Legendary Memphis deejay George Klein saluted Elvis on SiriusXM

A beaming George Klein, then a VIP host at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, is captured during Elvis Week on August 12, 2009, at the Memphian Theater signing autographs after the premiere of “At the Gates,” a documentary directed by Kiara Geller, the son of Elvis’s spiritual guru Larry Geller. Photography by Caroline Pratt

On Friday afternoons from 2 to 6 p.m. CST “Elvis time” on SiriusXM satellite radio, the Memphis legend that was George Klein spun, interviewed, and talked all things Elvis Presley. Last in the studio on January 5, 2018, deteriorating health necessitated Klein’s on-air withdrawal until his death 13 months later at age 83 from dementia and broken hip complications. The encyclopedic rock ’n’ roll purveyor broadcasted for an astonishing 64 years, virtually witnessing up close the dawn of the musical genre he favored.

Close friends since the eighth grade, the two pals were only 13 when they met, yet that friendship lasted for 29 years until Presley’s terrible descent into prescription medication misuse. To illustrate their indelible bond, Klein witnessed Presley performing “Cold, Cold Icy Fingers” with a broken down acoustic guitar during a talent show at Humes High School.

The rapid fire deejay aided Presley in a diminutive iteration of the Memphis Mafia and performed bit roles in Jailhouse Rock, Viva Las Vegas, and six other films. He was present during the sessions for Elvis’s Christmas Album, now closing in on 10 million units sold. During an innovative sequence in the Golden Globe-winning documentary Elvis on Tour, he introduces “Suspicious Minds.”