From Graceland: Karal Ann Marling's talks about the first house Elvis Presley bought in West Memphis, at 1034 Audubon Drive:

"...The fans were something else. When Elvis was home, they came by the hundreds, at all hours of the day and night. Vernon never had to mow the lawn. The girls plucked it out, blade by blade, for their scrapbooks. They tiptoed up the driveway when nobody was looking and pressed their ears to the green siding, hoping to hear a snatch of `Hound Dog' through the walls. Elvis put up a fence, a low brick wall with wrought-iron spikes on top interrupted by a pattern of circles, each bubble holding a staff and a few musical notes. Something on the order of Hank Williams's music fence in Nashville. But the fence didn't keep anybody out. If anything, the notes made it easier to find the house. Vendors sold hot dogs and popcorn on the street. The city posted signs. `NO PARKING, LOITERING, OR STANDING.'

"The fans ignored the signs. When Elvis wasn't home, they yoo-hooed out by the fence until Mrs. Presley came down to visit. Could she rub Elvis's Cadillac with this Kleenex, please? Would she take this paper cup and dip some Elvis water out of the swimming pool? Could we stand in the carport if we're real quiet? The family treated the invaders with grave country courtesy. When Elvis came home for the Fourth of July in 1956, there were Elfans in the carport and the driveway, fans out by the fence, fans cruising down the street, honking and waving and taking pictures. Fans in the bushes with there noses flattened against the windows, watching him talking on his bright red phone and getting ready for the evening...

"The hillbillies had taken over Audubon Drive. The neighbors were beside themselves..."

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Copyright © 1996 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Illustrations: Karal Ann Marling

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