Elvis Presley's best friend has opened up on his long time friendship with the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

Jerry Schilling was just 12 years-old when he first met a fresh faced Elvis, then 19 who had just recorded his first single. The 81 year-old who went on to manage icons including The Beach Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis and Lisa Marie Presley was pals with the rock star right up until his tragic death at aged 42 in 1977.

As well as reminiscing, Jerry has spoken on who he feels is to blame for his rock star friends untimely demise - the agents, record labels and film studios that "controlled" Elvis' career. Speaking to the Mirror, he said: “I feel I lost my friend at an early age due to creative disappointments.

"They caused other complications and other problems. You can’t take a genius and put them in a box, and that’s what happened with Elvis." Jerry would go on to work for the star, even live with him in his iconic Graceland home and is considered his closest confident.

He added: "People say, ‘But he was Elvis Presley, he could do what he wanted’ but not so. There were people controlling the publishing of his music, the movie scripts he could do, or telling him he couldn’t tour overseas. I think that’s what affected him and made him sick.”

Prior to his passing, Elvis had developed a serious addiction to prescription drugs and also lived an unhealthy lifestyle in his later years.

Despite this, Jerry is determined to hold on to the happier memories. Next month he will be retelling his tales of life with the musical legend as the special guest for a Royal Philharmonic UK tour - in which the world-famous orchestra will play alongside the King singing on screen.

Way back in 1954, the pair met when the crooner appeared to play a game of American football on a field in their native Memphis, Tennessee. It was perhaps the last time the singer would be able to go out in the neighbourhood incognito.

Jerry said: “It was before the high collars and jumpsuits and all of that. He was just in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, but there was something different about him. He also had a warmth about him that would make you feel comfortable.

"He went out of his way to make me feel like one of them. Knowing him before he was famous was important, it gave me a real overview of who he was and where he had come from.”

Their friendship deepened after Elvis invited Jerry to live at Graceland, staying in the main house for ten years. It also meant having to go out whenever Elvis suddenly decided he wanted to spend the night watching the latest movies.

Jerry added: “We sometimes went to the movie theatre five nights a week after it had closed and stay until two or three in the morning. Elvis had access to all the films, often before they came out.

"After coming back to Graceland in the early hours we’d often stay up all night, talking, or shooting balls. We’d talk about everything, from the films we’d just watched, to the girl we wanted to meet, to religion

"I do miss that. If there was one wish it would be to stay up all night talking to Elvis about everything and nothing.”

Jerry was also with Elvis when he met President Nixon in 1970, after the singer decided to drop by the White House on a whim, which resulted in one of the Oval Office’s most famous photos. According to Jerry, Elvis turned up to the White House and gave the president's secret service agents a hand-written note with the request.

Jerry explained: “I think Elvis wrote three letters in his life. Two of them when he was on national service in Germany, and this one. He asked me to proof read it, and that was the first I’d heard about his idea to meet the president.

"I didn’t want to disappoint him by telling him this just wasn’t going to happen. And I was wrong, he made it happen. Ever since then, I never doubted what Elvis Presley could do.

“There was the down side, but there was the upside too. Elvis could have walked around with a chip on his shoulder, but he was determined to have fun, and he was so much fun to be around.”

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