George Klein Remembered

On February 5, famous disc jockey George Klein passed away at the age of 83 in his hometown of Memphis. George was a well-known media personality, but most people remember him as Elvis Presley's best friend. George and Elvis attended Humes High School together in the early 1950s and became instant friends when they first met. After graduation, George worked as a DJ at the WHBQ radio station in Memphis (the same station where Dewey Phillips played Elvis' first recording, That's Alright Mama, when it was hot off the presses).

George convinced the station manager to let him play this new style of music everyone in Memphis loved called "Rockabilly" (a combination of country and rock-n-roll). George was one of the first disc jockeys to broadcast rockabilly over the airwaves (Alan Freed and Dewey Phillips had George beat by a few years).

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