The 12th Tupelo Elvis Presley Festival will close today, but the legacy of the festival’s namesake will endure.

Since 2008, Ted Ownby has been director of the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture. He’s also the author of two books on Southern cultural history.

He recently answered questions from the Journal’s M. Scott Morris about Elvis’ life and music.

Q: What impact did the South have on Elvis’ music?

A: That’s easy, because there are so many things to say. Hymns from Assemblies of God churches, blues from Beale Street, country and rhythm and blues from the radio, and other music as well all came from people in the South.

Like a lot of great musicians, Elvis was a great listener, hearing different things whether they came from people he knew or from strangers in New York or Hollywood or beyond. Part of the genius of Elvis came in listening, taking all those sounds, being good at all of them, and mixing them in ways that turned out to be new and interesting.

His family dramatized the lives of so many people of their generation who left the farm, moved around a lot, worked at different jobs, worried about debt, tried out city life and had to figure out what was appealing and what was troubling about it.

Elvis kept up things he learned as a child in Mississippi – the importance of religion, a kind of modesty and good manners that his wealth and celebrity made difficult or at least challenging, and the expectation that he would take care of family members.



Q: What impact does Elvis’ music have on the South?

A: First, his songs are a kind of soundtrack to moments in life: At times, everybody has been lonesome tonight, or they can’t help falling in love with you, or they don’t want someone stepping on their shoes, or they want a little less conversation.

Second, for a lot of Southerners, Elvis Presley became a source of pride for all that he accomplished. You could say he became our man in Vegas.

But some people identify with him out of a kind of sadness as well, because he had such a promising youth and so much wealth and fame and then things didn’t work out. So Elvis can represent lots of things, from extraordinary achievement to regrets about bad decisions and an unhappy personal life.



Q: What are your favorite Elvis songs?

A: I like the album “Elvis 56,” because it shows him trying things out. Some of the songs became hits, and some were forgotten or better known for other musicians, but they all seemed to show him having a good time.