Elvis Presley: Meet Yorkshire president of Elvis Presley fan club, who has published a book on his gospel music 45 years after his death

Sorry, a good guess, but you are in fact a good many thousand miles off. It’s here in the UK. In Yorkshire. And the answer is Bridlington. To be precise, in the resort’s own St. John’s Avenue, which is the home of Madeleine and Peter Wilson. Madeleine is the President, and the club is registered at Elvis’ home of Graceland, and officially recognised by Elvis Presley Enterprises.

Now, after twenty-five years of meticulous research, Madeleine has published a book which looks in detail at a part of The King’s singing career that has, perhaps, been overshadowed by much of his other work. His interpretation of gospel songs.

In fact, from a catalogue of many hundreds of recordings there are no less than eighty which are in the inspirational “gospel” genre. Madeleine, 78, admits that Elvis is “an enigma”, but she hopes that her book, Elvis Presley Gospel Singer – an inspirational Life “clarifies a side of Elvis that is often neglected.”

Madeline was born in Cottingham, and her own life would make a book in itself. “Our family is from Hull,” she explains, “but we were bombed out during the war. The story is that my dad went home after one particularly heavy raid to find the house flattened, and the only thing that was left was part of the staircase, and in the cupboard underneath was a basket of freshly laid eggs. Unharmed. All the humans (and hopefully the chickens) had gone to safe shelters before the bombing started.”

She says: “I was an only child, and – as I’m sure that so many other only children of the time will agree – we had quite a sheltered upbringing. I suppose that I first started being aware of Elvis and his recordings when I was in my teens – in fact, it would have been very hard to avoid him. His voice was everywhere, and the cinemas were starting to show his films. Back then, I was far more interested in things scientific, and focused on getting my degree.”

She did – a BSc in Chemistry from Hull. She then did research at ICI in Harrogate, taught chemistry and maths (today she says with a smile that she’s still not quite sure if she is a “teacher who writes, or a writer who used to teach”) and more importantly, she met her husband.

So, when did Madeleine become an Elvis devotee? Fast-forward a few decades to 1995, when she watched some of the many programmes on TV which celebrated his sixtieth birthday. They moved her so much that she decided to research into his earlier life. As a devout Christian herself, she was surprised to discover that not only had Elvis been brought up in a family of deep faith, but that, at one point, he was even called to be an evangelist.

She wonders if, had he lived, he might have gone down that path, preaching the gospel and also singing to congregations that could have packed stadiums many times over. That’s a “might have happened” scenario, but Madeleine says firmly that back then “Elvis’ idea of religion was not of necessarily attending church, but rather one’s personal relationship with God, and how one lives one’s life”.

The Fan Club was started almost immediately, in 1998, and it has thrived ever since. It still has a regular online newsletter, with also a fair few hard print copies. It’s seen, read and appreciated by thousands from all over the world, from Japan to Canada, the USA to Germany, Australia to Brazil. And if anyone is invited to visit the Wilson home, then they will be lucky enough to encounter a jaw-dropping collection of everything related to Elvis.

Plates, mugs, pictures, posters, the lot. And it includes one of his more rare autographs, signed on a programme of a gig in Germany. “He is still very much part of my life”, says Madeleine, “but obviously, not totally, because of our children and grandchildren. He’s a fascinating and multi-faceted man, and the more that you research, the more complex he becomes. He was, for example, convinced that he would die young. Maybe that’s because some of those closest to him in his family did just that.

“There’s a huge question mark over what he might have been, and what he would have done. He was, for example, very interested in doing what turned out to be that famous last concert and then (had he lived) taking a completely different path. He had plans to go to Hawaii, and to record new material that would have propelled him in a very different direction.”

Madeleine reveals that Elvis’ ambition to “do something different” had, very probably, been deep within him for some time. His early movies had a sensational impact at the box office, and were constant money-spinners for years. But they became predictable, and audiences slumped. He wanted to branch out and to do more serious acting, and many believed that he would have been a fine “straight” performer.

There was talk of coaching from a handful of the top actors of the time. It was not to be – there was always the influence of his manager and mentor Colonel Parker in the background. Parker contended that Presley should constantly do more of the same. The singer felt - and knew - differently. “Elvis was, very certainly, seriously frustrated at that point,” says Madeleine. “And we know that he was planning to do a full gospel concert as well, but it tragically and sadly never came to pass.”

Madeleine has met with just about everyone who knew or worked with Elvis, from surviving family members to backing singers and musicians. They have all given her nuggets of information about the man, and his lifestyle. She is gracious and open about her reaction to the seedier aspects of Elvis’ lifestyle, which she describes as “out of step with his faith commitment”.

She says: “He was indeed a flawed man. But we are all flawed creatures, flawed in our own ways.” On the other side of the coin, she cites the star’s generosity, his good nature, his lack of bitterness and his “sense of fun” and mischievousness. “He wanted forgiveness and direction, and in that, I would say that his lifestyle was indeed in step with his commitment to God.”

Madeleine believes that the death of his mother, and his estrangement from wife Priscilla, also had a “profound effect” on the man who was endowed with a wonderful talent, but at the same time a terribly troubled human being.

“We’ll never know how things would have turned out for him,” says Madeleine. “I choose to believe that the very best was still ahead, but, for some reason, it was never to be, and that’s a tragedy.”

Elvis, Madeleine has no doubt, “was a believer. He’s not just ‘singing the words’. Listen to one of my favourite songs. How Great Thou Art. It’s a hymn, but in his hands, it becomes something that is far more than just ‘special’.”

She and Peter have been to all the Elvis-related sites in the US, and they plan to visit again very soon. She would, of course, have loved to have met him. But with her steel-hard faith, Madeleine adds with conviction: “I didn’t in this life. But I believe I will. In the next.”

Elvis Presley Gospel Singer – an inspirational Life is available on Amazon and at Waterstones. For more information, visit www.elvisgospel.com or [email protected] And on Facebook: Elvis Gospel Fan Club.