Elvis's Women: Dixie Locke
Sunday, July 19th, 2009Part 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
