The cult of Elvis is alive and well in the Deep South
Should I kiss the wall of Elvis Presley’s bedroom? This was the burning question as I stood, keys still in hand, in the snug two-bed flat he once shared with his parents at apartment 328 Lauderdale Courts, Memphis.
The bronze sign on the wall was urging me to do so (“Kisses only please. No writing”), but the countless pink and purple lipstick stains surrounding it felt just a little, how do I put this… Fatal Attraction?
They were, nevertheless, the only reminder that I hadn’t actually travelled back to the early 1950s. Carefully reconstructed with vintage relics to look exactly as it once did, Elvis’s childhood apartment is available for nightly rental – and judging from the number of smeared kisses, it’s a popular pitstop.
But I was secretly pleased. What would an Elvis-themed road trip across the Deep South be without a little passion-filled wackiness along the way? To find out, I followed in the footsteps of musical legends and now, on what would have been his 90th birthday, it’s clear“Elvis the Pelvis” still gets people going.
At this point I should mention: I’m an Elvis mega-fan – but whether or not you are too, the King and his life remain an excellent lens through which to explore the history of this part of America, his rise to fame so closely intertwined with the politics, religion and culture of the day, that you can’t learn about the legend without getting under the skin of the home he never left.
My first stop had been Shreveport-Bossier City, near the Louisiana-Texas border. It’s easily missed off the Elvis trail, but well-deserving of a place in its own right – home as it is to the Art Deco Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium, most famous for hosting the Louisiana Hayride, a weekly live country music show that helped catapult the likes of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Elvis to stardom.
“The Elvis lure here is just so incredibly deep,” local musician and music expert, Winston Hall, explained. “This is the original floor, the original wood,” he said, pointing to the stage floor where a fresh-faced, 19-year-old Elvis made his Hayride debut on Oct 16 1954.
Two years and 52 Hayride performances later, the King returned – after a rapid ascent to fame – to a room packed out with screaming teenage girls and had to make a dash for the exit after singing Hound Dog. It’s a scene that would later become famous for the host’s announcement to the crowd. “Elvis has left the building,” he said, in a futile attempt to pacify them.
From Shreveport-Bossier, I crossed into Mississippi and headed for Elvis’s birthplace, working-class Tupelo. This year, Tupelo will honour the King’s birthday at its annual Tupelo Elvis Festival in June, where tribute performers compete for the prestigious trophy statue. The town is one of several stops on the Mississippi Blues Trail, which documents the rich history of blues music via 200 sites throughout the state and abroad. In 2024, the trail extended to the UK with its first marker at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, famous for being the birthplace of The Beatles and symbolising the cultural connection between Mississippi and Liverpool.
Crossing an old railway track cutting through the heart of Tupelo town, it feels fitting to enter the hardware store where Elvis got his first guitar for his 11th birthday (the story goes that he wanted a hunting rifle, but his mother, Gladys, urged him to try out an acoustic guitar instead), then down the road to the two-room, wooden-framed house where Elvis was born, built by his father, Vernon, in 1935. It sits next to Elvis’s childhood church, where he was first exposed to the Southern gospel music that so greatly influenced his sound.
From quiet Tupelo, I headed on to gritty Memphis, where blues and rock’n’roll blared out from low-lit bars along Beale Street all day and night. My first stop was Sun Studio – where the likes of Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis were discovered, and where great blues legends BB King and Howlin’ Wolf recorded while racial discrimination was rife – to stand in the room where Elvis recorded That’s All Right. In what would have also been BB King’s 100th birthday, 2025 looks set to be a year of celebrations in the city these late great musicians called home.
And then, at last, it was time for Graceland. The night before, I stayed across the road at The Guest House at Graceland, where peanut jelly sandwiches are available on tap from 9pm, and bedroom TVs are programmed with footage from your favourite Elvis era.
In the morning, I skipped across the road to the Elvis Mecca, which kicked off the year with three nights of live concerts, talks and parties celebrating the King’s life. For those who missed out on the January party, a year-long exhibition ‘90 for 90’, is being held at Elvis Presley’s Memphis (part of the Graceland estate). It features 90 curated artefacts that highlight more personal aspects of his life, such as one of his sketch books or the record that was playing non-stop on the jukebox when Elvis met The Beatles in 1965.
People talk about standing inside Elvis’s home as if it were a religious experience – and though that might sound far-fetched, to some extent, it is. Despite reports of its larger-than-life gaudiness, it still feels every inch the family home – smaller and more muted in its décor than I’d imagined, littered with personal details, a sanctuary rather than a theme park. Like the man himself, it seems Graceland’s legend has grown bigger than its bricks and mortar, but it remains a perfect tribute to the King – no lipstick required.
Essentials
To rent apartment 328 Lauderdale Courts, contact 001 901-523-8662; uptownsquareapts@alcomgt.com.
Hilton Garden Inn Shreveport Bossier City, Louisiana (001 888 649 3065; hilton.com) has doubles from £110 per night; Hotel Tupelo (00 1 662-362-6200; hoteltupelo.com) has doubles from £130 per night; the Guest House at Graceland (00 1 901.332.3322; guesthousegraceland.com) has doubles from £113 per night.
British Airways (ba.com) has flights from London to various cities within Louisiana and Tennessee from £900.
Robyn Wilson was a guest of Visit Louisiana, Visit Mississippi and Tennessee Tourism.
This piece was first published in February 2024 and has been revised and updated.
