loyal human being. And I mean, he'd get in the trench with you if he were your friend. Larry King: What did that group around him, he needed them? All these guys. Linda Thompson: Yeah. He needed them and they needed him, absolutely. And they were loyal to him for many, many years. And they loved Elvis. And they had a great camaraderie and a boyish kind of antic, you know, went on all the time when they were together. They used to set off fireworks. Larry King: Were they friends from childhood? Linda Thompson: Some of them were. Red West , he were friends from childhood. Red defended him in a near bathroom brawl where some guys -- some bullies came in and were going to cut Elvis' hair and beat him up. And Red defended him. Larry King: How did they get that close to him? Linda Thompson: Well, this was early on. This was in his high school days. This was before he was Elvis Presley on the marquis. Larry King: He almost shot you once? Linda Thompson: Well, accidents happen. No. He was a gun aficionado, and he had a collection of guns always around him. And we were in the Las Vegas Hilton and he was just lying down across the sofa and there was this big bullseye that they used to promote his concerts. And he just decided he would try to hit the bullseye, and he was a good marksman, so he did.