Pictures Disclaimers: We are very blessed to have access to Mr. Jeff Schrembs one of the Worlds Greatest Elvis Presley Experts' who also owns the Largest (private) Elvis Presley Collection. Jeff has been kind enough to allow us to use many of his photos, items, input, etc. Therefore please enjoy our site, and come back often, and help spread the good words about ElvisCollector.info as well as about Mr. Jeff Schrembs. Thanks.

 

 

 

  This is the ACTUAL tooth that Elvis "lost".

 

                                     

 

                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                 

 

 

               

 

         

 

 

 

      

Elvis' Gillette Razor                         Gold Handle Daggar                                                                      Green Chair (last he sat with Priscilla for family photos)

       

            

 

 

     

             

 

  

 

 

 

 

 30 Unique Elvis facts:

1. Elvis was a black belt in karate who finished his martial art training with a 8th degree black belt through his training with Kang Rhee. He took up martial arts under the shotokan sensei Jürgen Seydal, while fulfilling his military duties in Germany in 1958. He was awarded his black belt before he returned to the United States, in 1960, by the chito-ryu instructor Hank Slemansky. Elvis favorite form of martial arts fighting became American Kenpo who he trained with, later in his life, with his bodyguard/friend Ed Parker.

2. On 21 December 1970 Elvis boarded an American Airlines plane, by himself which he NEVER did, headed for Washington DC. Enroute Elvis asked an American Airlines "stewardess" (that was the termology in the 70's) for some paper. The stewardess brought Elvis a stack of "American Airlines" letterhead from the Captains personal stash. Elvis began to write what would eventually become a six page letter to President Nixon. After landing in Washington DC Elvis made a collect call to Jerry Schilling telling him what he had done and his plans to go to the White House. Jerry Schilling went into a "panic" (initially) but then put a plan into place whereby Jerry would fly to meet Elvis, Elvis would stay in a specific hotel, and they would meet up at the Hotel. Elvis, unannounced, arrived at the gates of the White House and asked to see the President. Needless to say, the guards where SHOCKED to see the King of Rock, in full garb, standing before them. Elvis opted, after being told that no one could be admitted into the White House unless they were "cleared", to leave the letter (addressed to President Nixon) with the guards with the understanding that they would ensure that it was delivered ASAP to President Nixon. Elvis had left many of his "contact numbers", including that of the Hotel in which he was staying - and the alias that he used to register, on the six page letter for "contact follow-up". President Nixon, upon receipt of the hand written letter, first asked if this was "real"? After he was told that it was he made the decision, ultimately, to meet with Elvis. This HISTORIC meeting of the "American Powers" took place and Elvis met President Nixon at the White House. Elvis who was a "collector" of local/state Police Badges, made clear in his letter his desire to be made a “Federal Agent-at-Large” in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (now it is called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms). During his meeting with President Nixon, Elvis made many comments about "today's entertainers" (including his ridicule of The Beatles who he said were ‘un-American’ for their open drug-taking and anti-Vietnam politics) for their "anti-American" comments/actions/undermining. After several exchanges of gifts, including White House pens/ashtrays/cufflinks/etc., and numerous photographs of Elvis with President Nixon (and some of the Memphis Mafia who were waiting in the "wings" for Elvis to appear after his meeting never thinking that they would be brought into the actual meeting) Elvis was given personal "assurances" that he would be designated (and receive the actual official badge) receive/become ‘Special Agent’ (which he did complete with the badge).

3. Elvis’s first radio play was on Memphis station WHBQ, on the Red, Hot and Blue Right”, Show, in 1954. DJ Dewey Phillips played “That’s All and, a week later Sun Records had received 6,000 advance orders for the single “That’s All Right”/ “Blue Moon of Kentucky” which was, at the time, one of the LARGEST "orders" ever received by a "new recording artist" in the South.

4. The King’s entourage (which included childhood friends, friend from the Army days stationed in Germany, etc.) was known collectively as the Memphis Mafia. All members of the Memphis Mafia sported diamond and gold rings, given to them by Elvis, on which a thunderbolt and the letters TCB had been imprinted. TCB stood for “Take Care of Business”. Sadly, it would be the (sincere and heartfelt and painful) authoring of the book "Elvis What Happened"?, by several "ex-members" of the Memphis Mafia, that was attributed with Elvis' untimely death/demise (note: it is ONLY our opinion that those involved with the writing of this book regardless of how accurate the events/words were in the book should have found another "outlet" to address their concerns about Elvis - his medications/drugs he was taking - his health - etc. - WITHOUT writing a "tell all" book that would (a) monetarily benefit them and (b) cause Elvis to (further) suffer mentally/emotionally/mentally). However, we cannot say what attempts they had made nor their motives as we believe that no one should question the fact that these individuals truly cared for Elvis and wanted the best for him).

5. In 1960, when Elvis was at his post-military trimmest, he weighed a little over 168 pounds (aka 12 stone). When he died, in 1977, he weighed a just under 228 pounds (aka 19 stone).

6. None of Elvis’s feature films or music documentaries was ever nominated for an Oscar in any category. He made 31 movies and two music documentaries. (note in our "humble" opinion the documentary "That's The Way It Is", and "Elvis On Tour", should have received (at a minimum) nominations). 

7. Elvis’s first public performance was at the Mississippi-Alabama competition Fair and Dairy Show when he was about ten years old. The young Elvis entered the singing dressed as a cowboy, and had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone. His performance of “Old Shep” by Red Foley earned him second prize.

8. Elvis recorded more than 600 songs in his music career, but didn’t write a single one of them by himself eventhough he was "credited" with a few as a "co-author". Interestingly, Elvis owned several music publishing companys along with his "50/50" partner Colonel Parker.

9. Until his late teens, Elvis was blond.  

10. Elvis ate nothing but meatloaf, tomatoes, and mashed potato for two years.

11. Some of Elvis’s bejeweled jumpsuits weighed more than 24 pounds (aka two stone).

12. When Elvis discovered that his wife, Priscilla, had been having an affair with Mike Stone – a karate instructor and mutual friend of the couple – he flew into a rage. The biographer Peter Guralnick claims that Elvis was so angry, he said: “there’s too much pain in me ¿ Mike Stone [must] die.” But when his body-guard, Red West, came back to his boss with a price for Stone’s contract killing, the King’s mood had softened. “Aw hell,” he said. “Let’s just leave it for now. Maybe it’s a bit heavy.”

13. Elvis won three Grammy Awards – for his gospel recordings.

14. He only performed five concerts outside the United States – all in Canada in 1957. At the time of his death, he was planning a European tour. He only set foot on British soil once, when the plane taking him back to the United States from Germany stopped to refuel at Glasgow Prestwick airport. The singer enjoyed a two-hour stop over before re-boarding the military plane.

15. The last film Elvis saw at the cinema was The Spy Who Loved Me. The day before he died, though, he had tried to obtain a print of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, to show his daughter, Lisa Marie.

16. Sometime in the early 1960s, Elvis adopted a chimpanzee called Scatter. Scatter had previously belonged to a Memphis children’s entertainer, and was trained to perform. He also had a penchant for looking up women’s skirts. Elvis found this trait amusing. A well-known wheeze was to gather his female friends together, and then let Scatter wreak havoc among them.

17. Even before the obese later years, Presley was a prodigious eater. In his 20s, he told Country Song Roundup Magazine that he could demolish eight deluxe cheese burgers, two bacon-lettuce-and-tomato sandwiches and three milkshakes in a single sitting.

18. Elvis first nourished his taste for outlandish clothes while a student at LC Humes High School in Memphis. He admired clothes at Lansky Brothers on Beale Street, but only had enough money to buy the occasional shirt. When he became famous, he began shopping there more regularly, and continued to use Lansky Brothers his whole life. Indeed, Bernard Lansky, the proprietor, is responsible for some of the more egregious fashion crimes perpetrated by the King. It was Lansky, for instance, who made Elvis’s gold lame jacket.

19. In 1954, when Elvis was cutting some early records at Sun Studios, he auditioned for an amateur gospel quartet called the Songfellows. They turned him down.

20. On 30 July 1954, Elvis played one of his first shows, at the Overton Park Shell in Memphis. He was, apparently, so nervous, that his legs started to shake. The outlandish flares the singer had chosen to wear that evening only exacerbated the shaky movement. The girls in the audience went wild, and Elvis decided to incorporate his shaky-legs routine into future shows.

21. Elvis had a brief affair with the Swedish-American actress and singer, Ann-Margret, as they filmed the kitsch 1964 hit Viva Las Vegas. Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, demanded that the relationship end, but his charge continued to hold a special place in his heart for Ann-Margret. Every time Ann-Margret opened a show in Las Vegas, he would send her flowers arranged in the shape of a guitar.

22. Elvis was christened Elvis Aron Presley, but his gravestone reads Elvis Aaron Presley. Elvis was christened with only one ‘a’ in his middle name, so that he would share a characteristic with his still born twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley. Towards the end of his life, Elvis sought to add an ‘a’ to his middle name to make it a biblical name.

23. Not only was Elvis a direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln’s great-great grandfather, Isaiah Harrison, he was a distant cousin of Jimmy Carter (OUCH).

24. Led Zeppelin was big fans of Elvis and was desperate to meet him when they toured the US. In 1973, the longed-for meeting came to pass, when Robert Plant and John Paul Jones met the King in Los Angeles. The Zeppelins were rendered speechless by the meeting, but Elvis broke the ice by swapping his $5,000 gold and diamond watch for Jones’s watch – which featured a picture of Mickey Mouse. From that moment on, any member of Led Zeppelin was welcome in the front row of an Elvis concert.

25. Elvis collected marble statues of the Venus de Milo and Joan of Arc.

26. In 1973, Elvis gave Muhammad Ali a $10,000 white robe, with the words “People’s Champion” emblazoned across the back. Ali was touched, and wore the robe on 31 March, when he fought Ken Norton for the first time. Norton broke Ali’s jaw in the second round, before winning a 12-round decision. Ali vowed never to wear the robe again, although he maintained his friendship with Elvis.

27. Elvis’s favorite toothpaste was Colgate. His favorite aftershave was Brut. And his favorite soft drink was Pepsi.

28. This year, the American firearms company America Remembers released a special edition “Elvis Presley TCB Tribute Revolver”. The weapon, a .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum Revolver, is decorated with a picture of Elvis, as well as a lightning bolt, in 24-carat-gold. The weapon is designed, say its makers, to “honor the legend of Elvis Presley, and we are proud to offer it on one of the most powerful firearms ever used in American law-enforcement”. Elvis was himself a keen collector of guns. He had 40 weapons in his arsenal, including M-16s and a Thomson sub-machinegun.

29. The book Elvis was reading at the time of his death was Frank O Adams’s The Scientific Search for the face of Jesus.

30. Elvis wore a cross, the Hebrew letter chai, and a Star of David around his neck. “I don’t want to miss out on heaven due to a technicality,” he said.

 

31. This was the LAST ELVIS PRESLEY JUMPSUIT ever made. Elvis never had a chance to wear it (and this saddens us greatly)