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12 Things You Might Not Know About Elvis Presley
Be prepared for a few surprises!
- Elvis Presley only lived in three houses during his life. The first was a shotgun shack in Tupelo, the second an apartment in the poor all white “projects” in Memphis and Graceland – where he really made himself a home and fulfilled the dreams he had as a young man.
2. You can actually book to stay in Elvis’s apartment 305 in the “projects“, if you feel so inclined. You would then be able to see the walls covered in lipstick from all the girls that have kissed them over the years.
3. Favourite Sandwich? Fried peanut butter and banana – usually eaten in a booth on the left hand side of the Arcade restaurant downtown.
4. Favourite drink: Sparkling water and Gator Ade. He didn’t like alcohol.
5. Elvis Presley shopped for all his clothes at Lasky’s downtown. When Lasky said “Come on in Young Man”, Elvis repelled that one day, when he became famous, he would buy Lasky out. Lasky said – don’t do that – just come and buy your clothes from me. Between them, they changed the way Americans dressed for ever.
6. On his 7th grade report card, he got mostly 1s (excellent) for reliability co-operation and courtesy, but 2s (good) all across for industry.
7. If he hadn’t been a rock star, he would have been a policeman. He held the rank of Captain with the Memphis police force and – in later life, he used to drive around in the police cars with them just for something to do.
8. Graceland was built next to a church. If Elvis wanted to leave via his back gate, he paid the Church to use it. He agreed never to use it on Sundays.
9. Graceland doesn’t have all the cars he owned on show. His 1980 gold-plated Cadillac dream car is housed In the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum here in Nashville. The exterior sheen was created by 24 carat gold-plated highlights and forty coats of a translucent mixture of crushed diamonds and fish scales called “diamond dust pearl”. The passenger seat has a refrigerator, gold-plated TV, telephone, refreshment bar and a record player.
10. Elvis Presley was an inspiration to many people – an icon.
Dolly Parton said of him: “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more and become more, then you have accomplished something. Elvis did that and more for me and so many others.
Bruce Springsteen said “It was like he came along and whispered some dream in everybody’s ear, and somehow, we all dreamed it.”
11. It was the rule at the Grand ‘Ole Opry that if you didn’t get a standing ovation, you weren’t invited back. Elvis “the Pelvis” so stunned the audience there with his performance that they didn’t give a standing ovation and he didn’t get invited back! This information was gleaned from a reliable source – the grand-daughter of an ex manager of the Grand Ole Opry.
12. He named his plane after his daughter – Lisa Marie. She looked so cute all dressed up for Christmas in one of the portraits on the wall in Graceland.
