Graceland may have opened up to the public in 1982, but from 1957 to Elvis Presley’s death in 1977, it was his private home. After shooting to fame, The King moved his extended family into the Memphis mansion with cousins and friends living right nearby. The generous star allowed his inner circle to really make themselves at home with only the upstairs being off-limits unless invited up personally.
Elvis’ cousin Billy Smith was a member of the Memphis Mafia and moved onto the estate with his wife Jo and sons Danny and Joey.
Alongside other kids in The King’s inner circle, the boys became the close playmates of the singer’s only child Lisa Marie.
They’d get up to all sorts of mischief and Danny remembers moments he had alone with The King that he really cherishes to this day.
On his YouTube channel Memphis Mafia Kid, a fan asked: “What was it like to live and be around Elvis?”
Danny replied: “There’s so many words. Great. Fantastic. Wonderful loving. There wasn’t a day that went by that wasn’t some type of excitement. Just the everyday life at Graceland…it was great. We had the whole run of the place…we did all kinds of crazy things.”
His wife on the camera asked: “Kinda like a fairy tale I guess?” To which he replied: “Yeah!”
Elvis’ relative continued: “It has put memories in me that I’ll love and cherish for the rest of my life. Never regret not one second of it. Sometimes there’s a lot of words that you can use and sometimes it’s just… you’re kind of speechless. It was a life that I couldn’t imagine living without.”
Danny replied: “Some did and some didn’t. Sometimes it was easy, sometimes it was tough. I do know when I went into the military in my basic training I had a drill sergeant that liked Elvis. And I had one that I won’t say disliked Elvis but…y’know kind of got a hard time. But he would kind of give me hard times on my tests and stuff and say things like I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. We all had our bullies. But for the most part, everybody was loving.”
Published at Wed, 02 Mar 2022 16:22:00 +0000
Elvis Presley: ‘Exciting fairy tale’ memories of growing up with The King at Graceland
