Graceland I: Interiors

We were all surprised at how mundane the mansion actually was. We were prepared for it to be satin and rhinestones, leather fringes and pink and white, like Elvis' costumes in his later years. Instead it was low-end '70s suburban taste--a notch below the Brady Bunch, maybe. Green shag carpet, some hideous African carved chairs, mirrored ceiling on the stairway: The Memphis Mafia weren't hanging out in a palace; it was a house. The electric range and refrigerator in the kitchen would be instantly familiar to anyone who grew up in the suburbs in the '70s.

Of course, what went on in this house was a completely different story.

pool table

This is the pool room, where the wall (and ceiling) were covered with a pleated fabric that was a little unusual.

pool room walls and chairs

They let you take all the pictures you want inside, but they ask you not to use a flash.

TV room

Elvis' TV room. They have programs from the King's day on the TVs.

The expensive taste here was in having three TVs (an idea he picked up from hearing the President used to watch news on all three networks at once).

We all made jokes along the way about Elvis shooting his TV, but it didn't get mentioned anywhere in the house. The Graceland people do know the story, though, and when we got across the street and toured the museum, there was a note in one display explaining that only one TV was made famous in a TV movie incident, but really the King made targets of many other household appliances as well, including several TVs, a refrigerator, and goodness knows what else.

Graceland: Interior . . . Exterior . . . Graves . . . Façade . . . Planes

Memphis: Graceland . . . Lorraine Motel . . . Stax Records . . . Sun Records . . . Highway 61

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