The Texas Panhandle Connection to Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel”

Elvis is where it all began. He was a legendary singer. He was a star of movies. He was a major heartthrob for most. Elvis Presley had the moves. Elvis really had it all.

When I think of Elvis I think of my one and only trip to Graceland. I went there the summer that my sister moved to Memphis, Tennessee. I was that close I needed to see the place. This was in the late nineties and the number of people who still cried at his grave was amazing.

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I had been to Memphis two other times in 2008 and again in 2012 but haven't made a return to take the tour. It's probably something I need to do again and experience as an adult. Even though as a kid I did understand the significance. I was always a person who appreciated music. I always knew how special he was.

How surprised I was to find out that Elvis has a connection to our area. How many times have you driven through Childress? I know when I hit the city I am about two hours from Amarillo. I sometimes stop to get gas or a snack.

I didn't know about Elvis, an English school teacher, and "Heartbreak Hotel". I just recently got schooled in everything.

There was once an English teacher in Childress named Mae Axton, she was mom to Hoyt Axton, who wrote many songs like "Joy to the World". Mae also had a hand in writing some great music too.

One being "Heartbreak Hotel". She used the Childress Hotel as a sort of inspiration. The Childress Hotel still stands and in the museum next door they have the history of the song. According to the history:

Mae Axton wrote that the song  "Heartbreak Hotel" with fellow songwriter Tommy Durden. The song was played or Elvis, who recorded it and released it in January of 1956.

The story about the origins of the song goes that Durden presented the idea to Mae Axton, from a newspaper article he had read about a man who had killed himself, leaving behind only the message "I walk a lonely street." It was Mae who suggested there be a Heartbreak Hotel at the end of the man's lonely street, thus creating Elvi's first #1 record and one of the greatest rock and roll hits.

Mae had once stated that the old Hotel Childress was the inspiration for the song. When she was teaching at the high school she passed that hotel many times. She remembered the hotel. She remembered her time in Childress and that helped shape "Heartbreak Hotel" into the song it still is today.

Here is the full post about "Heartbreak Hotel" and Mae's connection. You can find it in the museum next door to the hotel in Childress.