Welcome To Graceland

My son had never visited Graceland and his girlfriend is visiting so I thought it would be time to go. I’ve been 2 times before…once in the 80s and again in the mid-nineties. We stayed in the Exchange Building in Memphis…a building that is 112 years old. If you are looking for a place in Memphis, it’s listed under Air B&Bs…I would recommend this place…love the architecture.

We got to Graceland on Saturday and it was crowded of course…and the price has more than doubled in the past 10 years from what I read. It’s now $77 (80 with tax) dollars per person for a house visit plus the planes and different exhibits. Compared to the 90s…it’s enough items to keep you busy at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours easy…still that is steep when you have a few people.

You get through the house in 30 minutes or so…at least we did. It’s the huge new complex they built to house most of his items that takes a lot of time.

I’m going to show as many pictures as possible but two exhibits surprised this Beatles fan. They had a section called “Icons” and the artists that were influenced by Elvis. They had many things on loan from The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. I got to see the piano that John Lennon wrote a lot of Double Fantasy on and a vest and Marshall amp from no other than Jimi Hendrix. Also a James Brown outfit, KISS items, Joe Perry, Buddy Holly, and a leather jacket from Bruce Springsteen.

You can google Graceland and get most of the pics inside the house but here are a few…I like the yellow man cave. After this, we took a walk on Beale Street which was really cool. Next time I’m allowing more time. Sun Studios and Buford Pusser’s place in McNairy country are places I wanted to see also.

You should be able to click on the pictures and see all of them one at a time if you want.

Here are some of the exhibits

Last but not least…Elvis’s outfits…it looked like a giant doll’s house.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

58 thoughts on “Welcome To Graceland”

    1. Yea I loved the house…but mostly the Hendrix and Lennon objects… his clothes were pretty cool also…I liked how they displayed them.

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      2. No I haven’t seen it yet…
        I liked the Buddy Holly suit also but being that near a Hendrix amp…I could feel the electricity…and to look at that piano knowing he wrote many of the songs on double fantasy on there was cool…plus you could make out the candlewax.

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      4. I don’t know…I don’t know how long they were there or how long they will be there. Everyone seemed shocked. The funny thing is…Graceland is all about Elvis until around 72 when Priscilla left…you don’t see pics of Linda Thompson or other girlfriends lol….and later Elvis is nowhere to be found.

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  3. Very cool! thanks for sharing the pix. Looks neat, more to it than I would have thought (for instance I had no idea there were exhibits related to other artists) but that is a steep price – wow! Did everyone enjoy it ? I wondered if Sun Studios was still around and open for tours… that would be one you’d love to see I would think.

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    1. Everyone enjoyed it…yea we didn’t know about the exhibits with other artists. The first thing I saw was Jimi Hendrix’s amp and I was shocked…they had a lot of stuff…The Lennon piano was great as well.

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  4. I know it’s kinda expensive, especially if paying for a family say, but that looks money well spent. A ‘once in a lifetime’ experience …. unless your name is Badfinger, of course. 😉 😀

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  6. Wow very cool. Everything has gone up in price even Elvis! lol Sure looks like you folk’s had a great time cruising around. I would have loved to seen your expression when u get there and seen Lennon’s piano! Surprised you didn’t leave with it lol

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  8. That’s absolutely fascinating, Max. And a lot less expensive to view while sitting at my desk! I have only visited one famous musician’s house and that was Mozart’s house in Vienna. It was quite small. I was the only one there and I went into every room and said my name out loud!

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    1. It was a lot of fun. I’m not a huge Elvis fanatic but it was part of pop culture for sure.
      Well Mozart is a real musician…did you carve your name there?

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  9. Very cool, Max. I’m glad you had another chance to visit. Graceland is on my bucket list. I never would have guessed they have all these other exhibits. I really thought Graceland was all about Elvis. I would also love to visit Sun Records and the Stax Museum. So much music history in this town!

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    1. It was all about Elvis before…this was a nice addition and it’s part of the very end away from the house. I drove by Sun Studios…I tell you where I wanna make it to… Muscle Shoals studio.

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      3. If that place would be two hours from my house, I guess I would have visited it already.

        But you know it’s funny, sometimes you simply don’t visit certain sights that are relatively close. I remember when we still lived in Queens, New York, it took friends visiting from Germany to make me finally go and see certain places in New York City.

        I suppose when you live near a place with many attractions to visit, you feel less urgency to go to these sights because you think you can always easily get there!

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      4. There are places in Nashville that I haven’t been so yea I know what you are talking about. I think we take things for granted at times. My son and I want to go to a place in TN where a famous…bad ass….sheriff (Buford Pusser) lived in a couple of weeks….I think we are going.
        This trip opened our eyes a bit.

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  10. I’ve been waiting for this post!! GREAT pictures! Obviously, they’ve added a lot since I was there. I love the Icons stuff and how they have all his suits now. Wow! Impressive.

    I had a cheap camera when I went and my pictures kind of sucked, These are great!

    I had a picture of the Trash Cans across the street. There were three of them one said Thank You, another said Thank You and the last one said Very Much! LOL

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    1. I didn’t get the Trash Cans lol.
      It was a lot of fun but yea…I haven’t been since the 90s so it’s much bigger now…not the house of course but the complex where you get your tickets.

      Thanks dude… his outfits blew me away…like I said…I felt I was in a giant doll house.

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      1. No, when I was there the special exhibit was a number of cars that hadn’t been out previously, and some of Elvis’ military memorabilia. There was also a small exhibit of some of Sam Phillips’ belongings, including a stunning powder-blue Cadillac convertible.

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      2. They had all of that also except that Cadillac…they did have the pink one of course. I haven’t been since the 90s so it was a huge difference for me.

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  13. Being born in the 70’s, I was not an Elvis fan growing up, though my Dad loved him. I’ve been in Memphis twice and neither time have I visited Graceland. However, after seeing the Elvis movie, I have a new appreciation for the man and his artistry. The peacock motifs in his house are far out! $80 sure is steep, but the next time I’m in Memphis, I may stop by.

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    1. I was born right before the 70s but I got introduced early with my family… it was fun and the new Icons exhibit makes it worth it to me.

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  14. Max, thank you so much for sharing the photos of the place. That entrance is not at all what I expected it to look like. Didn’t expect the other musicians’ memorabilia. Those costumes are truly amazing to see. I’d like to see them close up. The rooms are a precious time capsule. I still remember when furnishings looked like that but 50 years from now they will be totally historical for visitors. Very pricey for a family to go, I agree.

    Speaking of Marshall speakers, I watched a good doc last night that I think you would love, called, “British Rock: Born in a Basement.” They interviewed so many famous people in it, several who have passed on, including *the* Marshall (or maybe his son?) Also Jack Bruce, who said, “We killed a bunch of Marshalls.”

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    2. Glad you liked it Lisa. That Icon series totally surprised me…it’s changed a lot (not the house) in the almost 30 years since I went.

      Thank you that sounds right up my alley.

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      1. Oh I did and would love to visit the place sometime. One of the bands they focus on in this is The Who, so I’m sure you will. They also had some what I will call “musical pioneers” that I never heard of that I’d like to learn more about.

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      2. Cool I will watch it…I saw the Who on there. That is a must.

        I’m reading a book about John Bonham right now…whew…the guy wasn’t a nice drunk like Moon…at all.

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  16. They did give you a lot to see for that pricey ticket. It was great your son’s GF got to see the iconic things. I loved all of the pictures you shared! The rooms have such classic mid-century details. I had no idea his jumpsuits were so varied in design. I bet the designers had fun creating them.

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  17. Pingback: Welcome To Graceland – MobsterTiger

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