Across the street from Graceland, at Elvis Presley’s Memphis, sits a small studio, where sunlight pours in through the window-lined east wall onto a soundboard with colored, lighted buttons. A microphone stands ready, flanked by computer monitors displaying playlists and a countdown to air time. Though the space looks simple enough, mostly unadorned, magic happens here, and the legacy of the man credited, in part, for the “Big Bang of Rock-and-Roll” lives on.
On a mid-December morning, Derrill Argo Jr., one of a handful of hosts on Channel 19, the 24/7 SiriusXM Elvis Radio channel, broadcasts live from the Graceland studio, set against the sidewalk — visible, and accessible, to outside passersby — and nestled between the newly renovated museum spaces where costumes and mementos live, untouchable, inside glass boxes. A Memphis native, Argo has been in radio for 25 years. He got his first gig at 16 working for the Shelby County Schools station, 88.5 FM, and went on to deejay at 96X, FM100, and 98.1 The Buzz before joining Elvis Radio in 2005.
On this day, Argo stands behind the oversized microphone, with rectangular-framed glasses, a tan newsboy cap, and a blue paisley shirt that matches the studio’s blue walls. An Elvis version of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is wrapping up, and the room falls still in the seconds before he goes on air. “Memphis music, live from Graceland here on Elvis Radio with Argo…”, he says, with the smooth, clear voice of an experienced disc jockey.
In honor of Mike Leech, a member of American Sound Studios’ house band, known as The Memphis Boys, who’d passed away the day prior, Argo introduces an Elvis track (one of several) to which the bass player contributed. “...We’re going to stick with The Memphis Boys and with the 1969 sessions there on Thomas Street, as we remember Mike Leech. This is take number 13 of ‘In the Ghetto.’”
The Big Bang
Elvis Radio launched on Sirius satellite radio (which in 2008 merged with XM to become SiriusXM) on the 50th anniversary of the “Big Bang of Rock-and-Roll,” an event that was celebrated at Sun Studio in July 2004. As operations manager/program director Tony “TY” Yoken describes, the “Big Bang” happened on July 2, 1954, the day that then-unknown Elvis Presley, guitarist Scotty Moore, and bassist Bill Black first recorded together at Sun Studio for Sam Phillips.
In what was to be an informal session, “Elvis started messing around and playing his guitar, and Bill jumped in, Scotty jumped in,” Yoken says. “Sam came running out of the studio at one point and said, ‘What have you guys got going? It sounds pretty good; let’s take it from the top.’’’ The song was “That’s All Right (Mama).”
At the anniversary celebration in Memphis, Elvis’ longtime friend George Klein, Scotty Moore, and other “musician dignitaries” joined together at Sun Studio. “They had the original Ampex tape recorder that had been at Sun Studio [and recorded ‘That’s All Right (Mama)],” Yoken says. “At noon precisely, Scotty pressed the play button, and radio stations around the world all picked up this broadcast, which was available via satellite. That was the official sign-on of Elvis Radio.”
Bill Rock, an Elvis fan who has been in radio since the 1960s, was there that day as the first Elvis Radio deejay. Today, he still hosts the station’s Saturday night memories and movie soundtrack show (remotely, from his home studio in Connecticut). Other hosts today include George Klein, Big Jim Sykes, and Doc Walker — each of whom has extensive knowledge of The King’s music and history, as well as years of experience in radio.
Tony Yoken, who had been formerly president and general manager of Memphis Radio Group, joined Elvis Radio, which was originally presented to him as “a fun little project,” in July 2005. “I wanted to work with an elite group of top performers,” he says. And with the current crew, “We’re doing some pretty unique and compelling work — a lot of musicality, a lot of history, and the fans love it.”
The studio at Graceland is one of several smaller SiriusXM operations; the company is headquartered in New York City. Shows also are broadcast live from other locations, including Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Nashville, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. A subscription-based service, SiriusXM offers music, sports, news, and entertainment to its current listenership of 32 million. While today other artist-exclusive channels exist — among them The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, The Grateful Dead — “The Elvis Radio channel was the very first exclusive-artist channel for the company,” explains Yoken.
From the beginning, Yoken’s objective as operations manager was to put together the most comprehensive audio archive and library of spoken word from Elvis Presley, his musicians, friends, and family, “to make it much more than just the music; the story behind the music,” he says. But he also wanted it to be a place for Elvis fans to go on air, either on the phone or in person at the studio where there’s “an open door policy,” and to ensure the station had a live, vibrant Memphis feel. “When you turn it on, you’ll know it’s Memphis,” he says. “We’ve checked all the boxes and continue to do those things.”
The Storytellers
One of the most compelling aspects of the channel is how the hosts weave little-known Elvis tidbits into the programming, and speak with those who worked with him, were inspired by him, or were close to him. Jerry Schilling, a member of Elvis’ entourage, the so-called “Memphis Mafia,” and author of Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley, has been on air on the channel many times, as an interviewee and a guest deejay. On the phone from his home in West Hollywood Hills (a house Elvis gave him in 1974), he says, “Elvis Radio gives an opportunity to talk to the people who played a part in his life, and you can hear them in their own words.”
George Klein’s show is a perfect example. Klein authored the book Elvis: My Best Man and considered Elvis Presley his best friend. “There’s George, who grew up with Elvis, who was a pioneer in early radio and television,” says Schilling. “Being interviewed, I forget I’m on the radio. I just feel like I’m having a conversation with George, with an old friend, with some of the other deejays, like Doc Walker, Argo, and Jim Sykes. It allows us to let the audience into our private world. Then to have Elvis’ music backing it up, telling the stories of how a song came up, how/why Elvis recorded it, who influenced it — you just don’t get that in radio today.”
Schilling recalls participating in a two-hour special with host Doc Walker live on Elvis Radio shortly after the release of his book. “We got to go to Graceland at night, inside the mansion, and I told my stories from the book that took place in Graceland, in the particular room in Graceland where the situations happened. It really meant a lot to me to be able to share certain stories — some fun, some deep, some insightful — of the relationship that all of us guys and Elvis had, and Priscilla.”
Having such a comprehensive radio channel helps carry on Elvis Presley’s legacy and even introduces him to new sets of fans. “What it does for an artist like Elvis who has been gone for 40 years, it gives it a current, almost living experience,” Schilling says. “When you’re hearing his music on the radio regularly and people talking about it, it’s like the movies of him; they keep him out there and it keeps generating new audiences. We’re at a point now where we certainly have three generations, but going into four generations.”
Other celebrity guests have come through Graceland and stopped at the station for interviews or guest deejay sets. Of course, Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley have shared stories with the devout listenership, but others who’ve been inspired by The King — Dave Grohl, Elvis Costello, Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, and Bruno Mars, to name but a few — have come through to add to the channel’s audio archive of memories and anecdotes.
Argo recalls one year, around Christmastime, actor Randy Quaid showed up “randomly” with his wife, “spouting off lines from [National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation].” Musician Terry Mike Jeffrey was in the studio that day, and Quaid announced to them, “My wife and I just woke up and she told me she’d never been to Graceland, so we got in the car and we drove to Graceland.” Jeffrey had his guitar and asked Quaid if he’d like to sing a song. “So they start singing ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love,’” says Argo. “You couldn’t have made anything up better than that; it was just in that moment, happening.”
On a particular mid-December day a few weeks ago, another guest pops in: Roy Orbison Jr., son of Roy Orbison, also a pioneer of rock-and-roll. On the heels of the recent release of the book The Authorized Roy Orbison and the album A Love So Beautiful: Roy Orbison & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orbison Jr., who’s sporting a TCB necklace, speaks about his father’s connections to The King and Memphis, his time recording at Sun Studio, and the concert on June 1, 1956, at the Overton Park Shell, where Orbison opened for and was introduced to the crowd by Elvis.
During Orbison Jr.’s guest deejay set, Orbison and Elvis songs are alternated — “Love Hurts,” “Love Letters” — alongside a juxtaposition of the two artists’ versions of “Mean Woman Blues.” “I hope Elvis fans can learn a deeper appreciation of Elvis by looking at Roy and the other people that Elvis affected,” Orbison Jr. says.
For the Fans
Elvis Radio, Channel 19 on SiriusXM, is certainly a space for audiences to find a deeper appreciation, of Elvis the artist and Elvis the person, the friend. One might also begin to feel a closer connection to him.
As Argo describes, “I’m not old enough to know Elvis or have known him personally, but because of this job, I’ve gotten to know all of the people who were around him — his family and his friends. That has given me a good idea of what kind of guy he was, and that’s been really neat. I feel like I kind of do know Elvis now.”
Through stories told by Elvis’ family, friends, and acquaintances, listeners get the same sense of “knowing” The King of Rock-and-Roll. And Elvis’ fan base is dedicated, hanging on every word, every note of every song (the active library includes 5,102 recordings, from classic hits and live performances to outtakes and rarities). “It’s really the most unbelievable, engaged listenership media experience I’ve ever been involved with,” says Yoken. “Anybody who wants to know everything about Elvis, and who wants to listen to Elvis music whenever they want, flocks to this channel.”
Many of them — from around the nation and the world — also flock to Memphis and to Graceland. “I met a man from the Netherlands one time,” Argo says. “He flew to New Orleans and he rode a bike up Highway 61 in the summertime. His lips are chapped, he’s sunburned, he’s like, ‘This is my dream to ride here and come to Graceland.’”
Visitors can go on air, and between songs, listeners will often hear, “My name is ______, and I’ve traveled ______ miles to be on Elvis Radio live from Graceland.” Guests can also participate in quiz shows for a chance to win collectibles and other prizes. And opportunities for audience engagement abound, in studio or from afar, with fans calling or writing in to ask questions, request songs, and share their own Elvis memories.
“We welcome them,” says Yoken. “Everybody, even if they’re not an Elvis Presley fan, has an Elvis story or memory. It might be nothing more than somebody put on a pair of sunglasses and sideburns on Halloween one year, or they heard an older brother or sister or mother talk about Elvis Presley or first heard him from an older family member.”
It’s those memories, often shared across generations, that have contributed to the channel’s success, and the continued growth of both listenership and Elvis’ fan base.
“People dream to get here,” Argo says from his post behind the microphone. “There are people who wait all their lives to get here, and they come in and absolutely flip out. We put them on the radio and capture that excitement, and it’s real and it’s so cool. I’ve lived in Memphis all my life, but that’s something, until I was here every day, I didn’t realize went on here. It’s mecca, and it’s not just Graceland; it’s Memphis.”
Many longtime fans come to town several times a year and make a point to visit the home of The King. Some speak little or no English, but, “Elvis is like this universal language,” says Argo. “One of the most incredible parts of Elvis’ legacy is how he connects people. You see all these people from different backgrounds, from different parts of the world, that have this connection to Elvis, this commonality. And they come together here. It is kind of like a family, and I feel lucky to be a part of it. Thank you, Elvis.”
Photographs by Brandon Dill
