London: Elvis Presley, the undisputed `King of Rock and Roll`, was a womaniser who was obsessed with teenage girls and had a penchant for those who looked like his mother, a new book has claimed.

According to the book, `Baby, Let`s Play House: Elvis Presley and the Women who Loved Him`, the American icon, who rose from humble circumstances to launch the rock and roll revolution with his versatile voice, wasn`t quite a gentleman.

"Since his arrival in Germany, the sheer volume of women with whom he`d had some kind of relationship, whether sexual or emotional, bordered on the pathological," says the

book, authored by Alanna Nash.

"In Germany Elvis was fascinated with the idea of real young teenage girls, which scared the crap out of all of us. There was at least one affair with a 15-year-old and a 23-year

-old he met was deemed `too old`," his friend Lamar Fike says.

In fact, on the evening that Currie Grant, a former airman who had been friends with Elvis, introduced Priscilla Beaulieu to the 24-year-old rock star, then doing his military service in Germany, it was immediately apparent the singer was enchanted with the schoolgirl who later became his wife, `The Sunday Times` reported.

"Indeed, Grant found him kissing her against a wall. By 8.30 PM, according to several people in the house, Elvis had taken her up to his bedroom. They did not emerge until

after 1 AM," the author says.

At the time, Elvis was still in grief after the death of his mother Gladys to whom he was exceptionally close.

"He was attracted to women who reminded him of his mother, as Priscilla did with (her) dark hair and beautiful eyes," Elvis` another friend, Joe Esposito, who was there when

the couple met, was quoted as saying.

According to Nash, Elvis` "rampant sexual conquests" were emotional selfsabotage linked to his continued grief for his mother.

"He never seemed to learn from his mistakes, which remained unexamined as he moved on immediately to the next woman, just as he went from doctor to doctor for another

supply of pills without investigating ways to quell his urges or take control of his life," he says in her book.

PTI