One of my favorite parts of the Elvis Presley legend is his Hollywood period. The King spent most of the ’60s ensconced in his Beverly Hills hideaway with his court jesters, the hometown chums who were known as the Memphis Mafia. They were the witnesses when the King summoned the Beatles for a jam session Heaven knows what else they witnessed–and so does Sonny West, Elvis’ chief bodyguard for 16 years,

Sonny West was the co-author of “Elivs: What Happened?” the tell-all book that was written while Presley was still alive. West said he wrote it to confront Presley about his drug habit. But it was too late to save him. Here’s an excerpt from the infamous press conference where Sonny pleaded with Presley to get help:

West has written a second book called “Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business” to present a more balanced picture of his longtime friend. West will be appearing this weekend with one of the best Elvis “tribute artists” around–Tom Christopher and the TCB band. Christopher is an actor and singer whom I saw at the Elvis Week festivities in Memphis last year. Only after I filmed his uncanny recreation of ‘68 comeback special did I learned that Christopher was from St. Louis. His guitarist–and father–is Morgan Hatch, who was the host of “Dialing for Dollars” and “Bowling for Dollars” on St. Louis TV in the ’70s.

So if you want to see the closest thing to Elvis, you can choose from his bodyguard and his lookalike. The shows are at 7 p.m. Friday at the Florrisant Elks Lodge, 16400 New Halls Ferry Road; and 7 p.m. Saturday at Affton Elks Lodge, 6330 Heege Road. Tickets are $25, and some of proceeds go to Elvis’ favorite charity, the St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis. Call 314-223-9391 or visit www.tomchristopherband.com for tickets.