My Elvis Presley Blog

Sometimes we forget that aspect of Elvis that was not music, movies, sex, drugs and rock & roll.  I mean that which was pure and true fashion trend setting.  Elvis wore his hair long before everyone else thought it was fashionable.  Elvis wore pink when most men wouldn’t be caught dead in it.  Pink was in fact, Elvis’s favorite color.  Elvis wore silks, velour, handmade and custom shirts before anyone else thought to do it.  Elvis wore big belts, jewellery normally not seen on a man but on Elvis…well he made anything look good. Unfortunately, a lot of the pictures that were taken of Elvis in the early days were black and white and although colorized more recently (see picture H below as an example), we are still not getting the true picture of the flash and style that was Elvis in the 50’s.

So it’s only appropriate and way overdue that EPE would set up a tribute to the fashion trend setter that Elvis was.  You can read the full story here at elvis.com but before you go, take a look at the pictures below.  If you’re an Elvis Insider you can vote for the picture to represent this fashionable tribute and the first group here is the gallery of pictures eligible to vote for. My choice will be C but it’s not the greatest version of that picture so I have provided you with a much better copy of it from my own collection below the EPE picture. (scroll down)

This is Elvis at Graceland when it was empty prior to moving in and he was there to plan the interior decorating. Folks, this is the spring of 1957 and if you didn’t know better, you just could not guess that this outfit was worn by the sexiest man ever over 52 years ago.  I love this picture, it is one of my all time favorites.     

Here are some more shots from my collection of what I feel is indisputable proof that not only did Elvis send men’s fashions spinning off into an entirely new universe but that he alone could wear absolutely anything he wanted to and get away with it.  What would make most men look feminine and ridiculous would make Elvis look deliciously masculine. 

These two are also my all time favorite pictures of Elvis and don’t miss the pink socks eh?  He was probably wearing pink shorts too.

And then of course there’s that infamous black leather outfit that he was so worried was going to make him look silly on national TV back in 1968.  Silly? Not a chance.  Hot? Definitely and in more ways then one. To this day I don’t know how he did that show under those hot lights with that outfit on.  But did he make it look good? Absolutely!!!

Again, here’s the link to the story at www.elvis.com

Author: June Juanico

Introduction by: Peter Guralnick

Refer to Previous Post: Elvis’s Women: June Juanico

The introduction is written by Peter Guralnick, the author of what is probably the best autobiography of Elvis in my opinion, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love.  These were the first two books I read about Elvis and so far, after a dozen or so later, remain better documentary evidence of Elvis then anything else I’ve read.  Peter states in his introduction that June, in contrast to all the others, has written this book herself.  It’s a good point and one I appreciate.  Every other book I’ve read with the “My Life with Elvis” theme has had a ghost writer, someone to write prettily and advise about enhancing one’s role in the life of the King of Rock & Roll.

June’s book was a long time in coming considering that June was Elvis’s girlfriend from June of 1955 through to March of 1957.  Published in 1997, 40 years after breaking up with Elvis, this is June’s story of what it was like dating Elvis just before his life took off into the Hollywood fast lane. It took her 20 years after Elvis had passed away to write it so it’s obvious to me at least, that June was reluctant to share her affair with Elvis with the world.  Yet eventually I think we all give in to the lure of the big bucks rolling in if we’ve got any kind of book in us.  And she certainly had that.

The book provides us practically a day by day account from the beginning to the end of the affair.  I have trouble with the affair word since they never slept together.  I always considered a “love affair” meant lovemaking but as I’ve learned lately, Elvis’s idea of lovemaking may have been a quite a bit different then mine so for the purposes of this review, we’ll call it an affair. 

As detailed in my previous post about June, her and Elvis met when he was performing at the Slavonian Lodge in Biloxi, Mississippi where June was born and raised.  He apparently eyed her up as she was leaving the restroom and almost instantly asked her for a date.  After the show, according to June, they spent the entire evening together parked in the car and talking.  Elvis completely spilled his guts out to her about all his problems, hopes, dreams and so on and then at sun up, took her home and laid a great big romantic kiss on her. And then he left the next day to continue his tour.

The story is mostly about the summer vacation Elvis spent in Biloxi and I believe Elvis probably enjoyed the best summer of his life with June in Biloxi just before he went to Hollywood to film Love Me Tender.  He was still able to maintain some privacy at this time and the account June gives indicates they had a perfectly normal summer love affair doing lots of summer like activities. From there, we’re told about how June accompanied Elvis on his Florida tour and the breakneck pace set by Colonel Parker that Elvis had to follow but for which no normal person could reasonably keep up to.   

Then Love Me Tender happened as did Debra Paget and things with June took a chilling turn with June breaking it off finally after becoming engaged to another man.  Dropped him like a hot potato, she did.  When June met him on the train he was taking back to Memphis to dump him, he did not pursue her to argue with her or plead for her not to leave him.  Since at this point he had fallen head over heals in love with Debra Paget (See Love Me Tender review) and had been introduced to the Hollywood lifestyle, I’m sure June looked small town and plain to Elvis after that. I know that sounds uncharitable but I’ll bet it’s true. 

This book was okay for me. I had no trouble sticking with it even though I sometimes found the dialogue between Elvis and June annoying with too many “Baby’s” (Elvis) and “Elvis Presley’s” (June).  I also think June overstretches herself in her portrayal of how important she was to Elvis. About how the book The Prophet, which she did give him, was the one he was reading when he died, (that’s not substantiated anywhere) and that this same book still sits on his bedside table at Graceland. (Maybe but it’s not the one she gave him because Priscilla burned that one).  I found I was rolling my eyes frequently while reading this book mainly due to the cheesy dialogue and the inflated importance she makes herself out to be to Elvis. She was certainly important to him when they were together but out of sight, out of mind was a real problem with Elvis.

Having said that, it was obvious to me throughout the book that June really did and probably still does love Elvis.  I also want to add that it was very enlightening to hear what Elvis was like before his gigantic ego kicked into overdrive and he became convinced of his own superstardom. There are personal photographs too of Elvis and June (and families) that are never seen before. June certainly doesn’t write anything negative about Elvis which is quite refreshing but she also doesn’t gloss over the more needy aspects of his character. It was a much more innocent time then and maybe some of the way June writes reflects that even though it comes off somewhat corny now.  Certainly the Elvis that June dated and loved was a whole lot more innocent during this period then in the days after he met Hollywood.

All in all, a worthwhile read if you are an Elvis fan.  

On June 26, 1955, Elvis performed at the Slavonian Lodge, Biloxi, Mississippi, where he, Scotty and Bill opened the new club with air-conditioning to a sell-out crowd.  Elvis noticed June when she was coming out of the ladies room at half time at of one of his shows.

They struck up a conversation… “You’re not leaving are you?” Elvis inquired anxiously. “No, I’m just going to sit down.” “I’d like to see you after the show,” Elvis announced. “Why don’t you show me the town?”

“Well there isn’t much to see in Biloxi,” June countered. “I don’t care,” Elvis replied. “Just show me what there is.” Still dripping with perspiration after gyrating wildly on stage in what would become his trademark pelvis-thrusting style, Elvis picked June up in front of the theatre that night in his 1955 pink-and-white Ford Crown Victoria.

“He said he wanted to change, so we drove to his motel and I waited in the car while he ran in,” says June. “We took in some floor shows and then talked until daylight. At dawn Elvis kissed me for the first time.” “It was the most memorable date I had with Elvis. We spent four hours parked outside my house. He suggested we see the sun rise together, but I told him I’d have to go if my mother’s bedroom light came on. As dawn broke, Elvis kissed me, ever so gently. Then he poured out his heart to me and told me about his twin brother.” June says it was clear from that first date that Elvis had a deep love for his family. He told her how his mother had named his stillborn twin brother Jesse Garon because she didn’t want a grave that simply read Baby Boy Presley. But what struck June most about Elvis was how much he was amazed at his own success. 

‘One of the questions I’m always asked is, “Did you sleep with Elvis?”,’ says June Juanico, the woman the star nearly married in 1956. ‘I tell ‘em no.’ Juanico talks of the couple making love in ‘their own special way’, of Elvis saying he wanted the first time to be special and of their agreement to wait until they were married. ‘There were a lot of virgins about in those days.’

‘Elvis was a very sensitive person, very tender, but on the outside he was very macho,’ she says. An outspoken and feisty teenager, June recalls a time when she stood up to Elvis in front of his band of hangers-on, who even then were beginning to accompany him everywhere. He grabbed her arm, took her into the bathroom and declared: ‘Look, you are so right, I am really sorry.’ He kept her there for five minutes, then swaggered out, his image intact.

The couple dated throughout 1956. Elvis would serenade June with the soulful ballad, IS IT SO STRANGE. “I loved that song,” recalls June. “So I asked Elvis to record it. just for me. The verse, ‘Is it so strange, I have no eyes for any other girl.’ still has a special meaning for me till this very day.” When Elvis recorded that song, he called the album, JUST FOR YOU. While Elvis and his ‘devil music’ were becoming the center of controversy, Hollywood was clamouring to get a piece of the action. “Elvis always talked about wanting to be in the movies,” says June.

On one of his frequent returns to Memphis, Elvis invited June home to meet his parents. For two weeks she shared his life. Friends dropped by, and Gladys was always ready with a Southern-style meal. Elvis wanted to hire servants, but Gladys wouldn’t hear of it. “Gladys was happy as punch just to cook because Elvis had outfitted the kitchen with every conceivable appliance,” says June.

Vernon (Elvis’ father) just sat around reading the newspaper. “Vernon wasn’t a man of many words, but Gladys talked non-stop about Elvis and how shy he was as a child. “She worried about his future. She hoped she had brought his up right, so he could put a handle on his fame.” Gladys and June shared a mutual admiration which bonded into more than friendship. Gladys insisted that June use her first name – “Mrs Presley just don’t sound right, we being as close as family,” she would say. “So, I called her Lovey, a derivation of her middle name Love. She thought was special.”

In March of 1957,  June made the most crucial decision of her life. “I couldn’t wait in the wings while Elvis got on with his career,” she says. “I said good bye to Elvis because he broke his vow – he was supposed to be true to me. It just didn’t work out that way.” “There was no one in particular in his life then, but I knew Elvis was not being true to me. We parted friends,” says June. Elvis told June she would always be welcome in his home, but for the next six years she had no contact with him as she pieced her life back together. It was not until 1963 that June plucked up the courage to face Elvis again.

She drove to Memphis to catch Elvis at Graceland, but Elvis was not home. Elvis’ uncle, Vester Presley told her Elvis was at the local movie theatre. “The moment I entered the theatre I picked Elvis in the crowd. He was sitting up front. Priscilla was sitting next to him,” June recalls. “Elvis was so surprised to see me, he jumped out of his seat and gave me a big bear-hug.” “Strange that Elvis introduced me to the rest of his entourage, but not to Priscilla.” “Priscilla didn’t even look my way. She kept her eyed focused on the screen the whole time. I guess, she was already used to girls falling about Elvis.”

The last time June saw Elvis, was August, 1969 in Las Vegas. No longer under contract to Hollywood, Elvis took on the new challenge performing live. He went on a diet. Reduced his drug intake. And walked to stage looking more handsome than ever. For the next seven years, the mature, Elvis poured out his heart and soul to the screaming fans – always to a packed house. “Elvis told me he was being true to himself by performing before a live audience again,” recalls June. “I was never much of a screaming fan, but that night brought back old memories, and I felt the need to scream…”

Seeing Elvis in 1969, June never dreamed that a mere 8 years later Elvis Presley would become caricature of his former self. Tears spring to her eyes and her voice drops to a whisper as she remembers the day, 16 years ago, that Elvis died. “For years I couldn’t talk about Elvis. But now with all that ugly stuff being written about Elvis, I have the need to set the record straight,” says June.

She is writing her story, IN THE TWILIGHT OF MEMORY. The title is from a line in THE PROPHET. “If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more. We shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song.” The book that June gave to Elvis in 1957 was found after his death, on his bedside table at Graceland. It is still there to this day.

Did Elvis love June? Probably but not in any long term forever way.  The timeline here crosses over when he was still dating Dixie.  She was in Memphis and June was in Biloxi.  I believe we’ll find as we explore this intriguing subject further that there are other women lurking in the shadows here as well at the same time.  So no, Elvis did not feel true unconditional love for June although I believe she did for him.  After all, what’s not to love?

Part I of the Ongoing Series: Did Elvis Ever Really Know True Love?

Elvis met Dixie at the First Assembly of God church in Memphis in January of 1954 where he attended services primarily to hear the Blackwood Brothers sing gospel.

“I thought he was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. He was a very shy person, but when he started singing he put so much into putting the music across that he kind of lost himself. He threw himself into it completely,” she says.

Dixie purposely set out to meet Elvis by speaking loudly in church to her girlfriends about plans to go rollerskating the next weekend.  She hoped Elvis would hear and possibly show up.  He did.  She says he was dressed in some sort of bolero outfit with a short black bullfighter’s jacket, ruffled shirt and black pegged pants with a pink stripe down the leg.  Although he had skates on, she became aware soon enough that he couldn’t actually skate.

She finally went over and introduced herself and instead of getting any more skating in, she spent the evening drinking cokes and listening to Elvis talk.  She says it seemed like he’d been waiting his whole life for someone to talk to as he spoke of his dreams and hopes, his plans for his future.

When Dixie took Elvis home to meet her parents, they were less then impressed with the older boy who dressed funny and had greasy long hair.  Her uncle even offered her $2 for Elvis to get a hair cut.  However, Elvis’s manners and respectful nature won them over and it was not long after that, Elvis took Dixie home to meet his parents.

Gladys was ever suspicious of everybody but after a grueling evening of answering her questions about her family, her schooling and anything else Gladys wanted to know, Dixie received a stamp of approval from Mrs. Presley, much to Elvis’s relief.

Dixie and Elvis went everywhere together but never too far from home.  They’d sit on the front porch, go for rides, go the movies or for walks.  They talked about marriage and even came close to running off one day to get married but common sense prevailed.  Dixie was still very young, not yet 16 and in school. Her mother would be heartbroken if she was to do such a thing.

The first time they were separated was in July of 1954 when Dixie’s parents were leaving for vacation in Florida.  It was the day after the Blackwood Brothers plane crash tragedy that rocked Memphis on June 30, 1954 and both Dixie and Elvis were among thousands of people who were devasted by the loss of two of the brothers of the quartet.  Dixie didn’t want to leave Elvis and Elvis certainly didn’t want her to go but go she did.  They promised to write and that nothing would change while she was gone. They had their whole lives ahead of them when she got back.

Meanwhile, Elvis was called into Sun Studios by Sam Phillips to try to work something out with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black.  They worked it out all right and before long, Elvis’s That’s All Right Mama was being played by DJ Dewey Philips and the rest, as they say, is history.

After Dixie came back from Florida, things were never the same although they appeared to be the same for awhile.  Dixie accompanied Elvis on his truck route for the electric company he drove for and she went with him to the radio station where Dewy Phillips would put on his crazy man act in front of the microphone. On rehearsal nights, she’d sit with the wives of Scotty and Bill who were older women in their 20’s.  She couldn’t go to watch Elvis perform at the clubs because she was underage and they served alcohol but as soon as the performance was over, Elvis would come over to her house to pick her up and take her out.

As time went on, Elvis spent more and more time on the road performing and accumulating his circle of friends that would later be referred to as the Memphis Mafia.  In the spring and summer of 1955, Dixie and Elvis broke up several times and always over Elvis’s jealousy or distrust of what she was doing while he was on the road.  Ironic isn’t it knowing what we know about what Elvis did on the road?  But what was good for goose was not good for gander and Elvis was suspicious, possessive and jealous.  What was Dixie supposed to do while he’s gone for weeks at a time?  Stay home and watch tv alone?

By the fall of 1955 it was officially over between Dixie and Elvis.  Gladys was heartbroken about the break up as she had her plans all invested into Dixie being the mother of her grandchildren. Just as  soon as her boy got this being famous stuff out of his system, he was going to buy a furniture store or something, marry Dixie and have a bunch of kids.  But it was not to be.

“It was kind of a mutual thing. His career was going in one direction, and I didn’t feel that I could be a part of it. His career kind of consumed him there, and there wasn’t much time for anything else.”

Conclusion: Dixie definitely loved Elvis but not Elvis the performer, the entertainer, the world famous icon he was to become. She loved the shy, oddly dressed boy who took her out for milkshakes and made her laugh.  Elvis couldn’t help but change after being on the road and discovering a world outside of their little neighborhood in Memphis.  As he became more worldly, he saw Dixie as the innocent, good Christian girl she was and in all good conscience, could not subject her to the lifestyle he was beginning to enjoy.  Keep in mind Dixie was only 15 and 16 during the time she dated Elvis and he was considerably older at 19 and 20.

Elvis probably loved Dixie in his own way but not enough to sacrifice anything to keep her, especially his career.

Video: Dixie Talks About Dating Elvis

Is it possible that Elvis lived his brief 42 years and never knew true unconditional love?   Could Elvis even recognize true unconditional love if he saw it?

I think this question is much too deep and complicated to cover under one blog so this is merely an introduction to the subject.  I will be exploring it in more depth in upcoming blogs.

But first, what is true unconditional love?  Click here to read what I think are probably the best definitions although everyone’s idea will be different for sure.

I suspect Elvis didn’t really know what true love was despite the hundreds of songs he sang about the subject, despite the millions of fans who never wavered in their undying love and support of him even after his passing, despite the numerous people he kept close to  him who “claimed” to have loved him but made no effort to save him and despite the numerous women who passed through his life who also claimed to have loved him but only if he changed his “evil ways” for them.

It may be that these people did in fact love him but was it unconditional and did he know it to be true?  Did Elvis actually love anybody besides his mother unconditionally?  Did he know true love in his lifetime? So many questions, where shall I find the answers?

The Women in Elvis’ Life:
It is my opinion that Elvis did not really love Priscilla nor do I believe that she ever truly loved him.  She loved Elvis Presley the rock star, she didn’t really love Elvis the man until possibly after he died.  To understand Elvis’ attraction to Priscilla we have to understand a darker side of Elvis that seemed to enjoy being with young girls.  There seemed to be a part of him that enjoyed the control and power he had with younger girls.  Of note is the molding of Priscilla into a girl barely recognizable when she married Elvis from the young girl he met in Germany.

There were a lot of significant women in Elvis’s life and this subject will be lengthy and complicated.  I look forward to exploring it further.

The Friends Elvis Surrounded Himself With:
Elvis also depended on his Memphis Mafia buddies to protect him from harm, but more importantly I think it was to feed his gigantic ego and to keep him from ever being lonely.  Loneliness was something Elvis suffered his whole life as ironic as that may seem.  Did he love any of these men? Was that love unconditional? My research so far indicates the answer is no and I will explore that more deeply later as well.

Elvis’ Family:
I’m sure just about everybody has heard the story of how one Christmas, shortly after Elvis purchased Graceland, he decided to test every family member who was hanging around the house.  After inviting them individually up to his bedroom for a chat, he excused himself to go to the bathroom.  After being in the bathroom awhile, he’d come out, end his conversation with the family member and show them out.  Then he counted the stack of money he’d left out on his bed.  I don’t think he ever revealed to anyone who if anyone actually snatched a bill or two but he was always wary of letting certain family members hang around after that, so the story goes.

This is not a good sign of unconditional love which you might actually expect in a large, Southern, closely knit family such as the Presley/Smith clan.  These families all lived together mostly before Elvis became famous because they were all too poor to support their own homes.  So they were close.  Apparently close didn’t mean trustworthy necessarily.

I will also being exploring whether or not Elvis loved his father, Vernon Presley.  There wasn’t much there to love.  We know Elvis felt obligated but did he feel love?

Elvis’s Manager:
There’s no doubt that Elvis put his entire career in the hands of a flim flam man who had the entire world fooled about his credibility, his citizenship and his intentions.  Some people claim that Elvis loved Tom Parker but I completely disagree with that theory and will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that not only did Elvis not love Parker but that he actually despised him.  Parker had something on Elvis and it was that something that kept Elvis from firing the circus man.  It certainly wasn’t love.

So sign up and join me as we explore this mystery.