JOE ESPOSITO “Diamond Joe”
By De Tupelo a Memphis https://www.detupeloamemphis.com/
Joe Esposito met Elvis while doing military service. Joe was from Chicago and an accountant by profession, he was a very intelligent man with a great capacity to perform many functions, he was very versatile. Joe Esposito and Elvis were assigned to Ray Barracks, it was a United States Army installation in Friedberg, Germany, they met in October 1958. As colleagues they shared many tasks and regular moments and would go out on occasion. He was very surprised that Joe suggested that he keep receipts for expenses, meals, etc. He told him that he could deduct them from his income tax. No one had explained this to him, no one had ever given him financial advice, and this made him think of him as a counselor.
Elvis perceived him as a very intelligent and sincere person, so he asked him to work for him, as a finance clerk. From then on, Joe would start working for Elvis and become a member of his usual group, his entourage, which at that time was still a very small group. Over time he nicknamed him “Diamond Joe“, Elvis always gave his friends nicknames and Joe was called that, because of the penchant he later developed for jewelry.
In 1960 when they returned to the US, Joe was happy to work for Elvis, He would also become a foreman, a road manager, making sure that the rest of the group did not cross the line. Elvis’s father, Vernon was the one who had taken care of the finances of the Elvis house until then and trusted Joe to help him and control the receipts etc. Joe also worked as an extra in the Elvis movies, at least in eight, and he was also recognized as a technical advisor in several more.
In the early sixties, Joe lived in the garage apartment at Graceland when he was in Memphis. In August 1964, there was a misunderstanding between the two, after Elvis discovered that Joe was communicating with the colonel behind his back. He considered him a sneak, because Joe informed the Colonel of everything he did then, it was a somewhat difficult time, because Elvis took refuge in spirituality, reading books, changing habits and this worried everyone a lot, so the Colonel demanded to know everything that was going on. Elvis logically took it as a violation of his privacy, a lack of trust and loyalty from him, so he fired Joe.
But despite everything, they became such friends that Elvis would have him again in his group as co-foreman, with Marty Lacker. Even at his wedding with Priscilla, on May 1, 1967, Joe and Marty would be the co-best men. Like Elvis, Joe’s character was also that of a prankster and it was very common for one to end the other’s joke… there was a lot of complicity between them. He would be Road manager on Elvis’ return to the stage, from 1969 and on concert tours. On many occasions he shared very intimate moments with Elvis and Priscilla, his wife, because his wife Joanie was also a friend of Priscilla and they would go out many times. Elvis always trusted him, despite information getting out of hand at times. The only excuse Joe would make was concern for him. He would remain his friend and servant until Elvis’s passing.
“Following the Path of the King…”
Photo info:
#1: Elvis leaving his hotel in Troy, MI on April 26, 1977 – with David Stanley and Joe Esposito.
#2: Joe Esposito with Elvis at the Memphis airport on March 18, 1974.
#3: Joe Esposito with Elvis as he enters the stage in Charlotte, NC on February 20, 1977.
#4: Joe Esposito and Elvis, Tulsa 1972.
#5: Elvis being rushed off stage by road manager, Joe Esposito, College Park, Maryland. September 28, 1974.
#6: Elvis heading to the stage to perform before 7,000 fans in Fayetteville, North Carolina on August 4, 1976, with Joe Esposito.
#7: Elvis and Joe Esposito on the set of Change of Habit.
#8: Joe Esposito and Elvis in LA Spring 1967.
#9: April 20, 1960. Elvis, Charlie Hodge and Joe Esposito are pictured aboard a train heading to Hollywood to film his first post-army movie G.I. Blues.
#10: Whilst in LA in 1966 Elvis bought right hand man Joe Esposito a maroon Cadillac convertible.
#11: Elvis and Joe Esposito at Graceland on his Harley Davidson Golf Kart, June 1970.
#12: Elvis and Joe Esposito (with crew members) between takes on the set of EASY COME, EASY GO, fall of 1966.
#13: Elvis during the making of the 68 Comeback Special, with Joe Esposito.
#14: Elvis and Joe Esposito on a tandem-bike riding around MGM Studios, July 1970.
#15: Elvis on his way to the Dayton stadium for his evening show on October 6, 1974. Here in his limo with Joe Esposito.
#16: Elvis, Cliff Gleaves and Joe Esposito leaving Paris 1960.
#17: Elvis Presley and Joe Esposito in 1960, having fun with the bumper cars at the Memphis Fairgrounds Amusement Park.
#18: Elvis with Joe Esposito on the set of Double Trouble.
#19: Elvis and Ginger enjoying his last holidays in Hawaii, March 1977, with Joe Esposito and his girlfriend Shirley Dieu.
#20: -Joe Esposito has bit parts in a lot of Elvis movies. Here he plays a guy repossessing Elvis’ car, and he has one line of dialog. ‘Stay Away Joe’.
Article provided by De Tupelo a Memphis https://www.detupeloamemphis.com/
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