Simon Boyle at the UK-based Mirror recently caught up with shock rock legend ALICE COOPER for a look back at his colourful career. An excerpt from the story is available below:

Hellraiser Alice Cooper loved to outrage gig goers with mock impalings and beheadings but his meeting with Elvis Presley nearly became a real horror story.

Alice and the King were in the same Las Vegas hotel when they had their astonishing encounter.

Alice says: “He had the penthouse – this was when he was at the top of his game. I had always been a fan as a kid, so I jumped at the chance to go upstairs and meet him. When I got to the lift I found it was me, Liza Minnelli and the porn actress Linda Lovelace.”

Arriving at Presley’s suite, the unlikely group were frisked for guns by the King’s security team.

“I don’t know why they bothered – when we got inside the place was full of guns,” Alice recalls.

“Elvis took me into the kitchen, opened a drawer, and pulled out a loaded pistol, telling me to put it to his head. I recognised it straight away, a snub .32. I didn’t know what to do.

“I had this gun in my hand and was expecting one of his security to come in any second, see me holding a weapon and shoot me dead.

“A little voice in my left ear was telling me, ‘Go on, this is history, kill him, you’ll always be the guy who killed Elvis’. In my other ear was another voice saying, ‘You can’t kill him, it’s Elvis Presley – wound him instead, you’ll only get a few years!’.

“A fraction of a second later Elvis did a flying kick on the gun, and sent it flying, before tripping me and pinning me to the ground by my neck, announcing, ‘that’s how you stop a man with a gun’.”

The amazing 1971 meeting is just one episode from a remarkable life that has seen Alice match hellraisers The Who’s Keith Moon and The Doors’ Jim Morrison drink for drink (he survived, they didn’t) and date some of the world’s most beautiful women, including Raquel Welch.

He also infuriated morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse so much she tried to have him barred from Britain.

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A video unveiling and examining the contents of the Alice Cooper Old-School box set has been posted online. Watch the video below:

The original Alice Cooper Group box set is housed in a commemorative 12 inch square "school desk" box and includes:

4 CDs from the years 1964-1974:

Disc 1: Demos, rarities, live, and advertisements

Disc 2: Demos from Muscle Of Love, a pre-production of songs from School's Out, 1973 Madison Square Garden live track, and advertisements.

Disc 3: Spoken word

Disc 4: Live show of the 1971 Killer tour in St. Louis DVD (single disc in Amaray case) with 3 never before seen features (over 2 hours)

64 page, full-color yearbook style book with hard front & back cover: Period pictures of all band members, many never before seen. Book written by Lonn Friend, a well-known heavy metal journalist.

Gatefold folder containing:

* 2 tour programs

* Ticket stubs

* Set list

* 5 prints

* Bootleg Vinyl: 1971 Killer live show in St. Louis

* 7 inch vinyl: songs 'Wonder Whose Lovin' Her Now' and 'Lay Down & Die, Goodbye' from The Nazz

* Immediate download of the 'Elected' music video (AliceCooper.com Exclusive) - available as a M4V or MOV download as soon as you complete the pre-order transaction. Price: $260.00.

In the clip below, Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin talks about what went into putting the Old School box set together. This is an excerpt from his intro to the DVD included in the box set.

Check out a trailer for the box set below: