Elvis and Graceland

After a two-day stop in Ohio, we drove on to Memphis, where we stayed for four days at the Mid-South Naval Support Station. The military famcamp is ideally situated near the commissary and PX. Every rig gets its own concrete pad, and the sites are grassy and spacious. It was a great place to rest and relax. While there, Jerry decided to visit Graceland: Gloria had no interest in the tour.

The first time we ever heard of Elvis was in 1955 when Jerry was in cadet training with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. He was only a few months older than we. At the time we shook our heads and thought that Elvis was a passing oddity. We were into dancing at dressy coat and tie affairs to big band names like Stan Kenton and the Dorsey Brothers. By the time we graduated from college a couple of years later, rock and roll had begun to make its mark on college campuses. After graduation in 1957, we were headed to Fort Knox for the Armored Officer’s Basic Course. Elvis was already a household word, and that same year he purchased Graceland, a mansion built in 1939 in Memphis. By early 1958, Jerry was assigned to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment as a platoon leader in Germany. Later that year Elvis was assigned to the 3rd Armored Division in Germany as a driver for a battalion commander. Most people respected him for serving with a line outfit during the Cold War rather than taking a posh job as an entertainer. He had a choice.

Graceland is not the elegant mansion one might imagine, but it does exude a certain amount of glitz and class. Elvis and Priscilla, the 14-year old daughter of an Air Force officer, whom Elvis met in Germany, lived there several years before they were finally married in 1967. Elvis was 32 and Priscilla was 21. Their courtship lasted longer than the marriage, and they separated three years later. Elvis’s parents also had their own quarters at Graceland. It was Elvis’s dream house, and the party life was constant. The kitchen was always a busy place, as was the racquet ball court (now a trophy room for his gold records), and swimming pool. Elvis was generous with his family and friends, almost to a fault. There were sad times too. Elvis worried a lot about his career, and he Priscilla divorced in 1973. Elvis died at Graceland 1977 from substance abuse; he was only 42 years old. He and his parents are buried near the swimming pool. To this day, many bouquets and wreaths arrive daily in memory of the King of Rock and Roll.

In a museum across the street from Graceland are Elvis’s many luxury cars, motorcycle, tractor, and many other artifacts including his gaudy outfits and the pink Caddy that he bought for his mother. As one would expect, the museum is highly commercial with tons of souvenirs, but it is worth touring. Thousands of people tour the facilities daily, including busloads of people from all over the world. One of the highlights is Elvis’s jet, the Lisa Marie, named for his and Priscilla’s only child. It is a rather elaborate plane with comfortable furnishings, including Elvis’s bed and his private bathroom with gold plated fixtures. Lisa Marie narrates many memories of her dad, but she was only nine when he died. One was that after complaining that she had never seen snow, Elvis loaded her on his plane and headed to Colorado. After she played in the snow for awhile, and they threw a few snowballs, they flew back to Memphis.

Born in Tupelo, MS in poverty, Elvis was an only child, as his twin brother was stillborn. His father, Vernon, did time at a Mississippi prison for check forgery while Elvis was a child, and his overly protective mother, Gladys, seemed to confuse Elvis’s role in the family. Perhaps this sheds insight into his exceptionally close tie to his mother. At her death, while Elvis was still in the Army, he threw his weeping body on her casket, hugged her lifeless body, and had to be pulled away. He allegedly slept with her nightgown for several days that followed. This abnormal mother-son bond may also explain why he never had a long-term relationship with any other woman. Apparently, he was not the great lover that women thought him to be. His years of success were short by Tony Bennett standards, but his still-popular recorded music has topped a billion copies. His foreign sales have been in the millions, though he never appeared on stage outside his own country. Starring in 31 films, he was never taken seriously as an actor to his great disappointment. Elvis ushered in a new era of music. Sadly, he never had the maturity or stability to enjoy the worldly success that he had achieved as a cultural icon. Whatever we may think of Elvis, he certainly changed the art of music around the world. Even today there are discussions about who was the greatest individual singing performer of all time—Elvis or Frank Sinatra--a rather odd comparison.