I went on the Graceland tour that allows you to get closer to Elvis than ever before
As Memphis prepares to celebrate the 90th birthday of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, superfan Zoey Goto discovers the inner world of Elvis on a new behind-the-scenes experience of his home – including rides on the mansion’s horses and rummaging through the archives
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Your support makes all the difference.If Elvis Presley were alive today, he’d be blowing out 90 candles on his birthday cake; quite possibly of the peanut butter and jelly variety. It’s hard to believe that in the 47 years since The King permanently left the building, visitor numbers to his beloved Memphis home haven’t waned. Graceland still averages 600,000 tourists a year, making it the second most visited private home in America – beaten only by the White House.
As an Elvis mega-fan, over the past two decades I’ve helped contribute to Graceland’s visitor count, touring the maximalist mansion around 40 times. So familiar have I become with its treasure trove of indoor waterfalls, pouncing tiger ceramic statues and shagpile carpeting splashed lavishly across floors, walls and ceilings, that a visit now feels rather like calling in for tea at an eccentric aunt’s house. So, when I heard that Graceland had unveiled their ‘Presley for a Day’ experience – a behind-the-scenes tour that pulls back the velveteen curtain on corners of Elvis’ palace previously off-limits to the public – I was intrigued and hotfooted it to southwestern Tennessee.
Arriving at the wrought iron gates of Graceland, the white columned Colonial Revival-style house that Elvis bought at the tender age of 22 , I’m greeted by my personal guide for the day, Amanda Robichaud. At seven hours long, the Presley for a Day extravaganza is a marathon, not a sprint, but Amanda is on hand to sprinkle our time together with her gold-dust insider knowledge. “Everybody knows Elvis in his lame outfit or jumpsuits. But not everyone knows the Elvis who owned 247 sets of pyjamas; that’s the Elvis that we’ll discover today,” Amanda calls over her shoulder as we take the hidden side entrance and whizz around the 13.8-acre estate on a golf cart, just like Elvis and his buddies.
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First stop is the Graceland stables where Elvis housed a herd of horses, having developed a passion for all things equestrian while on Hollywood film sets. Horse riding was a therapy for Elvis, his ex-wife Priscilla explains via a video running in the barn. The superstar could often be spotted horsing around at Graceland, cantering down to the roadside to sign autographs and be snapped in his cowboy finery; a Stetson hat perched casually upon his head and silk scarf knotted at his neck. I retrace Elvis’ hoofprints by swinging into the saddle and ambling down to the front paddock for a photo opportunity, the mansion looming large in the background. Riding back to the ranch through sun-dappled fields fringed with white picket fences, it’s easy to see how Elvis’ bucolic hobby offered him respite from the pressures of his unprecedented fame.
Following a lunch of Elvis’ favourite down-home southern dishes, eaten in the recently revamped barn where his daughter Lisa Marie once kept her pony, we shake a leg and visit the archives warehouse. White gloves at the ready, I’m shown a merry-go-round of Graceland curiosities usually hidden from guests on the standard tour. There are cufflinks with diamonds the size of silver dollars worn by a petrified Elvis on his wedding day, a Las Vegas cape lined with dazzling gold-spun fabric, and a paper trail that swings from banal gas receipts to an extravagant $560 hairdressing bill and a handwritten letter of admiration from singer Johnny Cash, all meticulously filed away by Elvis’ father.
“Vernon Presley never met a piece of paper that he didn’t want to keep,” Graceland’s archivist Dee Dee Antle deadpans of the hoarding tendencies that clearly trickled down to Elvis, who left behind an avalanche of 1.5 million items. The staggering collection charts Elvis’ rags to riches life story as succinctly as any movie or biography could; from the battered old trunk used to transport his impoverished family’s belongings from their wooden shack in Mississippi, to the showman’s flamboyant wardrobe of 88 bejewelled, custom-designed jumpsuits. “If Elvis liked something, he’d get it in every colour,” says bee-hived Dee Dee, who has spent the past 27 years painstakingly organising The King’s worldly possessions.
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Before we leave the archives, Dee Dee has one last item to show and tell. “This is a poem called The Priceless Gift that Elvis had commissioned for his daughter’s fourth birthday,” she says of the verses that stress family values over the temptations of material wealth. So emotional was Elvis when presented with the finished writing, the words are smudged after he shed a tear onto the page.
Our tour builds to a crescendo with an after-hours romp through the interiors of Graceland, where we have the house to ourselves. Stepping into the plush cream lobby, all is pin-drop quiet. Without queues of guests lining up at the ropes, there’s a luxury of time to linger over the details, from a chandelier damaged by one of Elvis’ enthusiastic karate moves, to a privacy panel at the top of the staircase, used by the singer to spy on his entourage before making a characteristically grand entrance.
At Elvis’ moonlit gravestone I take a moment of reflection. Very little remains unknown about the star who lived his life on the public stage; his every lip-curl captured in glorious technicolour; every hip swivel witnessed by a frantically adoring crowd. Instead, this epic tour offers a glimpse of the man behind the myth – a poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks who couldn’t quite trust his newfound fame and fortunes, instead stockpiling pyjamas, jumpsuits, and letters of praise as if they would someday be snatched away. A martial arts fan-boy trying to master his flying back kick. A sentimental father brought to tears by a poem written for his kid. It’s a relief to find that 90 years after his birth, Elvis still lives on at his Graceland home.
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How to do it
The Presley for a Day tour costs $6,000 (£4,800) for a group of up to four people, including a personal tour guide, after-hours mansion visit and swag bag worth $450 (£358). A portion of proceeds for each tour will go to support local Memphis charities through the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation.
Where to stay
The Guest House at Graceland hotel is just a five-minute walk from the Graceland Mansion and home to two on-site restaurants, a theatre and an outdoor pool and bar.
Four more must-visit Memphis spots for Elvis fans
Lansky Bros.
Tucked inside the Peabody Hotel, this tailoring house kitted Elvis out in flashy threads throughout his career. For Elvis’ 90th birthday, they’ve released a limited-edition rockabilly inspired t-shirt and poster designed by illustrator Betty Harper; lanskybros.com
Overton Park Shell
Elvis burst onto the scene at this iconic music venue in 1954, forever changing the course of rock and roll history. The hour-long all-access tour takes visitors backstage to the green room, where everyone from Carl Perkins to ZZ Top have hung out; overtonparkshell.org
Lauderdale Courts
Sleep in Elvis’ teenage bedroom by renting this two-bedroom apartment. An overnight stay costs $250/ £200 and is bookable by calling the management company directly.
Arcade Restaurant
Nab the booth at the far end of this diner – Elvis’ favourite seat in the house. This photogenic hangout has featured in various movies since Elvis was a regular, including The Firm and Walk the Line; arcaderestaurant.com
For more information, visit memphistravel.com.
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