Palm Springs concert promoter with ties to Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson dies at 74

Greg McDonald, a Palm Springs resident whose chance encounter with Elvis Presley started his journey from the air conditioning business to life as a prominent entertainment promoter, died Friday at Eisenhower Health after a brief battle with cancer. He was 74.

McDonald met Presley in 1965 while servicing the air conditioner in the Jack Warner Estate in the Old Las Palmas neighborhood. He then befriended the rock ‘n’ roll legend and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

In November, McDonald and journalist Marshall Terrill released the book “Elvis and the Colonel: An Insider’s Look at the Most Legendary Partnership in Show Business" in hopes of rehabilitating Parker's infamous reputation, which was portrayed in the 2022 film "Elvis" starring Tom Hanks as Parker and Austin Butler as Presley.

“I always called my dad ‘The Lost Tapes’ because he was the only one left out of the Colonel’s inner circle,” said his son Tom McDonald. “Everybody who was in the Colonel Parker side of things, which includes a lot of people in Elvis’ inner circle, didn’t know a lot of the surroundings of the actual business and still don’t to this day.”

According to Tom McDonald, his father and Presley bonded over a mutual love of gospel music and Parker took him under his wing as a protégé.

“Colonel Parker was at the hospital when I was born and named, and I’m (named) Thomas Andrew after him. He’s essentially sort of another grandfather of mine, and we were family until Colonel Parker died in the ‘90s,” said Tom McDonald.

He managed Rick Nelson and was a local concert promoter

In the late 1960s or early '70s, singer and actor Rick Nelson — also known by the name he'd used earlier, "Ricky"— went to Parker to ask the honorary colonel to manage him. Parker said he could only manage Elvis, but he recommended McDonald instead, who managed Nelson until he died in 1985.

McDonald had also begun launching entertainment ventures in the Coachella Valley. He launched the Palm Springs Grand Prix, purchased prominent local real estate properties such as Presley's Chino Canyon Drive home, and owned and operated a recording and television studio in the city where “The Morton Downey Jr. Show” was filmed.

Prior to local casinos adding entertainment venues, McDonald was a local concert promoter who brought prominent acts such as The Eagles and Jackson Browne to perform in the area and hosted New Year’s Eve concerts at the Palm Springs Convention Center featuring Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.

“Before (Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival promoter) Goldenvoice was here, he was the concert promoter in this town. He had The Judds, and he did a big concert with Merle Haggard and Chuck Berry for the Palm Springs Police Department. He was also Sonny Bono’s campaign manager for mayoral and congressional elections, and my sister worked for (Bono) while he was in the U.S. Congress as well,” Tom McDonald said.

The family moved to Orlando, where the elder McDonald was president of Transcontinental Records, known for acts such as the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, LFO and produced the ABC/MTV show “Making the Band.” But McDonald left the company before his partner, Lou Pearlman, was arrested in 2007 and later convicted for operating a Ponzi scheme.

“We ended up driving back to Palm Springs and Dad had a talent booking agency for all sorts of corporate events that came to town, such as Huey Lewis and the News or Chicago,” said Tom McDonald.

McDonald is survived by his wife Sherri McDonald, children Tom McDonald and twin sister Suzie and six grandchildren. His son, Gregory McDonald Jr., preceded him in death in 2020.

Details of memorial services and a celebration of life are yet to be announced.

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs promoter with ties to Elvis and Ricky Nelson dies at 74