The history of Memphis Tennessee is interwoven with music: Soul, Rock n Roll, Jazz and of course, ..... Elvis. 'The King of Rock n Roll?', ... possibly true. He doesn't appear on my MP3 playlist, .... but there's no denying that Elvis Aaron Presley could certainly knock out a tune. That said, at $8 to park, and $62 for the full tour of Graceland, it was always going to be a few dollars too far for Poor Circulation. I settled for a home brewed coffee in the Heartbreak Hotel Car Park and a tour of the Graceland gift shop, ... both free.
Elvis was possibly the ultimate showman, possibly the inventor of 'Bling', .... but the Graceland gift shop is one of the strangest places that I've ever visited. In the interest of saving myself from a lynching, I should probably postpone publishing this until I've left Memphis, left Tennessee, .... left the USA. In all of my days I have never seen such an amazing assortment of tasteless junk assembled in one small space. If it wasn't for the adoring 'Super-Fans' who filled the store, .. fans who'd travelled across the State, across the Country or across the World just to visit Graceland, ... I'd swear that I was in some backstreet joke shop. I watch with clear amusement as they 'Ooou' and 'Arhhh' at the most ridiculous mementos on offer. I found it quite comical and hugely entertaining, .. but at the same time it was quite sad, .. I could clearly hear my daughter's voice, .... 'get a life'.
I spent an hour browsing the store, ... on every shelf I found something new that made me smile, that made me cringe, that made me reach for the vomit bucket, .... yours for only $29.99 plus tax. I'd refused to pay the excessive entrance fee to see Elvis's former home, it wasn't something that really interested me. Having seen the amount of money being spent in the gift shop, ... perhaps a tour of a 'Super-Fans Home' would have proved far more rewarding, .... and a whole lot cheaper.
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