From Memphis
to Greenwich.
This
exhibition of Elvis memorabilia from the Presley family’s Graceland archive is
the biggest ever staged in Europe with many of the objects leaving Graceland
for the very first time. There is however one very big problem, the O2 is not
in Memphis, Tennessee.
Visiting
Graceland, the home that Elvis very proudly bought in 1957, is an awe-inspiring
experience for any Elvis fan. The house is as it was the day Elvis died in
1978, giving it a uniquely melancholic aura. Its location on the edge of the once
prosperous, hard-edged, city of Memphis with its musical history of blues,
rock’n’roll and soul infuses the experience with authenticity. The O2 on the
other hand is a corporate hulk of a place in southeast London, housing soulless
restaurant chains and reunions of past-their-sell-by-date bands. You might
think that the ‘give us your money’ aesthetic of the O2 is completely in line
with the money making machine that is Elvis Presley Enterprises. Elvis is worth
much more dead than he ever was alive and Graceland itself is actually encased
in a shopping mall that sells every conceivable shape of Elvis merchandise. But
there is a difference. The idea of ‘Elvis’ and his huge appeal to young people
was fundamental to the mass commercialisation of pop in the 1950s – the story
of Elvis is the story of exploitation. Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker,
spotted the financial rewards of merchandise very early on and issued a
multitude of licences to allow the use of the Presley name and image. Some of
these charm bracelets, lipsticks and bubble gum cards can be seen inside a
glass case at the O2.