From the Beatles to Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley’s musical legacy has inspired countless musicians, even when that inspiration came indirectly, like the bus trip to Graceland that led to a sultry one-hit wonder from 1989. Attentive listeners spinning Alannah Myles’ “Black Velvet” might’ve caught the deep-fried Southern references to a performer with a little boy smile and a new religion that’ll bring you to your knees.
And for the most part, those listeners would be correct: Elvis Presley did, in a roundabout way, inspire Myles’ No. 1 single “Black Velvet.” But according to songwriter Christopher Ward, a bus full of “Elvis fanatics” were even more responsible for the song’s creation.
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How A Graceland Bus Trip Inspired One-Hit Wonder
In the late 1980s, songwriter Christopher Ward was working for the Canadian television channel Much Music when he traveled to Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home in Memphis, Tennessee, on assignment. Ward was covering the 10th anniversary of Presley’s death on August 16, 1977, and part of that memorial celebration included a bus ride with “40 Elvis fanatics.”
“As I habitually did, I made notes along the way,” Ward said in a 2023 interview with Billboard Canada, “bits of which formed the foundation for the lyrics to “Black Velvet.” The ‘new religion’ in the lyrics is rock ‘n’ roll.”
Ward was dating Canadian singer Alannah Myles at the time, and he naturally wrote the song in a style that would favor her bluesy, rock-centric vocal color. The song itself “started with the shuffle groove that anchors the song musically,” Ward explained to Billboard. “It was a guitar feel that I’d been messing with for months and likely driving my downstairs neighbors crazy with.”
An Appropriately Sultry Testament To Elvis
A bus trip to Graceland might have been the driving motivation behind Alannah Myles’ 1989 single, “Black Velvet,” but songwriter Christopher Ward dove even further into Elvis Presley’s legacy to flesh out the verses. The song begins in the hot, steamy Mississippi summer where Presley was born. Jimmie Rodgers on the Victrola up high is a direct reference to the “Father of Country Music” Presley listened to as a young child.
In the second verse, the narrator moves to Presley’s time in Tennessee: Up in Memphis, the music’s like a heat wave; white lightnin’ bound to drive you wild. The song describes Presley’s effects on his fans, particularly with his gyrating hips and romantic songs. Mama’s baby in the heart of every school girl; “Love Me Tender” leaves ‘em cryin’ in the aisle. The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true.
Finally, “Black Velvet” ends with Presley’s death in 1977. Every word of every song that he sang was for you. In a flash, he was gone; it happened so soon. What could you do? Indeed, the bluesy rock number covered three major chapters in Presley’s life, always returning to the refrain about black velvet and that little boy’s smile, which referred to Presley’s smooth voice and crooked grin. The song garnered Myles the 1991 Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and the 1990 Juno Award for Single of the Year.
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