Following Elvis to Memphis

Fond memories: The King in young and happy times

In 1946, Gladys Presley took her son into a local hardware store in Tupelo, Mississippi, and bought him a birthday present that would eventually change the face of music for ever.

Ten-year-old Elvis had his eyes on a shotgun but store manager Mr Bobo had other ideas. 'Maybe you should try the guitar instead, kid?' he suggested, and handed the boy a guitar. The King of Rock 'n' Roll was born.

When I visited the store, Howard, the current manager, was telling a shop full of Elvis fanatics: 'We have to be the most famous hardware store in the world.' One fan asked: 'What do you think would have happened if Mr Bobo had let him have the shotgun?' Howard replied: 'Well, he'd have been a mighty fine-looking hunter.'

The regenerated Beale Street is the beating heart of Memphis

This year is a special one for fans. This Thursday marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Aaron Presley. In his hometown of Tupelo, the locals feel he was very much one of them.In 1956, Elvis returned there to play in front of 20,000 hysterical fans at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair just two years after the release of his debut single That's Alright Mama. The show signified his arrival to mega-stardom.

One local who was at that concert told me: 'This was not a local boy done good, this was a local boy done great.' Tupelo is a small, charming town in a hilly pinewood area. The house where Elvis was born is now set in pretty gardens with a car park and museum for the hordes of fans.

Downtown Memphis is a few miles from Elvis's Graceland home

But in Elvis's young days it was a little shotgun shack – a typical 'poor white' dwelling so called, supposedly, because one could fire a shotgun through the front door and the pellets would fly clean through the house and out of the back door. It cost Elvis's father, Vernon, $180 to build.

I met up there with Guy Harris, Elvis's long-term childhood friend. 'All this was country and dirt tracks,' he reminisced. 'One day some of us boys were sitting on the porch and Elvis asked,"Do ya'll want to hear me play the guitar?" Of course we said yes, so he played and sang some of Old Shep. We soon got tired of that and went off to play.'

Guy, now 78, works at a local car plant but often turns up to the museum along with friend James Ausborn to share stories of his boyhood friend. 'Elvis wasn't like the other kids – he was different,' he said. 'Just north of the Presleys' home was the black community called Shakerag.

Elvis sometimes walked up to one of the churches and stood outside to listen to their singing. He liked their music.' It was the influence of blues and gospel that separated Elvis as a singer. In a generation when racial segregation was at a high, he moved the boundaries of acceptance.

Guy and James were real characters, the sort you could just sit and chat to. I asked if Elvis was a hit with the girls. Guy recalled: 'Yeah, sure, he'd have a few on the go at one time.' It seemed he always had that magic touch. I travelled down Highway 78 from Tupelo towards Memphis,Tennessee, just as Vernon, Gladys and young Elvis did back in 1949 when Vernon got a job there.

According to friends, Elvis wasn't thrilled with the move but it brought him nearer to Memphis's special musical influences. The Presleys moved into Lauderdale Courts, a public housing facility on the edge of town. I was surprised to see what a step up the apartment was from the shack in East Tupelo.

Memphis is a proud and friendly industrial city. The Mississippi runs through it and music runs through its veins. The skyline is impressive, with modern buildings sharing space with the older colonial architecture in clean, well presented neighbourhoods. But on the outskirts among some of the black communities, there is poverty not usually associated with 'world leader' America.

I stayed at The Peabody Memphis Hotel, a gracefully restored historic downtown hotel that styles itself The Grand Hotel Of The South. The lobby bar has long been a social hub in Memphis and over the years has hosted a glittering array of stars. Each morning sees the arrival of the Peabody ducks – a tradition that began as a joke in 1932. Five mallards make their entrance at 11am and waddle up a red carpet to the fountain pond to the strains of a Sousa march.

At 5pm the procession is reversed and the ducks return to their outdoor home . It was a touch of the Southern eccentricity I loved. In 1955, Elvis signed a record contract with RCA in the hotel lobby and received what was, at the time, a life-changing cheque for $4,500.

With his new-found wealth, Elvis bought suits from clothing retailer Lansky's on the ground floor of The Peabody. Bernard J. Lansky became his personal tailor, fitting him with his first – and his last – suit, earning the nickname Clothier To The King.

Bernard's son, who now runs the business, showed me round, picking out replica items that Elvis commissioned his father to make. Among them were stunning examples of yesteryear's fashion faux pas – Hi-Boy collar shirts and peg-legged pants – but my favourite item was the famous gold lamé jacket he wore for his hip-swivelling performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Later that evening, I headed to Beale Street, Memphis's main entertainment district and the centre for African American culture until the end of segregation in the Sixties – yes, it took that long. Other Southern towns had blackonly areas, but none like this. This street was integral to the future of world music. It is also the liveliest street I've ever been on a night out. It has a wonderful mix of people enjoying superb live blues and jazz. Its buzzing, carnival-like atmosphere is contagious,the perfect remedy for jet-lag. The drinks kept coming and the music (seemingly) just got better and better.

The most famous bar is the touristy BB King's Bar, though more authentic blues can be found in the smaller old juke joints. UST out of town is Wild Bill's Bar. It's popular with the locals and exudes authenticity, but note there's a 'bring your own spirits' policy that can make things enjoyably messy towards the end of the evening.

The musical talent is exceptional – there doesn't seem to be such a thing as bad music in Memphis. It's all delivered with genuine soul partnered with lashings of fun. Next morning, with a slightly fuzzy head,I went to the legendary Sun Studios in downtown Memphis. This simple recording studio has named itself the birthplace of rock 'n' roll, and rightly so. It's been said that if music were a religion,then Memphis would be Jerusalem and Sun Studio its most sacred shrine.

Big words, but I think justified with the likes of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis,Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and, of course, Elvis making their recording debuts there. Sam Phillips, founder and producer at Sun, was, some say, the man who discovered Elvis. This is not strictly true. What happened was that one morning in 1953 Elvis went into Sun Studios to beg for a chance to record a track. That day Sam wasn't in town, but his secretary Marion was and fell for Elvis's charm, giving him the break he so wanted.

When Sam heard the track he was furious Marion had let Elvis record it. He thought it 'stunk'. It would be another year before he gave Elvis one more shot, this time recording That's Alright Mama. It was a huge success and launched Elvis into superstardom.

Sun is thankfully still a working studio. As I entered the room I felt the vibe of its rich rock history. The music that came out of Sun Studios influenced the likes of John Lennon to Frank Sinatra and a million amateur guitarists. I doubt I would have ever picked up a guitar myself without hearing the magic Sun Studios produced.

And talking of influences, there must be tens of thousands of Elvis impersonators in the world which a lot of people find irritating.

Somehow you've got to hand it to the ones who try to pull off the trick in Memphis. Other notable attractions are the Rock 'n' Soul Museum and the Stax Museum,but I was here for Elvis and there was only one stop left on my pilgrimage – Graceland, a 15-minute drive from downtown Memphis.

I hadn't counted on its sheer size. I don't mean the mansion itself – that's surprisingly modest for The King. But there is also a complex of museums, gift shops and restaurants on one side of the road – a massive tourist attraction run with regimental efficiency.

The entrance is like a multiplex cinema and, as in most of the Southern states, the smell of fried food follows you like a stalker.There are many exhibitions of Elvis memorabilia including an automobile collection and clothes display.My personal highlight was his private plane, fully equipped with TVs, suede sofas and even a double bedroom with en suite bathroom.

The place is to get a whole lot bigger – a £125million facelift was announced recently with a visitor centre bigger than a football pitch, a new hotel and a high-tech museum.But Graceland is already big business and the Elvis trademark a cash-cow for corporate shareholders. So every room has an exit-through-the-gift-shop policy, which becomes laughable.

Strangely, heading for the mansion itself,I felt nervous, as if the whole trip had been a build-up to this moment. The house is a typical colonial Southern building with four imposing pillars and statues of guarding lions. The rooms were more understated than I expected, and on the whole I found the house a family-orientated place.

There is some quirky furniture, though, such as a 15ft white leather sofa, a furry bed with built-in stereo and, of course, there's the infamous Jungle Room. Lisa-Marie speaks on the audio headphone tour of how her father would wander down from upstairs dressed in only a gown and jewellery. She said: 'He was such fun. The house was always an exciting place to be, with plenty of people hanging out.'

At this moment I felt really sad. He seemed to have it all, the family, the house, the success and the money. It sounds strange, but this pilgrimage bought me closer to the man and his music. I promised myself I wouldn't leave this story on a negative note. We all know how it ended.

Unfortunately, one man's riches can be another man's downfall. But there's no doubt that Elvis left us with some fantastic music and, should you ever need one, a great excuse to visit Memphis.

Travel Facts

Continental Airlines (0845 6076760, www.continental.com/uk) flies from six regional airports to Memphis via Newark or Houston.Return fares from Gatwick start at £450.90. America As You Like It (020 8742 8299, www.america asyoulikeit.com) offers rooms per person per night in Tupelo from £40 and in Memphis from £68.

For a free info pack on Memphis & Mississippi,ring 01462 440787 or visit www.memphistravel.com and www.visitmississippi.org.