Singer Elvis Presley is, to say the least, a rock 'n roll icon. He burst upon the music scene in the 1950s, with swinging hips that had the censors pulling their hair out. But there was a problem. His two years in the Army between 1958 and 1960 had slowed down his career. By the late 1960s, his career was truly in decline. He married what he thought was the love of his life, Priscilla Beaulieu in 1967. And guess what? Nine months to the day after they married Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968. But already there was tension between Elvis and now grandma Priscilla Presley, in part because Elvis was worried about his career. But also both of them, particularly Priscilla, who was still in her early twenties, thought that they weren't ready for the baby lifestyle just yet. Elvis and Priscilla did the "good cop, bad cop" thing with Lisa Marie, both before and after their 1973 divorce. Priscilla was totally the strict bad cop, while Elvis was the doting good cop. So, what was Lisa Marie Presley's childhood like? Let's have a look and see.

Elvis Was Torn When Lisa Marie Was Born

Nancy Sinatra (daughter of Frank) has said that her friend Elvis was torn "between happiness at his daughter's birth and sadness regarding the inequality and division of privilege in the world." “When Lisa Marie was born, E.P. phoned me to say how he was so moved by the experience,” Nancy has said. "But also he felt that it was not fair she would have all the benefits of being the daughter of a rich and famous dad, while a poor kid would face a life of want. “His heart was so full of love and pain that night,” she admitted. And Priscilla? Of course, she was happy on a certain level, but at 23 she also felt she had had her wings clipped way too soon.

The First Few Years Were Tough For Elvis And Priscilla

When Lisa Marie came along, things were already tense between Priscilla and Elvis. David Adler's biography of Lisa Marie, Elvis: My Dad says: “[Priscilla] loved Elvis completely and intended to spend the rest of her life with him, but neither of them had planned to have a child right away. What would this mean for their life together? At Graceland [Elvis' mansion in Memphis], before she was pregnant, life had been an around-the-clock party." Cooks manned the kitchen 24-hours a day.  Elvis would spend money lavishly. The couple did what they want to when they wanted to, "whether that meant staying up till 6 a.m. or taking off to Vegas at a moment’s notice. Plus, despite his career highs of the 1950s, it seemed Elvis' 1960s singing career was slowing down. Oh, he made some pretty bad movies, like Viva Las Vegas, but in an era that produced the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, he and his 50s style were made fun of. He had yet to create the outrageous costume-wearing persona of the 1970s. Lisa Marie remembers his taking her to some of his was over-the-top concerts. She loved them big time.

Lisa Marie's Memories Of Childhood