Graceland, Before Elvis Presley
Source: Memphis Commercial Appeal
January 1, 2016
Graceland before Elvis Narated by Ruth Cobb (04:45)
Ruth Cobb is one of the few people outside Elvis Presley's family to visit the upstairs of Graceland. It was before it opened as a tourist attraction, and Cobb, who lived there before Elvis, soon learned her old upstairs bedroom had been turned into a music room. She had grown up at Graceland as an only child. When she married Charles Cobb, they remained at Graceland with her parents at first while Ruth toured the country as part of a professional harp ensemble. Her father, Dr. Thomas Moore, was a prominent surgeon and urologist. Her mother, Ruth Brown Moore, was a volunteer who enjoyed club work and became president of the Tennessee Association of Garden Clubs.
Cobb visited in 1967 at the invitation of Elvis' grandmother, and later when the Presley family planned to turn the home into a tourist attraction. It reminded Cobb of her own music career and left her slightly quizzical about a few decorating changes. We did not have a jungle room growing up', she says. There was also no fabric on the ceiling of the billiard room in her day. 'We didn't have a billiard room', she says.
Other distinctive touches added during Elvis' ownership of Graceland drew little attention from Cobb, but there was one: 'Elvis didn't like the chandelier we had in the dining room. It came from New Orleans.
They built Graceland in 1939, naming it for Ruth's great aunt, Grace Toof, who had left the farm to Ruth's grandmother. The grandmother divided her 520-acre farm into three parts, leaving it to her three children. Two of them sold their shares to Ruth's father.
The house on 20 acres began as what Ruth Cobb calls 'just a comfortable country home'. It would become as familiar to America as Tara, Scarlett O'Hara's home in 'Gone With the Wind', and it would rival Monticello, Mount Vernon and other once-private homes among the biggest tourist attractions in the country.
There, Ruth's father taught her to shoot well enough that she once downed three geese with a single shot.
He also taught her to fish in a 25-acre man made lake behind the house. But her first love was music.
Ruth played the piano, but she loved the harp, studying, then touring with one of the world's leading harpists, Carlos Salzedo. Her favorite music was classical, but Ruth says she liked all music from country to Elvis' music. 'I wasn't really crazy about his music, but my mother marveled at his hymns', she says. When her mother decided the property was more than she wanted to keep up, she asked Ruth and Charles if they would like to stay. 'We just didn't have time to take care of a big house', says Charles. 'It cost $1,000 a month to keep it up. The yard alone was like trying to take care of a golf course. We had a yard man who worked two to three days a week'.
When the property was put up for sale, Ruth said there were three potential buyers -- Sears Roebuck Co.; a private party who wanted to turn it into an exclusive restaurant, and Elvis. By then, most of the surrounding land had been sold to developers for a subdivision, and the lake behind the house had been drained.
Ruth says a church, Graceland Christian Church, wanted to buy 5 acres on the northwest corner of the property. Sears and the restaurant interests did not want to split the 5 acres off for the church, but Elvis said he would be glad to have a church next door, she says.
That helped seal the deal. Elvis bought the property for $102,000 in 1957.
When the church next door, Graceland Christian Church, eventually decided to move, the Presley family bought back the land and turned the church into the headquarters of Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Charles met Elvis during the closing on the sale of Graceland, but Ruth never met him. She has since returned to Graceland as a tourist with her grandchildren. 'I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it didn't feel like home', she says.
Elvis Presley -- Rising Sun and other Horses at Graceland
Elvis Presley's 1955 Pink Cadillac at Graceland
Elvis Presley at Graceland - March 1965
Photos of Graceland - April, 1962
Graceland Newspaper article - March 1957
The Moores & The Presleys at Graceland
President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Visit Graceland
The Night Springsteen Jumped the Fence at Graceland
Graceland Mansion Designated National Historic Landmark
Ebony's Double: Last Horse Elvis Brought To Graceland
Presley's Death Writes New Chapter in History
Tell me about Elvis' visit to the White House
The Lisa Marie Convair 880 Jetplane
Many of the photos used in this article are by Scott Jenkins
More Interviews
Interview with Larry Muhoberac Interview with Michael Jarrett, songwriter, I'm Leavin' Interview with James Burton Interview with James Burton Sydney Australia 2006 James Burton : First Call For The Royalty Of Rockabilly Interview with Ronnie Tutt Interview with Ronnie Tutt #2 Interview with Jerry Scheff Interview with Glen D. Hardin Interview with Sherrill Nielsen Interview with Terry Blackwood & Jim Murray Interview with Tony Brown Duke Bardwell Interview with Scotty Moore Bill Black Interview with D.J. Fontana Interview with Charlie Hodge Interview with Ernst Jorgensen Elvis Presley & the TCB Band
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Graceland Links
Elvis Presley's Home Sweet Homes
Elvis Presley's Graceland : The Tour
The Graceland Wall : To Elvis With Love
The 'Den' : The Jungle Room
Elvis Presley : Home Movies of Graceland
Drone Footage of Graceland
The Graceland Music Gates
3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis Tennessee
Visiting Elvis Presley's Graceland
Elvis Presley : Rising Sun and other Horses at Graceland
Rare Film of Elvis in his car signing autographs at the entrance to Graceland
History
Graceland, Before Elvis
The Moores & The Presleys at Graceland
Over the years
Graceland Newspaper article : March 1957
Elvis Presley with the music gates of Graceland : April 22, 1957
Photos of Graceland : April, 1962
Elvis Presley at Graceland : March 1965
Elvis Presley : Graceland : February 16, 1968
Jerry Lee Lewis, Arrested at the Gates of Graceland
The Night Springsteen Jumped the Fence at Graceland
Elvis Presley's 1955 Pink Cadillac at Graceland
President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Visit Graceland
Graceland Mansion Designated National Historic Landmark
Elvis Presley Biography
Elvis Presley Family History : 1669-1935
Elvis Presley Biography
Gladys and Vernon Presley - Elvis Presley's Mother and Father
Jessie D. McDowell (J.D.) Presley - Elvis Presleys Grandfather
For a more (very) detailed history of Elvis Presley see Elvis Presley 1935-1953
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD
Never before have we seen an Elvis Presley concert from the 1950's with sound. Until Now! The DVD Contains recently discovered unreleased film of Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. + Plus Bonus DVD Audio.
This is an excellent release no fan should be without it.
The 'parade' footage is good to see as it puts you in the right context with color and b&w footage. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people. Highly recommended.
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD Video with Sound.
