by Ginger Alden
Stunned, Elvis immediately went into a defensive karate stance. “What is it? What is it?” he shouted toward those of us who were seated onstage and to his security.
Everything happened so quickly, I wasn’t sure if the audience even realized he was upset.
I then heard some voices yelling, “Frisbee!”
After the show, I raced to the limousine and climbed into it. A few minutes later I saw Elvis, enveloped by his entourage, moving quickly toward the car. He had just reached the limo when I heard a loud thud that made me jump.
Elvis had hit the car window with his fist. The limo doors flew open and everyone quickly piled inside as Elvis fumed, “That damn Frisbee was so close to my eye, and when it hit, it hit hard, man. I almost walked offstage.”
Elvis and the guys began discussing what had happened, and I learned that the security guards had found a teenage boy who threw the Frisbee. The boy had attached a note inside it.
Felton, one of the soundmen, had told Elvis that the boy apologized, but it would take Elvis a while to calm down inside the car. Although it was an innocent act on the boy’s part, I knew how concerned Elvis was about safety, and understood how something like this really scared him. Once again I was reminded of how vulnerable Elvis was despite all of his security, and of how aware he was of that, too.
After a show in Des Moines, Iowa, we flew into Madison, Wisconsin, and landed in the early morning hours. Elvis, Vernon, Sandy, and I took a limousine with a few staff members from the airport to a hotel.
As we stopped at a red light, we all suddenly noticed what looked like a fight breaking out at a nearby Skylane Standard gas station. Two young men were picking on another man. Elvis lowered the window and watched for a moment.
Before any of us could stop him, Elvis opened the door and jumped out of the car. The bodyguards followed in close pursuit. Elvis had yet to change; still wearing his stage suit, he walked smack into the middle of the fight, assumed a karate stance, and said something to the young men.
I watched anxiously along with Vernon and Sandy. Not surprisingly, the men looked completely baffled to see none other than Elvis Presley standing in front of them! In a minute, everyone was smiling and shaking hands.
When Elvis rejoined us in the car, he was still keyed up and talked about the fight he’d prevented. Soon, though, he went on to talk about other things, as if he had just done his good deed for the day. Elvis knew he could affect people, and I think he truly felt his best when he was helping others.
• • •
Elvis decided he’d like my family to see his last couple of shows, so he flew them in to join us in Cincinnati, Ohio. Terry was busy with our friend Cindy and couldn’t make the flight. When my mother and Rosemary arrived and Elvis saw just the two of them, he asked where Terry was.
“She couldn’t come,” I told him, and explained why.
Elvis wasn’t pleased by this. Due to Terry’s commitments as Miss Tennessee, he hadn’t been able to get to know her as well as he had Rosemary. He called Terry at home and said, “Get your girlfriend and I’ll have a plane bring you.”
He chartered a Learjet out of Nashville to pick up my sister and Cindy in time for them to see his show. I was touched that seeing my family meant so much to him. But I wasn’t surprised: Family, I knew, meant a lot to Elvis.
We were staying at the Netherland Hilton. That evening, a few hours before Elvis’s show, his mood plummeted because the air conditioner in his room wasn’t working. He wasn’t happy with the food he’d ordered, either.
A little while later, I went into my room to get ready, and my mother and Rosemary came in to visit with me. I was setting my hair and talking to them from the bathroom when the bedroom door suddenly flew open.
“Where’s Ginger?” Elvis demanded.
Quickly stepping from the bathroom, I asked, “What’s going on?”
Elvis was gone. My mother and Rosemary looked stunned. “I don’t know, but Elvis looked quite upset,” my mother said.
I heard the voices of people running down the hall. Someone shouted, “Which way did he go?”
I peered into the hallway and saw the bodyguards running. Obviously, Elvis had somehow escaped them. But why? What was he trying to do, and why had he been looking for me?
I sat in my room for a little while, worrying. Before long, the phone rang. It was one of the bodyguards. “Elvis wants to see you,” he said. Apparently, Elvis had left the Hilton and checked into a nearby hotel.
I went downstairs, where I ran into one of Elvis’s fans. He asked me to pose for a photo. I was then escorted to the new hotel.
When I saw Elvis, he said happily, “We have air-conditioning now.”
I hated thinking that he’d gotten himself so worked up before a performance, and I was relieved to see that he seemed to have calmed down and was in a better mood. However, because the new hotel didn’t have enough room for all of us, Elvis announced that he wanted to return to Memphis after his Cincinnati show.
During the performance that night, I left my chair behind the soundmen to race quickly to the restroom with Rosemary. When we returned, we tried reentering through the door we had exited, but it had locked behind us.
I could hear Elvis start to introduce his band and began to get nervous. What if Elvis wanted to introduce me to the audience, but this time I wasn’t there? I was panicked, thinking this might throw him, sure that he would be concerned about what had happened to me if he suddenly saw that I was missing.
Luckily, Rosemary and I found an unlocked door and I made it back to my chair without Elvis noticing. I was glad I did, too, because Elvis went on that night to introduce his father, me, and my family, as well as a British fan club.
On our flight back to Memphis, Rosemary told Elvis about us getting locked out. He was relaxed after the show and just thought it was funny.
“I would have stopped the G-damn show and looked for you,” he declared.
After a brief stay in Memphis, Elvis decided to bring more of his family on tour with us, and Patsy and Jo Smith boarded the plane. I hadn’t been around Patsy much because she was typically working out back whenever I was at Graceland, and I had rarely seen her in the house. However, later my mother said Patsy had knelt down in front of her on the plane, telling her she was glad to meet her, because she had heard so much about her. This was nice to hear.
During Elvis’s show in Indianapolis, he introduced his father and then me, saying, “I’d like you to say hello to my girlfriend, Ginger. She is something to stare at. That’s it. That’s enough, Ginger!”
Introducing Terry as Miss Tennessee, he went on to present the rest of my family as well, saying, “and her mother and her sister Rosemary. And, Rosemary, ya know, you just stay put,” he joked, referring to us being locked out during his previous performance. “They’re a very lovely family and I love them,” Elvis added.
He introduced some of his family that night as well, calling Jo his “assassin,” and saying, “Patsy works for my dad and she’s as nutty as a fruitcake.”
Once back on the Lisa Marie, my mother said Patsy had chatted with her on the shuttle bus. And, when she stepped from it to board the plane, Patsy had walked beside my mother, putting an arm around her.
Once again, I was touched by these small gestures of warmth and acceptance. It was nice to think that some of Elvis’s family was beginning to recognize us as part of his life now.
Back in Memphis, thinking of my mother once again, Elvis brought up the subject of her home. He wanted to speak with my mom, so I called her at work and handed him the phone.
“Mrs. Alden, I want you to call my father and take your house notes, payment books, or whatever you have on the house to him. He will take care of it for you,” he said.
After speaking with Elvis, my mother later called Vernon. He reiterated what Elvis had said, and asked her to b
ring her payment book and any papers on our home over to his house the following day.
The next evening, Vernon was visiting with Elvis in Lisa’s room when I arrived at Graceland. As I walked in, Vernon said, “Your mother just brought me her payment books. She doesn’t have to worry about her mortgage anymore.”
I thanked both Elvis and Mr. Presley. I knew a great burden had been lifted from my mother’s shoulders, and it felt wonderful. I could never pay Elvis back financially for this kind of expansiveness, but my family and I would be forever grateful.
CHAPTER 24
My favorite time of day had always been early evening, just as the sun started to set. Now, with the warmer weather, Elvis and I sometimes sat on the front porch at Graceland, where he usually brought a cigar and a jug of water outside with him.
The view over Graceland’s rolling front lawn was beautiful. Elvis and I both loved how peaceful it was. Sometimes we didn’t talk at all, just listened to the sounds of nature.
One evening, as we were sitting quietly on the porch, Elvis took notice of the crickets. “Listen,” he said. “They’re singing in unison.”
It occurred to me that, when Elvis talked about music as the universal language, he wasn’t just referring to humans. He heard music everywhere, in all levels of life. Because music had been a big part of my life, too, early on, watching Elvis sing and hearing him talk about music made me wish I hadn’t been too self-conscious to continue singing.
Once, Elvis asked if I knew the song, “Since I Met You Baby.” As we sat in bed together, we began singing it and harmonizing together. I didn’t know all of the words, but I loved it when Elvis said we sounded good together. If singing with Elvis couldn’t help me get over my fear of doing this in front of people, probably nothing could!
Another night, Elvis asked Billy and Jo to come to his bedroom. He’d been talking with me about a new song of his, “Way Down.” He had recorded it in October 1976 and it would be the last song he would ever record. When Billy and Jo came in, he put the record on the stereo.
Still seated in bed, Elvis began to sing along with it. When it was time to sing the words, “way down,” Elvis wanted each of us to take a turn, pointing to Jo, Billy, and me in turn. When it was time, he pretended to hit the low notes that J. D. Sumner reached in the song.
We all chimed in, and I had a lot of fun. I felt a little more like part of Elvis’s family that night, singing and cutting up with his cousins.
When I arrived at Graceland one day shortly after that, Elvis said, “I was talkin’ with my daddy, and he asked me, ‘Isn’t Ginger gonna use that credit card?’”
I thought Vernon would be happy that I didn’t. I had started to notice Vernon coming over more when I was there; once, when Vernon’s attention was on something else in the room, Elvis tapped my arm and motioned for me to watch him, as he had done once with Lisa.
After his father left, Elvis asked, “Did you notice that it’s almost as if my daddy hates to leave the room when we’re together? It’s gonna do my daddy’s heart good to see us married,” he said.
I was excited that Elvis felt this way and hoped he was right.
• • •
Elvis hadn’t really gone out anywhere since we’d been off tour. He talked about riding his motorcycle or the three-wheelers, but he had canceled whatever plans he’d made at the last minute.
One afternoon, I was at home when my mother decided to have a backyard barbeque. I got excited, thinking this would be a great thing for Elvis to do. I hoped it would encourage him to get out and vary his routine for a change.
When I called and invited him, however, Elvis declined. I felt stymied. This was discouraging.
Shortly afterward, my father called and my parents got into a heated argument. My mother was upset afterward, afraid that my father might show up at the house. She wasn’t ready to see him. She decided she’d go to a hotel for the night and, since I wasn’t happy about Elvis not wanting to come over, I went with her. So much for the barbeque.
That night, my mother and I talked about my dad for hours and I didn’t get any sleep. The phone in our hotel rang around 5 A.M. It was Elvis’s aide, Dean, saying he’d gotten the number from Rosemary. He put Elvis on the phone.
I told Elvis where I was and why my mother needed me there. Then our conversation turned back to the barbeque. I tried to explain to Elvis that I really wanted to get him out more.
“Ginger, you have to understand, I can’t do what normal people do,” he said.
I was confused by this statement. Elvis had been to my house before. Why was this so different? Had he thought our barbeque was going to involve meeting a whole bunch of people? This barbeque had been for just my immediate family. Maybe I hadn’t been clear about that; I explained it to him again over the phone.
“Oh, well, I like hamburgers,” Elvis said easily. “Maybe next time.” He asked me to come to Graceland then and bring my mother.
Dawn was breaking when we arrived. I was surprised when I went upstairs and found Elvis sound asleep. It was as if he felt comforted, knowing we were on our way.
It was a beautiful morning, so I decided to take a walk with my mother around the grounds behind Graceland, and ended up taking her to the racquetball court. I had yet to see it myself. We took a quick peek inside the court, then went back to the house.
Because Elvis was still asleep and my mother and I hadn’t had any rest, I told her to go into Lisa’s bedroom. Meanwhile, I lay down beside Elvis. Before I knew it, I was out like a light.
When I woke that afternoon, Elvis asked where my mother was. “Lisa’s room,” I said sleepily.
Elvis got up, went down the hall, and brought my mother back into his room. Always respectful of her, he apologized about the barbeque. My mother told him she understood, and they had a nice visit. I felt happy, satisfied that at least they were spending some time together, even if it wasn’t the time I’d hoped for.
• • •
In a solemn mood one night, Elvis brought up the book that his three former bodyguards had written about him. I had no idea who they were.
“Just because I’m a public figure,” he said adamantly, explaining why the guards had written the book. “Everyone has done good things and bad, but most of it’s untrue anyway.”
Elvis looked at me quite seriously then. “I want to make it clear. It’s not the content, but the principle of the thing that hurts me.”
“I helped make Dave Hebler a seventh-degree black belt,” he said, shaking his head. “Red got on an elevator once and punched a guy. I think that went on a lot. The guy was going to sue me,” he added. “I had lots of lawsuits. I did a lot for these people and their families. I bought them homes, helped put their kids through school. The fact that they would turn and do this to me . . .” Elvis paused, noticeably upset.
Then his mood lifted. “I know the general public will stand behind me,” he said. “I’m gonna let it pass and not say anything.” He fell silent for another moment, then became more contemplative. “You’ve got to kill it and get it behind you. If something ever bothers you, Ginger, you’ve got to kill it and get it behind you.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, trying to soothe him. “Most people will see through what’s in the book, and your fans will stand behind you.”
I would learn only shortly after Elvis died, that Vernon had fired these men before Elvis and I ever met. At the time, I hoped only to reassure Elvis, and I thought it helped because things returned to normal. Elvis seemed to have arrived at a place in his mind where he had figured out how to handle this serious betrayal by people who had worked for him. From that day on, I would never hear another word from him about the book.
• • •
As often as Elvis refused to go out, he would suddenly decide he was in the mood to go out more again. Sometimes we’d take a ride on his three-wheelers and Elvis wo
uld even let me drive one, which I loved to do.
Elvis would usually race his three-wheeler down to the Southland Mall parking lot, buzz around some hedges, come back to Graceland, drive fast by the pool, and jump the walkway to the racquetball court.
One night, after letting me ride one of his three-wheelers, Elvis generously offered to give it to me to keep at our home. I shook my head, bemused. Like the huge self-portrait Elvis had once given me, I had no space big enough to keep it. I told him I would leave it at Graceland.
Elvis loved driving fast sometimes whether he was on a three-wheeler, a motorcycle, or in a car. Once, I was heading home from Graceland, riding in my Cadillac on Mt. Moriah Road with Elvis at the wheel. As we approached a stoplight, it turned yellow. Elvis gunned the accelerator to make it through the intersection.
Looking back, I saw the bodyguards stuck at the red light. Elvis drove on, unaware, and for the next few minutes, I thought about how nice it felt to be alone with him. I understood he needed extra protection because of his celebrity, but I did wish there could be more times like this, when it seemed like there were just the two of us on the road.
• • •
Whenever Lisa was at Graceland, her company brought out Elvis’s playful side. Elvis and I were sitting on the front porch one afternoon when Lisa buzzed by in her golf cart, asking the two of us to ride with her. Elvis got behind the wheel and, with me at his side and Lisa in back, took off.
Still wearing his pajamas and a robe, a cigar clenched between his teeth, Elvis barreled close to the gates, jumped a few curbs, then buzzed up the driveway and tore out the back entrance. We passed a church, then raced through the back gate, where Elvis stopped by his office to talk with his dad, then got back on and sped away with us again. I cherished times like this, because Elvis was so clearly relaxed and enjoying himself.
While Lisa was with us, I reminded Elvis that my niece Amber was close to Lisa’s age. I was happy when Elvis suggested bringing Amber to Graceland so the two girls could meet. Happily, the two of them hit it off, and Lisa started inviting Amber to play and for sleepovers. This helped me feel like our two families were starting to blend at last, and led me to know Lisa a little better.
