The King’s vault: Elvis Presley and his impeccable record collection
Elvis Presley is essentially the byword for mid-20th-century kitsch by now. Everything from the quiff and the ‘Uh-huh-huh-s’ to the jumpsuits and especially the movies is all looked back on with the kind of cringe that is, at the best of times, loving, and at the worst of times, makes people never want to even look at a record of his again.
However, basically everything that rises to the biggest name in pop culture becomes lame to a certain degree. Perhaps these are strange comparisons, but the same thing happened to Eminem, Game of Thrones, JK Rowling (by her own bigoted hand), you name it. The wastelands of pop culture are filled with acts that started out as the most vital, beloved names in their fields and ended as a bitter, unfunny punchline.
Not only was Elvis beloved at the start of his music career, but, whisper it with me, “He was cool.” Legitimately cool with a spectacular taste in music to boot. This is evidenced by his extensive record collection in his Graceland mansion, one that was unearthed and catalogued by the Elvis Presley Enterprise and, in 2005, became the subject of a deep-dive article by Record Collector magazine.
There are a few outliers that pencil in the margins of ‘The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s’ tastes—a handful of 1960s rock albums, a surprisingly large comedy collection, and a single opera record by Mario Lanza. However, as expected, the lion’s share of the collection was the kind of stuff that was directly influencing his music.
What were Elvis’ favourite records?
There were a number of rhythm and blues records by artists like Roy Hamilton and Brook Benton, while big band artists like Frank Sinatra and especially Dean Martin were all over his collection. Presley’s collection of gospel music would be the envy of any fan, with Jimmy Jones and Jake Hess making up a number of his personal collection.
However, Mahalia Jackson was his favourite gospel singer, and arguably one of his favourite singers in general. Her album Every Time I Feel the Spirit was in constant rotation in Graceland, as was the greatest hits of Chuck Berry and Crying Time by Ray Charles. In total, Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises collected a grand total of over 1000 albums and singles taken from ‘The King’s’ personal collection.
It’s fair to say that if Presley were anywhere near as basic and uninspired as his reputation would lead you to believe, he wouldn’t love so much undeniably incredible music. A close friend of Presley’s, radio DJ George Klein, recounted a conversation he had had with Presley. He asked why ‘The King’s’ taste was so varied and versatile, and, according to Klein, “Elvis used to say, ‘I can appreciate the best of everything.’”
At a time when we have unfettered access to more or less the entire recorded history of popular music, a depressing number of us are content to let an algorithm decide what we listen to next. As uncool as Elvis is today, perhaps we could take a tip from his taste and seek out the best of everything. You never know what could surprise you!
