Get a sneak peek of Graceland's new 'Elvis 1956' and 'EPiC' exhibits
Portrait of John BeifussJohn Beifuss
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Prince had purple rain; Elvis had purple suede.
With its wide lapels and flared trousers, the King of Rock 'n' Roll's outré mauve outfit was a 1971 Christmas gift from his wife, Priscilla. Now, it's available to all — to eyeball if not to wear — as one of the dozens of costumes, souvenirs, historic documents and other artifacts on display in a pair of new exhibits at Graceland.
Located within the 20,000-square-foot "Elvis the Entertainer" museum at the Elvis Presley's Memphis complex across the street from the Graceland mansion, the exhibits celebrate the unprecedented ascent and enduring legacy of Elvis Presley — and demonstrate that Elvis' superstar status has not dimmed in 70 years.
"Elvis 1956" chronicles the singer's meteoric rise from Memphis hillbilly cat to international phenomenon. Meanwhile, the second show, "EPiC: The Exhibit," is devoted to vintage artifacts and outfits — including that startling purple suit — that will be seen in the archival footage that makes up the new movie from director Baz Luhrmann, "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert."
The exhibits opened to coincide with Graceland's annual "Birthday Celebration" (Elvis was born Jan. 8, 1935), a series of events highlighted this year by the U.S. premiere of "EPiC" in a pair of sold-out Jan. 8 screenings at The Guest House at Graceland Theater. Constructed by Luhrmann and editor Jonathan Redmond as a sort of documentary followup to their Oscar-nominated 2022 biopic, "Elvis," "EPiC" opens Feb. 20 on IMAX screens and goes into wide release a week later.
Angie Marchese, Graceland vice president for archives and exhibits, said she organized "Elvis 1956" to recognize "Elvis' big breakout year," when the singer was only 21.
"Basically every time he woke up that year, he was doing something for the first time," she said. "Making his first recordings for RCA, his first television appearances, his first movie, his first concert tour..."
By the end of the year, he had sold more than 10 million singles (including such epochal hits as "Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog" and "Love Me Tender"), 3 million EPs, and 800,000 albums.
Said Marchese: "We're trying to not only bring back memories for our older fan base but to educate new fans on how groundbreaking the year was."
The exhibit includes such items as the first issue of TV Guide with Elvis on the cover (to mark the singer's debut on Ed Sullivan's show); the white shoes the singer wore onstage during his famous Tupelo "homecoming" concert; and the copy of Elvis' first album that was owned by his parents, Gladys and Vernon Presley, and played on the family record player when the Presleys still lived on Audubon Drive. "You can see the scratches on it," Marchese said.
1956 also marked the rise of Elvis fandom. The demonstrable purchasing power of teen audiences "forever changed the way entertainment was marketed," Marchese said. To that end, the exhibit includes numerous Elvis products and examples of Elvis advertising. "Even a 'Hound Dog' deserves Jet dog food," declares the slogan on one ad, the words appearing over a drawing of Elvis crooning outside a dog house.
Located nearby, the "EPiC" exhibit was designed to be somewhat "epic" itself, Marchese said, even if it occupies a single long room. "We've got rotating jumpsuits," she said. "Lots of gold, lots of red."
The items on display can be found in the mostly long-lost footage that makes up the bulk of "EPiC," which focuses mainly on Elvis' 1970s Las Vegas residency but uses Elvis audio to enable the singer to tell "my side of the story," as Presley says in one rediscovered snippet.
In addition to exotic clothing, the exhibit includes Elvis guitars (a 1969 Gretsch Country Gentleman and a 1956 Gibson that Marchese said is the "most valuable" guitar in the Graceland collection) and jewelry (gold rings bedecked with diamonds, rubies and a fire opal). In other words, items that cost a lot more than the Elvis souvenir T-shirts found in the "1956" gallery, which retailed for $1.29.