In my latest shameless attempt at earning some feedback
, I decided to do some homework and try something a little different to add to the forum. I’ve posted a bit on Martin Luther King, Jr. and it was received well, so now I’ll move on to the King, Elvis Presley.
I’ve never been to Graceland, but apparently Elvis was a fan of pool and has a pool table installed in the basement of the home. After I found this out, I went on the web and found out all I could about this custom-built 9’ footer and some of the folks who were fortunate enough to play on it from time to time. Enjoy the read and photos.
The TV Room, decorated in black and gold with mirrored walls, was decorated in its present style by Bill Eubanks who also decorated the Pool Room across the hall. All the chrome, glass, chrome arc lamps and sectional black furniture are very much the style of the 70’s including a yellow leather topped bar and bar stools! The most spectacular feature of the Pool Room is the fabric used to cover the sofas, walls and ceiling. We are told it took something between 350 and 400 yards of fabric and three workmen about ten days to hang it. The room, with its French, Oriental and turn-of-the century European influences is an example of the Seventies American trend toward eclectic decorating, mixing styles of various eras and countries. A similar “retro” trend emerged again in the Nineties. None of the furniture is antique. Most chosen to complement the general décor including the reproduction Louis XV red leather chairs. All the pictures are either prints, some signed by artists, or – like the Toulouse Lautrecs, just regular commercial reproductions. The gold, green and peacock blue light shade over the pool table is again, the work of Laukhuff Stained Glass in Memphis and done in the revived Tiffany style.
You will note that one of the pictures of the room shows his personal playing cue. This cue was the cue involved in the following passages. Does anyone know the make and/or model?
Also in another of the pictures, you can clearly see a tear in the cloth toward the right hand side of the foot rail. This was done by one of his Memphis Mafia friends. His bodyguards and close friends were apparently referred to as the Memphis Mafia.
“…hurled a pool cue at a party guest who interrupts his game, injuring her breast.”
Elvis: What happened by Steve Dunleavy
“…pettishly threw a knife and a watermelon and a pool cue at various women (injuring one for life with never an apology).”
ELVIS By Albert Goldman
Some of the famous folks who played on this table:
“I remember them (The Beatles) looking at Elvis’ TV and saying, “Wow look, colour Television!” because they’d never seen colour TV before. After that Ringo & Billy Smith & Marty & Richard all went off & played pool in the pool room.” –Larry Geller barber and friend of Presley
“We (The Beatles) played a bit of pool with a few of his motorcycle mates...” –Paul McCartney
"We'd kiss all night long while the guys (the 'Memphis Mafia') played pool," recalls woman professional wrestler Penny Banner, who dated Elvis sporadically over a three-year period.
In 1973 John Fred (John Fred and His Playboy Band) and Elvis met again this time at Graceland through John's pal “Dan Penn” and they chatted, played pool and listened to some of Elvis' records.
Excerpt from interview with Tavis Smiley interviewing actress Teri Garr:
Garr: So, we go up to Elvis's house, and he should have just said, “Do you guys want to come up to Elvis's house and watch Elvis watch television?” Because it wasn't like a party where there was dips and chips and that. Nothing. It was like, oh, okay, duh. But anyway, he was a nice guy, fish out of water, that story.
Tavis: So you go to his house and just drinking Coca-Cola, watching Elvis watch television.
Garr: Played pool. Watched TV. Yeah, that kind of stuff. Well, you know, he was in Hollywood. He wanted to know where the fun was. And I had a secret. There's no fun here. Just the opposite of fun. But no one seems to know that. People are coming in droves to Hollywood to find the fun. There isn't any here.
I couldn’t find any pics of Elvis actually playing on the table, so if you guys have any, post em up. Hope everyone enjoyed my little essay.
, I decided to do some homework and try something a little different to add to the forum. I’ve posted a bit on Martin Luther King, Jr. and it was received well, so now I’ll move on to the King, Elvis Presley.I’ve never been to Graceland, but apparently Elvis was a fan of pool and has a pool table installed in the basement of the home. After I found this out, I went on the web and found out all I could about this custom-built 9’ footer and some of the folks who were fortunate enough to play on it from time to time. Enjoy the read and photos.
The TV Room, decorated in black and gold with mirrored walls, was decorated in its present style by Bill Eubanks who also decorated the Pool Room across the hall. All the chrome, glass, chrome arc lamps and sectional black furniture are very much the style of the 70’s including a yellow leather topped bar and bar stools! The most spectacular feature of the Pool Room is the fabric used to cover the sofas, walls and ceiling. We are told it took something between 350 and 400 yards of fabric and three workmen about ten days to hang it. The room, with its French, Oriental and turn-of-the century European influences is an example of the Seventies American trend toward eclectic decorating, mixing styles of various eras and countries. A similar “retro” trend emerged again in the Nineties. None of the furniture is antique. Most chosen to complement the general décor including the reproduction Louis XV red leather chairs. All the pictures are either prints, some signed by artists, or – like the Toulouse Lautrecs, just regular commercial reproductions. The gold, green and peacock blue light shade over the pool table is again, the work of Laukhuff Stained Glass in Memphis and done in the revived Tiffany style.
You will note that one of the pictures of the room shows his personal playing cue. This cue was the cue involved in the following passages. Does anyone know the make and/or model?
Also in another of the pictures, you can clearly see a tear in the cloth toward the right hand side of the foot rail. This was done by one of his Memphis Mafia friends. His bodyguards and close friends were apparently referred to as the Memphis Mafia.
“…hurled a pool cue at a party guest who interrupts his game, injuring her breast.”
Elvis: What happened by Steve Dunleavy
“…pettishly threw a knife and a watermelon and a pool cue at various women (injuring one for life with never an apology).”
ELVIS By Albert Goldman
Some of the famous folks who played on this table:
“I remember them (The Beatles) looking at Elvis’ TV and saying, “Wow look, colour Television!” because they’d never seen colour TV before. After that Ringo & Billy Smith & Marty & Richard all went off & played pool in the pool room.” –Larry Geller barber and friend of Presley
“We (The Beatles) played a bit of pool with a few of his motorcycle mates...” –Paul McCartney
"We'd kiss all night long while the guys (the 'Memphis Mafia') played pool," recalls woman professional wrestler Penny Banner, who dated Elvis sporadically over a three-year period.
In 1973 John Fred (John Fred and His Playboy Band) and Elvis met again this time at Graceland through John's pal “Dan Penn” and they chatted, played pool and listened to some of Elvis' records.
Excerpt from interview with Tavis Smiley interviewing actress Teri Garr:
Garr: So, we go up to Elvis's house, and he should have just said, “Do you guys want to come up to Elvis's house and watch Elvis watch television?” Because it wasn't like a party where there was dips and chips and that. Nothing. It was like, oh, okay, duh. But anyway, he was a nice guy, fish out of water, that story.
Tavis: So you go to his house and just drinking Coca-Cola, watching Elvis watch television.
Garr: Played pool. Watched TV. Yeah, that kind of stuff. Well, you know, he was in Hollywood. He wanted to know where the fun was. And I had a secret. There's no fun here. Just the opposite of fun. But no one seems to know that. People are coming in droves to Hollywood to find the fun. There isn't any here.
I couldn’t find any pics of Elvis actually playing on the table, so if you guys have any, post em up. Hope everyone enjoyed my little essay.
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