(331) RED WEST SINGER-SONGWRITER ACTOR and FEROCIOUS ELVIS BODYGUARD

RED WEST wrote about thirteen ELVIS PRESLEY'S songs... including a few for VIVA LAS VEGAS... He and I also wrote a few.

I've always admired Red's creative spirit and versatility. He had his own band at Hume highschool and could play chords up the neck of a guitar that even Elvis didn't know and was a lot of fun and part of the entertainment at the parties.

But back in the day, the thing that RED WEST was most known for was skipping the karate and getting right into wrapping a guy around a pole! He did what he had to do to bodyguard Elvis and talked about doing so after the fact.

Here is an interview of Red West that Elvis' all time friend GEORGE KLEIN did on his MEMPHIS SOUNDS show. I'm proud to say that Red continued to pursue his dream of being an actor after Elvis died, and he is well regarded and successful at it.

This video has some scenes of Elvis and the guys horsing around and Elvis throwing in a few karate moves. At the time I was also taking karate. Sometimes Elvis and I had a few rounds.