I was 20 when I wrote this article back in 1995 for The Elvis Beat #12, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

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Fans visiting Graceland this summer can look forward to a revamped tour of the mansion, featuring a new audio guide system and the addition of the home’s kitchen to the experience.

The audio tours were slated to begin in the spring. According to Graceland Express, “Guests will pick up a headset and tape machine in the visitor center. . . . Then the tour of the house, grounds, fan mail office, racquetball building, and trophy room will be presented almost entirely on tape.”

The audio tour will include a narrator, but will primarily feature the voice of Elvis from spoken material and musical recordings. “It is expected to feel very much as if Elvis himself is giving the tour, especially in the trophy room,” stated Graceland Express.

The kitchen is the first new room added to the public tour since the opening of the mansion in 1982. The kitchen has been restored to the way it was when Elvis was alive. “It has harvest gold appliances and avocado-colored appliances. It’s very much the ’70’s,” a Graceland spokesperson said.

The audio tour was expected to be available in several different languages by the summer. In the future, the audio concept will also be considered for the other Graceland attractions, including the airplanes and the car museum. Traditional tour guides will remain on staff at the mansion to answer questions or offer other services.