Memphis Mansionfan and super-collector Henrik
Knudsen, come to establish his
own Elvis empire?
“Aged eight in 1972, I fi rst got
hooked on hearing Elvis sing
Burning Love,” he explains. “By
13, I became a real fan. Also, my
English teacher mentioned that
growing up in East Germany, Elvis
and rock’n’roll was illegal. I was
intrigued. So I studied books on
him and got his vinyl. I loved
it all: the 50s rock’n’roll breakthrough,
the Hollywood 60s to the live 70s. To me,
every musical moment in Elvis’ life has a
meaning. From when he died in 1977 to the
present, not a day has gone by where I don’t
play his music.”
The King has been Knudsen’s business
for 30 years. At 26, he quit a job in sales
to become a full-time Elvis fan and
entrepreneur. He established The Offi cial
Elvis Presley Fan Club of Denmark in 1990.
Having amassed a substantial collection ofmemorabilia, in 1993 Knudsen opened his
fi rst Elvis exhibition in a vacant shop in his
hometown, Randers. He combined
running it with frequent travel to the
US, often delivering lectures on Elvis
in schools. While out in Nashville in
2005, he had a lightbulb moment.
At the Musicians Hall of Fame, he
was struck by a realistic painting of
Sun Studio. “I thought, ‘I want to
do a replica back in Denmark’,”
he says. “When I arrived home,
I realised instead it had to be a copy
of Graceland – with a twist.”
It took six years to get the
requisite fi nance and permissions.
“My idea was kicked out of a couple
of banks as being ‘too weird’,” he says.
“Everything was diffi cult, many people
didn’t understand. One reaction was that
it wouldn’t fi t in Randers.”
Initially, £500,000 was earmarked for
the project. A team of crack craftsmenHenrik Knudsen’s Memphis Mansion
is an arresting taste of Tennessee
in small-town Denmark