Is Elvis was a recluse a myth?

I think Sandi may be wrong in this case cause these pictures are from 77

I have no idea, Jen. Maybe some can search further if they like.
But, by the picture on his 3 wheeler; it does show he got out of the house .(y)

He got out in 77 but not as much as the early years.

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Originally Posted by MissyM

I'll try to explain as best as I can figure. Elvis grew up in a small town. And friends and family back then were very close knit. (lived close by too) They relied on each other heavily for companionship, a helping hand, and sense of kinship. (think of the era and the environment) As a teen Elvis was different, staying close by friends and family provided him the acceptance/security he needed. Why would he not carry that into adulthood? In many ways when fame came to him he was like a fish out of water. My husband is a shy man, but when he performs you'd never, ever know it. His balance is his family and friends. They are were he goes when the stage (and all that goes with it) becomes artificial to him.
Yes, I believe Elvis could be social at times, and yet would always fall back on what was most comfortable for him, something he had known as an oasis his whole life. I think the more stressfull things got the more he stayed within himself and within familiar surroundings. I also think this is what he inwardly knew and embraced in order to keep him grounded. By that I mean, no going Hollywood like many celebs do. I also think that this was a man source of problems for him and Pricilla. I don't think she ever really "got it". (my opinion of course) Stress produces depression and I won't go into the old arguement of if it was clinical or situationally produced. I just feel that each of us hangs on to certain things, familiar habits when the world becomes too much at times. It is a longing to go back/relive a simpler time. Some people say Elvis never totally grew up. I wonder, perhaps if it was because returning to a likeness of what once was safe and easier, is where he had to go, to find some solace in a much bigger world that awaited him outside of Graceland.

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What a great post Missy...(y) I totally "get" everything you are saying. I do think some simply can't understand what the south was like back then, especially for those that were poor. My dad's family came from Mississippi....everything you have said rings so true. And, yes....we all handle stress in different ways, VERY different ways...

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Originally Posted by Gary1

Right. i've had a reply From Elvis' Friend Sandi Miller and she has told me the photo is indeed from August 1977

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Isn't the pic actually dated as the summer of 77???:blush::supriced: That's what 1 website shows...

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Originally Posted by utmom2008

What a great post Missy...(y) I totally "get" everything you are saying. I do think some simply can't understand what the south was like back then, especially for those that were poor. My dad's family came from Mississippi....everything you have said rings so true. And, yes....we all handle stress in different ways, VERY different ways...

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i agree but not just the south was poor, it happens all over the world.

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Originally Posted by presley31

i agree but not just the south was poor, it happens all over the world.

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Yes Jen, poverty is everywhere. But, unless you have been raised in the deep south it's difficult to comprehend how southerners handle things. There are cultural differences between the North and the South that exist to this day. I attended college here in the south, a private college. We had alot of kids from Memphis, and alot of kids from Chicago. They were as different as night and day..............

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Originally Posted by utmom2008

Yes Jen, poverty is everywhere. But, unless you have been raised in the deep south it's difficult to comprehend how southerners handle things. There are cultural differences between the North and the South that exist to this day. I attended college here in the south, a private college. We had alot of kids from Memphis, and alot of kids from Chicago. They were as different as night and day..............

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my mom grow up just like elvis and she wasn't living in the south so its not fair to say it just happens in the south.

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Originally Posted by utmom2008

Isn't the pic actually dated as the summer of 77???:blush::supriced: That's what 1 website shows...

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It may well be dated summer of '77.I'm just saying what i've been told.
Anyway i've said all i'm going to say about this.If people don't want to believe the word of someone who was there there's nothing i can do about it.

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Originally Posted by presley31

my mom grow up just like elvis and she wasn't living in the south so its not fair to say it just happens in the south.

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OK...what did I say "happens only in the south"????? Poverty....don't think so. There are cultural differences...that's not an opinion, merly a fact..

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Originally Posted by utmom2008

OK...what did I say "happens only in the south"????? Poverty....don't think so. There are cultural differences...that's not an opinion, merly a fact..

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ok lets just say it happens all over the world, l feel for my mother she lived in one bedroom apartment and had to sleep with her parents till she met my dad and she had to go to work at a early age like elvis so she could put food on the table cause my gramma couldn't work and my grandpa was to lazy to get out and work.

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Originally Posted by presley31

ok lets just say it happens all over the world, l feel for my mother she lived in one bedroom apartment and had to sleep with her parents till she met my dad and she had to go to work at a early age like elvis so she could put food on the table cause my gramma couldn't work and my grandpa was to lazy to get out and work.

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Sorry to hear that your Mother had a rough time when she was young.....are things better for her now???

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Originally Posted by utmom2008

Sorry to hear that your Mother had a rough time when she was young.....are things better for her now???

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much better, she went back to school and got a good job in nursing. She holds great respect for elvis cause like her he grow up poor and had to help his mom and dad making a living and when he become famous he never forget about his folks or where he came from and that for one is one of the most admirable things l like about elvis.

I still say that the picture is from 1976 as someone else has already stated....

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Originally Posted by Tony Trout

I still say that the picture is from 1976 as someone else has already stated....

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It is from 1976.

Elvis was insular -- he liked the same friends, the reliable creature comforts, the familiar places etc.

But he wasn't a recluse.

He went out and about on his own terms in every year of his life. Unfortunately, the level of fame he generated was simply ... OFF THE SCALE. As Vernon says in EIC, he couldn't go out like a normal person; Elvis may have been human, but he wasn't normal .... he was extrarodinary, and so was his life.

I think a lot of the trips that Elvis undertook were done on the quiet. His wedding to Priscilla in Vegas is a prime example (though the Colonel had a major hand in that). The most eligible bachelor in the world was getting married ...... and virtually nobody knew about it (until it had happened)! That's how the game had to be played.

While a perfectly fair question, I don't think many people seriously entertain the idea of Elvis as a recluse, though I'm sure that myth rears its head from time to time. I think most people recognise that Elvis was kind of shored in by circumstance and by choice, but that he still went out and caught a bit of the outside world from time to time.

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Originally Posted by Cryogenic

Elvis was insular -- he liked the same friends, the reliable creature comforts, the familiar places etc.

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That's it, in a nutshell.
Thanks, Cryo.