As the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s passing edges closer, a king’s ransom worth of Elvis material is being unleashed upon the public. Among the items is a glossy thick-as-a-Bible book titled “Elvis: A Celebration,” released Aug. 1, a DVD boxed set of his most famous performances, due in stores Aug. 13, and a proposed musical of the King’s life backed by his widow, Priscilla.
Since his death on Aug. 16, 1977, an army of biographies has been released — even one chronicling almost every day of his life. But how much do you really know about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll? Here are some obscure facts and oddities we uncovered.
– Born to Gladys Smith Presley and Vernon Elvis Presley, on Jan. 8, 1935, the man who would be king arrived 35 minutes after his stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon.
– Elvis couldn’t read music. He always played by ear.
– Elvis was a dishwater blond. He dyed his hair black regularly, thinking it would look better in his movies.
– Of his 900 plus recorded songs, he only had a hand in writing two: “You’ll Be Gone” and “That Someone You’ll Never Forget.” He did, however, receive songwriting credit on “Heartbreak Hotel” and a few early songs, a common arrangement allowing artists to be paid for songs they didn’t actually write.
– The name Elvis is derived from an old Norse word meaning “All Wise.”
– Elvis’ middle name is “Aaron,” originally spelled “Aron” by his parents as a nod to his twin. Later in life, Presley wanted it changed to the Biblical spelling “Aaron” — only to find that his delivery doctor spelled it that way on his birth certificate. When Presley died, his father respected his son’s wishes and put “Aaron” on his grave marker, even though his marriage license and most official documents of his early life list his middle name as “Aron.”
– In 1954, Elvis tried out for a four-part harmony group named the Songfellows. They rejected him, and Elvis was crushed after being told that he “can’t sing.” Later, they said he took it the wrong way. They meant he couldn’t sing harmony.
– Concert promoters misspelled his name as “Ellis” on his first billed concert appearance on the Slim Whitman Show on July 30, 1954, in Memphis. He was third on the bill.
– In 1955, Elvis auditioned for a spot on Arthur Godfrey’s “Talent Scouts.” Again, rejected.
– “Heartbreak Hotel” became the first record to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country and Western, Rhythm and Blues, and Pop Charts — all in the same week in 1956.
– In September 1956 , he appeared on the Ed Sullivan show for the first time. Charles Laughton guest-hosted the show though, as Sullivan recovered from a car accident.
– Out of his 31 feature films, Elvis dies onscreen only once: in his first film “Love Me Tender.” He’s mortally wounded in “Flaming Star,” but does not give up the ghost onscreen.
– During the making of “Jailhouse Rock,” Elvis inhaled a tooth cap during a jailhouse dance sequence, landing him in the hospital to have it removed from his lung .
– Elvis idolized actors Marlon Brando, James Dean and George C. Scott. He could recite every word from “Patton” and “Rebel Without a Cause.”
– Graceland, Presley’s storied home (and now museum) in Memphis, was already called Graceland when he bought it. In 1957, Elvis purchased the house and its surrounding 13.7 acres for $102,500 from Ruth Brown Moore. The property was named for Moore’s aunt, Grace Toof.
– The king met his future queen, Priscilla Beaulieu, in 1959, while he was stationed in West Germany for the Army. She was 14.
– Elvis purchased the Potomac, former presidential yacht of Franklin Roosevelt, for $55,000 as a gift for charity in 1964.
– After a long courtship, including Priscilla’s move to Memphis to live at Graceland and finish high school, the couple married on May 1, 1967. She was 21; he was 32.
– Lisa Marie Presley, the couple’s only child, arrived nine months later.
– The king’s three Grammys were all awarded in the gospel genre, twice for the same song: “How Great Thou Art,” in 1967 and 1974. He received his third in 1972 for the album “He Touched Me.”
– Except for three concerts in Canada, Elvis never performed outside the United States.
– Once he became well-known, Elvis didn’t play encores, partly out of concern for his safety. Fans would often rush the stage as soon as Elvis finished his final song.
– He was a black belt, eighth-degree. In two forms of martial arts no less.
– In 1974, Barbra Streisand offered Elvis the lead role in her remake of “A Star is Born.” His manager, Col. Tom Parker, nixed the idea and the part went to Kris Kristofferson.
– Elvis loved official badges, and he collected police badges in almost every city he performed in. Former President Richard M. Nixon gave Elvis a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (above) after a visit to the White House.
– On Aug. 16, 1977, after a brief racquetball game and singing an old country standard “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” on the piano, Elvis went to bed. His girlfriend, Ginger Alden, later found him unconscious on the bathroom floor. The press was told he died from “cardiac arrhythmia,” but a study later found 14 drugs in Elvis’ system, 10 of them in “significant quantity.”
– At the time of his death, Elvis was reading “The Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus,” by Frank O. Adams.
– Police foiled a bizarre and ill-planned attempt to kidnap Elvis’ body from the Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, where he was buried next to his mother. Because of security concerns, Vernon Presley re-interred the bodies of his wife and son at Graceland. They were buried by the pool on Oct. 2, 1977.
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Sources: “Elvis Day By Day” by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen, “Elvis: A Celebration” by Mike Evans, and “Careless Love” by Peter Guralnick. All facts confirmed by a Graceland archivist.
