Adult audio: Graceland

31: Front Rooms

NARRATOR—As you come in the front door, turn to your right. Our first stop is the living room. Move in as close to the ropes as you can, so others can see. At the far end of the room are two stained-glass peacocks. Beyond them is the music room, with a baby grand piano. This is one of three pianos Elvis had in this room at different times.

Elvis loved every kind of music: especially gospel. Those are his parents you hear singing along.

ELVIS—My mother and dad both loved to sing. They tell me that when I was about three or four years old I got away from them in church and walked up in front of the choir and started beating time.

NARRATOR—These rooms today look very much as Elvis had them decorated in the late 1960’s and early seventies. He used much of this living room furniture—including the 15-foot white sofa on the right— for most of his 20 years at Graceland. To your left, you’ll see a portrait of Elvis. Below it is a 1957 photograph of his parents, Vernon & Gladys Presley. To your right is a portrait of Vernon. He gave it to Elvis for Christmas in 1976. ...

Our next stop is the dining room ahead on the right. The tour doesn’t include the upstairs. This was Elvis’ private area of the house, and it remains private out of respect. He always met visitors downstairs, as Lisa remembers.

LISA MARIE PRESLEY—Whenever he would come down the steps, you could always tell. He never came down not fully ready to be seen. So he would have on many jewels, or something, and he rattled down the steps. So you would hear these chains rattling, and he always had an awesome presence. Even if he was upstairs, you could feel him.

NARRATOR—You should be in the Dining Room Step in as close to the ropes as possible. Around this table, Elvis shared many evenings of warmth, laughter, and storytelling with family and friends. Everyone at Graceland liked the same down-home Southern cooking that they all grew up with. Let’s see the kitchen where that food came from. Go through the doorway to your right.

The kitchen looks just as it did when Elvis last redecorated it in the mid-1970’s. This room stayed especially busy serving all the family, friends, and staff at Graceland.

LISA MARIE PRESLEY—The kitchen was basically Grand Central in the house. … The TV was always on at the far end of the room, and there was always food coming through at all times, because everyone was up all hours, so there was always someone on call to be cooking.

###