'At Home with Elvis Presley': The King shared glimpse into his life and Graceland in 1965

Sixty years ago, Elvis Presley allowed a reporter and a photographer from The Commercial Appeal into his Graceland home, to talk about such topics as Ann-Margret, the Beatles and marriage.

Said Elvis, in one of several quotes from the story that ought to be more familiar: 'I pray that some day I will find the right girl and that we can get married and raise a little Elvis Jr'.

Headlined 'At Home with Elvis Presley', the story was a coup, and the color photographs by Charles Nicholas - Elvis at his white piano, Elvis outside his mansion, peering over the rooftop of one of his many cars - remain among the best-known in the singer's career.

'Never before has he allowed pictures for publication to be made inside his home', wrote James Kingsley, the reporter.

'There's a first time for everything, and The Commercial Appeal has always been nice to me', Elvis said, in a quote not in the story but included in a 'Letter from the Editor', explaining the story's origin.

It was a simpler, less celebrity-centric time. Although the Elvis story was the centerpiece of the March 7, 1965, edition of Mid-South, the newspaper's full-color glossy Sunday magazine, the photo on the cover of the magazine depicted fireworks bursting above the Mississippi River, to promote an essay touting the importance of the waterway to 'a progressive Mid-South'. At the bottom of the cover are the words: 'FIRST PHOTOS INSIDE ELVIS' HOME, In Color on Pages 14, 15'.

That issue of Mid-South also included shots of young women modeling 'pastel stripe seersuckers', and an essay that asked: 'Are Career Women Successful in Marriage?' ('It is probable that most young men do not want intellectual career women for wives', was among its conclusions.)

In his 'Letter from the Editor', Ed Blackburn, longtime Mid-South editor, explained that it was 'impossible' for a reporter to gain access to the 'sanctuary' of Graceland unless that Elvis already knew and trusted the reporter. Enter Kingsley, who 'has known Elvis since grade school days in East Tupelo, Miss., when they skated the same streets and were known as among the best rubber-gun shots in the neighborhood'. (Nicknamed 'Killer', after his friend, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kingsley died in 1995 at 66. He had worked for the newspaper since 1953.)

Sixty years after its publication and a couple years shy of the 50th anniversary of Elvis' death in 1977, the story remains distinctive (in the years that followed, Elvis rarely invited reporters into Graceland) and fascinating, for its insights into the modest 30-year-old superstar and its intriguing omissions and might-have-beens. (Elvis says he plans to name any future daughter 'Gladys'; meanwhile, the story alludes to a 'favorite' date and 'friend' from Elvis' Army days, 'Priscilla Beaulieu, 21', without mentioning or even hinting that Priscilla already had moved into Graceland.)

So, to mark the story's 60th anniversary (more or less), here it is again, reproduced in full - a re-presentation of one of most significant of the hundreds and hundreds of stories from The Commercial Appeal about the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley.

'At Home with Elvis Presley'

The Commercial Appeal, March 7, 1965
By James Kingsley

ONLY 100 MILES and a miracle separate Elvis Aron Presley and his three-room birthplace and the security of his million-dollar Memphis mansion.

Relaxing on a 20-foot sofa in his Graceland living room, Elvis summed up his fantastic career in one characteristically short sentence:

'We have come a long way from Tupelo'.

It's a journey the experts said he'd never complete.

A look inside Graceland. The photo was published on March 7, 1965. Charles Nicholas / The Commercial Appeal.

Their judgment was pronounced in the mid-1950s, when Elvis became a hip-slinging, sideburned, overnight sensation. Clergymen denounced him from the pulpit, parents despaired of his influence, TV cameras discreetly never focused below his wildly garbed waist. Columnists dubbed him 'Wiggle Hips', 'Elvis the Pelvis' and 'Sir Swivel'.

'He can't last', said Jackie Gleason, the expert of the greatest girth.

But Elvis not only lasted, he grew greater. A decade later, he is the undisputed king of the movie money makers, drawing $750,000 and more per picture - plus 50 per cent of the sure-fire profit. His record company, RCA Victor, estimates Elvis' voice has been heard by more people than any other performer save Bing Crosby - and he was a star when Elvis was still toddling in Tupelo.

WHILE OTHER ROCK AND ROLL stars have risen swiftly only to fall the same way, Elvis' fans have multiplied. They still cross continents and oceans to stand at Graceland's ornate gates, knowing that their only reward - and it is by no means certain - will be a brief glimpse of their idol, or, ecstasy of ecstasies, a wave of the Presley hand and one of those sudden, almost-shy grins.

The man they worship is an entertainment enigma. Unlike some other entertainment superstars, Elvis is a genuinely nice guy. He never makes news by insulting people, by brawling, nightclubbing or running with the Hollywood status packs. There has never been even a hint of scandal attached to his name. His manners are a source of amazement to those meeting him for the first time. He is almost universally described with such words as 'polite', 'nice', 'humble', 'sincere' and 'thoughtful'. He is, in short, so well-mannered that he has never even had a traffic citation.

In a world where publicity is the staff of life, Elvis has conversely become almost a recluse in his non-working hours. This is partly because he is naturally retiring, but much more largely because of the demands made for his time.

YET, ONCE HE GRANTS his favor, Elvis is as gracious as the caricature of the 'Southern gentleman'. He never dodges questions, and hesitates over his answers only when he feels he might be made to appear snobbish. He is troubled by some waspish stories which accuse him of forgetting his fans.

'It's not true', he says with quiet intensity.

'Of course, I don't get out like I used to before entering the Army. It's just because I have been so busy. When I complete a movie or record session, I head for Graceland as fast as I can.

'I withdraw not from my fans, but from myself. After work, I just give out. I like to come back here to think and relax. I guess in that respect I have withdrawn, but here it's quiet and I can re-evaluate myself and see where I am going'.

'I CERTAINLY HAVEN'T lost my respect for my fans, newspapermen or anyone else. It's kinda like making a movie. It takes teamwork. My team has been my millions of fans.

'There have been thousands of stories about me that were not true. I don't really object because I know what it is to scratch and fight for what you want'.

The speech is a long one for a man not given to talking about himself. Like all his comments, it is a mixture of colloquialisms, strangely juxtaposed with the words of an intelligent man who was not content to let his education end with his graduation from Humes High School.

TYPICAL, TOO, are his references to 'before entering the Army' and 'the early days'. It is evident that he thinks a great deal about that phase of his life. Glancing around his red-draped living room, which cost more to furnish than his father made in an entire year, he mused:

'Do you think that house (in which he was born) in Tupelo would fit in this room?

'We were broke, man, broke. I remember we left Tupelo overnight. Dad packed all our belongings in boxes and put them on the top and in the trunk of a 1939 Plymouth. We just headed to Memphis.

'Things had to be better'.

At first, they got better slowly, with Elvis finishing high school and working as a truck driver. He whiled away his leisure picking at a $2.98 guitar and singing, often alone or to his parents and a few friends.

'I CAN NEVER forget the longing to be someone. I guess if you are poor you always think bigger and want more than those who have everything when they are born.

'We didn't. So our dreams and ambitions could be much greater because we had so much farther to go than anyone else'.

Frequently when he is speaking of these 'early days', Elvis lapses into the pronoun 'we', when it would be natural to say 'I'. He uses the plural because he automatically includes his parents when discussing his meteoric rise.

'I know what poverty is. I lived it for a long time. But my mamma and daddy kept struggling. They did everything possible for me'.

HERE HE MAKES some observations which his fans, with the callosity of youth, would probably label 'square' or 'corny'.

'I am not ashamed of my background, or the fact that I drove a truck. In fact, I am proud that in America we have the opportunity to fight for a way of life... I don't regard money or position as important. It is what a man does that is important'.

It's probably just as well that he doesn't 'regard money as important'. He's made so much that it takes a team of accountants and managers spread from Memphis to New York and Hollywood to keep up with it. Elvis modestly declines to say how much he has made since he became known as 'The King'. But two years ago it was publicly estimated at far in excess of 20 million dollars, and he did not deny it.

IT IS KNOWN, however, that Presley products in 1964 grossed between 38 and 41 million dollars. If that sounds vague, it is because the accountants are still busy trying to figure out how much. In addition to his salary of from $750,000 to a million dollars per movie, plus a profit share, there are the proceeds from his record sales (more than 750 million copies in 10 years). There's a record royalty of 6-and-a-half cents per copy and another penny per record is added since he owns two companies which publish most of his songs. Add to all this the incidental, but not negligible, profits from the sales of the T-shirts, rings, wallets and such which bear his name or likeness.

What you have then is probably Hollywood's highest paid performer, including Elizabeth Taylor, who gets more per picture but does not work as often. Elvis already has made 18 movies, and is contracted for three more this year. Like his records, the movies are all gilt-edges money makers. They are produced for between one and two million dollars, and unfailingly gross upwards of six million.

'Making a picture with Elvis is the only sure thing I know in this business', says producer Hal Wallis.

A SYMBOL of his status in Hollywood is the fact that when he is working at M-G-M he is assigned Dressing Room A, once the exclusive property of the late Clark Gable.

By this time in the two-hour and 10-minute interview, we had reached the time for picture taking. Never before has he allowed pictures for publication to be made inside his home. He had already agreed, but now he had second thoughts.

'I don't know. It's not that I don't want the pictures. You know what I mean. Some people might think I am looking for publicity or trying to exploit my home. I certainly don't want anyone to think that'.

As the camera and lights were being made ready, Elvis was reminded of the thing he dislikes most about movie making, the sessions with the cameramen who make the publicity still pictures.

'I try to cut the time down to three or four hours, but sometimes you have to pose for six or eight'. Then he grinned his crooked grin:

'A man only has so many different smiles, and I don't have many'.

HE FIDDLED with an electric bass as the living room picture was being shot. Behind him and the enormous white couch were floor-to-ceiling red velvet drapes, hung on push-button, electric traverse rods. A fireplace of smoky, molded glass dominates the opposite wall. Scattered around it are white chairs and multicolored cushions on a deep, white carpet.

To the left is the dining room, where a star-shaped chandelier hangs above a walnut table. The chair seats, repeating the color theme, are covered in red velvet.

Opening off the other end of the living room is the music room, with an ivory grand piano and an ivory TV set, on which he watches Hullabaloo, Shindig and Combat. The piano is not just for decoration. Although he is famous for his singing and guitar, he capably plays the piano.

Elvis politely declined to allow pictures in any other of Graceland's 18 rooms. On the main floor, these include, in addition to the living, dining and music rooms, a large and recently remodeled kitchen. It's $40,000 expansion allowed Elvis to add a sun porch above it.

IN THE basement, partitioned by the stairwell, are the den and a game room. The game room contains a full-size pool table. At its entrance is a well-equipped soda fountain, complete to Pepsi signs.

A turn in the other direction at the foot of the steps takes you into the paneled den, where Elvis keeps his gold records (about 40), guitars and other souvenirs of success. A door off the den leads to the outside swimming pool, which is hidden behind plastic walls. Lawn furniture and a jukebox set beside the pool.

Graceland's second floor contains Elvis' private suite, which opens onto the sun porch. There also is a suite where Mrs. Minnie Mae Presley, his 74-year-old grandmother, lives.

Behind the mansion is a small clapboard house which contains offices for Vernon Presley, Elvis' father, and two secretaries. Directed by Mr. Presley, they take care of Elvis' Memphis correspondence and business.

It takes 10 employees to keep Graceland running. There are two daytime maids and one at night, to assist his grandmother. There are three gate-keepers, who often are hard-pressed to keep the determined and devious crashers outside. Two yard men and two secretaries complete the staff.

The maids double as cooks, but since Elvis' tastes have remained simple this really is no chore. His idea of an elaborate meal is a small steak and potatoes. Breakfast generally is well-done bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and coffee, with a teaspoon of sugar and a dash of cream.

For snacks, he fancies sandwiches made with jelly or peanut butter and mashed bananas. Pizzas, hamburgers and hot dogs are other staples. Pepsi Cola is his favorite beverage.

When Elvis is at home with his full retinue, and often with guests, the groceries are ordered from a Whitehaven supermarket in quantities costing from $350 to $400 - about every ten days.

DESPITE HIS fame, his personal likes and dislikes have remained as uncomplicated as his meals. His dislikes are few and worthy: 'Cold weather, stuffed shirts, formal dress and getting up early in the morning'.

His pastimes are billiards, driving fast cars, dating pretty girls, listening to records and playing touch football. (The way he plays it, 'touch' is a teeth-jarring block.) He buys the Beatles' records and likes them despite the fact that they are competition. When the hirsute Britishers made their first American tour, Elvis jokingly sent them a toy pistol, with the clear implication that it was to be used for self destruction.

'It was all in fun and a good joke. I am happy for them. They are a great group and they, as I did, played anywhere and for any amount of money before hitting the top'.

Being 'on the top' allows him to indulge his well-known affinity for automobiles. Although the passion has cooled somewhat, Elvis still owns two Cadillacs, a Rolls Royce, a Lincoln Continental, Buick and Chrysler stations wagons, a Jeep, a converted bus and three motorcycles.

WHILE MAKING a movie, he stays out of sports cars and off motorcycles. 'They (the movie makers) won't let me. Anyway, I don't ride the bikes much any more. As you get older (he was 30 Jan. 8), you think more about living. I don't want to get hurt'.

When in Hollywood, most of his time is spent hard at work. 'I date some out there, but I always have to remember that 5:30 or 6 o'clock comes mighty early in the morning. In fact, every personality that I work with realizes that movie making is a serious business, and we leave the sets to go home and learn our scripts for the next day. It's no monkey business and we work hard, regardless of what most people think'.

His dates, all beautiful, have ranged from his leading ladies to girls who are known only because they associate with him. A favorite now is Priscilla Beaulieu, 21, the daughter of an Air Force colonel and a friend since Elvis' days in Germany.

Others he has gone with include Natalie Wood, Anne Neyland, Juliet Prowse, Yvonne Lime, Mississippi's former Miss America, Mary Ann Mobley, and the beauteous Ann-Margret, to name a few. Where they go and what they do on their dates is known only to the girls and to Elvis, and he isn't talking.

HIS PHILOSOPHY is summed up in the song which goes, 'if you can't say anything real nice, then don't talk at all, that's my advice'. The most he will ever say about any specific girl is something like his comment on Miss Mobley, who appears with him in his latest movie, 'Girl Happy':

'I enjoyed working with her and I hope she hits the big time. I think she will'.

Or his say-a-lot observation on Ann-Margret:

'How are you supposed to act or sing with her around?'

Reminded that in 1957 he had said he hoped to be married when he was 30, Elvis became more talkative.

'I would still like to get married. But I have looked for years. I am now waiting instead of looking. I think I will find the right girl, but I only want to get married once. I don't plan to become a Hollywood creation who has several marriages.

'I PRAY that some day I will find the right girl and that we can get married and raise a little Elvis Jr., maybe without the spotlight always being focused on us. I would name my first daughter Gladys, after my mother'.

With this observation, Elvis glanced at his watch.

'Look, let's quit this business. It's after 8, and the night's pretty outside. After all, I am one of the night people. The sun's down and the moon's pretty.

'It's time to ramble'.

 Elvis Presley Biography

Graceland Links

 Elvis Presley's Graceland
 Elvis Presley's private Graceland upstairs rooms

 Elvis Presley's Home Sweet Homes
 Elvis Presley's Graceland : The Tour
 The Graceland Wall : To Elvis With Love
 The 'Den' : The Jungle Room
 Elvis Presley : Home Movies of Graceland
 Drone Footage of Graceland
 The Graceland Music Gates
 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis Tennessee
 Visiting Elvis Presley's Graceland
 Elvis Presley : Rising Sun and other Horses at Graceland

 Rare Film of Elvis in his car signing autographs at the entrance to Graceland

History

 Graceland, Before Elvis
 The Moores & The Presleys at Graceland

Over the years

 Graceland Newspaper article : March 1957
 Elvis Presley with the music gates of Graceland : April 22, 1957
 Photos of Graceland : April, 1962
 Elvis Presley at Graceland : March 1965
 Elvis Presley : Graceland : February 16, 1968
 Jerry Lee Lewis, Arrested at the Gates of Graceland
 The Night Springsteen Jumped the Fence at Graceland
 Elvis Presley's 1955 Pink Cadillac at Graceland
 President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Visit Graceland
 Graceland Mansion Designated National Historic Landmark

Elvis Presley Biography

 Elvis Presley Family History : 1669-1935
 Elvis Presley Biography
 Gladys and Vernon Presley - Elvis Presley's Mother and Father
 Jessie D. McDowell (J.D.) Presley - Elvis Presleys Grandfather

 For a more (very) detailed history of Elvis Presley see Elvis Presley 1935-1953

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