Elvis Nearly Blew His Dad’s Head Off in a ‘Fireworks War’ Gone Wrong

Elvis Presley’s dad, Vernon, was his son’s close confidante for years, dealing with the singer’s excessive spending, constantly present entourage, and childlike sense of fun. The last of these could have seriously injured Vernon. Each year, Elvis and his entourage had fireworks wars. Without realizing it, Vernon stepped into the middle of one. 

Elvis could have hurt his dad with explosives

Each New Year’s Eve and Fourth of July, Elvis bought fireworks to set off at Graceland. Typically, he and his entourage would fire them at each other as if in battle. Elvis bought many supplies for these “fireworks wars,” including small explosive pellets that, unfortunately, looked a lot like M&Ms. 

“They were things that you threw on the ground and they would explode. Or you would put them under someone’s feet, and when they stamped on them, they would explode,” bodyguard Red West recalled in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. “Well anyway, Vernon comes into the kitchen, and there is a little bowl of these things sitting on the table.”

Thinking the pellets were candy, Vernon popped them into his mouth in the middle of a sentence. They exploded inside his mouth.

“He was making some serious point, and he threw them in his mouth, thinking they were candies. Well, man, you should have seen it,” bodyguard Sonny West said. “He chomped down on these little bitty things, and they exploded in his mouth. Man, the look on his face. He didn’t know what was happening to him. First this explosion inside his head, and there is smoke boiling out of his mouth. He could not speak; his lips had been numbed by the shock, and he still doesn’t know what he did wrong to deserve all this.”

Vernon tried to get someone else to do the same thing

Somehow, Vernon was not hurt in any way. After the initial shock, he began to laugh along with the rest of the room.

“When we found out he wasn’t hurt bad, just in shock, we died laughing. I mean, right to this day when I picture that scene I nearly collapse,” Sonny said. “Vernon used to tell that story and when he told it, it was even funnier.”

Afterward, Vernon stood by the bowl, hoping another unsuspecting victim would reach for a handful of “candy.”

“You know, that night he stood next to that bowl the entire evening trying to get someone else to fall for it, but nobody did.”

Elvis’ dad was worried about the financial impact of these antics

While Vernon found this incident funny, at least after smoke stopped blowing out of his mouth, he typically cringed at Elvis’ antics. They were often expensive, and Elvis left Vernon to deal with the bill.

“He would just gasp with horror at our antics but Elvis was just having fun,” Red West said. “Whatever would happen, he would say, ‘Give Daddy the bill,’ and there would be poor old Vernon going white. Old Vernon can be pretty tight with a buck, whereas Elvis just never thought about the price of anything.”

Unfortunately for Vernon, Elvis and his entourage never took his financial concerns seriously. They just laughed at his horror.

“It was hilarious to see Vernon clap his hands to his head when he saw the spending and the damage and the waste and say, ‘Oh, Lordie,’” Red said. “He could be a very funny dude without trying.”