Larry Johnston's Always Learning: Trip through Elvis' towns worth making
It took me about two hours to go the 104 miles from Tupelo, Miss., to Memphis. Elvis Presley needed, from 1935 until 1977, 42 years to do the same.
Unfortunately, it was a lifetime for him, for these places are where the home of his birth and the home of his death are located.
Elvis' first home was modest in every regard. His father built the 450-square-foot house by hand in 1934. It only has two rooms, a kitchen and an everything-else room. Elvis was born there with his twin, Jesse, who did not survive the birth. Elvis was not an only child, but he was unique.
It was in Tupelo his mother bought him his first guitar, and it was in the small church nearby that he sang and acquired his love of gospel music.
In 1948, Elvis' father needed to find a better job. He packed up the family and had to leave Tupelo. Symbolic of Elvis' departure is a statue of him at age thirteen, walking alone, carrying a guitar.
Few family moves have been so auspicious for a transplanted teenager. The family moved to Memphis, where music was an emerging enterprise. Memphis is where he could record his music and begin another journey of fame and fortune unimaginable to a young boy in Tupelo.
Ahead of him would be the Memphis home in which he would die, a home named after an Aunt Grace of one of the original owners. They called it Graceland.
Elvis bought Graceland for his parents in 1957 for just more than $100,000. It sits on more than 13 acres and has more than 17,550 square feet of living space.
Stepping in through the front door of Graceland is like stepping into a 1977 time capsule. It is a place where white shag carpet meets shag lampshades. Emblazoned peacocks seem curiously bland amid the explosion of colors in this 23-room house.
But, despite this, the home is warm. It has many comfortable places where large numbers of people could sit and talk with or wait for Elvis. The small kitchen is the axis of the home. The backyard is a millionaire's playground. A multicar garage leads to a stable where horses still graze, and there is gun range converted from a smokehouse.
Visitors only can look up to the second floor where he died, but they can pass by where he is buried. His journey ended here only 104 miles from where it began. It was too short. It was too tragic.
Elvis left only one child behind, Lisa Marie. Notwithstanding her inexplicable marriage to Michael Jackson, she did do one thing right: In 1982, she spent $500,000 refurbishing Graceland and opened it to the public. She recouped her investment in 38 days.
Elvis Presley My Way - News
As journeys go, Elvis traveled in style those 42 years. On the museum premises is a customized jet he named after his daughter. By the way, of all the photos I took that day, the one below is my wife's favorite. You see, her name is Lisa Marie, too.
The Idaho native went on to say that he was proud of what he achieved with his battle round performance of 'Burning Love' by Elvis Presley - chosen by Shelton - despite the track being out of his comfort zone. "Blake gave me some pointers and told me
“So I could never ride from city to city with Elvis or with anybody else except daddy. I couldn't sit on anyone's lap, couldn't lay my head on someone's shoulder if I was sleepy — unless it was his.” Continued Presley, meanwhile, encouraged Jackson
Marie told Morgan she feels "blessed" to have grown up working with Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Elvis Presley. "They didn't look at it as being a celebrity," Marie said. "They looked at it as being an entertainer. It was their job.
When Wanda Jackson was a girl with a gravelly voice who opened for Elvis Presley in the 1950s, nobody had ever heard a woman sing like that before. By then, Presley was already gyrating his way to superstardom.
Until tomorrow and forgiveness. Do not forget to tip... Elvis Presley – My Way
Elvis Presley-My way damn!!!
My Way - Elvis Presley 
I favorited a videofrom Elvis Presley - My Way (Subtitu
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