The Man Who Rebuilt Graceland

Henrik Knudsen is the Elvis Presley superfan who built Memphis Mansion — a brick-for-brick replica of Graceland in the Danish city of Randers.

From his 148 pilgrimages to America to the legal showdown with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Henrik's story is a rollercoaster of obsession, risk, and rock history. 

This episode is a love letter to fandom, a testament to following your wildest ideas, and a reminder that sometimes, the craziest dreams make the best stories.

Visit https://www.memphismansion.dk/ for more.

Visit www.archipelagoaudio.com for more information.

Transcript

Henrik Knudsen: I remember when the rumors came that we were doing this at all, that I had the dream to do it, and I remember some Americans writing. And pardon my French, they wrote, what the fuck is Randers?

James Clasper: Hello and welcome to Archipelago, the podcast about arts, culture and ideas in Denmark. I’m your host, James Clasper. My guest today is Henrik Knudsen, the founder of Memphis Mansion in Randers. And what’s Memphis Mansion, you ask? Well, I'll let him explain.

Henrik Knudsen: Memphis Mansion is the only Elvis museum outside America.

James Clasper: With respect to Henrik Knudsen, Memphis Mansion isn't just the only Elvis museum outside the US. It's a brick-by-brick replica of Graceland itself – and it's double the size of the original. In case you missed it, it's not in Copenhagen. It's in Randers, a city in Denmark's Jutland peninsula, where rainforests and replicas of rock legends' mansions apparently make perfect sense. When it opened its doors to the public in 2011, Memphis Mansion was known as Graceland Randers – and you might be able to guess what happened next and why it no longer goes by that name. Stick around to find out. First, we're going back to the beginning of this remarkable story – a story that began on the 4th of July 1990, when Henrik Knudsen had an epiphany of sorts.

Henrik Knudsen: I used to be a sales agent for Bosch. I was selling drilling machines and such. But one morning I woke up and I thought, you know what? I don't want to get old and not have tried this. I've been an Elvis fan all my life. I have seen people making a business out of it. And I thought, even though Denmark, even though Randers is more art than anything, I want to try it. I quit my job. I started having a mail-order company selling books. And at that time, CDs were very hot in the nineties. And of course still vinyl. I have written a few books. I did trips to America. I started doing shows. I'm not a singer. I'm not an entertainer, but I have always had a good connection to the Elvis people. And what do I mean by the Elvis people? The people who used to work for Elvis. So I invited them to Denmark, did shows and, yeah, did all kinds of things, did small exhibitions at the shopping centers, and just tried to be as creative as I could to find a way to make an income.

James Clasper: And then today.

Henrik Knudsen: Today we have a replica of Graceland. We have built it in Randers. It opened on April 15th, 2011. It's actually twice as big as Graceland in Memphis. We have a diner, we have a museum, we have a conference room ballroom that is used for tons of parties and all sorts of activities. So today it's a small empire. It's not an empire, but it's a small business, you know, 52 colleagues and open 365 days a year. I do 200 talk shows where people come to Memphis Mansion and I kind of combine it with my business, but also of course with the Elvis story and Elvis legacy.

James Clasper: Well, let's get into Elvis then. I mean, tell me what happened that made you become an Elvis fan.

Henrik Knudsen: Eight years old. It's 1972. I came home from school and I was listening to a radio program that I really loved back then that was called Top 20. It had a Danish host, he's a legend. His name is Jørgen de Mylius, and he's a Danish Dick Clark. And that day he was playing a song called "Burning Love." And that kind of turned me into it. I was not, you know, I'm not convinced with that one song, but slowly but surely I got into it. But I know exactly when the turning point was really, you know, what put volume on my interest was when Elvis passed August 16th, 1977. And I'm actually not from Randers, I am from Odense. And I was, I went to a private school called Odense Fri School, and at that private school we had an East German English teacher. So of course I have to apologize for my East German twang when I speak English, but anyway. She was talking about that where she came from in East Germany that Elvis was forbidden. Rock and roll was forbidden. I thought, that's amazing. If music can be forbidden, you know, that's something that I have to dig into. It kind of triggered me enormously. So I went to the local library and found a lot of books on Elvis and a lot of vinyl records and got home and, hey, as the story is, I never looked back.

James Clasper: Okay. So then how does it progress from being, okay, I really like this guy and his music to this is gonna become a lifelong, you know, passion, obsession, and then ultimately a business. How do you go from being a casual fan to the kind of, you know, the Elvis fan that you are today?

Henrik Knudsen: You know what? I think for me it could have been anything, you know, it could also have been another artist or a sport or collecting something. I think that you kind of get this. It's easy to jump into it. I normally say to people that if they don't understand it, I can't really explain it. And if they do, I don't need to explain it. But for me, it was part of the music, the legacy, the story about a kid who was born in a small town, very dirt poor, became crazy celebrity. He could have been the first celebrity president if he wanted to, but he never cared. He never thought about that. The history is enormous. You know, it is like the American dream that ends very bad. But that's part of the story. So I think it's that combination with a guy who also hung the moon in rock and roll history. I'm not saying that he invented it because he didn't, but he was kind of one of the few that got on TV, were radio played, did shows at a time where that type of music was seen as the devil music and he was banned in several states. They didn't want him to play in New Jersey and, you know, they started filming him from the waist up. There were so many things in his whole history that made him a pioneer. And I think that's very interesting.

James Clasper: Okay. But then again, I guess, you know, there's the Elvis fan who likes the music, and then there's the Elvis fan who makes the pilgrimage to Graceland. So when did you do that? What age were you when you decided I have to go to Memphis and see Graceland?

Henrik Knudsen: Yeah, I was only 20 years old when I went to Graceland for the first time and my parents brought me there with my sister. And we went to, actually, we flew to Miami, rented a camper and went from Miami all the way up to Memphis and drove back again. It was an eye-opener when I went to Memphis and saw how amazing it was there and the histories. Sun Studio, the high school where he went to school and a lot of historical places. So amazing experience that also added to my dream to make a business out of it. That trip was the first and my last trip to America. I went home from there a couple of weeks ago, and my last trip was number 148.

James Clasper: 148 trips to America. Yeah.

Henrik Knudsen: So I've been there. It's my, you know, I'm an honorary citizen in Memphis. I got my own day in the state of Tennessee, and also Tupelo, where he was born. I'm an honorary citizen.

James Clasper: You have your own day, did you say?

Henrik Knudsen: September 16th.

James Clasper: What? What does that mean? What happens on September 16th in Tennessee?

Henrik Knudsen: They made a proclamation in my name. So I got that day and what do I do with that? I got a big, big, big certificate. I have a big certificate of all these honorary titles they have given me. To get those titles, somebody have to vouch for that on your behalf. You cannot do it yourself. You cannot say, oh, I would like to, can I have my own day in Tupelo? No, you can't. It's somebody else had to. So some of the tourist companies that I've been working with all these years, they kind of put my name in the hat and I got it. So something that I may make fun of, but in the end of the day, I'm pretty proud that I got it because it's far away from Denmark.

James Clasper: It's a hell of a story. Tell me then, what was the eureka moment when you said, I need to replicate, duplicate, whatever the word is, I need Graceland to be in Randers of all places. How did that happen?

Henrik Knudsen: On one of my many trips to America, I went to Nashville and I was going to see the Musicians Hall of Fame. It's a museum in Nashville that honors the musicians, not the stars, but the sidemen and the sidewomen. What I mean is the guitar players, the backup singers. And I love that idea. So I went to see that museum and at one point they had a storefront for that museum that looked like Sun Studio, the famous studio from Memphis where not only Elvis started his career. Johnny Cash did. Carl Perkins did. Jerry Lee Lewis did. Roy Orbison did. B.B. King did. So I thought that was great, and I thought I want to bring that back to Denmark. I think that that storefront is actually inexpensive. I can do that. So I had that in my head. But before I left that trip, I changed everything. I said, the storefront is cool, but I won. Why not do Graceland? And why not do a replica of Graceland? I had no idea what it would cost. I had no money on my bank account, and I didn't win the lotto. So I didn't know what it would take to do it. But I don't know if you ever have had ideas, James, but if you...

James Clasper: Not like that.

Henrik Knudsen: No, maybe not like that. I have had a lot of ideas, but sometimes when you sleep on it and then the next morning you think, oh, the idea was better yesterday than it is today. You know, you think, oh, it's too complicated. It would never happen. But this idea kept growing. You know, it was a storefront. Now it should be a building. I should have a diner. I should have my own restaurant. That should be a merchandise shop and we should have the museum and we should also have a ballroom where people will have meetings and, you know, everything like it is today. I wanted the gate, the music gate that Elvis had, and a lot of things. So everything grew on me and it's a long story how it became a reality. It took me five years from I got the idea to it was built and ready for opening 2011.

James Clasper: How did you fund it? Did you go to the bank and say, I've got this idea? And they were like, yep.

Henrik Knudsen: There were two banks who kicked me out. There were two banks who kicked me out. They just kicked me out and said, you know, you're wasting, you're wasting our time with your stupidity. Can you get out of here? I actually met both of the bank directors years later after we opened, and they all said, oh, it was not because we didn't believe in your idea, but it was because of politics. So, anyway, that's really funny. It took me four years to find people to finance it. I didn't have that kind of money myself. I actually had nearly nothing. I had a business that I had for years. I had proven that I could run a business that was based on something weird. I went from banks to private people with a lot of money. So I was invited to this banquet and there was kind of a little coffee break, I was called over to a table. And this guy who's wealthy, asked me to come over and we sat and talked and he said, I'm going to build a hotel not far from where you think your building could be. I think this is a great idea. I will help you find your money.

James Clasper: Hmm.

Henrik Knudsen: And it was 25 million kroner, so it was not like it was 250,000 or something, you know, it's not like you needed to borrow money for a car. So I have a very good relationship with these people today and I'm very happy that they helped me. Otherwise it would never have happened. Nobody would, you know, and I think that to be honest, if it didn't work, if it hadn't worked, you know, let's say six months later, we would have gone broke, I think 99.9% of the Danish population would stand up and say, hey, we could have told you that, you know, why didn't you even spend that money? It is a stupid thing. So now it's 14 years ago, and it's better than ever.

James Clasper: Yeah. But your philosophy was, you know, you only live once. Just go for it.

Henrik Knudsen: That was my philosophy. And they knew that, and they kind of, you know, I knew that they had a plan B with the place if it didn't work, but I told them they knew exactly what I had. But I would have lost everything if it didn't work.

James Clasper: But what was it that you believed in? Was it that you wanted to give it a go or that you just were certain that there was a sufficient interest in Elvis and people who would come to see Graceland?

Henrik Knudsen: Yeah. The last part of your question is not so easy, because I didn't, I had no idea. Nobody could tell me. Nobody could give me a survey or say, oh yeah, you know what, that's a great idea to have something like that right there. That would be amazing. You know, nobody could do that with Elvis because nobody really believed it. It was only a few people who thought, this is a great idea. It's crazy, but it's a great idea. So what drove me, what made me do it was also, and that was from day one, when I quit my job in 1990, I didn't want to grow old and think back. I should have done that. Why didn't I do it? I should have done it. So I did it. And, you know what? To have a dream is easy for a lot of people, but to make it happen, it can be very difficult. And this was very difficult. You know, there are so many things. We had the lawsuit with Elvis Presley Enterprises. There are so many things, COVID, you know? That we are still here is a blessing.

James Clasper: What do you think has driven its longevity?

Henrik Knudsen: When people come, they tell us a lot of things. They say, oh, it's beautiful here. It's cozy. It's a nice place to be. It's different. You guys have a nice staff. You have a friendly staff. You know, it's nice to hear, but sometimes you don't see the view. When you have seen the view so many times you don't see that it's cozy. Eleven years ago we had a visit from a very famous British musician, Elvis Costello.

James Clasper: Hmm.

Henrik Knudsen: And he spent three and a half hours with us, and at one point we were discussing Graceland in Memphis and Elvis said to me, Costello, he said, Henrik, but you are so different. And I said, what do you mean it's different? But he says, it's very personal, it's made by a fan. And he said, I get the same feeling as I got in Alabama when I was visiting the Hank Williams museum. It's a museum in Montgomery that is made by a father and a daughter. And he told me that he kind of explained it and I kind of got it when he told me, but I decided a few months later to fly to Montgomery, Alabama to see what he meant, because I wanted to make sure that I understood it and my wife and I went. And when we were there, we understood it a hundred percent because it was made by fans. It's hard to explain, but there's a different feel to it, because of course we admire Elvis, but we also try to kind of get into all corners. For us, it's not a no-go to talk about his addiction and so on. It's part of his life. It's how it ended. And in Memphis, they don't talk about it because they kind of want to hide it, and they don't talk about how he looked at the end of his life because they want to have him look like a superstar and only like a superstar. And we don't care because we are fans. We understand that you have your ups and your downs and you have to explain everything, you know, or show everything. Otherwise, what are you doing? You are faking the story.

James Clasper: So you mean you have the infamous sandwiches on your menu?

Henrik Knudsen: We have that? We do have that, we sell 11,000 of them every year.

James Clasper: Of course they're tasty.

Henrik Knudsen: It's different. I can tell you that.

James Clasper: Yeah. Why, why Randers and for people unfamiliar with Denmark, Randers is a city in Jutland. It's far from Copenhagen.

Henrik Knudsen: Three and a half hours from Copenhagen.

James Clasper: Yeah, exactly. So why there.

Henrik Knudsen: Mainly because I'm from here. But it also makes sense. I remember when the rumors came that we were doing this at all, that I had the dream to do it, and I remember some Americans writing. And pardon my French, they wrote, what the fuck is Randers?

James Clasper: That's the slogan, isn't it?

Henrik Knudsen: No.

James Clasper: No. Should be.

Henrik Knudsen: It should be. But what, it's a great, great question because it's actually put Randers on the map. And I think what is cool is that it's different, is that it's odd, is that it's only 35 minutes from our second biggest city in Denmark, Aarhus. It's three and a half hours from Copenhagen. We have a lot of tourists from Copenhagen who take the train over and visit us. If you are a big enough Elvis fan, you would do that. So it doesn't matter. It could have been Copenhagen. But you also have to remember in Copenhagen, there's so many things. So many huge, beautiful tourist attractions that we would kind of drown into it. But Randers is famous for another odd thing. A rainforest. And so we have a rainforest that have a replica of Graceland. Hey, it's totally crazy, both of them. So it makes sense. It's probably something to say a lot about the water we are drinking over here.

James Clasper: And I'm not mistaken, your version of Graceland is, is it twice the size of the original?

Henrik Knudsen: Twice the size. Yeah.

James Clasper: Twice the size. Why is it twice the size? Why not just replicate it?

Henrik Knudsen: Because it would have been too small. If we have it in exact size. We, you know, in Elvis's living room, there were eight seats, people could sit down. 72 can sit in our diner, in his dining room, there were also eight seats around a dining table. And we have our merchandise shop in that exact same room where he had that. So we needed more space. We simply just needed more space. So it had to be bigger and it worked out.

James Clasper: Hmm. And then tell me about how you went about replicating it.

You don't just get hold of the plans for Graceland and then, you know, proceed, hence. How do you, how do you do it? How do you do something on this scale as well?

Henrik Knudsen: Yeah, we went, actually we went to Memphis with the architects who made the drawing from our version. No blueprints. We can't get anything. Nobody had anything with measurements on and so on, so we had to go over. I had the architects fly with me to Memphis and we took pictures and they did measurements on different things. For example, the steps to the first floor, because then they could find out how the height was in the rooms and so on. But we also knew that we had to do it differently because we could have done the rooms exactly like they are at Graceland, but what could we have put into them? There was no way we could find exactly the same furniture, the same art, and the same knickknacks. So we knew we had to change it, but we in any way, in respect to the original, use the same colors, the gold and white staircase, the peacock windows, and the hallway. In our museum we have a small theater that is decorated in yellow and blue colors like Elvis's TV room. So we have used a lot of elements to create the atmosphere, but totally changed the rooms.

James Clasper: And when you had the architects kind of, you know, walking around measuring things, did that kind of raise suspicions or is that the sort of thing you can just do at Graceland, the original? Or did people kind of go, hold on, what are you doing here?

Henrik Knudsen: No, yeah. Well, you know what? We did it. And the funny thing is, in Denmark you have something you call a tomme stock. It's like a meter stick that you can fold together and they have their tape measures, what do you call them? They don't know what a tomme stock is. So the architect came with a tomme stock, and when they started pulling that out, the security came, what, what's going on? What are you guys doing? You know, what is that? And they said, it's a measurement stick, but they said, but you normally use a...

James Clasper: Tape measure.

Henrik Knudsen: Yeah. And what are you doing? And we said, no, but we are taking these measurements because we want to make a replica of the house in Denmark. And they laughed at us and they turned around and I could hear one of the guards say to the other, I've met a lot of crazy fans, but these take the prize. So they didn't either trust or expect it to happen. So anyway, they were wrong. And we were right.

James Clasper: Yeah. We have to talk about the infamous lawsuit. You were originally called Graceland Randers and it was calling it Graceland. That was the problem. Right? Tell me what happened.

Henrik Knudsen: No, but when we got the idea, I knew that we wanted to call it Graceland, Graceland in Memphis. Elvis's house was not something that he named Graceland. It was named Graceland because the guy who built it was a doctor, Thomas Moore. And he built the house not to live there, but to have a place and have parties. The house was built for money he had inherited by his aunt, and her name was Grace, and therefore it was named Graceland. So Elvis had bought Cadillacs. Doesn't mean that he owns Cadillacs, you know? So that was my logical sense to it. But my lawyer at the time, who also was a good friend of mine, he said, but Henrik, it makes sense what you're saying, but why don't you check with the copyright, the name and likeness bureau in Copenhagen and see what they say. You know, because if it's registered in Denmark by somebody else, you cannot call it Graceland. And I understood that. So the funny thing was I got a letter back saying, hey, you can use the name nobody have registered in Denmark. And I said, wow, that's cool. A little time later we got the idea that it should be called Graceland Randers. That was more on a marketing perspective. I thought it would be stupid if somebody else had taken Graceland Randers if Graceland wasn't taken. So of course I got that. So I actually had both registrations in my name. The thing is, we opened and nobody does anything. You know, nobody do anything and you have to remember when we started, BBC made a 15 minute report on Graceland Randers. CNN had made an interview report and nothing happened. I even had a letter from Priscilla. She signed a picture of her and me together where she signed "To Graceland Randers" made a smiley, Priscilla Presley. I never thought anything was wrong. I just thought, okay, we can do it. So anyway, we opened in 2011. Nothing happens. You know, we had 30 different media companies at that point, you know, a lot of people had there for the opening. Nothing happened, nothing at all. In 2016 we started making money and then suddenly we got letters from lawyers first in Germany representing Graceland in Memphis. Oh, Elvis Presley Enterprises. And this is not Lisa Marie or Priscilla Presley. It's like lawyers in New York who owns the business, corporate.

James Clasper: Hmm.

Henrik Knudsen: So we actually end up in court. And actually at this point we have spent about one and a half million kroner that we didn't have. You know, we didn't have that in our budget that we should have a lawsuit. So my wife Gitte said to me at one point that she thought that we should give it up and get home to Randers and take care of our business. That was really not a bad business, actually a good business. So why not go back and just change the name and get peace in our life? We actually ended up making a settlement with them, changed our names from Graceland Randers to Memphis Mansion. I hope it gives itself, a mansion because of the style the house was built. And that's our name today. Funny thing is that we still live on Graceland Allé. That's our address, number three.

James Clasper: I spotted that in your address. Yeah.

Henrik Knudsen: Yeah.

James Clasper: Maybe you have the last laugh in that respect. Did it leave a sour taste in your mouth? Vis-à-vis...

Henrik Knudsen: Of course, of course. It was tough for a long time. I'm over it now and we've been to Memphis many times and of course we don't have the relationship we used to have. But it's not bad. It's not bad at all. We can live with it and they can live with it and it is what it is. But of course I would rather have been without it, to be honest with you. In a way, I don't blame them. You know, they stood up for what was their right or what they believed in was their right. So I don't blame them. Would I have done the same thing myself? I don't know. I didn't really lose friends over it, but I have maybe lost some business relationships over it, but not friends. Lucky for me, I had a lot of Elvis's musicians that I've worked with over the years. They even came for the opening and they didn't care. Even they were told not to go. They came. But, yeah, we are on the other side of it. And, you know, after the lawsuit, I got that day, 16 September, 2016, in the state of Tennessee, the governor came to me. The lawsuit was just over and they said, boom, come here. We want to give you something. So somebody must have sat on the other side and thought, okay, so okay with one hand, we sue them because of whatever reasons, but we really appreciate what he's doing for us in Denmark, you know?

James Clasper: Yeah. Funny old world. Well, let's talk then a bit about Memphis Mansion. How many people visit a year and where do they come from?

Henrik Knudsen: Last year it was 160,000 and they come from all corners of the world, but 80% of them are Danish. And mainly Scandinavian countries. But we have had people from all corners of the world. We have had, of course, a lot of Americans who find it interesting that there is a spot like this in Denmark. And a lot of people from England, Elvis was huge, is huge in England. So a lot of people from England is coming over and we appreciate that. Again, we are not competing with Graceland in a way, you know, we are just the addition, you know, come see us and then if you get more interested into it, go to Memphis and see the real deal. You know, we are not trying to make our place better than anything. We just, you know, we just the engine that can maybe bring more people to America.

James Clasper: And how many of them are kind of bonafide Elvis fans and how many are just kind of curious? Rubberneckers, they're like, hmm, I heard about this place. That's the, you know, twice the size of the original Graceland. Let's go and check it out. Don't know much about Elvis.

Henrik Knudsen: That's the reason they're coming. Only like 8% is Elvis fans like myself.

James Clasper: Okay.

Henrik Knudsen: Does that then have a kind of a converting effect? Are there many that visit and come away as, you know, potential fans gonna check out the music more, or some of the movies perhaps.

Henrik Knudsen: A lot of people buy a CD or an LP. LP is hot again. One of my best examples is a young kid that visited us two years ago. He was 14 years old. He was invited by his grandparents. And they wanted to go see the Elvis museum because a cousin of his was coming and she liked Elvis very much and he didn't care to go. He was 14 years old at the time. He didn't want to go. But they forced him. They said you had to go. We are all going, we are eating there. You know, so he went and he saw the exhibition. He got kind of, you know, he was totally, wow, what kind of story is this? And he went home the day after and saw the Baz Luhrmann movie about Elvis. You know what, James, two days after he made a TikTok account on Elvis, and he now have the third biggest TikTok account on Elvis. He have more than 300,000 members or whatever you call it there, you know, followers. So it's amazing. He's just a great story. He's a great example of what can happen. It's called Rocking Elvis Presley. It's really, it's really amazing.

James Clasper: We all find our niche, don't we?

Henrik Knudsen: Yeah.

James Clasper: Tell me about the museum. I mean, it's got hundreds of artifacts and pieces of memorabilia by the sound of it.

Henrik Knudsen: Our collection is one of the 10 biggest in the world.

James Clasper: Phew.

Henrik Knudsen: It's insured for 15 million kroner. It's about 2 million euros.

James Clasper: How many pieces do you have then?

Henrik Knudsen: I don't even know. Many, many thousand, hundreds of thousands.

James Clasper: Wow.

Henrik Knudsen: We have a huge record collection. We have a huge photo collection. We have one of his cars, we have one of his motorcycles, a boat. We have a couple of instruments. We've got a piano. We got a lot of clothing, a lot of jewelry, contracts, personal stuff. You know, decoration artifacts from his homes.

James Clasper: Everything but the toenail clippings.

Henrik Knudsen: Yeah, we don't have that. We also heard one who had other things that we, we don't, we don't want, we don't really fancy.

James Clasper: Like what?

Henrik Knudsen: But we probably, we probably have odd stuff. We just bought Dr. Hunt's collection. And who was Dr. Hunt? The Presley family's private doctor from 1935 to 1948. And only to '48 because the Presley family moved from Tupelo in '48. The doctor actually died in '52, so he never knew that he was the doctor of the king of rock and roll. But anyway, so we have his collection. And why, why is that important? It could sound like a toenail stuff, but it isn't, we don't have his toenail. We have all the documents, the handwritten documents from this doctor's visits but also the bookkeeping, like his mother and father had to pay $25 for him being present when Elvis was born.

James Clasper: Hmm.

Henrik Knudsen: Why is that important? It's little details, but it gives you kind of a picture of this family who had nothing. Vernon, his father was making $4 a week, so it was quite expensive to get a doctor's bill for that amount of money. So we just got that. So that's a bit odd, but, you know, to find artifacts that had a relationship to Elvis or he had owned is pretty hard and very expensive. But to find something that is pre-Elvis's fame is more or less impossible. When we found this doctor's archive, you know, we were like jumping up and down. We thought this is great. You know, it should have been at the Tupelo museum or at Graceland in Memphis, but none of them showed interest or wanted to pay for it. And we ran with it.

James Clasper: And then there's also a Johnny Cash element to the Memphis Mansion. Right. Talk me through that. How did that come about?

Henrik Knudsen: It came during COVID we thought about we needed something extra, something different. It's not like we don't have enough Elvis artifacts, but we can't make any other additions to the house, you know, it is what it is now. So the exhibition have to be built around what we already have. So we thought that because I also, I'm also a big Johnny Cash fan, and actually I met Johnny Cash twice. So all the years I've collected his artifacts as well. If I found something, not as hard as I did with, I have been doing with Elvis, but I had enough that I thought we could make a museum. So after COVID was over, in record time, the construction people built the 140 square meters building that looks like a farm house inside. And then we did the museum around that.

James Clasper: So it's almost like a two for one. You get Memphis Mansion and the Johnny Cash Farmhouse. Yeah.

Henrik Knudsen: Yeah. For sure.

James Clasper: And what's one thing that is often overlooked by visitors to Memphis Mansion that you kind of want to be like, no, no, no. Just go and have a look at that. Don't look at the cars. The cars are great, but here's something that a lot of people kind of walk past and they miss.

Henrik Knudsen: When Elvis in June, 1977, met our queen, she was then Crown Princess Margrethe at the Paramount studios in Hollywood. Scandinavian Airlines have made their first direct flight from Stockholm to Los Angeles. And on that flight was the three Scandinavian princesses. Then Crown Princess Margrethe, and the Norwegian Princess Astrid and the Swedish Princess Birgitta was on that flight, and they went to Paramount Studios and met Elvis. And a lot of, we have a big story about Elvis and Denmark, the connection, what happened, who he met, and how people are looking at him. So some people see that and some people just walk by it. And I would love that they paid more attention to it.

James Clasper: Yeah, the stronger connection between Elvis and Denmark than people realize.

Henrik Knudsen: That's true.

James Clasper: My last question for you then. You know, Elvis lived and died a long time ago now, and you could argue that his fan base is dwindling. How do you see future generations kind of finding and appreciating Elvis? And do you see the Memphis Mansion having a role in that in years and decades to come to preserve that legacy?

Henrik Knudsen: Yeah. I surely believe in that. There was a professor in Memphis who said that when Elvis passed and all the media was going on in August of '77, he said, I don't understand all this fuss. In 20 years from now, he will be forgotten. Nobody will know who he is. It's 47 years now, shortly 50 years, and Graceland had last year, 600,000 visitors making Graceland the second most visited private home in America, only beaten by the White House. We have 160,000, and over the years, the numbers hasn't gone down just one time. We always makes an extension, you know, a little bit, not big numbers, but we always grow a little bit bigger, so there's nothing that show that it will decline. And I honestly believe as much as you think it's crazy, James, I believe that in a hundred years from now, they'll be sitting somebody like you and I are now and talking about Elvis and how it could continue. And why are people still listening to it? It's hard. I don't know why I believe in that. It's probably because of the glasses I'm wearing. I'm this Elvis fan. I, you know, I can't even think, I can't even think about that nobody won't want to listen to him. The music is still there. He's still used in commercials. We have school classes that comes by and the kids at seven years old know who Elvis is. They don't know Muhammad Ali. They don't know Frank Sinatra. They don't know Dean Martin, but they know who Elvis is. It's weird. And there's something to it, and I can't tell you what it is, but it's actually the same wonder that make our business so many miles away from Graceland and Memphis, but it isn't logical that an Elvis museum in Randers should be a success, but you can't take that away from it.

James Clasper: Lovely place to end it. Henrik, that's been fascinating. I've loved every minute of it. Thank you so much for being on Archipelago.

Henrik Knudsen: Of course. I'm proud that you asked.

You've been listening to Archipelago, produced and hosted by me, James Clasper, for Archipelago Audio. You'll find a link to the Memphis Mansion's website in the show notes.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with others, leave a nice review wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. Next time on Archipelago, we'll meet a literary translator who's discovering that artificial intelligence might not be the translation tool she thought it would be:

Sherilyn Hellberg: I hadn't encountered this phrase before, so I was like, oh, why don't I ask AI for help with this, like, as an experiment. What it means, "slå maven", it means to like, when you've just eaten a big meal, you know, you unbutton your pants, you relax. Like, ah, but the AI was like, oh, it's like you hit your belly in joy or glee. So it was just something that was like completely wrong. And then just like presents it as truth.

That's on the season finale of Archipelago. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.