Graceland's Archival Vault To Be Opened In HBO Documentary

Above, Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Archival footage and other gems will be revealed to the public for the first time when "Elvis: The Searcher" is premiered on HBO Saturday, April 14.

According to an article in U.S. News & World Report:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new television documentary about Elvis Presley takes advantage of the vast collection of footage, pictures, documents and music from his estate to give a behind-the-scenes look at the king of rock 'n' roll. 

"Elvis Presley: The Searcher," a two-part, three-hour documentary, will premiere April 14 on HBO. Director Thom Zimny, who worked on several Bruce Springsteen documentaries, had full access to Graceland's vault and made ample use of it to unearth little-seen footage. 

"That was one of the exciting parts because every day I was discovering new gems of Elvis Presley's archives," Zimny said. 

"He came up with pieces of footage that Priscilla and I had never seen before, and we grew up with Elvis," said Jerry Schilling, one of Elvis' longtime friends and an executive producer on the documentary along with Priscilla Presley, his ex-wife. 

Along with his family and friends, Zimny interviewed studio musicians, producers, engineers and directors, as well as artists like Springsteen, Tom Petty and Emmylou Harris. Zimny uses only voiceovers for the narration instead of seeing the interviewees' faces to keep the focus on the music and footage of Elvis over his career.

Since I don't have HBO, I'll be staying at a hotel in Gallup to watch the documentary.

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