Graceland & a Tale of Two Elvises, Part 1

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Suggested Listening for this Entry: "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog" and "Crying In the Chapel" by Elvis Presley.

Suggested Food and Drink for this Entry: To eat, a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. To drink, anything you think would help you wash down such a nasty sandwich.

Unless you were born on the moon, you know the Legend of Elvis Presley….a poor white kid who was born in Mississippi, and spent his teen years in Memphis, combines elements of blues, country and gospel to invent rock and roll. His career explodes in the mid-1950’s, was all but over in the late 1960’s before a comeback brings him back into the public eye allowing for him to become a caricature of himself in the 1970s prior to his death at age 42 in 1977.

There is no possible way I could tell the entire true story of Elvis over the span of a couple of blog entries. (Besides, the definitive Elvis biography took two books. More on that later.) And, there is no need for me to retell the Legend of Elvis. Instead, I’ll tell the tale of two Elvises, the one who moved into Graceland in 1957 and the one who died there twenty years later in 1977.

Elvis purchased Graceland in the spring of 1957 for a price of $102,500. At the time, he was at the peak of his career. He had had mammoth hits in the prior year with “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Hound Dog” and “Love Me Tender”. And, “All Shook Up” was soon to be at the top of the charts.

Beginning with the 1956 recording session that produced “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel”, Elvis was squarely in charge of the recording process and the sound of his music. Over the span of seven hours on that June day, in a non-air conditioned New York studio, Elvis recorded thirty-one takes of “Hound Dog” and twenty-eight takes of “Don’t Be Cruel” before deciding he had the songs exactly the way he wanted them. Similar stories of Elvis’ attention to detail in the studio and in his performances occurred throughout the 1950s as Elvis worked to be as near to perfect as he could be musically.

Meanwhile, Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, worked tirelessly on promoting his “boy’s” career. The Colonel thought of every gimmick he could to keep Elvis’ name in the public eye. One such idea, which was not followed through on, was to remove the paneling from the house Elvis lived in prior to moving into Graceland and selling it in postage stamp sized squares in bubble gum packages.

On the drive out to Graceland, I tried to think only of the young, hard working, meticulous Elvis. The Elvis who paid close attention to his appearance and to his performances. I didn’t want impure thoughts of the cheesiness and buffoonery that plagued his later career to ruin my pilgrimage. After all, I did think of myself as being above all the other tourists who were in the standard Graceland visitor uniform of polyester pants, Elvis t-shirts, mesh backed baseball caps and fanny packs because I knew my music history and knew about meticulous Elvis.

My high fallutin’ thoughts didn’t last long though, as we waited at least a length of time equal to two back to back live versions of “Suspicious Minds” to pay our five dollars to park. (By the way, that was with only one car ahead of us in line. The cash register was malfunctioning and it’s really hard to give change when round amounts like $5, $10 and $20 are involved. ) After that, I struggled not to be just another lemming in search of the King. Who else would wait ten minutes to pay to park somewhere?

The one big decision you have to make upon arriving at Graceland is deciding which tour package to buy. Graceland is not a cheap ticket. The cheapest package was $27. But Ips, who had visited the King’s palace before, suggested we buy the Platinum Tour for $33. I readily agreed once I understood the Platinum Tour included the opportunity to tour the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II, Elvis’ airplanes, and the Elvis’ Jumpsuits All Access exhibit. (Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your personal beliefs, the Platinum Tour does not include an opportunity to visit a Champagne Room for a private dance. Graceland would be a great spot for the next Southern Xposure location.) Graceland does accept all the standard tourist discounts (AAA, AARP, Registered Sex Offender, etc.), so with my AAA discount, the ticket came in at less than $30.

Soon, we were herded out to the shuttle boarding area, given our personal audio headsets for the tour and lined up for the next shuttle that would take us to Graceland’s front door. While we were in line for the shuttle, I noticed an older couple dressed in the aforementioned Graceland tourist uniform because the man was giving me a funny look. When we filed out of the shuttle at Graceland’s front door, the man approached me. He had seen the James Madison University t-shirt I was wearing and wanted to tell me his minister’s daughter had just started at JMU. I smiled and told him “she’ll really like JMU, it’s a great school”. There wasn’t much else I could say at that point because we were being shuffled through the front door of Graceland.

Now, my friends will attest to my affection for my alma mater. I probably take way too much pride in the place, particularly my beloved JMU Dukes football team. So, I would have really liked to have talked JMU up to this man as he approached me repeatedly on the tour to tell me his minister’s daughter was attending JMU. But three things prevented me from giving the rah-rah talk. First, the man would just stare blankly at me after each time he told about his minister’s daughter. He just couldn’t seem to piece together another thought. Second, his breath smelled as if his dentures hadn’t hit the Efferdent in a while. And third, seeing she was a minister’s daughter, there was no way I could ask if she had bought the standard JMU female student football game apparel, a tight jean skirt cut really short and a kid sized, thus extremely tight, purple JMU football jersey. So, I just started trying to avoid him and, to this day, I still carry the guilt of not promoting JMU that day at Graceland. I hope Duke Dog will forgive me. But, back to Graceland….

Next to the White House, Graceland is the second most visited house in the United States. And, like the tour of the White House, the tour of Graceland does not show you much of the actual house. You’re taken through a few rooms, including the piano room, the jungle room and the kitchen before being herded out the back door. The upstairs portion of Graceland is off limits to visitors, just as it was when Elvis was alive, because it was, and still is, considered Elvis’ inner sanctum and private oasis from life.

I found the portion of the tour after the mansion and before the Meditation Garden, the most interesting and impressive. You enter a building housing memorabilia from Elvis’ career, the great majority of his gold and platinum records, and the awards he received during his career. I’m an Elvis fan, and have been since I was child, but it was here that I truly realized “this SOB sold a sh*t load of records”.

One fact that is presented in these displays really does show the phoniness of the recording industry, going back even to the 1950s when Elvis’ career began. Among the awards on display, are Elvis’ three Grammy Awards. The awards were presented to him in 1967, 1972 and 1974 not for rock, pop or country performances, but for gospel performances. Elvis never won a Grammy during his lifetime for any of his secular recordings. Instead, years after the fact, as with Chuck Berry and Little Richard, Elvis was given a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The final stop at the mansion is the Meditation Garden, where Elvis, his mother, father and grandmother are buried. There is also a marker in memorial to Elvis’ stillborn twin, Jesse Garon. (Please keep this name and the name Esau Smith in the back of your mind for part two of the entry on Graceland.) Elvis was originally buried in a local cemetery, but because there was concern over the security of the grave, Elvis’ father, Vernon, had Elvis’ body removed from the cemetery and buried at Graceland shortly after Elvis’ death. Thirty-one years after Elvis’ death, Graceland still receives flower arrangements daily for the King’s grave from adoring fans.

I’d like to say the Mediation Garden enlightened me or touched me in some special way, but it didn’t. But, the visit to the Meditation Garden did remind me of a photo taken by country singer/musician Marty Stuart and included in his book of photography entitled Pilgrims, Sinners, Saints, and Prophets. The black and white photo, taken sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s, is titled “Before Graceland Became a Star” and shows a sign handwritten by Elvis’ father, Vernon, stating there was no charge to visit Elvis’ grave but instead asking for donations from visitors for the upkeep of Elvis’ gravesite. My, how things have changed.

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Photos

Graceland
The "mansion" itself really isn't that big. Move it to the suburban sprawl of Loudoun County, Virginia and no one would look at it a second time.

The Famous Gold Lame Suit
Worn on the cover of 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Wrong - Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2, released in November 1959.

The Three Grammys Elvis Won
All of which were for gospel recordings.

The Meditation Garden
Elvis' parents and grandmother are also buried there.

Flowers From a Fan
Just one of the many flower arrangements received daily at Graceland.