Biography

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1966 to 1969

January 1966
MGM extendes his contract for four more movies. Plans were made to add what is now the trophy room onto the house as the slot-car tracks are now large. On January 22, 1966, Elvis and Priscilla along with their friends build a huge snowman on the front lawn.

February - April 1966
Elvis records the soundtrack music and shoots his twenty-second motion picture, Spinout, co-starring Shelley Fabares. Renews his interest in music, buys a great deal of new equipment and, along with Red and Charlie, spends his free time working onm usic at home. He is especially interested now in folk music. He has purchased a Greyhound bus and it is being customized by George Barris.

March 30, 1966
Frankie and Johnny opens nationally and doesn’t do particularly well. The soundtrack album goes to number twenty.

May 25, 1966
Elvis meets his new record producer, Felton Jarvis, and begins working on what will become the album “How Great Thou Art.” Also during this session he is especially enthusiastic about working with one of his mentors Jake Hess and his group The Imperials.

June-September 1966
Soundtrack recording and shooting for Elvis’ twenty-third motion picture (to be the twenty-fourth released), Double Trouble.

July 6, 1966
Paradise, Hawaiian Style is released and doesn’t do well. It ands at #40 for the year. The soundtrack album peaks at number fifteen while the single "Love Letter" ahs made it to #19 on the charts.

July 12, 1966
Col. Parker turns down a Japanese movie deal saying that Elvis is booked through 1969.

August 30, 1966
Not waiting until the end of 1967, RCA goes ahead and picks up its option to extend Elvis contract until 1974.

September 1966 - November 1966
Soundtrack recording and filming for Elvis’ twenty-fourth motion picture (the twenty-third to be released), Easy Come, Easy Go.

September 21, 1966
Elvis signs a lease on a Palm Springs house at 1350 Ladera Circle.

November 23, 1966
Spinout opens nationally and is #57 for the year. The soundtrack album goes to number 18. elvis is the tenth-highest-paid star for the year.

December 1966
Elvis’ interest in horses becomes serious by Dec. 5 purchasing riding clothing and equipment, and on Dec. 20 he buys Priscilla a horse for Christmas. He will also formally propose marriage just before Christmas presenting her with a ring.

February 8,1967
Elvis buys a 163-acre ranch in Mississippi, minutes across the Tennessee state line from Graceland for $437,000. He and his entourage and their wives had become interested in horseback riding after Elvis purchased a horse for Priscilla as a gift. The hobby had outgrown the pasture at Graceland. Over the months to come, Elvis and the gang will enjoy spending a lot of time at the Circle G. It becomes a happy diversion for Elvis as his frustration and unhappiness over the state of his career reaches its height.

RCA releases Elvis’ second gospel album, How Great Thou Art, which was recorded in mid-1966. It gets very good reviews and goes on to earn Elvis the Grammy Award for Best Sacred Performance from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. This is the first of his three Grammy wins.

March 22, 1967
Easy Come, Easy Go opens nationally and is #50 for the year.

March-April, 1967
Soundtrack recording and filming for Clambake, Elvis’ twenty-fifth movie. It is the third of three Elvis movies to co-star Shelley Fabares.

April 5, 1967
Double Trouble opens nationally. Although better than some of his recent screen efforts, it is #58 for the year.

April, 12 1967
Ironwork is added to Graceland windows and doors.

May 1967
On May 1, Elvis and Priscilla are married in a private ceremony amongst a small group of family and friends at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, just after 11:40 AM. A press conference and breakfast reception follow. The couple honeymoon for a few days in Palm Springs. Then they return to Memphis.

May 24, 1967
Elvis and Priscilla celebrate her 22nd. birthday.

May 29, 1967
Elvis and Priscilla dress in their wedding clothes and have a second wedding reception in the trophy room at Graceland to accommodate family and friends who were not in Las Vegas for the wedding.

June 10 -June 15, 1967
On the way to Hollywood all the guys and their wives caravan stopping on the way to sight- see at Grand Canyon per home movies.

June - August 1967
Soundtrack recording and filming for Elvis' twenty-sixth movie (to be the twenty-seventh released), Speedway, co-starring Nancy Sinatra. During the production, news of Priscilla's pregnancy is announced.

September 29, 1967
Memphis Mayor William Ingram and TN Governor Buford Ellington each declares “Elvis Presley Day” in recognition of Elvis many charitable contributions. Elvis will name one of his horses Mare Ingram in the mayor’s honor.

October-November, 1967
Soundtrack recording and filming for Elvis' twenty-seventh movie (to be the twenty-sixth released), Stay Away, Joe. In this western-themed comedy he once again plays a character who is part Native American. It's a real departure from the virtually interchangeable plots and characters in most of the films over the past several grueling years. He has fun with this one.

October 26, 1967
Priscilla and several other wives and girlfriends of the entourage will travel to Sedona, Arizona to visit the set of Stay Away Joe.

November, 1967
Interest in the Circle G ranch has led to selling off equipment. November 4, 1967 Vernon holds an auction at the ranch.

This month, Elvis and Priscilla will buy their first home in Beverly Hill at 1174 Hillcrest, for $400,000

November 22, 1967
Clambake is released nationally and goes to number fifteen at the box office. The soundtrack album goes to number 40.

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