Charlie Hodge Interview (Priscilla and Lisa) 

Q : Can you tell us about when Priscilla first came?
A : Well, she was still very young. And so the deal was that she would stay with Elvis's parents. And he would see that she went to school, which she did. She got a good education. And I don't believe he ever touched her till they were married. I believe that with all my heart.

Q : So with Priscilla, can you tell us about when they got married?"

A : Well, I knew about it because I was driving the Colonel to Palm Springs. And a lot of the guys thought I was going to Palm Springs, and we really were going to Vegas. The Colonel set that up at the Aladdin Hotel. And I was told I wasn't to say anything, as Joe was told. He said "You guys can't say anything". So, nobody knew it. When we got there and everything was set up, I knew I wasn't going to be able to be in the wedding. Because they had set up one room to be in. And there was just room enough for the immediate family and Joe and Marty as best men. And it didn't bother me, but the rest of the guys really got upset, because they thought they was all going to get to be at the wedding. But they all were at the wedding breakfast, which I thought was fine, you know. I knew couldn't everybody be in there. But some of those people really got upset. I'm sorry they did, because it wasn't meant to upset anyone. It was just the Colonel doing what he always tried to do with Elvis, and that was keeping something like that, a wedding, from becoming a circus. He wanted Elvis to have that. And then there was the wedding breakfast where the Colonel could control the media. So, it was done very well. The Colonel knew what he was doing.

Q : Could you mention the honeymoon at Palm Springs?

A : Well, we were staying in an Egyptian modern house Elvis was renting at that time. And I remember this. You know, we come back there after the wedding and just hung around there. I don't remember that much about it. Because truthfully, I was kind of busy with the Colonel and everything and some of the other guys too. So I was just glad it was over with, you know.

Q : Then you had another reception in Memphis.

A : Yes. He did that for all of his relatives and friends in Memphis who weren't able to attend the wedding breakfast. He and Priscilla both dressed up in the wedding gown and he in his tuxedo. And everybody came. And in something like that I just stayed out of the way.

Q : Can you tell us about the Circle G Ranch and how Elvis came to get that?

A : Well, Elvis had taken, and he and Priscilla into riding horses a lot. And he only had like 13 acres there at Graceland. And there would ride around. So, he started looking for a place. And they found this place just across the state line down there that was 165 acres. And this guy was willing to sell it. And Elvis bought it so he could have his horses down there. And he had 165 acres to ride on. Well, they had some Gertrudis cattle there that came with it. And so the guy that looked after the cattle ended up putting a fence across there between Elvis's trailer and the rest of the farm. And so, Elvis sold all the Gertrudis cattle. But that was where we had an awful lot of fun. And Elvis loved to get out. He's wear a big old jacket, a western jacket and his cowboy hat, you know. And I know before we left, I got so tickled at Graceland. He was going along and putting everybodys name on the stall where their horse was. And he said, Daddys. He didn't say Vernon. He put Daddys, Priscillas, Mine. He didn't put... He named it Mine.

And then we got down there, and at first, I know, they had a place over there to keep the horse. And Elvis said, "Well, we got to build new". And I said, "No, Elvis, that barn's okay". I said, "All it needs is paint. If you paint it white, it'll be fine". And that's what he did. So, it saved him from having to spend some extra money which I always tried to do and Joe always tried to do. Because we knew when people was trying to get him to spend money on things. And that's another thing we'd do to is some time one guy knew Elvis had bought everybody Cadillacs. So, he went up and they picked him out a fine looking Cadillac and everything. And he come back down there and Elvis called me in the room. He said, "I was going to buy Steve a car as a wedding gift. He wants a Cadillac. What do you think?" I said, "On his salary, he can't afford the insurance on that, Elvis". He said, "That's what I think. I wanted to give him a Pontiac or something like that". I said, "It would be much better". So he ended up getting a Pontiac.

Q : You guys took care of Elvis.

A : Well, you had to, because you could see people who were going to... Yeah, like there was this one guy there that was for a while, his wife was divorced. And she was hitting him for alimony. And he wouldn't pay her any more alimony. And yet he was hinting to Elvis about a house he wanted to buy, figuring Elvis would buy it and give it to him. So, you let Elvis know about those things.

Q : Didn't Elvis actually live in a trailer there for a while?

A : Oh, at the ranch, all the time. Well, when we were out at the ranch, they had a hundred-year-old house there that had been restored and was beautiful. But Elvis had bought all the guys trailers and had put cement slabs all along the fence. And he bought himself a trailer and one for his grandmother. And Alan Fortas who made like kind of foreman of the ranch, he let him and his wife live in that hundred-year-old house that had been restored and everything. He lived in a trailer. That's where Lisa Marie was conceived.

Q : Do you remember Elvis's reaction when he learned he became a father?

A : Well, I don't remember the exact time he said it. I remember when he said she's pregnant. Because at that time, we were in the Trousdale Estate house. And everything was family. We knew that, you know, Elvis's cousin Patsy... I know her husband G.G. was living there with us, because G.G. could handle Elvis's clothes and everything. And Patsy could be a companion to Priscilla. And Patsy, by the way, was Elvis's double first cousin, you know, two brothers married two sisters. And so it was just a family thing around the table that we'd have. And one of my favorite times was when we lived in that house. But that house there, Joe and Joannie used to come up, and it like a family, you know. Because it was a round table. And the Colonel and Mr. Diskin would come up and sit there. And the Colonel would tell some of his carney stories and have us laughing and everything. And it was really a fun family time. And it was more like a family and not like a group of boys at a boys club. You know, and it was my favorite time.

So, I think probably Joe and I knew about before any of the rest of the guys. Because, you know, you find out about those things. I never will forget when we was going to the hospital the morning when she felt she had to go and have the baby. And Jerry Schilling... I said, "Now, Jerry, where are we going?" He said, "Methodist Hospital". I said, "No, Jerry, Baptist". He said, "Charlie, I swear I thought..." I said, "Jerry, let me be wrong. You drive to the Baptist Hospital". And then on the car, on the way to the hospital, we had a phone in the car. I said, "Call Joe". And so, call Joe. He was in Los Angeles. And Joe got on the phone, and I told him. "We're on the way to the hospital". He said, "You tell her not to have that baby till I get there". And she didn't. He got in time for the baby to be born. Yeah.

Q : I'm sure when the baby was born, Elvis was very elated.

A : Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, it's just... You know, there's not an experience like that anywhere. That, you know, she was like my niece or something, because we were that tight as a family. And I felt like it was a miracle or something like that. I know Lisa Marie asked me one time when I used to go pick her up at Priscilla's house and bring her to the house in Hominy Hills there, I'd bring her there for the weekend. And she asked me one time. She said, "Charlie, are you my uncle or what?" And I said, "Probably what".

Q : Did Elvis have nicknames for Lisa?

A : Well, he called her an Injun and different little names like that. Mine for her was Punkin. In fact, I wrote a book. And it says in the front of it, 'For Punkin'. And Lisa asked me one time, she said, "What's Punkin?" I said, "It's a southern pronunciation of pumpkin". And I said, "And that's what we call like little children is Punkin". She said, "Oh" and then no more comment.

Q : What was Lisa's favorite things to do around Graceland when she was a little girl?

A : She had some children her own age to play with. And Elvis slept all day. And she just more or less ran wild. I mean, she did what she wanted to. I remember they used to take Pepsi-Colas and put sugar in them, you know, and shake them up and drink them, things like that. I remember one time his Aunt Delta who took care of the house for Elvis. She said, "Charlie, can you get Lisa Marie to go take a bath?" She said, "She won't do it for me". And I think Joe and I was the only one that could handle her this way. I went over, and I said, "Lisa, let's come on". She said, "What?" I said, "Come on upstairs. I'm going upstairs and give you a bath. You won't do one for Delta. So, I'm going up and give you a bath. And when your daddy wakes up, I'm going to tell him who done it". She said, "You don't have to do that, Charlie. I'll take a bath".

Q : So, were you there the night Priscilla came in?

A : Yes, I was. Yes, I was. And when she left that evening when she was over there, he looked at me, and he said, "Charlie, did you see the structure of her face?" He said, "It's like almost like everything I've ever looked for in a woman." And her dad, at that time, was a captain. And eventually, different ones of us would ride with each other going up to take her back to the post when she'd come down to visit Elvis. But that first meeting with Priscilla was something else. Like I said, he was just in enraptured, you know, looking at her. And like I said, he had expressed himself after she left by look at her bone structure.

Q : So, did he just walk over and introduce her?

A : Yes, Elvis would do that. Yes, he would come in. He went over and said, "Hello, I'm Elvis Presley". I swear, that's he'd do when somebody knew came in. You know, he was always friendly. But he could stand his ground if he needed to.

Q : So, did Priscilla come to visit Elvis a lot?

A : Her father allowed it as long as she was brought over there at a certain time and brought home by a certain time. And Elvis, of course, having to go get up in the morning about 5:30 and go for reveille and all whatever they do over there. Would have Lamar or one of the other guys or sometimes his father would take her back to their post where she lived up there with her father.