Memphis Day 6

I'm going to Graceland - Graceland, Memphis Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
And I have reason to believe that I will be received in Graceland.
 
Yes!  How could we possibly pass by and not give our respects to The King?  We rocked up there on a horrible rainy day on the free Sun Studios shuttle bus.  Due to the weather we were the only ones there apart from a Greek woman who kept waving her map about and asking where everything was in relation to Graceland.  At one point she got quite excited when the bus driver mentioned that we were just 15 minutes away from Jerry Lee Lewis' house to which she replied, "JERRY LEWIS LEEVE HEEERE????!!!"  
 
"Jerry LEE Lewis," corrected the bus driver.
"Jerry Lewis, that is what I said," she snapped in irritation.  "Tell me, where iss Jerry Lewis house?  Iss Jerry Lewis near Graceland?"
"Yes'm," said the bus driver, obviously giving up.
 
The bus pulled up to The Graceland Terminal, which is a cross between a gift shop, cinema, museum and airport for The King's Planes (The Lisa Marie and Hound Dog 2).  Tourists are then handed audio-tour thingies and shuttled across the road to the mansion itself while the audio-guide informs you that the mansion was called Graceland before Elvis bought it in 1957.  (See how good I am at remembering these insignificant details?  They clog up my brain you know.  I mean, I can't recall my credit card number but I still remember the name of Rosco's dog in The Dukes of Hazzard.  (“Flash”).
 
The house itself is a pleasant antebellum-style building with pillars and surrounded by trees.  On entry, I found myself in the hallway, looking into the lounge which has been untouched since the 1970's.  You know, I think that this is the true magic of the place.  Not so much as a lasting memorial to Elvis, but as a time capsule of the Era That Taste Forgot.  I mean, you hear about people getting over-emotional at Graceland, but quite frankly, tears were welling up in my eyes looking at the tat and thinking, "I remember that carpet!!  My mum had curtains just like those!!!  What happened to my childhood???!!"
 
There were, as you would expect, lots of chandeliers, revolting ornaments and tons of pictures of Elvis looking moody.  The style, if it could be described, would be rococo-baroque-kitsch-hideous.  We proceeded from the lounge with the huge white leather sofa to the dining room which was unutterably grand, past the guest bedroom (we couldn't see the King's bedroom itself - this is still off-limits - although we did see his huge circular bed complete with fluffy white covers, mirrors and a built-in radio in the museum).  Then to the kitchen – this was was smaller than I expected given The Fat Elvis years, but then again, how much room does a chocolate, peanut butter and pork chop sandwich take up?  From there we entered the TV room which is a monument to the colour Avocado and which features three tv's on one wall - an innovation Elvis incorporated after hearing that Lyndon B. Johnson watched all three networks at once.
 
Which leads me to Elvis' infatuation with authority.  I don't really know where it stemmed from but he certainly had a thing about the police (his huge collection of police badges was on display) and followed everything Colonel Tom told him to the letter (including Colonel Tom's suggestion after getting drunk one night that Elvis spend the 1960's making lots and lots of really bad films).  He also looked up to Richard Nixon, which doesn't do much for his credibility these days, and there was a large exhibit dedicated to the meeting between the two men.  I mean, RICHARD NIXON - what was Elvis THINKING???.  And I have to ask the faintly blasphemous question at this point:  Was Elvis Kind of A Dick?  I'm sorry.  I know that's probably not fair, but you should have seen the Nixon stuff.  Apparently, Elvis surprised the whole White House staff but just showing up one day with an antique gun for Tricky Dicky and they had this impromptu meeting at which Dick posed with his arm around Elvis and delivered speeches about What A Fine Example For Young People Elvis Is.  Elvis was also made a Special Agent, charged with fighting the war on drugs (excluding the ones in his own system).
 
Apparently, The King’s campaign against drugs and communism was primarily aimed at John Lennon, whom he judged to be a junkie hippy and general bad influence.  Elvis informed Dick of this who promptly put John and Yoko on the FBI's list of people to harrass.  The reason Elvis felt this way about John was less to do with his peacenik beliefs and more to do with the fact that John had been rather rude to Elvis on their only meeting.  One must remember at this point that John Lennon could also be Kind of A Dick.
 
Against this, you have to recall that Elvis was also hugely generous (and had very little of his huge fortune left at the time of his death, it seems).  He was well known for just giving cars away.  A tour guide told us of how when Elvis went to buy a car, he would make up for the inconvenience to the other car-buyers in the showroom by buying their car for them.  Our tour guide added, "Ah often hung around that there Cadillac showroom, but Elvis never did show up."
 
The thing is, Elvis was still basically a country boy, who never got the chance to deal with his sudden fame.  He was a real-life Beverly Hillbilly.  Lisa-Marie, in a section of the tape-tour, explained how she could hear her father coming down the stairs before she could see him, he was that covered in jewelry.  I reckon by that time, the poor man must have lost it completely, losing whatever difference there was between "Elvis Presley" and "The King" in his mind years before.  This is definitely reflected in the house, which just resembles way too much money and way too little time spent with an IKEA catalogue.  The Pool Room has been done out like the inside of a Morrocan tent, while The Jungle Room is a bizarre mix of Tiki, Hunting Lodge and Rainforest with animal fur chairs, big wooden furniture and a waterfall trickling down one wall.  
 
So while the house is compelling in a Mondo Bizarro sort of way, the museum is also fascinating.  Exhibits there include many of Elvis' clothes and let's face it, this was a man who pushed the envelope of fashion, starting out dressing like a pimp and ending up dressing like a cross between Liberace and Bruce Lee.  There was the actual tv that Elvis had shot that time (I can only assume that "Are You Being Served?" was on) and a sad little Lisa Marie display.  I felt pretty sorry for her.  It's unsurprising she ended up quite so screwed up, and no wonder she felt some sort of empathy with Michael Jackson.  Other exhibits included Elvis' time in the army, his movies and The Hall of Gold, an incredible display of his gold and platinum discs, grammys and other awards.  The whole thing culminated with a video of the climax from his "Aloha From Hawaii" concert at which he concluded with "An American Trilogy".  I've always been puzzled by this - how could he segue with the anthem of the south, Dixieland into the Battle Hymn of the Republic?  Was this some sort of political statement The King was making about reconciliation?  Or was Elvis just kind of a dick?  Maybe we'll never know.
 
Or maybe we will.  The graffiti outside Graceland proclains, "ELVIS LIVES!" and maybe he does.  I saw a book in a shop that asks the question, Why is Elvis's name MIS-SPELLED on his gravestone.  It's true.  I've seen it.  They spell "Aron" with 2 A's.  Maybe he' still amongst us, still fighting the war on drugs.  And  calories.
 
Caro and I pottered around the giftshops, around the car collection and both planes.  It's excellent value for $25 and took us nearly all day.  That done, we were done with Memphis, a place that I'm glad I went to, but wouldn't visit again.  But New Orleans sounded incredible.  A guy struck up a conversation with me in Memphis and was thrilled to hear I was going there next.  "Yew-all will LOVE N'awlins," he said, "there's good eatin' the-ah.  Yew come away from N'awlins FAT."
 
Oh great.  Like I really needed any help with THAT.