Authors: Suzanne Finstad
She was, by all appearances, deeply troubled. Lisa still had a desire to be in show business, to be famous in her own right, and she turned, that year, to Jerry Schilling for guidance. Having decided to become an actress, she enlisted Jerry as her manager.
She wanted, he recalled, to be a star. Jerry went along with it, not so secretly hoping she would switch to singing, which she had flirted with during her Scott Rollins romance and had then abandoned, in Priscilla’s opinion, as a passing phase. “I managed her as an actress,” said Jerry, “but I kept saying, ‘Lisa, you are going to sing.’ And she said, ‘I don’t want to hear about it.’ ” Lisa’s acting career fizzled, going no further than a false press report, in May of 1991, that she would costar with Vanilla Ice in his next movie. She took a few acting lessons and became bored and discouraged because she was not an instant success.
During the summer or early fall of 1992, Jerry Schilling received the green light from Lisa he had been hoping for since she was a child. “She called me from the car phone one day and said, ‘I can sing!’ And I knew what that meant.” Lisa Marie Presley had suddenly decided, for whatever reason, that her voice could be compared to her famous father’s and she was ready to withstand the media scrutiny and aim full-tilt for a recording career. She was, recalled Jerry, “scared and happy, and I liked that.” Jerry Schilling again became Lisa Presley’s manager. “Jerry would tell me,” recalled Brett, “when he was married to Myrna, ‘If only [Lisa] would practice, she would be as good as her father.’ Jerry always wanted to be the manager, I saw that.”
Jerry thought Lisa had a “great” voice, “a cross between Aretha and Bonnie Raitt.” Once Lisa’s decision was made, Jerry took her through “the normal process.” She engaged her husband, Danny, as her producer and began writing songs with him, recalled both Jerry and Brett. Lisa was excited. “We went to the studios and got the musicians,” said Jerry. “When we got there, Aretha was the first thing she did on demo.” Jerry, who had sat in with Elvis on countless recording sessions and regarded him as “the most underrated producer in the world,” considered Lisa to have the same gift. “She’d say, ‘Listen to this; it doesn’t sound right.’ She knew, musically, what was right for her.” Lisa, aware of all the pressure on her, was inhibited, remembered Jerry. The only person she would allow inside the studio—the only one who could get
her
into the studio—was Danny. “Danny started working with her and did a great job. A lot of it was confidence and pulling her along.”
Myrna Smith, who had sung with Lisa when Lisa was a child, spending time with the Sweet Inspirations, sang backup and witnessed Lisa’s nervousness. “She had never sung with a microphone in front of anybody, so … I wasn’t sure how she would
sound.” Myrna also assessed Lisa’s voice as great, “more R&B. Her voice is husky and she can hit high notes, too, and has her own style.”
Jerry sent Lisa’s demo tapes to a large record company “and didn’t tell them who it was. She got three major deals.” Lisa played her demo recording that fall for Priscilla, who was not aware she had been working with Jerry and Danny, “and it’s unbelievable!” recalled Priscilla, still shocked in 1996. “It’s beautiful. Sounds like Aretha Franklin. I was blown away. She’s talented.”
Lisa became pregnant in the process of recording her demos and gave birth to a son named Benjamin in October of 1992, putting a temporary halt to her plans to record. She was also, recalled Myrna, concerned about her lack of experience but too self-conscious to acquire the necessary practice in front of an audience. “I tried to get her to sing at a karaoke bar out of town, where everybody is singing out of tune.” It was too “scary” for Lisa, said Myrna.
Jerry was, by his recollection, finalizing plans to close a record deal for Lisa with Epic when things suddenly shifted course. Unbeknownst to Jerry, Lisa was impatient with the conservative, traditional route he was taking as her manager, representing her as an “upcoming new young talent,” taking the steps he would have followed for any other beginning artist. She phoned Brett Strong “every now and then” throughout the summer of 1992, expressing her dissatisfaction. “That didn’t [set well] with Lisa,” as Brett put it. “She was, ‘Hey, hang on a second! I’m
Elvis Presley’s
daughter!… Separate me from any other young and upcoming singer.’ But she obviously didn’t say that to Jerry.”
Lisa’s phone calls gave rise to an inspiration on Brett’s part. He had become a successful artist, famous for a million-dollar portrait he had painted of Michael Jackson, who had become his personal friend. Brett, the great connector, considered introducing Lisa to Michael. “She had the talent as well as the beauty and the name, so I thought Wow! The sky is the limit. What an image! I had known Michael Jackson for six years or more, and I thought maybe I could introduce Lisa to Michael Jackson. I thought, Hey, the person to get is Michael Jackson, because he’s an artist, instead of dealing with businessmen who would just categorize her and work her way up.” Michael had a new record label, Brett knew, and was looking for exciting, undiscovered talent. Who better than Lisa Marie Presley? “I didn’t discuss this
with anyone,” said Brett. “I just thought about it and went about my business and thought that sometime in the future Lisa would like to have a conversation with Michael. What I could see, Lisa was disenchanted with Jerry’s representation because she didn’t like what the head guy at Sony in New York had told her and what Jerry was telling her about where she had to begin and what she had to do—that she had to crawl before she walked.” Lisa Presley wanted to emerge a full-blown star, and Michael Jackson, Brett believed, could help her.
Several months after the idea occurred to him, Brett telephoned Lisa, who was taking courses at the Scientology center in Clearwater, Florida. He said, “Lisa, if you’re really serious about your career, why don’t I put you in touch with Michael Jackson?… I think you should meet him and play your music and sing for him, and I think he could really encourage and inspire you on a direction you could take.” Brett told her that Michael had his own company, Nation Records, sponsored by Sony, and that he could “really launch her big time.” Lisa was intrigued.
Brett’s next step was to telephone Michael Jackson. “I said, ‘Michael, what would you say if I found talent for you that had the potential to be number one in the world in the recording industry—beautiful girl, great voice, and also a reputation that would be a public relations dream come true?’ and he said, ‘Who … are you talking about?’ So I said, ‘Lisa Presley.’ And he said, ‘What? She can’t sing!’ and I said, ‘She can.’ And then I asked, ‘Have you ever met Lisa?’ and he said no.” The conversation, recalled Brett, was brief, followed by “lots of other conversations about it.” Michael “was amazed at first, and then said, ‘Well, get her to send me a tape.’ ”
At the time, neither Michael nor Lisa recalled their fleeting introduction, backstage, at the Sahara Tahoe when Lisa was six and Michael was sixteen. Myrna Smith, who was with Jerry and Joe Esposito when they took Lisa to that long-ago concert, confirmed this. “Lisa didn’t even remember meeting Michael as a child,” Myrna said. “She asked me, ‘Did I ever meet Michael Jackson?’ and I said, ‘Don’t you remember? We took you to see the Jacksons.’ ”
When Brett told Lisa about his conversation with Michael, she was offended that she should have to send a demo. She told Brett, “Forget it. I’ll play [the tape] for him in person.” Lisa called Brett “constantly” afterward, inquiring about the meeting with
Michael. She told Myrna excitedly that Brett had arranged to have Michael and her get together at his house in Pacific Palisades and for Lisa to play her demo tape. Lisa took her husband, Danny, along to that meeting, and the group gathered in Brett’s living room. “Michael … was blown away by her music,” according to Brett. “She played the tape and was really excited that Michael Jackson was here, and at that point she looked like a fan of his. And he was really tickled to see that she had a lot of potential, but he didn’t think too much more than ‘Wow, Brett is onto something here.’ ” There was, according to Brett, not even the slightest suggestion of anything romantic between Michael and Lisa at that meeting. “Her husband was here.”
Michael carried on with his own career interests after that meeting, but Lisa, recalled Brett, “kept calling me after that. Constantly calling me. And she wanted to get together with Michael more.” Lisa met with Brett a few times to talk about it, remarking that she had “a few things in common with the Jacksons and maybe she should pursue a friendship with Michael.” Brett, still their intermediary, offered to represent Lisa in a business contract with Michael for a recording deal, even though he had an art partnership with Michael and had been his friend for years. Brett worked up some figures and talked to Michael, who arranged for Brett to take Lisa to meet Michael Greenberg, the head of Jackson’s company, Nation Records, in Santa Monica. Lisa brought Danny and her attorney, John Coale. “I didn’t know anything about that business,” said Brett, “but I wanted to make sure that Lisa made a deal at the top level … by saying, ‘Hey, Elvis is the King and she’s the Princess. She’s got the talent. All she needs is Michael to help record at the highest possible level and help her choose the songs and teach her some presence on stage. I was trying to get Michael to … make a deal with Lisa at the top—the deal that the other recording companies were making with Madonna and Barbra Streisand. And he was like ‘Are you crazy? They have proven themselves.’ And I said, ‘No, make the same deal; a deal over a period of time … based on performance as the records sell. And not only will you make the deal with Lisa, you’ll promote the company.’ And I knew that is what Lisa would love, if she was put on a pedestal.”
Lisa was torn. Part of her was in “turmoil,” recalled Brett, for “on her mind was ‘I have my kids,’ and she was in turmoil with her husband and what should she do? If she wanted to be a star, she had to really want to live and breathe that.” Michael
Jackson also advised Lisa similarly: If she wanted to pursue a singing career, she would have to dedicate herself to it. During the coming weeks, Brett found himself the hapless man in the middle, caught between a balking and busy Michael, and an ambivalent yet driven Lisa. Brett made arrangements for Lisa to visit Michael in Japan while he was on tour for
Dangerous
, and tried to facilitate other plans, some of which occurred while others dissipated. Lisa, “in relentless pursuit of Michael Jackson,” began phoning Brett constantly to find out whether the deal would occur. Michael, in Brett’s characterization, was obviously intrigued by the thought of signing Lisa Presley, “but there was more desire on Lisa’s part for something to happen.” Lisa, recalled Brett, finally said to him, “It doesn’t seem like I can make that deal with him, and I don’t want to push him too much.” Brett, who was still hoping to bring them together for a record deal, finally arranged for a representative from Michael’s office to send a formal letter to Lisa stating that Michael was still interested in “keeping things going.” At the same time, Prince also began pursuing Lisa to sign a recording contract.
Lisa celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday with a huge party, planned by Priscilla, at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Prince was among the guests, along with a sprinkling of celebrity Scientologists such as Kirstie Alley, Nicole Kidman, and Juliette Lewis, as well as the Espositos. Lisa invited Michael Jackson as her special guest, “and he would have loved to have gone,” said Brett, “but he had other things.” Brett suggested to Michael he should at least send Lisa a birthday gift, “so he told me, ‘Well, you get it!’ ” Brett selected, as Michael Jackson’s gift to Lisa, an art book on Michelangelo and a silver picture frame, in which he placed a photograph of Michael and Lisa’s original meeting in his living room. Brett, attempting to be gallant in Michael’s behalf, wrote sweet birthday inscriptions in the art book and on the birthday card, making them appear to be from Michael. “I was just trying to be a good friend for him,” said Brett. “I went to the party with my son Jason, and when I got there, Lisa was like ‘Oh! Where’s Michael? I hope it’s all right that Prince is here.’ I said, ‘[Michael] just couldn’t make it, but here is a gift from him.’ And I didn’t say anything [else].” Lisa, recalled Brett, latched on to the gifts excitedly and immediately opened them to “check them out.”
He later figured out, said Brett, that he had inadvertently played matchmaker to Michael and Lisa by buying the birthday
gifts, for Lisa, seeing the card and the inscription in the art book, both of which she believed to have been written by Michael, misinterpreted Brett’s affectionate words as an indication that
Michael Jackson
had feelings for her. “I wasn’t trying to bring two people together to get married. I look back on it now as a sign that [she was thinking], Wow! He really cares about me. And she secretly wanted a relationship with him, because I always talked about him as a passionate man [who was] extremely loving … and that attracted Lisa, that loving part, and loving children.” Lisa never knew Brett wrote the birthday card and signed her book. “I can’t recall what I wrote exactly in the book or card,” said Brett, “but that might have been something she read over and over again and thought, Jeez!” Afterward “Lisa kept calling me, and eventually, after the many calls and pursuits and my little bit of fairy dust that I sprinkled around the place, hey, those guys [got] together, and I thought, ‘Maybe they’ll record something.’ And I remember Lisa saying, ‘Brett, what do you want out of this?’ and Michael Jackson asked me the same thing, and I thought, ‘Boy, there must be something happening here.’ I told Lisa, ‘You can give me whatever you think is fair,’ and I told Michael the same thing. I thought up the idea and executed it, and I stayed on top of it. And any other businessperson would be claiming something, but since I am an artist, I told them, ‘If you do record something, give me a job at art direction instead of hiring somebody else.’ So we didn’t think anything else or more about that other than that it was going to happen.”
In late February, a few weeks after her twenty-fifth birthday, Jerry Schilling received a mysterious phone call from Lisa. “Something is going on,” she told Jerry, “but I can’t tell you what. And it has nothing to do with you, but I’m not going to continue with this record contract right now.” Lisa told him, said Jerry, that she was busy with her new baby and wanted to put the Epic deal on hold. Jerry, who had no idea Lisa had even met Michael Jackson, simply said fine and puzzled over what might be happening in Lisa’s life.