A clearly starstruck Cooper described how The King still retained his powerful charisma and superstar aura.

He said: “When he came in the room he was Elvis. He wasn’t the fat Elvis, he was… Elvis. He was the guy.

“He goes, ‘Hey man, you’re the cat with the snake ain’t you? That’s cool, man I wish I would have thought of that. That’s cool man. Hey, I want to show you something.’

“We go in the kitchen and he opens a drawer and takes out a loaded ’38, a snub-nosed ’38.

“Puts in my hand and he says, ‘I’m going to show you how to take this gun out of somebody’s hand.’”