“Wake up, Zain! We’re at Graceland!”
I’m thinking of a long ago Spring. It was the Spring I turned 40 and my two friends and I headed to the Juke Joint Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi. It was a grey and rainy day to travel and my friends started the day doing some friendly carping at each other on to get there. They do that. They’re like brother and sister. Both equally sure they’re right and the other is just being stubborn. I stay out of it.
I fell asleep in the car and when they woke me up, we were at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. My friends felt I shouldn’t go another year without seeing Graceland. They said everyone should go to Graceland at some point in their life. Apparently it was my time to see Elvis’s home turf. I’m not a huge Elvis fan. Are you? I’ve always been more interested in the blues musicians Elvis lifted his rock and roll licks from. Elvis did bring a lot of traditionally black styles of music to white audiences. He led a lot of white musicians as well as fans to search out and listen to the original black singers and players. For that we’re all grateful.
But Graceland? I was amazed at how dated everything was, how small the rooms looked compared to today. I know Graceland was built in 1939 and that Elvis bought it in 1957. I looked it up. But oh my. The décor. That in itself was worth the admission. It’s kitsch galore. They’ve left everything in the original 1970’s shape hence there’s a feeling of shabbiness about some of it. Apparently there were decorators involved but I bet Elvis knew exactly what he wanted. Take the Jungle Room.
They say he decorated it all by himself in one day. I see that clearly. Let me just say, Elvis and I are on opposing ends of the taste spectrum. But that didn’t mar the Graceland experience at all. When the three of us visited, the tour was only a few rooms in the house. That included the mirrored room downstairs. The “Meditation Garden” was also open. I read there are more family graves there since we visited. Then there was only Elvis and his parents. Buried out there in the backyard. I’m glad we went to Graceland. If you haven’t been you should go. Maybe on your way to a blues or rock festival. That would be a fitting tribute.
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