King Of The Hill—Elvis Presley
Since opening to the public in 1982, the iconic attraction at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard has been experienced by over 19 million visitors. No other performer’s impact comes close to that of Elvis. The man has sold over one billion record units globally, after all—some 250 million before his untimely death in 1977.
Rewind to 1957, and the sweet early years of success. Having catapulted out of his Tupelo shack and ensuing housing project, the Presleys were already happily ensconced in Elvis’ first bought property of 1034 Audubon Drive, East Memphis.
However, as ardent fans were unsettling his refined neighbours. Elvis instructed his parents to go Tarmhouse-hunting’. Gladys and Vernon found Graceland, an elegant, 18-room Tennessee limestone building. In Southern circles, its porch alone was a status symbol. Located in Whitehaven, then well beyond Memphis’ urban sprawl, this fine pile was set in nearly 14 acres of land, a countrified retreat before the creep of ’60s suburbia.
Once part of a 500-acre farm that had been in the family of newspaper magnate SE Toof’s family for generations, the name honoured a female relative, Grace. In 1939, Grace’s niece Ruth Brown Moore and her husband Dr Thomas Moore built the mansion. The home was filled with music; the Moore’s daughter Ruth Marie, later a harpist with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, gave classical recitals in the front room. The music would echo on—albeit in a livelier vein—with Elvis in residence.
Sometimes used by a nearby church for services before becoming a party place for local kids, Graceland was in some disrepair. Yet, one look and Elvis was hooked, buying the $102,500 property with a $1,000 deposit before selling up Audubon. He had gone from dirt-poor kid to musical king of the hill, and to the crowds Graceland was a sign that Elvis had fulfilled the American dream. To Elvis, it was a fulfilment of his own promise to his parents: since childhood, he’d told them that one day he’d have money, buy the best house in town for them, so they wouldn’t have to scrape and struggle to get by. Spending nearly as much on its revamp and décor as Graceland had cost, Elvis set his style stamp and spent lavishly on his new home from the start.
Elvis spent $850,000 buying and renovating the Convair 800 jet he named Lisa Marie.
One of his first purchases, set into the eight-foot wall now graffiti- clad by fans, came the famous music motif iron gates, costing $1,752. They would become a meeting place for his fans. On Elvis’ homecoming trips back from filming or touring, he would stop to sign autographs. When in residence and riding round the grounds, he would come to the gates on his favourite horse, Rising Sun.
A kidney-shaped pool costing $8,000, fitted with a brick barbecue pit and weather-protected jukebox, was much used. A basement den complete with movie projector and ice-cream bar quickly followed. Elvis directed his Sun mentor Sam Phillips’ decorator to redesign the interior, while Gladys was given free rein on the main colour scheme and soft furnishings—and was allowed to keep her chickens. With Elvis joining them 10 days later, following completion of Jailhouse Rock in LA, the Presleys moved in on 16 June 1957. Tragically, Gladys had just a year to relax at Graceland; she died in August 1958. It meant that Elvis only got to enjoy his favourite occasion, Christmas, one time in his new home with both parents.
The living room in Graceland now looks exactly as it did in the period from the late ’60s, to the early ’70s.
Despite the shadow cast by his mother’s death, for Elvis—who had other residences in LA and Palm Springs—Graceland would be his ‘forever’ home, from the age of 22 to 42. As he said early on to a reporter: “I have no plans for leaving Memphis. I am going to keep Graceland as long as I possibly can.”
During the immediate years of his mother’s loss, away from home for the first time as a GI in Germany, he dreaded coming back to find Graceland empty of Gladys—but by 1960, his army days over, Elvis did return with a vengeance to fill the vacuum. Family members from Elvis’ paternal grandmother Minnie Mae, to the Elvis entourage, the ‘Memphis Mafia’, had always been around—and variously lived on-site—to keep his folks company and upkeep the mansion. Additional staff included long-serving maids, cooks, gardeners, plus electricians, yardmen and security operatives.
Though painted red in the early ’70s, for most of Elvis’ time the dining room was decked out in white, blue and gold.
Now Elvis insisted on being surrounded with dozens of guests at a time, partying into the early hours. He was lonely, but not alone. Also in 1960, Elvis accepted the fact that his father had found a new partner, mother-of-three Dee Stanley, and graciously agreed to convert the four-car garage into their family apartment. (Elvis ensured he became sole owner of Graceland, having got his father to sign a quit claim). Despite moving out to live nearby with his new family, Vernon came to work everyday in the outhouse office next to the carport, the scene of Elvis’ famous post-Army press conference. By Christmas 1962, Elvis had a new love of his own, Priscilla Beaulieu, who moved in the following year, before finally settling into married life from ’67 to ’73. With their only child, Lisa Marie, born in ’68, for a while at least, Elvis’ joy off-duty in Graceland seemed complete.
The TV room—Elvis had up to 14 TV sets around the house, plus a rejection room.
By superstar standards Graceland was modest in size, but in style it was ‘very Elvis’: bold and ahead of its time. When it came to mod cons, Elvis liked to be first—whether with an early prototype of a microwave cooker, a remote control TV, or a digital watch. He liked to buy and to redecorate often, which frequently entailed new furniture. Elvis didn’t ‘get’ antiques, as they reminded him of having to ‘make do’ when growing up. That said, he kept everything—creating, by the end of his life, a veritable hangar’s worth, all preserved for posterity and his fans.
Elvis’ white and blue Rainfall suit, first worn in 1975
Happily, today’s Graceland visitor experience does not feel like an intrusion on Presley family privacy. As acting gatekeeper, Elvis’ Uncle Vester kickstarted the ‘tour’ template early on, by sometimes allowing fans into the grounds—apparently on Elvis’ say-so, when Elvis wasn’t around. Elvis books largely agree that like Elvis, the Graceland staff never discouraged or encouraged fan activity on-site; they just let it happen. Though Priscilla decided to open up the house, Elvis himself had mentioned opening up the Trophy Room to the public ‘so they could see what they had made possible for him’. Though some fans are divided as to whether Elvis should be so commercially capitalised on, controlled licensing—with daughter Lisa Marie remaining at the helm—would seem to be better than none. It was also agreed that when Graceland opened to the public, things should be left as much as possible as they were.
On entering the threshold, the chandeliered staircase bridging the foyer and upstairs seems to signify Elvis’ dual approach to running his home. By all accounts, it was a laughter-filled, lived-in home—if more fraternity in feel than marital. With the main floor busy with staff, family and entourage, the second floor was Elvis’ personal refuge. His daughter Lisa’s wishes to maintain her father’s privacy here is still respected; it’s never part of the public tour, and photos are off-limits. Elvis remodelled upstairs to comprise his master bedroom, wardrobe room and personal office, Lisa’s bedroom, and Priscilla’s dressing room. An upstairs hall was walled with a door for extra quiet, along with a hidden stairwell. Anne Nixon, a writer for the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain, was once allowed access into this hallowed area, and noticed the number of fans’ gifts Elvis stored here.
From the main door looking right, the living room has been restored to its late ’60s to early ’70s heyday, representing the look long associated with Elvis. Constant fixtures include the guest-friendly 15-foot custom-made couch, the 10-foot coffee table, end tables and lamps. A shoes-off policy for employees came into being when the room was carpeted in cream. The stained glass partition features a striking motif of two peacocks (which to Elvis represented eternal life). At one point, he owned a pair of peacocks, given to Memphis zoo after pecking away at his Cadillac. Other pets included Chatter the monkey and various dogs, from Great Danes to a favourite chow, Gitlow. On one occasion, when the chow was ailing, Elvis flew it to Boston for surgery, on his Hound Dog II jet!
In the adjoining music room, a piano was always priority—from ’57 to the mid-’60s a white Knabe baby grand, then Priscilla’s gift of nine-foot, gold-leafed Kimball grand, before the present black Story & Clark baby grand. When not tinkling the ivories and singing to himself, Elvis enjoyed gospel and R&B singalong sessions (friend Jerry Schilling spoke of Elvis’ stunning rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone, and thought his piano playing even better than his guitar work). The doorway became a quirky space for someone to hold a board for Elvis to perform a running karate kick, while karate demos were often held in the foyer. Sadly, it was also in this front area that Elvis’ funeral service was held.
On the left, a chandeliered dining room was where Elvis and up to 12 people would regularly gather for Southern home-cooked dinner round an eight-foot table. Its other use was for playing games of low-to-no-stakes poker. Meals were cooked to order 24/7 for all and sundry, with Elvis placing an order over the intercom and often eating from a tray taken to his upstairs suite. Elvis was generous to a fault, from charity-giving to buying for strangers and staff.
He especially bonded with kitchen staff and housekeepers, expressing his appreciation with gifts such as jewellery and cars. Acting as staff HQ, the kitchen was supervised daily by Elvis’ resident Aunt Delta. As the last remaining Presley at Graceland, she chose to remain on site with the kitchen and a bedroom as her quarters. The ’50s metal-clad kitchen into ’70s brown wood scheme was only added to the public tour in 1995 after her death two years earlier.
In the days before satellite TV and PCs, tech-keen Elvis created a state-of-the-art entertainment room in his basement. By the ’70s, he had up to 14 TV sets round the house, but here he installed a triple TV wall. It was likely an imitation of US president Lyndon Johnson’s idea, to enable all (then) three network programmes at once. Though Elvis would hire out local cinemas, at home he had a projection room and would tune in to sport, variety shows, talk shows and comedies (on occasion, he was said to have shot the TV when he didn’t like a particular artist).
The room was decked out in sunshine yellow and dark navy, beneath a mirrored ceiling, and completed with a corner bar, largely for others’ benefit; Elvis was not really a drinker himself. In addition, a stereo system and built-in radio/home jukebox with extensive record collection (now in archival storage) blasted his favourite sounds—mostly R&B, gospel, pop, rock ’n’ roll, country, and classical; jazz was the genre least represented, Gold records once hung here, but in the late ’60s they were transplanted to the new trophy room wing.
Equally exotically, showcasing a beloved table dating from 1960, comes the pool room. Yards of print fabric the colour of billiard balls pleat the ceiling, line the walls and cover the settees. The table is notable for a tear in the felt from a mishandled trick shot by an Elvis friend; whereas the one at his Bel-Air mansion famously featured a pool game between Elvis and the Beatles during their legendary, one-off meeting (displayed—along with an incredible array of Presleyana—at the Elvis At The 02 exhibition in London).
The most notorious room of all has to be The den’—now known worldwide as the ‘jungle room’. Added as a rear extension to the house in the ’60s, it became Elvis’ favourite hangout. With a full-wall waterfall installed from ’65, the crazy-carved Polynesian furniture reminded Elvis of happy memories holidaying, filming and performing in Hawaii. The floor-to-ceiling green shag piling proved invaluable acoustically; when ill-health prevented Elvis recording in Nashville, it was twice transformed into a makeshift studio in 1976.
Elvis’ trophy building, created to display the awards that acted as a measure of how far he’d come, was a source of pride. One of Elvis’ proudest achievements, he said, came in 1970, on receiving the prestigious ‘Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation’ award. Interestingly, one special exhibit here Elvis did not much care for is his famous gold suit from 1957. It was chosen by manager Colonel Parker for publicity, and Elvis reportedly found it hot, uncomfortable and over the top.
In the Hall of Gold, from first gold record award for Heartbreak Hotel, over 150 different albums and singles have been certified gold, platinum or multiplatinum. As Graceland’s Official Elvis Guidebook states, ‘It is estimated that Elvis has sold over one billion records worldwide—more than any other artist’. A recently added wall of foreign record awards recognises that 40 per cent of this is estimated as sales outside of the US.
The display of record awards continues into the racquetball building. This two-tiered space with lower lounge area and upright piano plus upper workout area with pinball machine is where Elvis was to spend his last night. Nearby lies the landscaped meditation garden, commissioned in 1965. Inspired by Elvis’ interest in spiritual matters, it was intended as his own tranquil retreat. Elvis is not known to have expressed a desire to designate this area as his final resting place. His father was given special permission in October ’77, for security reasons, to relocate the bodies of Elvis and his mother from nearby Forest Hill Cemetery. The garden is the scene of the famous fan-established practice of ‘paying respects’, which grew into the cultural phenomenon of the ‘candlelit vigil’ during August Elvis Week. As Priscilla once presciently remarked, ‘Elvis belonged to the world’.
Graceland can be viewed as a celebration of the legend’s life. As author Chet Flippo says in his book The Living Legacy of Elvis Presley, “Graceland was a stage for Elvis’ life representing a value missing in pop culture: a Southern superstar who stayed home. It’s still possible to get close to Elvis via his recorded performances and secondly, by visiting Graceland, the private world of the most famous and influential person in entertainment history, the home of a dear old friend.” The spirit of Elvis, it seems, has not left the building.
It is a quote. VINTAGE ROCK PRESENTS – ELVIS COLLECTORS EDITION 2015
