“In Graceland, in Graceland
I’m going to Graceland
For reasons I cannot explain
There’s some part of me wants to see
Graceland…..
But I’ve reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland…” Paul Simon (1986)
Click Continue to see a slide show.
So I was received in Graceland and walked into the Elvis Presley time capsule. All rooms appear to be just as they were the day Elvis died. State of the art reel-to-reel tape recorders. Each room with a special theme, formal living room up front and the jungle room with a waterfall in the back for partying. I will not try to recount all of the interesting facts and stories, but it is a very well-organized tour. Everybody on the tour gets an Apple iPad with photos that change depending upon what room you wander into. Out of respect for Elvis’ personal life, the eight upstairs bedrooms and baths are off-limits to the tour.
The high operating costs of maintaining Graceland had dwindled Lisa Marie’s inheritance to only about $1,000,000, with hundreds of thousands soon due in taxes and expenses. I was sorry to learn that Lisa Marie had to sell 85% of Elvis Presley Enterprises to a publicly traded media and entertainment company who has since sold the Elvis Presley rights to a privately held company, Authentic Brands. Her sale paid off debts and her trust grew to an estimated $100,000,000. Lisa still owns the 13 acres and house of Graceland and the acreage and facility across the street which sells every imaginable Elvis tchotchke (trinkets). Graceland is visited by about 5,000 people per day in the peak summer months, contributing greatly to the overall economy of Memphis, employing 350 people. Elvis Lives……