that he would lose his platform that off so that that's an interesting point you just smack, and that brings us-
to the weight of celebrity crushing most people,
become famous even strong people they could.
It's too much for a human being, particularly against Mohammed ali words. Worldwide, couldn't go anywhere. He couldn't do anything
Everybody knew him,
everybody, no matter where he went in the world. You were
people would rush out to it and the
wade of bad
where he didn't want to lose it. I think pretty
which destroyed them in the end, but ali ali love that attention. Otherwise, if you have that kind of fame and very few people do either you set strict boundaries on it, like somebody like Paul mccartney did or you embrace it fully as Ali did or it drives you, nuts, which is what the
and the elders Ali loved being famous for ally going out on the street, not having anybody recognize him with a bit of downer, he loved it. He probably signed more autographs, and I mean this quite literally. He probably signed more autographs than anybody else in the history of the,
and pride, when you figure that he started signing around eighteen of the nineteen subsea olympics and that it until the end of his life, when he just couldn't physically sign any more, he loved that
tension. What do you do? I understand it: buddy, destroy them and had heard his kids in earnest, kids,
and he he you know because
the celebrity was so egocentric to tall three of these man that
collateral damage was extensive.
We really appreciate, MR has a very good inside and thank you very much,
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promo code bill? So let me wrap this up in and tell you that this book killing the legends is much more than a celebrity book. It is about the human condition, the two most famous people in the united states right now, a prison biden and donald trump. Both of them, I will submit, have been crushed by celebrity Biden completely sold out all of his core beliefs. Every single one of them to obtain power trump is so addicted to celebrity that every day he's gotta be in the public eye. He engages in controversies that he doesn't need to that. Hurts him
it's the country while he was governing, because he has to be the centre of attention just as mohammed earlier to be the centre of attention learning not so much lenin. What happened to him? He was crushed, but it was he seen. It is life to somebody else. You're gone presley seated is life to a cork time Parker who stole his money and manipulate
led him into a lifestyle of dissolution by all three men, and I would submit to you. I don't know. Abide knows at this point. Is life
How celebrity has just robbed him of any core belief trump knows, but can't stop, because that's how powerful celebrity is it is. I mean it is a narcotic in itself, because you are treated especially differently. You are afforded praise adulation, but the downside is you lose control of what's happening to you and I'll wrap it up with this in nineteen, sixty seven elvis presley made a comeback. You might remember that if you didn't see the special you can google it he looked great black leather outfit sitting there with a guitar his guys around him. Big big tv success on NBC, okay Elvis is back ten years.
later you look at all this, it's hard to believe it's, the same human being now Elvis presley added mirrors in graceful in his house in Memphis and say he had to see with his own eyes what was happening to us
MA am, and I had to know where we are
meaning to here and John Lennon became addicted to heroin. So he had to know that's how powerful and our crushing this celebrity thing:
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Transcript generated on 2023-09-15.