"(Elvis) had wanted to record it and I had been invited to come down to the studio to hear him and it was a couple of days before and Colonel Tom Parker – who was (Presley's) manager at the time – called and said 'Now you know Elvis don't record anything unless we get half the publishing'..."And I said 'well this has already been a hit for me and this is in my publishing company and I can't give you half of it', and he said 'well then we can't do it.'" "And I said well, 'I am really sorry to hear that because I already told everybody Elvis was doing my song' but I thought you know, I can't do it. And I didn't. So I thought: 'Well, it was just one of those first really hard business decisions I had to make.'"
That song, "I Will Always Love You," made Dolly zillions when Whitney Houston covers it for "The Bodyguard."
wow...dolly comes across as ditzy but she really is a smart business woman. Hard to turn down Elvis singing your song.
Jerry Reed didn’t fold on publishing rights when Elvis did one of his songs.
Story starts about 1/3 way down the page.