American History Tellers - America's Monuments | The Mansion of the King | 5

Episode Date: March 24, 2021

Few historic residences are more synonymous with their owners than Graceland. Purchased by Elvis Presley in 1957, the stately Memphis mansion was the heart of his private world and his most p...rized possession. He always swore he’d never sell it.   But after Elvis’s sudden and tragic death, Graceland faced an uncertain future. It would take a risky move by his ex-wife Priscilla to save the mansion and secure its place as a lasting monument to one of America’s greatest musical icons.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/historytellers.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's March 1957, a chilly morning in Memphis, Tennessee. You and your husband Vernon are examining the empty living room of a grand but dilapidated mansion in the city's Whitehaven district. The place has seen better days, but underneath the dust and cobwebs, it's beautiful. Ornate crown moldings, a massive white marble hearth. But Vernon looks unimpressed. Nah, I can't believe he's even considering the place.
Starting point is 00:00:46 He asked us to find a big colonial on some acreage, and this fits the bill. There's a nicest little barn out back. I could have my goats and chickens again. Don't need a whole barn for that. You could have your animals on a decent spread anyplace. Upstairs, your son is with the realtor, looking the place over. He said for years that he would buy you and Vernon the finest home. And maybe this place isn't the finest, but you can see its potential. Oh, come on, Vernon. It's got lots of room for Ken to come and stay. He could raise a family here, entertain his friends in a proper fashion. Entertaining people is all he thinks about. I don't know how many times I've got to say it. It's just not sensible to buy a house that's going to cost as much to fix up as it costs to buy. Well, it's up to him,
Starting point is 00:01:29 I guess. He'll be the one writing the check. He'll be writing checks, all right. For fresh paint and a new roof. I just don't understand him sometimes. We got a nice place now. We just had it fixed up like we wanted. Now he wants to start all over again. But he's worked so hard. He deserves to buy the house he wants. He's spending money faster than he earns it. Cars, motorcycles, new clothes. Colonel Parker says the sky's the limit, but next year he could be old news. Then what do we do? We'll be right back in the boarding house. Oh shush, here they come. Now don't you say a word that might embarrass him. Your son glides through the room. You can tell by the gleam in his eye that he's already fallen in love with the place.
Starting point is 00:02:10 The realtor follows him, still making her sales pitch. She goes on and on about the solarium, perfect for a music room. In fact, she says, the previous owners left their piano in it. It was too big for them to move. You follow your son and the realtor into the window-lined room, just in time to see him sit down in front of the battered old grand piano and put his hands on the keys. As he plays, he flashes that electric smile. This vacant place suddenly feels more than just a house. It already feels like the home you and your son Elvis have
Starting point is 00:02:43 always dreamed of finding. A place the two of you can put your personal stamp on. But you're still uncertain. Your son's life and your own has changed. It appears to be for the better. You never dreamed of living in a home like this. But Elvis did. And now, as his fame grows, so too does the chaos around him.
Starting point is 00:03:05 Elvis has achieved remarkable things, but will he be able to resist the temptation and excess offered to the king of rock and roll? With Audible, there's more to imagine when you listen. Whether you listen to stories, motivation, expert advice, any genre you love, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, any genre you love. You can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, new ways of thinking. And Audible makes it easy to be inspired and entertained
Starting point is 00:03:31 as a part of your everyday routine without needing to set aside extra time. As an Audible member, you choose one title a month to keep from their ever-growing catalog. Explore themes of friendship, loss, and hope with remarkably bright creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Find what piques your imagination. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca to sign up. From the team behind American History Tellers comes a new book, The Hidden History of the White House. Each chapter
Starting point is 00:04:01 will bring you inside the fierce power struggles, intimate moments, and shocking scandals that shaped our nation. From the War of 1812 to Watergate. Available now wherever you get your books. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. Graceland is synonymous with the life of the biggest rock star in American history, Elvis Presley. Purchased by Elvis when he was just 22, the stately Memphis mansion stands as the single most recognizable monument to his achievements. Before he became the king of rock and roll, Elvis was born poor in Mississippi. He and his parents lived a hardscrabble life of heartbreak and disappointment. He had long promised to buy them a home so spectacular that it would represent a
Starting point is 00:05:10 break with their painful past. Graceland, with soaring white columns and airy rooms, became that home. During his career, Elvis owned other magnificent residences in luxurious places like Bel Air and Palm Springs. But in his mind, it was always clear those were just houses. Graceland was home. Elvis insisted, I would never sell Graceland. Not at no price to nobody. Elvis lived by those words until the day he died. But after his death, Elvis's beloved Graceland faced the auction block. It would take a daring and risky move to rescue the home and preserve Graceland as a monument to his enduring cultural influence. This is Episode 5 of our series on America's Monuments, The Mansion of the King.
Starting point is 00:06:00 Elvis Aaron Presley's birth broke his parents' hearts. In the early morning darkness of January 8, 1935, Gladys Presley went into labor at her home in Tupelo, Mississippi. She was expecting twins, but when the first baby emerged, he was stillborn. Minutes later, Elvis was born, alive. The next day, Elvis' twin was buried in a cardboard box in an unmarked grave. Elvis was a child of the Great Depression, and like many other Americans of the time, he grew up poor. His first home was a two-room shotgun shack. His father was a sharecropper who was often out of work. His mother picked cotton and worked at a laundry. The family moved often from one ramshackle residence to the next. As an only child,
Starting point is 00:06:46 young Elvis was fiercely devoted to his parents. He and his mother developed an especially close relationship. She'd hold his hand and walk him back and forth to school every day. Elvis recalled, my mama never let me out of her sight. By the time he was 10, Elvis had developed a passion for music. He took up guitar and avidly listened to the radio. On Sundays, he and his parents sang as a trio at their church. Then, just weeks after the Second World War ended, he sang in a talent contest at the State Fair in Tupelo. It was his first taste of the stage.
Starting point is 00:07:20 But only a few years later, in 1948, the family faced destitution when Vernon again lost his job. Soon after, Elvis and his family left Mississippi behind altogether. They hit the highway, heading north. Elvis later explained, We were broke, man, broke. We left Tupelo overnight. Dad packed all our belongings in boxes
Starting point is 00:07:41 and put them on the top and in the trunk of a 1939 Plymouth. Elvis was just 13, and they were in search of a new home again. For folks from Tupelo, Memphis was the big city. The Presley family hoped to find opportunity there, but those hopes were quickly dashed. Desperately poor, the family moved into a cockroach-infested boarding house, sharing a bathroom with three other families. Within a year, the family sought refuge at a large public housing complex called the Lauderdale Courts. They would live there in a two-bedroom apartment for the next four years, where Elvis continued to obsess over songs and sing along with the radio. In June 1953, Elvis graduated high school.
Starting point is 00:08:27 He found full-time work as a machinist and dutifully handed over his paychecks to his parents. He told his boss that he dreamed of buying them the nicest house in Memphis one day. But Elvis had other dreams as well. Right after graduation, he saved $4 and found a studio to make a record for his mother. He chose Sam Phillips'
Starting point is 00:08:52 Memphis Recording Service. Elvis' performance underwhelmed Phillips, but his voice had a certain quality, a quavering tone that Phillips never forgot. Over the next year, Elvis proceeded along a blue-collar path. He sang for Phillips a few more times, but nothing ever came of those sessions. Then on July 3, 1954, a guitarist named Scotty Moore called Elvis. Moore hoped to cut a couple of tunes for Phillips' label, Sun Records. He had a bassist, but needed a singer. Maybe Elvis could audition. On July 5, Phillips hosted the trio at his studio. At first, the session went nowhere. There was no spark, no chemistry.
Starting point is 00:09:26 Then, in a burst of inspiration, Elvis launched into an old blues tune, That's All Right, dancing wildly as he sang. A stunned Phillips quickly rolled tape, capturing a side of Elvis he'd never seen before, a raw, electrifying vocal performance that made the hair on his neck stand up. By late summer, That's Alright had become a hit. In October, Elvis performed to great acclaim on a live national radio show, the Louisiana Hayride. His tour of the southern states generated tremendous excitement.
Starting point is 00:09:57 Then in 1956, he recorded Heartbreak Hotel for his new label, RCA. It hit number one on the Billboard chart and remained in that spot for two months. His subsequent three singles reached number one as well. Elvis became a national sensation. He appeared on network television. He signed a multi-picture movie contract and performed across America to large audiences of jubilant teenagers. He was the embodiment of a new, exciting sound, rock and roll. As his career took off, Elvis hired a manager, Colonel Tom Parker, a gruff, cigar-chewing former carnival worker.
Starting point is 00:10:35 One of the industry's toughest negotiators, Parker would be instrumental to Elvis' meteoric rise to superstardom. For better or worse, Elvis came to trust him implicitly. Only months after the release of Heartbreak Hotel in the spring of 1956, Elvis purchased a Memphis ranch home for himself and his parents for a little less than $30,000, about $300,000 in today's money. Compared to everywhere else the Presleys had lived, it was a palace, a brand new four-bedroom house with a big backyard, and a carport large enough to accommodate several of Elvis's Cadillacs. It stood on a quiet street in Audubon Park, an upscale neighborhood favored by the city's country club set. The new home soon
Starting point is 00:11:17 became a magnet for fans eager to catch a glimpse of the singer, and it became a source of tension between the Presley family and their well-to-do neighbors. Imagine it's a sunny 4th of July in Memphis, 1956. You're a housewife standing in your suburban front yard. It's a warm day, birds are chirping, everyone's off for the holiday, and you're staring across the street, appalled at how a mob of teenagers have besieged your formerly quiet neighborhood. You call the police half an hour ago. Finally, here they are. You approach the officer as he steps out of his squad car and surveys the hastily parked cars and gaggles of near-hysterical young people crowding the street. Oh, thank goodness you're here, officer. These fans, they're a menace. They're everywhere. In the street, in his yard. I can see that, ma'am. But what would you like me to do exactly? They don't live here. We do. I want to get them out
Starting point is 00:12:14 of our neighborhood. Well, ma'am, this is a public street, and it's not against any ordinance for property owners to host guests. Officer, perhaps you don't understand the character of the Audubon neighborhood. Ever since that family moved in, we've suffered for it. Look for yourself. His mother's got the wash hanging on a line like they're still living on a farm. Today's ruckus is just the worst of it. I understand your frustration, ma'am, but it's also not against the law to hang your sheets out to dry. Well, what about illegal parking? Look, that girl's about to block my driveway. Well, that, that I can address. Excuse me. The officer walks up to the passenger side of the blue sedan that's now in front of your driveway and addresses the teenage girl at the wheel.
Starting point is 00:12:55 Young lady, you need to move your car. Oh, I'll just be here a moment, quick minute, officer. I heard Elvis was home and signing autographs. No, no, you're blocking this lady's driveway. You can't park here. Oh, please, I'll be so fast. Oh, my gosh, here he comes. Like some sort of rock and roll Pied Piper, Elvis slowly rides his Harley down the middle of the street, trailed by screaming teenage fans.
Starting point is 00:13:21 The girl blocking your driveway jumps out of her car and joins them. The officer just watches her go Then takes out his ticket book You storm over to him, furious Aren't you going to do something about this? I am, ma'am I'm writing this young lady a citation for blocking your driveway But as for all that, well, there's not much else we can do It's a free country
Starting point is 00:13:43 You look over at the Presley's front lawn, where Elvis now stands mobbed by fans. And as you gaze down your street to the nearest intersection, you see even more of them coming. A line of cars filled with teenagers waiting to turn onto your street. The traffic's bumper to bumper, right in front of your home. Defeated, you retreat inside, wondering when this carnival is going to end. When his neighbor's complaints made local headlines late in 1956, Elvis was defiant. He told reporters that he and his family wouldn't move unless they wanted to. Maybe the best solution he mused was for him to buy all of his neighbor's houses and force them out.
Starting point is 00:14:32 But Elvis' mother told him that actually she'd love a bigger place. So while Elvis was off working in Nashville and Hollywood, Gladys and Vernon started looking for a new home. They set out with Elvis' specific instructions in mind. He wanted to purchase an imposing, colonial-style home, standing on a large estate, something worthy of Southern aristocracy. One of the first places they visited was an old mansion on the south side of town. Set back on a wooded hill off Highway 51, the home stood on a 14-acre spread, the last remaining piece of what was once a 500-acre cattle farm. The place was called Graceland, named after the original owner's daughter, Grace.
Starting point is 00:15:09 The neoclassical house, which was built in 1939, had been vacant for a while, but still looked magnificent. Four Corinthian columns supported its two-story gleaming white portico. Its facade was faced with tan limestone, which contrasted beautifully with the forest-green shutters that flanked its windows. Around back, the home featured an attached four-car garage, and, in a nod to its past, a stable and barn nestled alongside the property's verdant pasture. A few days after Gladys and Vernon's first visit, Elvis came to see Graceland. As soon as he set eyes on it, he wanted it. To Elvis, Graceland's air of old Southern gentility seemed tailor-made for putting his family's years of
Starting point is 00:15:51 struggle behind them. There were a few things he disliked. The decor was too staid, and the house hadn't been updated in many years. But ultimately, Elvis knew he was more than rich enough to make everything perfect. In a matter of days, the deal was done. On March 19, 1957, Elvis bought the 10,000-square-foot home for just over $100,000, about a million in today's money. Elvis immediately made detailed plans for renovations. He wanted the dining and living room walls painted a regal purple, accented with gold trim. He wanted a top-of-the-line hi-fi system in every room, custom furniture, and living room walls painted a regal purple accented with gold trim. He wanted a top of the line hi-fi system in every room, custom furniture, and a basement TV room with a full size soda fountain and jukebox for hosting his friends. In the master bedroom, he wanted a
Starting point is 00:16:36 mirrored wall and a white rug and walls painted the darkest blue. Ever the doting son, Elvis indulged his mother's wishes, too. When she suggested that he choose less aggressive colors for the first floor, he agreed. She selected a rich blue for the walls. He let her pick out the drapes, too. He also had a hog pen and chicken coop built for her so that she could have her animals again. To protect the property, Elvis had a stone wall constructed. He also had a set of sturdy gates decorated with musical notes installed at the base of the driveway. Elvis had them fabricated with bars and latticework rather than solid steel panels so he could hold court with fans while standing in his driveway.
Starting point is 00:17:17 By early summer, Graceland's renovations were nearly complete. Elvis had been away from home, making the movie Jailhouse Rock. All the while, though, he'd been counting down the days until he could see the new changes. In mid-June, Elvis boarded a train in Los Angeles, bound for Memphis. He was so anxious to get to Graceland that he got off in New Orleans to rent a car. He raced the rest of the way to Tennessee. When he opened Graceland's front door, Elvis was greeted by a scene that seemed to come from a dream. In his grand foyer, underneath a glittering chandelier, stood his parents. His mother said, Welcome home, son. On June 26, 1957, Elvis spent his first night in his
Starting point is 00:17:58 beautifully restored mansion. It looked spectacular, and it felt like home for him and his family. But the blissful moment wouldn't last. Soon, a family tragedy would strike Graceland, making the place not just a symbol of what Elvis had achieved, but a reminder of all he had lost. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still
Starting point is 00:18:45 a virgin. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorises Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats and crucifixes.
Starting point is 00:19:32 Even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today. The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror. So when we look in the mirror, the only thing we see is our own monstrous abilities. From the host and producer of American History Tellers and History Daily comes the new podcast, The Real History of Dracula. We'll reveal how author Bram Stoker raided ancient folklore, exploited Victorian fears
Starting point is 00:20:06 around sex, science, and religion, and how even today we remain enthralled to his strange creatures of the night. You can binge all episodes of The Real History of Dracula exclusively with Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus and The Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. A few days before Christmas 1962, Elvis's new girlfriend, Priscilla Beaulieu, arrived at the gates of Graceland all the way from Germany. Elvis had been anxious for her arrival and raced from the house so he could drive her through the gates himself. When Priscilla first saw the Christmas lights and glittering decorations on the mansion's long white columns, she felt overwhelmed by Graceland's beauty. I thought I was living inside a dream, she recalled. She found the house filled with his friends and family. Elvis introduced her to everyone. A few days later, he gave her a puppy for Christmas. Though the holiday was joyous, Elvis also shared a source of profound sadness with his new
Starting point is 00:21:09 girlfriend. Back in August 1958, his mother Gladys had been hospitalized with acute hepatitis. Elvis made it to the hospital in time to comfort her, but hours later she succumbed to a heart attack. She was only 46 and had only been able to live at her beloved Graceland for about a year. For Elvis, her ghost would hover over the place for the rest of his time there. When the holidays ended, Priscilla reluctantly returned to her parents in Germany. Elvis couldn't wait to be with her again, but her age complicated things. She was only 17, the daughter of a United States Air Force officer. Elvis had met her in 1959, while he himself was stationed in Germany during his time in the Army. By March,
Starting point is 00:21:52 however, Elvis convinced Priscilla's parents to let her move to Memphis. Elvis pledged she wouldn't live with him. Instead, she moved in with Elvis's father Vernon and his new wife Dee, who now live together in a house nearby. Elvis had ordered them out of Graceland after he discovered that Dee had replaced his mother's curtains. The new arrangement was short-lived, though. Despite their promise to her parents, Priscilla and Elvis were soon living together at Graceland. For Priscilla, it felt magical. She was in love with the most popular recording artist on the planet, and now she was living under his roof. But life at Graceland was much different than she envisioned.
Starting point is 00:22:30 In the 1960s, Elvis's manager, Colonel Parker, negotiated one lucrative movie contract after another for his star client. And as a result, Elvis spent more time in Hollywood than he did in Memphis. Priscilla soon learned there were other challenges to being a superstar's girlfriend, too. While stuck home at Graceland, she agonized over news reports of Elvis's affairs with his movie co-stars. Elvis insisted it was all gossip, but in her heart, Priscilla knew he was unfaithful. When Elvis did return for a week or two, Priscilla wasn't the only one eager to see him. Elvis's entourage, known as the Memphis Mafia, practically lived in the house. And when fans gathered at the gates,
Starting point is 00:23:10 Elvis indulged them for hours, signing scores of autographs. When he was home for longer stretches, Elvis and Priscilla got more private time together, disappearing into his bedroom. Elvis liked to stay awake for days on end, fueled by an amphetamine habit he picked up in the army. Even though Elvis was only a part-time resident of Graceland, he often reimagined his home's contours, adding new rooms and making changes to the estate's grounds. In 1965, wanting a quiet place for reflection, he had an elaborate meditation garden built. It featured a circular fountain, a curved wall with illuminated stained glass windows, and marble statues of Roman soldiers and another of Jesus.
Starting point is 00:23:51 When Elvis first set eyes on the finished product, he cried tears of joy. In late 1966, Elvis bought Priscilla a quarter horse so she could ride out back. Soon after, he bought himself a golden Palomino. He enjoyed riding with her so much that he went on a horse-buying spree so his friends could also ride at Graceland. Elvis's passion for horses inspired him to take a hands-on approach to fixing up his property. He wanted a brand-new riding arena built right where some decrepit outbuildings stood,
Starting point is 00:24:21 so he purchased a massive caterpillar bulldozer and demolished them himself. Just before Christmas 1966, Elvis asked Priscilla to marry him. It was an act of love, but also a good PR move, as the king of rock and roll tried to project a more wholesome image. After living in sin with a woman ten years his junior, Elvis was finally tying the knot. The two married in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967. After a Palm Springs honeymoon, they flew back to Memphis and held a reception at Graceland. What the couple and their guests didn't know, though, was that Priscilla was already pregnant. Their daughter, Lisa Marie, was born in Memphis nine months to the day after their wedding.
Starting point is 00:25:11 Elvis had spent nearly all of the 1960s away from the concert stage. He focused on Hollywood, acting in over 20 films. Then, in late 1968, he starred in a top-rated television concert called The Comeback Special. Within months, he reclaimed his position as a pop music icon and an in-demand concert attraction. But behind the scenes, his marriage was failing. Priscilla tried to save it by traveling with him when he left Graceland. She attempted to make their brand-new Beverly Hills residence into a second family home. But Elvis spent most of his time on the West Coast with his entourage in Palm Springs, where wives and children were not invited. After tolerating Elvis's infidelity for years, Priscilla had had enough. She asked for a divorce in early 1972. Saying goodbye to Graceland, she moved with Lisa Marie
Starting point is 00:25:57 to the Beverly Hills home she'd hoped to share with Elvis. In late 1973, the divorce settlement was finalized. Elvis was on the hook for nearly $2 million to Priscilla, as well as an additional $4,000 a month in child support. Less than a week later, he was quietly hospitalized in Memphis for his drug addiction. Though he was still a big star, behind the scenes, Elvis's life and career were increasingly troubled. While he remained a strong concert draw, Elvis' income had started to shrink. Hollywood no longer had any use for him, and his record sales had declined. Even worse, Elvis seemed incapable of recording new songs in the studio. Colonel Parker was perhaps more alarmed than anyone about this state of affairs.
Starting point is 00:26:41 Unlike most managers, Parker had only one client. He also took an outsized portion of Elvis's earnings, as much as 50%, when the industry rate was less than half that number. But by early 1974, Elvis seemed to be in a better place. He appeared happiest when six-year-old Lisa Marie visited him at Graceland. He indulged her every whim, much to the chagrin of Graceland's staff. While Elvis slept during the day, his daughter raced around the grounds in her own golf cart, doing pretty much whatever she pleased. But Elvis's studio inactivity was becoming a crisis for his manager and his record label.
Starting point is 00:27:23 In January of 1976, Elvis agreed to a week-long recording session with the goal of getting 20 new songs on tape. Because of his recent studio failures, RCA and the Colonel suggested that he record at Graceland. Elvis liked the idea, saying he knew just the right room in which to set up a makeshift studio. Several years earlier, Elvis had redecorated his den with gaudy, Polynesian-style wooden furniture and thick green shag carpet on both the floor and the ceiling. This tropical-themed den would come to be known as the Jungle Room. So in early February, RCA arrived at Graceland with a mobile recording truck. Recording engineers moved furniture and miked up the den.
Starting point is 00:28:00 Elvis' band assembled at the house. It was a make-or-break moment. If they couldn't get enough songs on tape, Elvis would violate his contract with RCA and slip further into cultural irrelevance. Imagine it's nearly midnight on February 5th, 1976. You're a young assistant recording engineer standing in Graceland's Polynesian den. Working on an Elvis album has been a huge thrill. The King even struck up a conversation with you after last night's session, asking where you grew up. You said Memphis, which delighted him. But now, on the fourth night of recording, things are getting tense. Elvis hasn't shown his face all night, and the album's producer
Starting point is 00:28:41 is losing it. As you're checking microphones and running cable across the thick shag carpet, your boss, the session's head engineer, corners you. All right, man, it's your turn. My turn? To do what? To go upstairs and tell him we need to get started. Elvis? No, I can't go up there. This is his house, man. He doesn't know me from Adam. Yeah, well, I was up there an hour ago. He's holding court with a band, playing gospel records, and pontificating about numerology or something. I told him we were ready to record, and he said he'd be down in an hour. So it's been an hour.
Starting point is 00:29:14 Time's up. Yeah, man, I don't want to go up there. Last night, one of the guys in the band told me Elvis was up there ranting, showing off his gun collection, waving around a.44, cocked and loaded. Yeah, he's in a better mood tonight. Well, maybe he was an hour ago. Who knows what's going on up there now? Listen, we've got to get together on this. RCA isn't going to fire Elvis. If we can't get anything out of him in these sessions, guess who's going to get their walking papers? You
Starting point is 00:29:40 understand? I just don't want to be thrown out of the house or shot. You told me you talked to him about Memphis, right? Remind him of that. Tell him you loved hearing him sing the other night. Tell him, gosh darn it, tell him anything. Just get him down here. All of us, except you, have been up there tonight. All of you? Okay, I'll try.
Starting point is 00:30:01 Don't come back down without him, right? You climb the stairs, feeling your heart pound as you ascend the thickly carpeted steps. It's pitch black upstairs, but when you step forward, you see light seeping under a door at the end of a long hallway. As you approach, you can hear the king talking in a loud, earnest voice. You take a deep breath, force a smile, and knock. Elvis finally emerged from his bedroom later that night to record moving renditions of three key songs, including an old 50s R&B number called Hurt. It was his best effort in a studio in years
Starting point is 00:30:42 and helped salvage the sessions. A few weeks later, RCA released Hurt as a single. Two new albums, drawing heavily from these jungle room sessions, would come out over the next two years. These releases didn't set the world on fire, but they proved that despite his decline, Elvis still could deliver in the studio. But by early 1977, Elvis's private life was in shambles. He was hopelessly addicted to drugs. His weight ballooned. His live performances had become erratic. He also had mounting financial problems. Even as his income continued to plummet,
Starting point is 00:31:18 he spent lavishly. He bought everything from jets and guns to cars and jewelry, bestowing expensive gifts on close friends and occasionally total strangers. To fuel this spree, Elvis borrowed $350,000 from a Memphis bank, using Graceland as collateral. If he defaulted, he could lose the home he swore he'd never sell. In April 1977, Priscilla and Lisa Marie visited Graceland. Elvis, who'd just spent four days in the hospital for exhaustion, was glad to see them. Priscilla was saddened by his dazed and bloated appearance.
Starting point is 00:31:53 She still cared deeply about Elvis and hated seeing him in this condition. Before she and their daughter departed, the former married couple had a long, intimate conversation. They sat and talked in his bedroom, inside the home where Priscilla had tried to build a life with Elvis. It would be their final moments together. Over the next several months, Elvis's condition deteriorated. He suffered from a host of chronic health conditions, from glaucoma to high blood pressure. To treat them, he consumed a dangerous cocktail of prescription drugs. In June, he sweated through a handful of concerts, looking pale and sounding like a ghost of his former self.
Starting point is 00:32:36 Then, on August 16th, a girlfriend found Elvis lying on his bathroom floor, unresponsive. He was rushed to the hospital, but just a few hours later, doctors pronounced him dead. The official cause of death was cardiac arrest, complicated by no fewer than 10 drugs found in his system. He was 42 years old. Elvis Presley, the king of rock and roll, was gone. And in the wake of his death, his estate, especially its crown jewel, Graceland, would be the subject of a fierce legal battle that would threaten to undo everything he had worked so hard to achieve. I'm Tristan Redman, and as a journalist, I've never believed in ghosts. But when I discovered that my wife's great-grandmother was murdered in the house next
Starting point is 00:33:18 door to where I grew up, I started wondering about the inexplicable things that happened in my childhood bedroom. When I tried to find out more, I discovered that someone who slept in my room after me, someone I'd never met, was visited by the ghost of a faceless woman. So I started digging into the murder in my wife's family, and I unearthed family secrets nobody could have imagined. Ghost Story won Best Documentary Podcast at the 2024 Ambees and is a Best True Crime Nominee at the British Podcast Awards 2024. Ghost Story is now the first ever Apple Podcast series essential. Each month, Apple Podcast editors spotlight one series that has captivated listeners with masterful storytelling,
Starting point is 00:33:56 creative excellence, and a unique creative voice and vision. To recognize Ghost Story being chosen as the first series essential, Wondery has made it ad-free for a limited time only on Apple Podcasts. If you haven't listened yet, head over to Apple Podcasts to hear for yourself. For more than two centuries, the White House has been the stage for some of the most dramatic scenes in American history. Inspired by the hit podcast American History Tellers, Wondery and William Morrow present the new book, The Hidden History of the White House. Each chapter will bring you inside the fierce power struggles, the world altering decisions, and shocking scandals that have shaped our nation. You'll be there when the
Starting point is 00:34:33 very foundations of the White House are laid in 1792, and you'll watch as the British burn it down in 1814. Then you'll hear the intimate conversations between FDR and Winston Churchill as they make plans to defeat Nazi forces in 1941. And you'll be in the Situation Room when President Barack Obama approves the raid to bring down the most infamous terrorist in American history. Order The Hidden History of the White House now in hardcover or digital edition, wherever you get your books. Imagine it's just before 6.30 p.m. on August 17, 1977. You and your sister Florence have been standing all day in the broiling Memphis heat, crying and hugging, jammed in a tightly packed crowd of thousands of mourners
Starting point is 00:35:21 outside the gates of Graceland. For the last half hour, your sister has told you she wants to go home. Pleading with her, you've kept her shuffling closer, inch by inch, to the gates. Now, just a line of police officers stand between you and entry to the estate, where a public viewing of the body of Elvis Presley is in its final hour. But Florence, drenched in sweat and bone-tired, can barely stay on her feet. Oh, I can't do it. We've been trying to get inside all day. We're so close now. No, but I... It's not that. I just don't want to see him lying there in his own living room.
Starting point is 00:35:57 I don't want to see him dead. He can't be dead. Florence, look at me. You remember when we first saw Elvis? Yeah, Louisiana Hayride, the Shreveport Fairgrounds, December 56. There must have been 10,000 people there. Yeah, he was so incredible. Remember how he shook his hips? And when he looked right at us, cheering love me tender. When he smiled, I thought we were both gonna faint. I did too. But look, we're almost at the front. The Graceland gates are so close that you can almost touch them. Then you hear a police commander on a bullhorn. Sorry, folks.
Starting point is 00:36:35 Presley family has called for an end to the public viewing. Please disperse in an orderly fashion. It's all over. Please disperse. They're closing the gate. Florence, Florence, please. I know you're tired, but this is our last chance. Our last chance.
Starting point is 00:36:48 Are you with me? Florence nods a yes. And in desperation, your eyes find those of the nearest police officer. Officer, please let us through. We've come all the way from Louisiana. We got here before the sun came up. We've been fans since we were little girls. Let us pay our respects.
Starting point is 00:37:06 Please. He glances over his shoulder at the officers preparing to lock the gates. You can't read the expression behind his mirrored sunglasses. Okay, come along quick. He grabs you by the wrist and yanks you with your sister in tow out of the crowd and onto the grounds of Graceland. The gate closes behind you. Ahead of you is a long line of grieving fans, snaking up the driveway towards Graceland's stately front entrance. Even Florence, as tired as she is, can't help but smile as you both realize you're about to be the very last public mourners to pay their final respects to Elvis Presley. On August 18, 1977, one day after a public viewing for fans, the Presley family held a small private funeral inside Graceland.
Starting point is 00:38:00 Afterwards, Elvis' body was sealed in a crypt in a nearby cemetery. His resting place was just a stone's throw from his mother's grave. But Elvis and Gladys soon returned home to Graceland. After a nighttime attempt by petty criminals to steal Elvis's corpse, their remains were disinterred in the fall of 1977. Mother and son were reburied, side by side, in the meditation garden on the Graceland grounds. In the wake of Elvis's death, fans learned about his private life from a string of salacious tell-all books. Those revelations did nothing, though, to overturn the popular notion that Elvis was one of America's wealthiest entertainers. But it was far from true. Elvis's estate was only worth about $5 million when he died, a startlingly low number for a
Starting point is 00:38:42 singer who'd earned half a billion dollars in record sales during his lifetime. The bulk of his estate consisted of approximately two million dollars in cash, his extensive car collection, his Palm Springs house, and of course, Graceland. For a while after his death, there was tremendous demand for everything Elvis, but his estate's income from record sales and movie royalties shrank as the memory faded. Meanwhile, the estate continued to spend about $1.5 million every year, one-third of it to cover security, insurance, and taxes for Graceland. Elvis's will named two beneficiaries, Lisa Marie and his grandmother, Minnie Mae. Elvis had
Starting point is 00:39:21 appointed his father, Vernon, as the estate's executor. After Vernon died in June of 1979, Elvis's ex-wife, Priscilla, became one of the estate's three executors, along with Elvis's longtime accountant, Joseph Hanks, and a Memphis bank. They were slated to serve in the role until 1993, when Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie, turned 25. That's when she would inherit her portion of her father's estate, including Graceland. When Priscilla sat down with Hanks, he told her the hard truth. If nothing changed, the estate would go broke long before Lisa Marie could inherit a cent. The estate's finances became
Starting point is 00:39:56 even more pressing for Priscilla in May 1980, when Minnie Mae died, making 12-year-old Lisa Marie the sole beneficiary. Soon, the estate's financial problems became public. In August 1981, a court-ordered accounting of Elvis' dealings with Colonel Parker accused the manager of defrauding his client out of millions of dollars during their decades-long relationship. Then, just days later, the IRS completed a massive audit of the estate, assessing a $14 million tax bill. By year's end, the estate's tax liability would consume nearly 70% of its value.
Starting point is 00:40:32 Elvis's fortune was drying up faster than anyone had imagined. By the summer of 1981, Priscilla was determined to confront the looming crisis. The advice from her financial advisors was clear—sell Graceland, the estate's most costly asset. But while the move would preserve her daughter's inheritance, it also meant she'd be parting with Elvis's beloved home, the one he vowed never to sell. Looking for different advice, she met with a Missouri-based financial advisor, Jack Soden. An English major turned investment manager, Soden knew almost nothing about the entertainment business. But he grasped the essence of her dilemma and worked with her to formulate a solution. The pair hatched a plan to open Graceland as a museum. At first, Priscilla
Starting point is 00:41:20 was loath to do it. Graceland was the home she and her daughter had shared with Elvis. Perhaps when Lisa Marie became an adult, she'd want to live there again. That would be impossible if the house became a museum. But Priscilla was desperate. She knew it was her last chance to save Graceland from the auction block. Soden and Priscilla did their calculations. The capital needed to convert Graceland to a museum was $560,000. Typically, a bank loan could provide such a sum. But the estate had already borrowed so heavily that no financial institution would extend it more credit. That left the estate's cash on hand,
Starting point is 00:41:56 its remaining half a million dollars, as the only way to fund the plan. The other $60,000 could be raised through advanced ticket sales. It was risky. If the plan failed, the $60,000 could be raised through advanced ticket sales. It was risky. If the plan failed, the estate would be financially crippled and out of options when it came to Graceland. But the more immediate task was convincing Priscilla's co-executors, who strongly opposed the scheme. Hanks and representatives from the bank argued that spending the estate's remaining cash was reckless. Elvis's popularity seemed certain to keep declining, so opening a Graceland museum was a fool's errand. Priscilla and Soden, however, remained resolute, and eventually the co-executors dropped their
Starting point is 00:42:35 resistance. On June 7, 1982, Graceland opened its doors to the public. Some 3,000 visitors passed through the home on the first day. They walked through its first floor and basement before touring the stables, the trophy room, and the meditation garden. Upstairs, however, would remain closed to visitors. That was Elvis' private space and where he'd spent his final moments. Obsessive Elvis fans who took those early tours noticed some changes to the home's interior. Before Graceland opened, Priscilla had some of the decorating excesses of the 70s undone. She updated the first floor with a cobalt blue and white color scheme and had some of the original 1957 furniture move back inside the home. But she did preserve the jungle room in all its tropical splendor. Within a mere five
Starting point is 00:43:23 weeks, the estate had recouped its investment. Graceland became one of the most popular tourist destinations in Memphis. Cash flowed into the estate's accounts, pulling it out of the red. Graceland had been saved. Over 40 years after Elvis' death, Graceland attracts more than a half a million visitors a year. It's the second most visited home in America after the White House. In 1991, the United States government honored Graceland by listing it in the National Register of Historic Places.
Starting point is 00:43:54 In 2006, Graceland was designated a National Historic Landmark. Graceland has now been a museum for nearly 40 years, far longer than it was the home of Elvis Presley. But over the decades, it's lost none of its spirit. Elvis fans will tell you that if you come to Graceland on a slow day and peer into the music room, you can still picture him sitting at his piano like a king on his throne. From Wondery, this is episode five of America's Monuments from American History Tellers. On the next episode, when the Vietnam War ended, veterans pushed for a memorial to honor their sacrifice. But the search for a design yielded an unexpected and controversial plan,
Starting point is 00:44:35 prompting architects, politicians, and the veterans themselves to clash over its future and the very meaning and purpose of a war memorial. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Derek Behrens. This episode is written by Greg Renoff, edited by Dorian Marina. Our senior producer is Andy
Starting point is 00:45:23 Herman. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Louis. Created by Hernan Lopez for Wondery. Are you in trouble with the law? Need a lawyer who will fight like hell to keep you out of jail? We defend and we fight just like you'd want your own children defended. Whether you're facing a drug charge, caught up on a murder rap, accused of committing war crimes, look no further than Paul Bergeron. All the big guys go to Bergeron because he gets everybody off.
Starting point is 00:45:56 You name it, Paul can do it. Need to launder some money? Broker a deal with a drug cartel? Take out a witness? From Wondery, the makers of Dr. Death and Over My Dead Body, comes a new series about a lawyer who broke all the rules. Isn't it funny how witnesses disappear or how evidence doesn't show up or somebody doesn't testify correctly?
Starting point is 00:46:17 In order to win at all costs. If Paul asked you to do something, it wasn't a request. It was an order. I'm your host, Brandon James Jenkins. Follow Criminal Attorney on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Criminal Attorney early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

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