Graceland

Elvis' home, Graceland, is in Memphis. I was in Memphis a long time ago and saw it from a distance. I thought I really should do the tour, since I'll be in the town anyway. Despite the cost (exorbitant), I'm glad I did. It is amazing how big a business it is. They just shuttle bus loads up people up there non-stop. I was early on a Sunday morning which I would think was a kind of slow time. All the buses were filled ,though. Afterwards, not just full buses, but long lines to get on them. You get herded through the house and have a set of headphones that guide you along and give you an explanation of what you are seeing. I had read that its not a large as you would think it might be. That's true. It's certainly a big house, but not a huge mansion by any means. You get to see the rooms, lots of props from his movies, his gold records, and tons of Vegas outfits. I figured he had several, but no, dozens and dozens of outfits.

What was also fun, and after a while, kind of creepy, were the many souvenir shops across the street. If there is any object that could have an image of Elvis on it, they have it.

Even though I wasn't around to experience it, I think his early stuff is his best. His coolness seemed to peak about the age of 22. His coolness level and his age became inversely proportional. They talked about how many billions of his recordings have been sold. I realized that even though I don't count myself as a big fan, I've probably bought something like 10 albums myself. The best thing I have is a 3 CD set of his music from the 50's. My top 3 Elvis songs, you ask? OK, here we go. Teddy Bear, Ring Around My Neck, and Hard Headed Woman. I never understood Ring Around My Neck. I pictured it as some metal collar device like a slave would wear. That seemed weird. I have recently realized it probably refers to the 50's practice of having a person's ring on a chain and wearing that as jewelry. Yeah, that makes more sense.