Timeline:
January 8: Elvis has a quiet gathering at Graceland for his 32nd birthday, with the only outside guest being the Jordanaires' Gordon Stoker.January 15: Pat Biggs, husband of Vernon's sister, Delta, dies, prompting Elvis to invite Delta to live at Graceland. She will do so until her death in 1993.
January 24: Elvis' contract with RCA is negotiated by Colonel Tom Parker through 1974. Although it's a terrible deal, especially in light of what new artists are getting, and gains nothing more for anyone but the Colonel, Elvis still sends out a congratulatory telegram: "The greatest snowman on Earth has caused another storm. Looking forward to another great forecast from you. Respectfully, Elvis."
February 4: In keeping with his latest obsession, Elvis personally bulldozes an area behind Graceland to create a horse-riding ring.
February 8: Elvis comes across a horse ranch while on a horse-buying expedition in Mississippi, and buys it on the spot, christening it the Circle G, for Graceland.
February 14: Elvis gives Priscilla a charm and a white gold horseshoe ring for Valentine's Day.
February 26: Having spent so much time in the saddle, Elvis delays an already-postponed trip to Hollywood to begin filming what will be his twenty-fifth film, Clambake. Barbara Little, girlfriend of Memphis Mafioso George Klein, suggests calling her doctor, George Nichopoulos, to help with the singer's saddlesores. Thus begins a professional acquaintance that would last until Elvis' death.
February 28: The Colonel berates Mafioso Marty Lacker for keeping Elvis out of reach, especially given the delays on his latest picture. He insinuates, in writing, that Lacker may not have long with the organization.
March 5: Elvis finally leaves for California.
March 8: The Colonel berates MGM heads to come up with "good, strong, rugged stories" for Elvis' next pictures, aware that his star is losing interest in them because of their utter banality.
March 9: Elvis slips on his bathroom floor in the middle of the night, and, while uninjured, will have to miss a few more days of filming. This causes the Colonel to finally rail at Elvis about his lack of professionalism.
March 13: The Colonel convinces Elvis to put Joe Esposito back in charge as the Mafia's "foreman," or head, replacing Marty Lacker. He also banishes Larry Geller from contact with Elvis due to the pair's spiritual questing, ordering Elvis' religious books burned.
March 22: Principal photography on Clambake finally begins.
April 28: A small, Colonel-approved entourage gathers in Palm Springs, FL, for the upcoming wedding of Elvis and Priscilla.
May 1: The entourage flies to Vegas and the couple are married at 9:30 am, in the Aladdin Hotel suite of hotel owner (and Parker friend) Milton Prell. Elvis' best men are Joe Esposito and Marty Lacker. The officiating judge is David Zenoff, a Nevada Supreme Court Justice. After the ceremony the group decamps to the lobby, where a press conference is held. Mafioso Red West, furious at being excluded from the ceremony, refuses to attend the breakfast reception.
May 5: Elvis, at Priscilla's urging, dumps the banned religious books into an old well and sets them on fire.
May 29: In Graceland's old slot-car racing room, a second wedding reception is held for the many friends not invited to the original by the Colonel.
May 31: Elvis hosts an all-night bowling party in Memphis for friends and family.
June 7: Ann-Margret opens in Vegas for the first time, and Elvis sends her a congratulatory flower arrangement shaped like a guitar. He will do this for each of her Vegas openings until his death.
June 9: Priscilla goes to the doctor and discovers she is pregnant.
June 13: On the way to California to film his twenty-sixth movie, Speedway, Elvis and his entourage stop off at the Grand Canyon.
June 19: Elvis begins filming Speedway by presenting co-star Nancy Sinatra with a special race car emblazoned with the words "Speedway Starring Nancy and Elvis."
July 1: Elvis and the Mafia, along with father Vernon, travel to Vegas to see Ann-Margret's show.
July 12: Priscilla's pregnancy is made public. Elvis declares, "This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me."
August 22: Although Elvis is scheduled to record in Hollywood today, Mafioso Richard Davis accidentally runs over and kills a gardener at Elvis' Bel Air mansion, causing the Colonel to send the entourage off to Vegas to avoid publicity. (Davis is eventually exonerated, since the gardener stepped out from behind a hedge suddenly.)
September 10: This date marks the start of an historic collaboration with producer Felton Jarvis, an ardent fan who begins at this session to guide the singer back to gospel, country, and blues instead of the soundtrack pop he's grown so tired of. While recording the Jerry Reed composition "Guitar Man," the session men cannot replicate the sound of Reed's guitar, so the songwriter himself is called in to the session. When the guitarist learns he will not get a standard deal for royalties, he storms out.
September 29: "Elvis Presley Day" is officially declared in Memphis and the state of Tennessee.
October 1: While recording soundtrack songs for Stay Away, Joe, Elvis is so struck by the stupidity of one of the songs -- "Dominick," essentially a love song to a bull -- that he makes Jarvis swear never to release it on any record. He doesn't.
October 9: Elvis begins filming his twenty-seventh movie, Stay Away, Joe.
November 4: Having long since tired of horseback riding, Elvis has the Circle G ranch and its equipment auctioned off.
November 6: The Colonel begins negotiations with NBC for a 1968 Christmas TV special featuring Elvis.
December 24: Elvis has the grounds of Graceland decorated for Christmas.
December 31: The Bar Kays and Billy Lee Riley are among the musical performers at the King's New Year's Eve party, held at Memphis' own Thunderbird Lounge. Elvis dances with Priscilla to Gershwin's "Summertime," a song he has personally requested.
Next... Elvis 1967 recording sessions
