Carol Connors was at the market buying a bottle of milk when a “creepy guy” approached her.
“He says, ‘Aren’t you the girl who sang ‘To Know Him is to Love Him?’” the singer/songwriter recalled to Fox News Digital, referring to her 1958 hit.
“I went, ‘Yeah,’” she said. “He said, ‘Elvis Presley would love to meet you.’ And I went, ‘Right, sure, yeah, of course.’ He said, ‘No I mean it. He loves your voice.’”
The two-time Oscar-nominated star has written a new memoir, “Elvis, Rocky & Me,” which details her decades-long career, and the many adventures that came with it. The entertainer is also the subject of an upcoming documentary about her life.
The 83-year-old said that when she gave the mysterious man her phone number, she thought nothing of it – until he called two weeks later.
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“He said, ‘I worked it out,’” said Connors. “’You’ve got to come to the house. Elvis would love to meet you.’ I went, ‘OK.’
“He picked me up at my mother and father’s house.”
Connors arrived at a grand house located in the ritzy Bel-Air section of Los Angeles. Presley and his posse, known as “The Memphis Mafia,” were renting the lavish property at the time.
She soon spotted a “beautiful man” who was “very catlike.”
“I felt like a little mouse,” she said. “He came up to me finally as I was standing there forever. His first words to me were… ‘Why’d you name your group the Teddy Bears?’ I thought, ‘My God, that’s Elvis Presley.’… That started our love affair.”
According to her book, Connors met The King in 1964, months after he had finished filming “Viva Las Vegas” with Ann-Margret.
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“I went with him for nine months,” she claimed. “He said two and a half years. It was not two and a half years. I told him it was more often off than on. But I did go with him for nine months. Didn’t have a baby. I was too stupid.”
In the book, Connors admitted that she felt insecure about Presley’s alleged affair with his co-star, which had taken place during filming.
“I’ll never forget how beautiful he was,” said Connors. “I always believed that Ann-Margret was one of the great loves of his life. I’ve always believed that. And I asked him once, but he wouldn’t answer the question of all things.”
For years, Connors wondered if she ever meant anything to Presley, who died in 1977 at age 42. She later approached Joe Esposito, Presley’s right-hand man of The Memphis Mafia.
“I said, ‘Joe, tell me the truth. Did Elvis really care about me?’” said Connors. “He said, ‘Yes Carol, he adored you. He thought you were so pretty.’ In those days, [Presley’s ex-wife] Priscilla and I resembled each other… But I believed him. There was no reason for Joe to tell me that.”
“The key to this whole thing was ‘To Know Him is to Love Him,’” she shared. “He loved my voice, and I loved him. He was my first boyfriend. My very first.”
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When asked if Presley was a good kisser, she chuckled, “What do you think?”
“But I really cared about him,” she said. “He was a gentle soul in those days. He was very sweet, very respectful. We would harmonize together. We had beautiful moments together. We really did.”
“One time, he was telling a joke and everyone laughed, but I didn’t laugh,” said Connors. “He said, ‘Why aren’t you laughing, Carol?’ I said, ‘Because it’s not funny.’ And he said, ‘You know that, and I know that, but they will laugh.’ And they did.”
“The one thing I always remember is when he told me, ‘I know every single note of music that is going on in the back of me when I’m on stage,’” she continued. “’I know all the good notes, the bad notes, what the band is doing, what the girls are singing. I know everything.’ He was a consummate musician, and I adored that about him. I don’t think people truly realized how gifted he was until he passed away.”
Connors said Presley had big dreams of making his mark as an actor in Hollywood. But his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had other plans.
“He was offered the role that Kris Kristofferson did in ‘A Star is Born,’” said Connors about the 1976 film.
“And, from what he told me, Colonel Parker said, ‘My boy ain’t gonna play second fiddle to no Barbra Streisand and end up a drunk.’ They turned it down, and it went to Kris Kristofferson. I believe it would’ve saved Elvis’ life if he had done that film. He wanted to be so respected as an actor. That’s my belief.”
Before being romanced by Presley, Connors was discovered by her classmate – Phil Spector. They were attending the same high school in Los Angeles when he first heard her voice.
“One day he said to me, ‘I love your voice. I’m going to write a song for your voice. Do you have $10?’” said Connors. “I said… ‘I’m not even 17 years of age. I don’t have 10 cents.’ And he said, ‘If you can get together $10, I’m going to write that song, and you can be in our singing group.’”
Connors borrowed $10 from her parents. Spector stayed true to his word. He was 17 when he wrote a romantic ballad that would also be produced by him. It was “To Know Him is to Love Him.” It was inspired by the inscription on his father’s tombstone.
Spector formed the group the Teddy Bears. Connors was their singer. They went on to sell a million records after appearing on “American Bandstand.”
“’To Know Him is to Love Him’ became the number one record in the world,” said Connors. “It was written for my voice. It was the first thing he ever did in his life – the infamous Phil Spector.”
Spector went on to become a sought-after producer. He transformed rock music with his “Wall of Sound” method that merged spirited vocal harmonies with lavish orchestral arrangements.
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But Spector also had a dark side that he could barely contain even at his peak. He was imperious, temperamental and dangerous, remembered bitterly by Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector and others who worked with him.
Years of stories of his waving guns at recording artists in the studio and threatening women would come back to haunt him.
Spector was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 at his castle-like mansion on the edge of Los Angeles. After a trial in 2009, he was sentenced to 19 years to life. He died in 2021 at age 81.
“In the beginning… he was so funny, so brilliant – he was always brilliant,” said Connors. “I never used the word genius. I really don’t. I’m very careful about that word. But I really think he was… Everything for him was like a mini symphony. He and Marshall Leib, the other Teddy Bear, they were my big brothers. They took care of me.”
“I was so innocent,” she continued. “I saw him go from this innocence and sweetness… to all the evil that was [there]… His father committed suicide. His mother ended up in an institution. So did his sister. I think all of that lived inside of him. The more popular he became… the more he became very difficult… He got taken over by, [what] I believe, demons… I think that side of him came out, and he became impossible in many ways.”
Connors went on to continue enjoying success in music. She co-wrote the theme song for “Rocky” titled “Gonna Fly Now.”
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“The line was ‘Gonna Fly Now’ because at that moment in time, [Sylvester Stallone’s character] could go the distance,” she shared. “He could win. He could even fly… And in my mind, it was something that any of us wanted to do in life. We just have to keep believing and dreaming because we can do it. I think that’s the whole essence of ‘Rocky.’ He let us know that we can do it. We just have to do it.”
