Last Sunday saw the 33rd anniversary of Elvis’ death. That may not seem like a significant anniversary worth celebrating, but it’s no more or less significant than if the anniversary ended in a 5 and 0 when you think about it. I went to Graceland in Memphis (Elvis’ home) to have a look around the King’s ‘Castle’ (geddit??) and get ‘the scoop’ on what the world’s first super-celebrity was like when he was at home.
Elvis’ office was based right in his house, where he surrounded himself with really unflattering pictures of him, no doubt sent in by malicious fans trying to undermine what confidence remained in his deteriorating body image. It turns out Elvis was kind of like your mum when she puts a photo of her looking fat on the fridge.
To emphasise how humble Elvis’ roots where, they had his house shrunk and placed in an empty room to make it look like he grew up in a town so minor it was actually a miniature village.
As well as an enthusiastic guitar player, Elvis was also a keen soothsayer. Here he predicted and drew out a ‘vision’ of future President George W Bush. He was so proud of this that he framed it in the house. Like most great artists it’s only now he’s dead that we understand how good he was,
Street Art was in its early stages in the 70s, but Elvis was as much an active innovator as he was in music. This powerful evocation of the normally ‘hidden’ CCTV camera sat on a very public plinth in his living room, thereby questioning values of privacy in the world of celebrity, even in the most private of settings.
Elvis couldn’t stand the thought of visitors ever being stuck without an umbrella; a pet peeve that was only surpassed when people would put items other than umbrellas in the designated containers. He found this sign worked quite well.
Any claims that Elvis was a narcisit who gloried in his own image were sorely put to the knife in his private basement, the walls and ceiling of which was lined entirely in mirrors.
Apparently Elvis was keen to remember that a vital part of his wife’s wedding outfit was a healthy set of erect nipples.
This is the room where Elvis would hang with the boys and presumably wonder how many more items he could inappropriately cover in thickest carpet his millions could afford him.
He was a huge fan of The Clash, and recreated one of his record covers in the style of his favourite Clash album ‘London Calling’ again, a soothsaying reference that would only be understood after his death.
On his plane, ‘the Lisa Marie’, he liked to watch his flat screen LCD television. Its small screen was considered state of the art at the time. Despite his fortune, his humble beginnings taught him the importance of cleanliness and would refuse to sit in any seat unless it was covered in thick plastic. He even erected signs reminding himself not to touch anything so as to keep everything just how he liked it.
This is the outside of Graceland, where strangers were encouraged to have their photos taken on the steps, as if they’d dared each other to play knock down ginger on ‘The King’ and wanted proof of their japes.
Outside the house there were tons of floral tributes where people form around the world had gratuitously photoshopped images to make it appear they were close personal friends of Elvis.
As you leave Graceland you have to walk through about 15 different Elvis shops, which – if you can imagine it – actually sell a lot of stuff even worse than this t-shirt.
