Elvis by the Presleys: Intimate Stories from Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, and Other Family Members

by Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, David Ritz (Editor)

Overview

An intimate account of legendary entertainer Elvis Presley, featuring stunning photography and exclusive stories from Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, and more

Behind the King of Rock and Roll was a husband, father, son, cousin, friend, and spiritual seeker. In Elvis by the Presleys, those who knew him best come together to memorialize our greatest star, featuring hours of exclusive family interviews, Elvis quotes, and private family photographs and images of personal memorabilia from the archives of Graceland/Elvis Presley Enterprises.
 
Elvis by the Presleys reveals life at Graceland like never before. Graceland is seen as a teeming family retreat, where the kitchen was the center of operations; where tag football games were played in the yard; where folks drove golf carts up and down the hills; and where Elvis spent many of his happiest times.

We witness the arc of his love affair with Priscilla; Elvis as a father to his adored Lisa Marie; his obsessions and passions; and the strength of his musical legacy, which continues unabated to this day. There are Christmas cards here, too; contracts and invoices; selections from Lisa Marie’s childhood scrapbook; and even a picture of the champagne bottle (signed) from Elvis and Priscilla’s wedding.

Elvis by the Presleys is the tumultuous story of the life of a lovely yet complex man; a portrait of the career of a brilliantly accomplished yet often frustrated artist; an insider’s tale of enduring love, related with warmth and unguarded candor . . . and a story told the way only a family can tell it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593237335
Publisher:	Crown Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/18/2020
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	49,498
File size:	31 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

The daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley was faced with the daunting challenge of finding her own path while still maintaining her strong family connection and love for her Southern roots. She had a career as a model, carried signs for deeply felt causes, testified before Congress, and tenaciously explored and grew as a respected music artist. Aside from her full-time job as a wife and mother, Lisa Marie always found time to help others. She founded two organizations, Presley Place and Presley Charitable Foundation. She also worked closely with Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights and The Dream Factory. Lisa Marie Presley died in 2023.

Priscilla Presley met Elvis in 1959, when he was twenty-four and she was fourteen, and was his wife from 1967 to 1973. After their divorce, she began studying karate and acting, and after Elvis’s death in 1977, she started working in film and television. She starred in the show Dallas for five years, and had successful roles on Melrose Place and in all three Naked Gun movies.

Read an Excerpt

PATSY: Graceland is Elvis’s heart. It’s where he was most himself and where he felt most loved. It’s where he returned, time and time again, from all his great adventures—movies in Hollywood, shows in Las Vegas, concerts in Hawaii.     

I worked in the office at Graceland with Elvis’s dad, Uncle Vernon. Elvis was not only my cousin, he was my boss, but mainly he was my brother. From the time we were little kids in Mississippi to the day he died, we had a close and loving relationship.

In Elvis’s mind, he always associated Graceland with his mother, my aunt Gladys. In 1957, he bought the big estate for her. Remember, we were Depression poor people from Tupelo. When Elvis’s records got popular, among the first things he did was buy Aunt Gladys a pink Cadillac, pretty dresses and nice jewelry. He wanted to buy her the world. All his life he dreamed of making her comfortable. Graceland was that dream come true. The tragedy was that she lived there barely a year before she died in 1958. Her death shocked us all. Elvis was devastated. No one could console him. She was his life.


ELVIS: Everyone loves their mother, but I was an only child and Mother was always right there with me. All my life. It wasn’t like losing a mother, it was like losing a friend, a companion, someone to talk to. I could wake her up any hour of the night if I was worried or troubled by something. She’d get up and try to help me.


PATSY: I never saw a more loving relationship between a mother and son. Aunt Gladys was full of fun and energy. She brought out the best in Elvis. He inherited her vitality and humor. When Gladys was around, Elvis was never down or depressed. When Elvis was away, Gladys was never relaxed. She worried something would happen to her boy. The bond between them was so close no one could get in between. Gladys gave Elvis the confidence he needed to go out into the world. When she left the world, he didn’t know what to do. Maybe it was a good thing that he had to go back to the army where he was sent over to Germany. Being at Graceland right after his mother passed might have been too much to bear.     

His homecoming in 1960 was wonderful. Graceland was exciting again. Graceland was alive again. I could see he was thrilled to be home. But I also felt his sadness. I felt how much he missed his mother. For all the wonderful times at Graceland—all the meals and parties and games and birthdays and holidays—Graceland was never the same after Aunt Gladys passed. Elvis was never the same.


PRISCILLA: When Elvis and I met in Germany a few months before the end of his army stint, he kept describing Graceland to me—how much I would love it, and how much his mother would have loved me were she still alive. He pined for his home and he pined for his mother. I was a young girl then—only fourteen—and couldn’t begin to understand the importance that Graceland held in Elvis’s heart. As years went by, though, as I myself lived in Graceland and Graceland became part of my own heart, I understood that it was much more than a place. It was Elvis’s refuge from the storms of life. It was where he dreamt of raising a family and finding simple peace. Sometimes he found that peace, sometimes he didn’t, but he never stopped trying. Graceland symbolized his hopes for a happy life. That’s why he always came home.