And to many White fans, the American Dream appeal of Elvis should transcend race. Elvis routinely noted his debt to Black artists. He posed for a photo with his friend Fats Domino and told reporters of the singer’s influence, declaring him the real king of rock-and-roll. In “Careless Love,” Guralnick tells a story of a news conference after Elvis’s 1969 opening in Las Vegas. Maybe it was his impoverished upbringing, but Elvis didn’t like being called the King. He shares a line from Dundy’s book: “You can hear the soil in Elvis’s voice the way you can hear the cement in Sinatra’s.” His music was shaped by the church and by the Grand Ole Opry, and by the poverty of his youth. Tupelo made Elvis, Turner believes, both musically and spiritually. And Sam said, ‘Nobody ever bothered us.’ ”

“When they got up in the balcony, Elvis would step over this little barrier, probably 18 inches high, and sit in that section with him. “Elvis would go in the front door, and Sam would go around to the side and then into the colored section,” says Turner. The two boys would go the Lyric Theatre in town to see movies. And he said his grandmother and grandfather thought the world of Elvis because he always said ‘yes, ma’am’ and ‘no, ma’am,’ which no White person said to a Black person during that era.” “Sam was raised by his grandparents - his father was killed in World War II, and his mother had gone north to find work. “Elvis spent the night at Sam’s and vice versa, and they ate at each other’s homes,” he says. Potato Head might be more recognizable than Elvis. Between the anniversary and pent-up pandemic demand, Graceland’s management expects a big turnout for the nine-day Elvis Week in August.Īt a souvenir shop I’m intrigued by an Elvis Mr.

16 will mark the 45th anniversary of Elvis’s death, and Graceland will celebrate with exhibits, concerts, giveaways and other events. A new movie, “ Elvis,” starring Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as his scheming manager, Col. “We’re all here to keep his legacy alive,” she had vowed in her speech, and 2022 is a big year for meeting that commitment.

After her speech, Presley slowly strolls along the metal barrier that separates her from the crowd, talking with fans, posing for photos and signing autographs, bringing an approachable grace and warmth to the cold Memphis air. A nearby couple speaks German a man with Elvis sideburns and a late-Elvis paunch speaks with a thick Scottish brogue. Two older women stand before me in matching black jackets, a pair of handsome Elvises gazing seductively from their backs. By my rough estimates, at least 500 people are gathered around the ceremony’s open white tent.

Elvis presley the king live