The Daily Elvis: A feast fit for a King, and the Hillbilly Cat's pajamas

Good morning from Memphis and welcome to The Daily Elvis (aka "The 8:16"), your guide to the 40th anniversary commemoration of the King’s death.

It's Day Two of "Elvis Week" at Graceland, highlighted by an auction of King-connected artifacts. Live bidding starts at 12:30 p.m., with 300-plus items including the key to Elvis' dressing room during the filming of "Love Me Tender," a diamond and garnet "swami" ring, and duds such as a pajama top, a rabbit-fur coat and an "electric purple" button-down shirt.

Check it all out here while we get on with the rest of The Daily Elvis ... 

Reading time: 2:10, just like “(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame."

Feast fit for a King

Elvis famously said he "sang all kinds." He took a similar approach to eating. "He could, by all accounts, eat a massive amount of food, and let’s be clear: He was no food snob," writes Jennifer Biggs, food writer for The Commercial Appeal. "The man loved his meatloaf and mashed potatoes, his crisp bacon and, of course, his peanut butter."

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She could go on — and does, in fact, in her story about Elvis-connected Memphis restaurants, from the Arcade (which has an Elvis booth, and peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches on the menu) to Coletta’s (which invented that Elvis fave, barbecue pizza). Here's what she had to say about a popular hangout just down the street from Graceland:

Marlowe’s (4381 Elvis Presley Blvd.; 901-332-4159) is so popular among Elvis pilgrims that it’s referred to as the clubhouse when they gather here in August. It opened in 1973, so it’s possible that the King sat down and enjoyed a meal at what was then the Whitehaven Ranch House (though the owners make no claim to it). But it is surely the most Elvis-centric restaurant in town, just a block or two from Graceland and equipped with pink Cadillacs to give folks a ride from the restaurant to their hotels. In the 1980s, the Gigliotti family discovered what a lot of folks do: Memphians like barbecue. So they set about learning the ins and outs and have been serving up award-winning pork going on 40 years. Besides all the pork, there’s an Elvis burger (with bacon, natch), a prime 16-ounce ribeye called The King, and get this: a Crispy Crème Bananas Foster sundae. Doughnuts with peanut butter sauce, bananas and ice cream. Elvis would find a way back in that building.

You can read the full story at our new Elvis website, where there's a veritable feast of content, from an A to Z guide to the King (J is Jungle Room; N is for Nixon) to stories on his various guises (rocker, country star, gospel singer).

Not the eternal flame, just the latest

In our ranking of Elvis' 40 best songs, 1961's “(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame” checks in at No. 29. As songs go, "Marie" got around — it was written by the legendary team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman ("Save the Last Dance for Me," "Little Sister"), originally recorded by Del Shannon ("Runaway"), turned into a No. 4 pop hit by Elvis, and later covered by the unlikely likes of The Smiths, the Misfits and the Scorpions.

“The rockabillified Bo Diddley beat is intense, almost nervous (is that a pounding piano or a heart palpitation?)," writes The Commercial Appeal's John Beifuss, "but Elvis, uncharacteristically, undersells the performance, lending surprising poignancy.”

Want more Elvis?

The Commercial Appeal is marking the 40th anniversary of Elvis' death with a special-edition, 64-page, glossy magazine that will be included with subscribers’ Sunday newspaper and sold at select locations around town.

To order a copy, click below.

Elvis Lives - CA Subscriber Deals