A ray of hope appeared in late March via singer/actress Barbra Streisand and her boyfriend, hairdresser turned movie producer Jon Peters. They turned up backstage after one of Elvis's midnight shows in Vegas and said they wanted to discuss an idea with him. For the next three hours they huddled in a room, and after Streisand and Peters left, Elvis came out with a big grin on his face.

"Well guys, I was just offered the lead role in the remake of A Star Is Born," he said. We were thrilled to see him so excited. He had always wanted to be taken seriously as an actor, and this was the role that could show everyone he had the goods. It was a role made for him, and I know he would have had to clean up his act and invest his whole heart and soul in it.

When Elvis said he was going to do the picture, Red got right in his face and said, "You swear? Shake hands on it!" Elvis shook on it. But a few days later, he was singing a different tune.

"You know, Streisand has been known to take control of a picture, and I don't know if I can deal with that," Elvis announced. "And that hairdresser boyfriend of hers might end up directing it, and I might have to slap the shit out of him." But I think what was really bothering him was the prospect of having to get off drugs, lose weight, and get in shape.

Colonel Parker has often been cast as the villain for allegedly demanding too much when contacted about what it would cost to get Elvis for the movie. He said $1 million in salary, $100,000 in expenses, 50 per cent of the gross profits, and a separate deal for soundtrack rights. Then, to kill the deal for good, Parker insisted that Elvis get top billing in the movie.

Any time Elvis wanted the Colonel to get him out of something, the Colonel did it by making impossible demands. It was always that way with him and Parker. (I personally know of that happening once before in the 1960s when Elvis was approached to make a children's record with Judy Garland. Elvis didn't want to do it but didn't have the heart to tell Garland no. So the Colonel put the price out of reach and got Elvis out of the deal.)

By then, Elvis hadn't had a Top 10 record since Burning Love in 1972, and he had been touring almost non-stop for five years. His behaviour became more and more impulsive and outlandish. One day in mid-June, he called me into his bedroom at Graceland and introduced me to a Dr Asghar Koleyni (a plastic surgeon). Then Elvis asked, "Sonny, do you notice anything different about me?"

I didn't notice anything, but because Elvis obviously wanted me to see something, I said, "Yeah, but I'm not exactly sure what it is."

"Look into my eyes," Elvis said, smiling. Contact lenses? I couldn't put my finger on anything. Finally, Elvis pointed underneath his eyes and told me the doctor had excised some fatty tissue. Then he pulled his ears forward so I could see the incision marks where he'd had his double chin tightened. I really didn't notice much difference, but I complimented Elvis anyway.

About a month later, I got a letter from (medical insurers) Blue Cross Blue Shield denying coverage of cosmetic surgery I had done at Mid-South Hospital (in Memphis). Trouble was, I hadn't had any cosmetic surgery. I went to Vernon Presley, and he said I shouldn't worry about it. What had happened, of course, was that Elvis had checked into the hospital under my name.

Image: Elvis Presley at Fort Chaffee, Arizona, in 1958, at the start of his military service. Elvis spent 17 months in Friedberg, Germany, between October 1958 and March 1960 as a GI. During this period, his mom, to whom he had a very deep attachment, died at 46 from alcohol-induced hepatitis and Elvis was heartbroken. In 1960 he was discharged as a sergeant and thereafter produced some of his best songs. Photograph: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Earlier slide show: Here's looking at you, gorgeous

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