122 Fun Facts About Elvis

In what U.S. state was Elvis Presley born?

Elvis was born in Mississippi in a two-room shotgun house his father built; the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in November 1948, when he was 13.

What was the name of Elvis Presley's mother?

Gladys Presley fell ill with hepatitis in August 1958; the Army gave Elvis emergency leave and he reached Memphis two days before she died, aged 46.

Which number-one hit was Elvis's first single after his discharge from the Army in March 1960?

'Stuck on You' was cut two weeks after his discharge and rushed out within days in a generic sleeve; it took only three weeks to reach number one.

In which city did Elvis Presley make his first recordings for RCA Victor on January 10, 1956?

Nashville hosted Elvis's first RCA session two days after his 21st birthday; the label added guitarist Chet Atkins and three backing singers to his usual road band.

What job was Elvis doing for Crown Electric when he cut his first single in 1954?

Driving a delivery truck for Crown Electric was still Elvis's day job when his first single came out; he kept it for about three more months, quitting that October to play music full time.

Elvis Presley's music blended country with what other major genre?

Rhythm and blues reached him through Black Memphis radio stations such as WDIA; fused with the country he grew up on, it became rockabilly, the fast, backbeat-driven style of his first singles.

Elvis's manager 'Colonel' Tom Parker was secretly an illegal immigrant who had slipped into the US from which country?

Netherlands-born Parker claimed to come from Huntington, West Virginia; the truth emerged only when relatives back in Breda recognised him in a news photo beside Elvis.

Who first found Graceland for Elvis in March 1957?

His parents saw the mansion first: fans were crowding the street outside the family's Memphis home, so Elvis had asked them to look for a place with room around it, and he paid $102,500 for it.

Which sitcom star played a nun opposite Elvis in Change of Habit (1969), his final feature-film role?

Mary Tyler Moore played a nun working in plain clothes at a clinic run by Elvis's doctor, who falls for her; after it he gave up acting for the concert stage.

On which CBS variety show did Elvis Presley first appear on national TV, on January 28, 1956?

Stage Show, fronted by bandleaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, booked Elvis six times in two months from January 28, 1956; after the first he stayed in New York to record for RCA.

Which crooner's 1960 TV special welcomed Elvis home from the Army?

Frank Sinatra's ABC special, taped three weeks after Elvis's discharge, paid him $125,000 for a few minutes of singing; he did not face another live audience all year.

What rank had Elvis Presley reached by his honourable discharge from the US Army in March 1960?

Sergeant was the rank Elvis reached early in 1960, weeks before his discharge; he had chosen to serve as a regular soldier instead of joining the Special Services, where he could have kept performing.

In which country did Elvis Presley primarily serve during his overseas military deployment?

West Germany was Elvis's home from October 1958 to March 1960; rather than live in barracks he kept a house off base, shared with his father, grandmother and friends from Memphis.

Elvis Presley's family attended which church in his boyhood, where he found his first musical inspiration?

The Assembly of God, a Pentecostal denomination, stayed the family's church after the move to Memphis, where the teenage Elvis also became a regular at all-night singings downtown.

Which fried sandwich filling was such a favourite of Elvis's that the sandwich is often simply called 'the Elvis'?

Peanut butter and banana, fried and sometimes topped with bacon, was his go-to snack; the 'Elvis sandwich' became shorthand for the rich Southern cooking he loved.

Bootleg Elvis records sold on Leningrad's black market in 1957 were cut on what discarded material?

X-ray plates were recut as records because Elvis's music was not legally on sale in the Soviet Union; The New York Times reported in 1957 that they fetched high prices in Leningrad.

Which actress, Elvis's eldest grandchild, took charge of Graceland after her mother's death in 2023?

Riley Keough, star of Daisy Jones & the Six, became Graceland's sole trustee in 2023 after settling a court challenge her grandmother had brought over the will.

Which 1960 Elvis hit set English lyrics to the Neapolitan song 'O Sole Mio'?

'It's Now or Never' grew from a 1949 American hit on the same tune, which Elvis heard during his Army service; he closed it on a full-voiced operatic cadence and it topped the US chart for five weeks.

Roughly how many viewers watched Elvis Presley's first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in September 1956?

About 60 million viewers, roughly eight in ten of those watching TV, tuned in; Sullivan had vowed never to book Elvis, then paid a record $50,000 once a rival show with him won the ratings.

Elvis's only daughter married which pop superstar in 1994?

Michael Jackson married Elvis's daughter on May 26, 1994, just twenty days after her divorce from her first husband; the couple divorced in 1996.

Which Pearl Harbor memorial did Elvis's 1961 benefit aid?

USS Arizona's memorial fund gained more than $60,000 from the show on March 25, 1961, and the memorial was built the next year; it was Elvis's last live performance for seven years.

Which US president, in office when Elvis died, said the loss 'deprives our country of a part of itself'?

Jimmy Carter, seven months into his term when Elvis died on August 16, 1977, added that he had 'permanently changed the face of American popular culture'.

In which film did Elvis Presley make his acting debut?

Love Me Tender began as The Reno Brothers and was retitled before release to cash in on his single; songs were added to what had been a straight acting role.

What was the first name of Elvis Presley's only daughter?

Lisa Marie was born on February 1, 1968, nine months to the day after her parents' wedding; in 1975 Elvis bought a Convair jet and named it after her.

Elvis donated FDR's presidential yacht to which charity?

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis got the Potomac only after the March of Dimes turned the gift down; the hospital then sold the yacht to raise funds.

How did cameras frame Elvis on his final Ed Sullivan Show?

Waist up only: the cameras stayed above his hips on January 6, 1957, yet Sullivan ended the show by calling him 'a real decent, fine boy'.

For what sum did RCA Victor buy Elvis's contract from Sam Phillips in November 1955?

RCA paid $40,000, an unprecedented price for a singer's contract: $35,000 went to Sun and $5,000 to Elvis, whose father had to sign because at 20 he was still legally a minor.

How was Elvis Presley's middle name spelled on his birth certificate?

The doctor's ledger said Aaron but the birth certificate said Aron, and that single-A spelling followed him onto his high school diploma and RCA contract; he later favoured the biblical spelling, which is on his gravestone.

What was the name of Elvis Presley's identical twin brother, who was stillborn?

Jesse Garon was delivered stillborn shortly before Elvis, who grew up an only child; biographers trace his unusually close bond with his mother to the loss.

Elvis's 1961 concert-closing ballad borrows its melody from which 18th-century French song?

'Plaisir d'amour', composed by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini in 1784, supplied the melody; its French words lament that love's pleasure lasts only a moment while its sorrow lasts a lifetime.

Which songwriter wanted Elvis's 1957 version of his Christmas classic kept off the radio?

Irving Berlin wrote 'White Christmas' and hated what Elvis did with it; his staff reportedly rang radio stations asking them not to play it, yet Elvis' Christmas Album went to number one.

What name did a Memphis newspaper headline give the December 1956 Sun Studio jam session that Elvis dropped in on?

The Million Dollar Quartet was the headline on Bob Johnson's Memphis Press-Scimitar story the next day; the tapes then sat unreleased for some 25 years.

Which Elvis Presley song begins with the lyrics 'Wise men say only fools rush in'?

'Can't Help Falling in Love' stalled at number two as a single, but Elvis made it the closing number of his concerts for most of his last decade.

What does Elvis's character do for a living in Viva Las Vegas?

Race car driver Lucky needs a new engine for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, loses his money in a hotel pool and has to wait tables to pay his bill.

Elvis Presley's 1969 return to live shows was a month-long run at which new Las Vegas venue?

The International Hotel, just built with the biggest showroom in Las Vegas, booked Elvis for 57 shows; his only earlier Vegas run, in 1956, had flopped with the casino crowd.

Which of these Elvis Presley songs was a major hit in 1969?

'Suspicious Minds' came from his first Memphis recording sessions since 1955 and, late in 1969, gave Elvis his first US number one in seven years.

Which emblem covered the white jumpsuit and cape Elvis wore for the worldwide Aloha from Hawaii broadcast in 1973?

A bald eagle in gold, red and blue gems won out after a map of America and the flag were considered; Elvis had asked for a suit that would say 'America' to viewers overseas.

Which cause of death did medical examiner Jerry Francisco announce for Elvis while insisting drugs had played no part?

Cardiac arrhythmia was Francisco's verdict before the autopsy was even finished; Elvis's doctor had prescribed him more than 10,000 doses of sedatives, amphetamines and narcotics in 1977 alone.

Which director, best known for Casablanca, made the Elvis Presley film King Creole?

Michael Curtiz, the Hungarian-born Casablanca director, shot King Creole in early 1958; the draft board gave Elvis a 60-day deferment to finish it, and he called it his favourite role.

Which 1972 single was Elvis's last US top-ten hit?

'Burning Love' nearly went unrecorded: Elvis was reluctant to try it in the studio and had to be talked round, and that October it reached number two.

Which 1958 RCA Victor compilation, with 'Hound Dog' and 'Don't Be Cruel', is called rock's first greatest-hits album?

Elvis' Golden Records came out the month he entered the Army, one of the compilations RCA used to keep him in the shops while he served.

What happens to Clint, the farm boy Elvis plays in his 1956 debut film, in its final scenes?

He is shot dead in the closing shootout, caught up in his brothers' theft of a Union payroll, and the picture ends at his grave on the family farm.

In which 1961 film set on Oahu does Elvis play Chad Gates, who defies his family business?

Blue Hawaii has Elvis's ex-soldier turn tour guide rather than join the family fruit company; its hit mix of scenery, songs and romance became the template for his 1960s films.

What kind of car was Elvis Presley famously known for owning in pink?

His first pink Cadillac burned to the ground by an Arkansas roadside in June 1955 after a brake lining failed; the famous 1955 Fleetwood Sixty Special survives in his Memphis auto museum.

Which British rock star shares Elvis's birthday?

David Bowie was born on January 8, 1947, twelve years to the day after Elvis; in June 1972 he was in the crowd when Elvis played Madison Square Garden.

Which MGM concert documentary about Elvis won the Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary Film?

Elvis on Tour, MGM's film of his April 1972 concerts, shared the Golden Globe for Best Documentary with Walls of Fire; none of his 31 acting films had won one.

What was the name of the fashion designer known for creating Elvis Presley's elaborate jumpsuits?

Bill Belew dressed Elvis from the black leather of the 1968 comeback special onward; his first Las Vegas outfits were plain two-piece suits, and the jumpsuits that followed grew flashier each year.

On which network did Presley's acclaimed comeback special air?

The comeback special, titled simply 'Elvis', aired on NBC on December 3 and ended most of a decade lost to formula films, leading straight to his Las Vegas residency.

In which small town was Elvis Presley born?

Tupelo is where Elvis got his first guitar, for his eleventh birthday in 1946; he is said to have wanted a bicycle the family could not afford, and his mother talked him into the guitar.

Outside the United States, in which country did Elvis give the only concerts of his career?

Canada saw Elvis in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver in 1957, and that was all; many blame his manager, an illegal immigrant with no passport, for keeping him from ever touring abroad.

In which 1962 film did Elvis sing 'Return to Sender'?

Girls! Girls! Girls! casts Elvis as a Hawaii fishing guide trying to buy back the boat he built with his father; its hit 'Return to Sender' reached number two.

Which song, written by Earl Brown, closed Elvis's comeback special?

'If I Can Dream', written by Earl Brown weeks after Robert Kennedy's assassination, closed the comeback special; Elvis sang it in a white suit in place of the planned Christmas carol.

In which city did Elvis give his final concert, at Market Square Arena?

Indianapolis saw Elvis's last concert on June 26, 1977; he died seven weeks later, on the very day he was due to fly out to begin his next tour.

Which Grammy honour did Elvis receive aged 36?

Lifetime Achievement recognition, then called the Bing Crosby Award, came when Elvis was 36, even though none of his rock and roll records had won a Grammy in competition.

How did Elvis fare in his high school's 1953 talent show?

He won, to his own amazement: Elvis recalled that hardly anyone at Humes High knew he sang, and that he was surprised how popular he became there afterwards.

Which song filled one side of the acetate disc Elvis paid to cut at Memphis Recording Service in 1953?

'My Happiness' shared the disc with 'That's When Your Heartaches Begin'; Elvis later said it was a present for his mother, or that he just wanted to hear what he sounded like.

Which TV host persuaded Elvis to leave his guitar backstage in June 1956?

Milton Berle asked Elvis to leave his guitar backstage for the June 5, 1956 show; with his hands free, the slowed-down, hip-swivelling 'Hound Dog' that followed caused a national uproar.

On The Steve Allen Show in 1956, to whom did Elvis sing 'Hound Dog'?

A basset in a top hat and bow tie was Steve Allen's idea: he had Elvis, in white tie and tails, sing to the dog, a stunt meant to tame the uproar over his hip-swivelling a month earlier.

Which 1956 single, cut at his first RCA session, became Elvis's first number-one pop hit?

'Heartbreak Hotel' took twelve weeks to reach number one, then crossed over to Billboard's other charts as well and earned Elvis his first gold record.

At which Arkansas fort did Army barbers give Elvis his famous G.I. haircut in March 1958?

Fort Chaffee was his first stop after he was sworn in at Memphis: barbers cut the famous hair there with the press looking on, and within days he left for basic training in Texas.

Which martial art did Elvis take up as a soldier in 1959 and later work into his stage moves?

Karate lessons began during his Army service; he earned a first-degree black belt in July 1960, carried the certificate in his wallet for life and built its moves into his 1970s shows.

In which town did the 24-year-old Elvis meet 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu?

Bad Nauheim was where Elvis rented a house off base, at Goethestrasse 14; a mutual acquaintance brought Priscilla to a party there in September 1959, while his barracks were in nearby Friedberg.

Which two dramas of 1960–61 underperformed, pushing Elvis back to formula musicals?

Flaming Star and Wild in the Country gave Elvis straight dramatic roles, but both earned less than his musicals; when the musical that followed became a smash, his studios stuck largely to that formula.

What did Elvis ask President Nixon for at their 1970 White House meeting?

A narcotics bureau badge was his aim: Elvis had written Nixon a letter asking to be made a 'Federal Agent at Large' against drugs, and he brought a Colt .45 pistol to the White House as a gift.

What is the name of the garden at Graceland where Elvis and his family are buried?

The Meditation Garden was no graveyard at first: Elvis had it built as a place to think things over, and he and his mother were moved there only after thieves tried to take his body from a Memphis cemetery.

Who found Elvis unresponsive on his bathroom floor on the day he died?

His fiancée Ginger Alden, then 20, found him that afternoon; Elvis had proposed to her in January after two months of dating, and he was pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital at 3:30 pm.

Where was Elvis originally buried before being moved to Graceland?

Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis held Elvis in a mausoleum beside his mother; after an attempt to steal his body days later, both were moved that October to the grounds of Graceland.

What did Elvis name his golden palomino, one of his favourite horses?

Rising Sun, a golden palomino quarter horse, was among his favourites, along with a Tennessee Walking Horse called Bear; Elvis liked to ride the palomino down to the Graceland gates to greet his fans.

Which Miss Tennessee Universe of 1972 lived with Elvis at Graceland for the next four years?

Linda Thompson met Elvis at a midnight film screening he hosted in Memphis in July 1972 and soon moved in; they parted in late 1976 because she wanted a normal life that his routine ruled out.

Which 1957 film was Elvis's first in colour?

Loving You (1957), Elvis's second film and his first in colour, cast him as a small-town singer; his parents appear as extras in the audience during the finale.

In which Graceland room did Elvis record his last studio sessions in 1976?

The Jungle Room, Graceland's den, became a studio in February and October 1976 when RCA brought mobile recording equipment to the house; the sessions fed the last two studio albums of his life.

Which band spent an evening with Elvis at his Bel Air home on August 27, 1965?

The Beatles arrived at his rented house on Perugia Way at about 11 pm; after an awkward start Elvis called for guitars and, by their press officer's account, a short jam session followed.

Priscilla's stepfather, whose overseas posting led her to meet Elvis, was an officer in which service?

The US Air Force had posted Paul Beaulieu to Europe, where Priscilla went to a base high school; another airman who knew Elvis took her along to a party at the singer's house in 1959.

Who played the title role in Baz Luhrmann's 2022 film Elvis?

Austin Butler beat Harry Styles, Miles Teller and Ansel Elgort to the part after sending Baz Luhrmann a tape of himself singing 'Unchained Melody'.

Which country singer turned governor made Tom Parker an honorary colonel?

Jimmie Davis, best known for 'You Are My Sunshine', gave Parker the honorary rank in 1948 as thanks for work on his election campaign, and Parker kept the title for life.

In which Las Vegas hotel did Elvis marry Priscilla Beaulieu on May 1, 1967?

The Aladdin hosted a brief ceremony in a private suite; the couple went straight from it into a press conference and a reception, then flew off for a short honeymoon in Palm Springs.

Who first recorded Hound Dog, in 1952?

Big Mama Thornton recorded 'Hound Dog' in Los Angeles in August 1952 after two 19-year-olds, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, wrote it for her in about a quarter of an hour; it sold over half a million copies.

Which real criminal outfit of the Prohibition era is name-checked in the lyrics of Jailhouse Rock?

The Purple Gang, Detroit's bootlegging mob of the 1920s, is cast as the jailhouse band's backing players; Shifty Henry, also named in the lyric, was no convict but a real Los Angeles bass player.

Which songwriter behind Hooked on a Feeling also wrote and first recorded Suspicious Minds?

Mark James's own single of 'Suspicious Minds' went nowhere; months later Elvis heard it at the Memphis studio where James worked and took it to number one.

Which film's theme music announced Elvis's entrance on stage at his 1970s concerts?

2001: A Space Odyssey lent him its fanfare: conductor Joe Guercio proposed it after, by his account, his wife whispered in the cinema that Elvis seemed about to walk on.

Which Elvis hit did Mac Davis first write under the title 'The Vicious Circle'?

In the Ghetto grew from Davis's boyhood in Lubbock, Texas, where a friend lived on a dirt street across town; he wanted a song about poverty repeating itself, and the first title was dropped before Elvis sang it.

In which Elvis film does a young Kurt Russell kick him in the shin?

It Happened at the World's Fair has Elvis's pilot pay a boy a quarter to kick him, so that he can see the fair's nurse again; the boy was Russell, in his first film, who grew up to play Elvis in a 1979 TV biopic.

Why did Elvis record Are You Lonesome Tonight? in 1960?

Colonel Parker's wife loved it: 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' was Marie Mott's favourite song, so Elvis cut it in April 1960 at his manager's suggestion. RCA delayed the release, thinking it didn't fit him.

Love Me Tender borrows its melody from which Civil War ballad?

'Love Me Tender' sets new words by Ken Darby, credited to his wife Vera Matson and Elvis, to the tune of 'Aura Lea', an 1861 ballad by George Poulton that was popular with Civil War soldiers.

Who wrote both Don't Be Cruel and All Shook Up?

Otis Blackwell wrote both, having sold 'Don't Be Cruel' to a publisher for $25 around Christmas 1955; when Elvis recorded it, the singer's name went on the song beside his as co-writer.

In its songwriter's telling, what inspired the title of All Shook Up?

A shaken bottle of Pepsi was in his publisher's hand when he dared the writer to make a song of the phrase 'all shook up'; Elvis told it differently, saying he woke from a dream all shook up and phoned a friend.

Which rock and roll pioneer's novelty single kept Elvis's last US top-ten hit off number one in 1972?

Chuck Berry's 'My Ding-a-Ling', a singalong taped live in Coventry, England, sat at number one in October 1972 with Elvis's single stuck behind it at number two; it was the only chart-topper of Berry's career.

Which director turned the planned Christmas special into the Comeback Special?

Steve Binder stood up to Colonel Parker, who wanted an hour of Christmas songs, and instead taped Elvis that June in Burbank playing his old hits with his first bandmates before a small studio audience.

Which 1972 event gave Colonel Parker the idea for the Aloha from Hawaii broadcast?

Parker saw how Nixon's February 1972 visit to China was televised around the world and decided Elvis should do the same; Aloha from Hawaii went out live to Asia and Australia on January 14, 1973.

Who directed nine Elvis films, more than anyone, among them G.I. Blues and Spinout?

Norman Taurog, an Oscar winner back in 1931, made Elvis films his last work: he retired after Live a Little, Love a Little in 1968 and lost his sight in old age.

What is the name of Elvis's convict character in Jailhouse Rock?

Vince Everett is a construction worker jailed for killing a man in a bar fight; his cellmate, a faded singer, teaches him guitar, and he walks out of prison and into stardom.

Which Elvis film was adapted from the Harold Robbins novel A Stone for Danny Fisher?

King Creole turned the novel's New York boxer into a New Orleans nightclub singer once producer Hal Wallis, who had bought the rights with other actors in mind, cast Elvis instead.

Which songwriting duo wrote the theme song Viva Las Vegas?

Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman wrote it as the film's title song, yet the 1964 single stalled at number 29 in America, outdone by its own flip side; its fame came later.

Which South African dancer starred opposite Elvis in G.I. Blues, his first film after the Army?

Juliet Prowse played Lili, the club dancer his character must win over for a bet; the crew shot background scenery on location while Elvis was still a soldier, then filmed his scenes in Hollywood.

Who played Colonel Parker in Baz Luhrmann's 2022 film Elvis?

Tom Hanks was in Australia to film the part in March 2020 when he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19; the production shut down and did not start again for six months.

Which director made the 1979 TV film Elvis starring Kurt Russell?

John Carpenter directed the three-hour ABC film Elvis (1979), his first collaboration with Kurt Russell, who went on to star in his Escape from New York and The Thing.

Who won the Venice Volpi Cup for playing Priscilla in Sofia Coppola's 2023 film?

Cailee Spaeny won at the film's Venice premiere; Elvis's estate refused Coppola the use of his recordings, so none are heard, and Phoenix, her husband's band, wrote the score instead.

Who played Elvis in the 2016 comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon?

Michael Shannon played Elvis opposite Kevin Spacey's president; the comedy is built on a real meeting that Elvis set up himself in December 1970, with a handwritten letter asking to see Nixon.

Which vocal quartet backed Elvis on records and in films from 1956 to 1970?

The Jordanaires, formed in Springfield, Missouri, met Elvis backstage in Memphis in 1955; by their account he promised to hire them if a big label ever signed him, and a year later he did.

Which guitarist played on Elvis's first records in 1954 and stayed with him until 1968?

Scotty Moore played lead guitar on the 1954 session that produced Elvis's first record, and days later signed the 19-year-old to a management contract, a job he held only for a time.

Which bassist played in Elvis's early trio and later led his own Combo?

Bill Black slapped the upright bass in Elvis's early trio for a sideman's weekly wage while the singer grew rich; leading Bill Black's Combo, he then had a million-selling instrumental of his own, 'Smokie'.

Drummer D. J. Fontana joined Elvis's band from the staff of which radio show?

The Louisiana Hayride kept Fontana as its staff drummer, and Elvis met him there as a regular on its Saturday-night broadcasts; he stayed 14 years and played on more than 460 RCA recordings.

What do the initials of Elvis's TCB Band stand for?

Taking Care of Business was the motto Elvis adopted around 1970: he had the letters and a lightning bolt painted on the tail of his jet and made into gold necklaces that he gave to the men around him.

Which line did announcer Horace Logan use in 1956 to keep an Elvis crowd seated?

'Elvis has left the building' was Logan's plea to overexcited teenagers to take their seats for the remaining acts; years later Al Dvorin turned the words into the sign-off that sent concert crowds home.

Which song was on the flip side of Elvis's first Sun single in July 1954?

Blue Moon of Kentucky was a slow Bill Monroe waltz that the trio recut days after the A-side, faster and drenched in slap echo; Monroe then reworked his own arrangement to switch into the new tempo.

Whose 2002 remix of A Little Less Conversation topped charts around the world?

Junkie XL appeared on the sleeve as plain JXL because Elvis's estate did not want a drug reference beside his name; the remix, made for a Nike World Cup advert, was the first the estate had ever licensed.

Who wrote and first recorded Blue Suede Shoes in 1955?

Carl Perkins wrote it and cut it first, but a car crash on the way to a national TV date put him and his brother in hospital just as the record was climbing the charts.

Which punk band copied the pink-and-green lettering of Elvis's 1956 debut album for a 1979 cover?

The Clash's London Calling borrows the lettering of Elvis Presley; designer Ray Lowry laid it over Pennie Smith's photograph of bassist Paul Simonon smashing his instrument on a New York stage.

At which Memphis studio, home of the Memphis Boys, did Elvis record in early 1969?

American Sound Studio was a friend's suggestion: in place of RCA's usual studios, Elvis stayed in his home town, and producer Chips Moman postponed a Neil Diamond session to fit him in.

Which Arthur Crudup song did Elvis start playing as a joke, giving him his first single in 1954?

That's All Right came at the end of a fruitless evening session: about to give up, Elvis began clowning with the old song, his bassist and guitarist fell in, and Sam Phillips had them start again with the tape running.

Which single was the last that Elvis released in his lifetime?

Way Down came out ten weeks before Elvis died and was already sliding down the US chart; within weeks of his death it had turned round and gone to number one in Britain.

Which future famous director assisted on the 1972 film Elvis on Tour?

Martin Scorsese, then a year away from Mean Streets, served as montage supervisor on Elvis on Tour, whose makers Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel had filmed Joe Cocker's 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour.

Which hotel chain bought the Las Vegas resort where Elvis played from 1969 and gave it its name in 1971?

Hilton put its name on the two-year-old resort in July 1971; Elvis went on filling its showroom until 1976, a run of 636 sold-out shows, and a bronze statue of him was unveiled there the year after he died.

Where did Elvis play his first big show, opening for Slim Whitman on July 30, 1954?

Overton Park Shell, Memphis, a bandshell built in 1936, is where the leg-shaking began: nerves set his knees going inside wide-cut trousers, the girls screamed, and he came off asking why they were yelling at him.

Which Sun star was photographed with Elvis, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis at their December 1956 jam?

Johnny Cash posed with the other three for a newspaper photographer; whether he stayed to sing is disputed, since he insisted his voice is on the tape and others say he came only for the picture.

At what Memphis address did Sam Phillips open his recording service in 1950?

Sam Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue in January 1950, recording weddings and funerals as well as blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf before launching his own label there in 1952.

What kind of animal was Elvis's pet Scatter?

Chimpanzee Scatter came from a Memphis children's TV show; Elvis's friends dressed him in clothes of his own, but he grew so unruly that he was sent home to Graceland.

Which song did Elvis, aged ten, sing at a 1945 fair contest, his first public performance?

Old Shep, a ballad about a boy and his dog, won him fifth place as he remembered it; dressed as a cowboy, the ten-year-old had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone.

On which Memphis street did teenage Elvis admire the flashy clothes in the window of Lansky Brothers?

Beale Street was where Bernard Lansky noticed a teenager forever staring through his shop window and invited him in; he later liked to say that he put Elvis in his first suit and his last.

Which boxer did Elvis give a specially made robe in 1973?

Muhammad Ali wore Elvis's gift into the ring in Las Vegas that February, when he beat Joe Bugner; he later called the singer a close personal friend.

Which British-born actor hosted Elvis's first Ed Sullivan Show appearance while Sullivan recovered from a car crash?

Charles Laughton introduced him from New York with the words 'away to Hollywood', because Elvis was on the West Coast making his first film and sang from a television studio there.

Why was Elvis's entourage nicknamed the Memphis Mafia?

Their black mohair suits and sunglasses did it: by one account, when two black limousines unloaded the group outside a Las Vegas hotel, a bystander called out 'Who are they, the Mafia?' and a reporter ran with it.