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"We're not here to try to take his place. My mother has been singing with him for j. Spencer would perform as Elvis (often in a gold lam suit) as the main part of a mini-set in which he also did other impersonations of figures such as Buddy Holly and slide guitarist Elmore James. At an early stop on the tour, one reviewer noted that few of the performers resembled their dead counterparts that much. Mark portrays the 1950s rock-a-billy era complete with exact replicas of all of Elvis' performance guitars and stage clothes from 1954 to 1958, as well as old 1950s RCA microphones and even a full-size Nipper dog statue on-stage (Mark is the only impersonator that uses RCA's Nipper). [36], Steve Fitter is an Elvis impersonator from Waikato. (ODay bragged to a reporter that it was a small but mighty crowd.) They mainly fall under three main levels of impersonation, which are: Enacting a typical 70s Elvis concert is a preferred choice of most ETAs; however, some ETAs may portray various phases of Presley's career in a single show. Shawn Klush. [57] Keil was influenced by Elvis impersonator Andy Stankovich who he saw live. Must be 21 to attend this Las Vegas event. According to Caywood and Gamble, no one was getting paid much, if anything at all, and what pay existed wasnt always equal. i.e., the Chilean version of the European show My name is featured at least three of them. I asked him to show me his license and he refused.) According to Rhynes sister-in-law, Wanda, Rhyne was happy, for a time: Danny was the love of her life. There must have been 100 people from the press all over the world taking pictures, he says. "There are heavily-bearded Elvii, four-year-old Elvii, and Elvis duos; Italian Elvii, Greek Elvii, Fat Elvii, a Lady Elvis, even a Black Elvis. He died at age 64 in July 2008, after battling cancer. Halfway through the The Complete History of Elvis Impersonators in 10 minutes [from the documentary Almost Elvis] BlueSuedeFilms 1.65K subscribers Subscribe 43K views 14 years ago The complete history of Elvis. He would sit around talking about things like that. He could visualize things happening or ways to promote them. Danny has played music all over NC ,SC & Parts of VA. Danny has played many venues such as: The Barn Dinner Theate. ensemble. RAINBOW UMAMI: a Queer Club Remix Series: Celebrating diversity and creativity in the queer music community. Dennis Wise - King for a Night - A Tribute to Elvis Presley Get our roundup of longform stories every Saturday. He didnt like that, the state fairs, says Effie. "First of all, you don't. By 1977, the band found itself gigging in Arkansas, doing what their guitarist Jim Wise calls Stevie Wonder and disco stuff. ODay was also learning how to work the system. Lilo and Stitch is a 2002 animated Disney movie that has Stitch, a blue alien, impersonate Elvis for a scene. Its America.. But all were doing is emulating the dead people with all due respect.. I feel weird saying this, but basically I was the hit of the show, says Caywood. By 1978, Elvis wasnt the only rock star in the grave; the body count was rising. ODay later admitted the idea was also suggested by Rhyne and that he had his own doubts: I said, What, are you crazy? Honeymoon in Vegas is a 1992 comedic movie which was directed by Andrew Bergman. In The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, a dancer named Tott with a striking resemblance to Elvis Presley appears on Windfall Island. The next night, they and a new batch of clones appeared onstage, and suddenly ODay was Kenny Rogers and Rhyne was looking a bit like Linda Ronstadt, then at the peak of her pop career. ELVIS LIVES! Local impersonator keeps 'em all shook up ODays first choice bailed when his name leaked to the press. At Gambles suggestion, his girlfriend, a North Carolina native named Deborah (or Erin) Rhyne, had her nose straightened and hair dyed black to resemble a female Elvis. (Im going to be Elvis in the early 1950s, when he was feminine-looking, she said.). Longtime Elvis impersonator to go beyond the standards We were traveling the country, doing two shows a night six and seven nights a week.. 'The World's Greatest Elvis impersonator.EVER!' - YouTube I thought I was headed back to Hawaii, but the guy said Ill take him. [53], Alphonso Keil was an Elvis impersonator and professional musician. I would see a morbid aspect if we were being crassly commercial in cashing in on dead people. SUMMERS: So it is deep cuts and classics all weekend at the Birmingham Hilton. [46] Among the LP albums he recorded were his 1976 album, Mr. Fatu Sings Elvis, which was recorded live at The Hawaiian Inn,[47] and Manatua Mai A'u (Remember Me), released on the Tam-Bay label. I was there in 1977 when Elvis died.. One of the first books to document the phenomenon was, I Am Elvis: A Guide to Elvis Impersonators released by American Graphic Systems in 1991. A husband hired them to perform at his wifes 40th birthday party, since she was a Rogers fan. ODay heard about a local Florida band whose lead singer, Jesse Gamble (then Jesse Bolt), was a good Presley mimic, and even already owned a blue jumpsuit. An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and singer Elvis Presley. But for Wise, the jailhouse only rocked for so long. in Roxy's at the Fiesta Rancho located at 2400 N. Rancho Read more in our, Elvis Presley performs in Providence, R.I., on May 23, 1977. Wise still feels he and ODay could have gone all the way with the act: He had Disney World, all these people calling us he had it in the palm of his hand and let it go, he says. When the band broke up my brother returned to the mainland but I stayed on in Hawaii a couple of years. The man who played Elvis' boss at the Crown Electric company was Red West, a real life schoolmate and best friend of Elvis. The friendship between Nelson and Presley is documented in the book "Elvis in Texas". We've recently seen amateurs at the Elvis Tribute Contest in Vegas that blew Dennis away. He spent years touring the U.S., living a rock and roll lifestyle while playing his favorite music. [39] His day job is at BGT Laboratories in Ffostrasol, which makes antidote products including snake anti-venom. Following the transformation, he made his TV debut on Good Morning Americain early 1978. Bags were removed from under OConnells eyes, and wrinkles from his cheeks. [10] As Kaufman gained fame, the impersonation was used less and less. The best known was the Upsetters, an R&B and soul outfit that ODay joined in 1965. Yeah, I thought, Oh, this is so weird, many times, Caywood says. I bless you, Daniel ODay, she says, for opening up such a large part of my life that came out of that.. Dennis F. December 14, 2015 We enjoyed Elvis John Verified Review Tyler E. May 20, 2014 A great experience with Elvis John Hired as: Elvis Impersonator Verified Review Terri K. April 27, 2014 Great Job! If it turns out [the chemist] can deliver the goods, then well give the kid the pigment. Hearing those comments again, Gamble sighs: That sounds like sitting down and talking to him. Its pretty common now, Wise says. In pop music, the tradition of the tribute band, the imitator, the impersonator, is now as durable as the concert T-shirt or the demand for an encore. Elvis has spanned over forty years. Another popular theater event has been the "Elvis Story" over the last five years. What ODay himself dubbed his clone army only wound up fighting a few minor skirmishes: a handful of TV appearances, and gigs at clubs, state fairs, and casinos, earning enough notoriety to have possibly inspired not one but two Saturday Night Live parodies. A lot of us in the entertainment business dont get a chance to do some of the normal things. All rights reserved. He has every album Elvis ever recorded and pictures by the thousands. Marcia is a schoolteacher, teaching the history of music. Another Filipino Elvis impersonator is singer businessman Chito Bertol who also impersonates Elvis Presley mostly at Bistro RJ Bar in Makati City, and sometimes occasionally performs every year with Filipino singer businessman Ramon Jacinto who was the founder of Bistro RJ and his radio station DZRJ 100.3 FM & his TV station DZRJ TV 29 in the Philippines. The small western New South Wales town of Parkes in Australia has been hosting the Parkes Elvis Festival since 1993, which includes a special "Elvis Express" train from Sydney to Parkes. Eric Lott, "All the King's Men: Elvis Impersonators and White Working-Class Masculinity." The Complete History of Elvis Impersonators in 10 minutes - YouTube ODay scrambled and found a replacement after several tries. One of his biggest fans is Dennis Wise, a man who even had his face and hairline changed through plastic surgery to look more like Elvis. He talked about re-creating Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, and the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd whod died in a plane crash the year before. Thanks to an unstable household his mother had several husbands ODay eventually left home for California, where he hustled his way into other bands. In "Meltdown," an episode of the British TV series Red Dwarf, Clayton Mark portrays a 'wax droid' version of Elvis who, under the command of Arnold Rimmer along with other 'wax world' historical figures, is engaged in battle with the evil historical figures. The group (not to be confused with the Upsetters who gigged with Little Richard) released a full LP as well as a tribute album to the late Otis Redding, whom they backed up on tour for a short period. There were myths, and there was the real Elvis Presley Croce had perished in a plane crash in 1973, but Marc Hazebrouck, a former truck driver and psychology major from Rhode Island, was already playing songs by Croce and had a droopy mustache to match. His mom said shed be fine with it as long as it was done in good taste, and that was good enough for her son. Danny was flabbergasted I said that, says Wise. Meet some of the European Elvis impersonators competing to be crowned We all went, What the hell? But for Patten, who attended the service, it was ODays new normal: Again, it was Danny doing what Danny did., A month later, ODay popped up at a Rogers press conference in Virginia, where he and a seemingly amused Rogers good-naturedly tugged at each others beards. In 1978 Wise went through extensive plastic surgery to make himself look more like Elvis. There are also three "how to" guides, Be Elvis! "[25] In her paper, "Women Who 'Do Elvis'", Case Western Reserve University researcher Francesca Brittan deals with female Elvis Presley impersonators and finds them to be "campy, cheeky, and often disturbingly convincing. (The first was a 1981 skit about a sleazy Rock and Roll Heaven marketing company, featuring Eddie Murphy, that made a joke about the Three Js Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Croce.) In 1978, the clone tour was cited in Rolling Stones year-end issue, under the header The Brides of Funkenstein. (Two aspiring women performers underwent plastic surgery: one to look like a female Elvis; the other, Janis Joplin.) But almost as soon as it arrived, Rock and Roll Heaven imploded, and ODay became the smallest of footnotes in pop history books. repertoire, Dennis can answer most any request. [50][51] Another single of his, released on the Fire Mountain label in 1980, "Just One Look" by "Darling" is a sought after collectors item. It also featured Clearance Giddens, a black Elvis. Admission is $10. of Elvis Presley. Since I was 5 Ive been acting like him he was kind of like a father figure to me because my dad was gone all the time. Wise trekked to ODays home in Ocala, just in time to see his boss roll up, living large. It was amazing. And I said, Well, you know, I guess I could do something. Caywood was up for singing Joplin tunes: I thought, Cool, that sounds fun! Im famous for picking up and moving my entire life. From left: Hazebrouck, Caywood, Rhyne, Gamble, and OConnell at their post-surgery press conference, 1978. ODay started by taking Wise to a Florida dentist, who shaved his teeth down to resemble Presleys and closed up the gap in his two front teeth. As a result, Sophia's wedding reception is filled with Elvis impersonators (one played by a young Quentin Tarantino)[30] instead of members of her own family, and Rose exclaims, "Either I got the Elvis list mixed with the guest list for the wedding or everyone in Sophia's family appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show!". In an episode of Due South, Season one, episode 10, "The Gift of the Wheelman", It's Christmas time and the police station is filled with Santas, elves and Elvises. His marriage to Rhyne fell apart. All Rights reserved. Erwin, D.H. and Droser, M.L., 1993. 2.9K views, 40 likes, 10 loves, 16 comments, 11 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from WiseDrums: So twice a year I play drums for my father Dennis Wise who's been an Elvis Presley tribute artist since. >Las Vegas Leisure Guide. Impersonating a dead pop star, or reviving them virtually, is one thing. Symptoms of the condition included the patient dressing up like Elvis, wearing a white/grey jacket with a red music note at its back, matching trousers, sunglasses and Elvis' famous hairdo. An advertisement for State Farm Insurance featured four Elvis impersonators, each of which performed the company's "magic jingle" in succession, causing representatives from the company to appear out of thin air. Dennis Wise - IMDb In a lengthy piece for Rolling Stone, David Browne digs into the "rogue '70s promoter," who decided to try to make a living by putting cover artists on stagewith faces surgically altered to look something like the late singer they were mimicking. Bubba Ho-tep is the title of a novella by Joe R. Lansdale which originally appeared in the anthology The King Is Dead: Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem (edited by Paul M. Sammon, Delta 1994) and was adapted as a 2002 horror-black comedy film starring Bruce Campbell as Elvis Presleywho escaped the pressures of his fame long ago by impersonating an Elvis impersonator and is now a resident in a nursing home. Dennis Wise is the ultimate fan and the ultimate Elvis performer, with more than 10,000 shows honoring the king. He wanted all the glory. Elvis taxa. James felt it was a confusing time for him and that all three were caught in this trap that they could not walk out of. We just sort of grew apart, she says with a sigh. [45] The following year in August 1977, he was appearing at the Colonial Inn, fronting a nine-piece band called Coastal Connection. Jesus Christ thats some twisted shit, says Croces son A.J., who was only a grade schooler when ODay hired an upstart to be resculpted as Croces father. Dennis Wise, 54, has been an Elvis impersonator for more than 30 years, beginning with a garage band he started with his brother. And he has four . Elvis impersonators set to appear besides Fitter were Brendon Chase, Melissa Perkins and Kerryn Winn. [34], An Elvis impersonator in Arkansas, who legally had his name changed to Elvis Presley,[35] unsuccessfully ran for the positions of Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands in 2014, Arkansas State Senator of District 26 in 2016, and U.S. Representative of Arkansas's District 1 in 2018. In Many Shapes and Colors: King's Spirit Infuses Multicultural 'Elvi' - Trin Yarborough, Page 1 Elvis devotee ready to perform - Stephen Forbes, Samoan Elvis sings his last, Alphonso Keil dies, Talking with an Angel, Page 1 - 4, By Ruth Jackson, 20,000 for one day Elvis Festival in New Zealand by Gail Bartley, Thousands 'all shook up' at Auckland's Elvis in the Gardens - TARANNUM SHAIKH, Pasifika programme Sunday 13 March, Sunday programme, > Samoa, 2.10pm Elvis of Samoa, "Hong Kong legend 'Melvis' dead at 68, local branch of International Elvis Presley Fan Club says", Warren makes time for grandson by Stuart Michael, LIFESTYLE, Tony Warren still rocking by Sonja Mustaffa, From Memphis to Vegas / From Vegas to Memphis, Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas, From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Performances, Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II, Suspicious Minds: The Memphis 1969 Anthology, The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters, From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential '60s Masters, Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters, Peace in the Valley: The Complete Gospel Recordings, The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elvis_impersonator&oldid=1139034895, Articles lacking reliable references from June 2020, All articles with vague or ambiguous time, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 February 2023, at 00:58. Novelist William McCranor Henderson wrote about his attempts to learn the Elvis trade in, I, Elvis: Confessions of a Counterfeit King. But once she arrived for the job, she realized what her new boss had in mind. Rock and Roll Heaven, the touring extravaganza he conceived and promoted, didnt just pay homage to one deceased icon, but four of them: Elvis, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jim Croce. It was a Method-acting thing, says Caywood. Cruise and James thought of \"Suspicious Minds\" and James began urging others to get Elvis to hear it. The author, professor of American Studies at the University of Virginia, has also written a long piece on Elvis impersonators and the EPIIA (Elvis Presley Impersonators International Association) to be published in his next book. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at the casino cashier or by calling 702-507-5980 starting January 7, 2020. They were bombs, man, says Caywood of the earliest, sparsely attended Rock and Roll Heaven shows. Following the transformation, he made his TV debut on Good Morning America in early 1978. Growing up, he dressed like Elvis and answered to Elvis in the school halls. Hes consistently at the top of its top-earning For example, an ETA may open his show with a 50s set dressed in appropriate attire (such as a gold lame jacket), reenactments of musical scenes from Presley's movies, and/or reenactments of segments from the '68 Comeback Special; and after an intermission closes his show with a full-blown 70s concert dressed in an appropriate jumpsuit. Rock and Roll Heaven opened with the backup band playing an instrumental version of the Righteous Brothers dead-rocker hit of the same name. Wise isnt totally focused on Elvis. A few months after Elvis died Wise traveled to Little Rock, Ark., to audition as an Elvis tribute artist. I just thought, Well, I dont know what does that mean? says Gamble. Hired as: Dad hated Elvis. But a lot of the nightclubs were afraid it was just a freak show. I do two annual shows one for his passing and one for his birth (Jan. 8), the 54-year-old tribute artist says. Elvis Presley: The King's best impersonators. We started playing in clubs in Joplin and in Oklahoma and Id do a little Elvis skit in the act, Wise says. Morrison had been found dead in a Paris bathtub seven years before. 7:30 pm. Me go in and have my face carved? But I was pretty ugly anyway. And the hype factor, always important to ODay, appealed to him, too: Man, the monster maker himself onstage. episode "All Shook Up", Hammer (David Rasche) investigates a string of Elvis impersonator murders by participating in a contest as one. The TV appearance was a mixed bag: Dr. Joyce Brothers, the star psychologist and talk-show regular, accused ODay of being a Manson-style cult leader. In 1956, shortly after Elvis began to rise in popularity, Smith began jumping on stage and imitating Elvis. Each show is an electric, high-energy performance backed by a full Something nobodys ever done before, recalls Effie. Gradually Elvis became a bigger part of the act. Dennis can recreate the songs, moves and looks from all Era's of Elvis' career, 50's, 60's, and 70's. His heavy show schedule of an average of 200 shows a year with tours in Colorado, California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Florida, Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa in the past year alone proves that Dennis is the most sought . Hired as: Elvis Impersonator Sharon T. March 17, 2014 Aster Retirement Community wants to thank you Elvis, John! So the surgery was an improvement., Wise made his debut onstage so soon after the surgery that black rings still encircled his eyes. '"[27], In the 2011 novel Donations to Clarity by Noah Baird, one of the main characters the town's sheriff is an Elvis impersonator.[28]. They wanted the whole property to themselves.. 1970's Dennis Wise Enterprize ELVIS Impersonator jacket Men's Large satin look . The 10-piece band will include his wife, Marcia, as a backup singer; their son, Shane, on drums; and Dennis brother, Jim, on guitar. In "Wedding Card," an episode of the Canadian sitcom Corner Gas, Oscar and Emma Leroy admit to having no photos of their wedding because "it was an Elvis wedding". Impersonator impresario Ed Franklin boasts, 'We've had every type of Elvis there is in the world. Kenny had a really unique voice. I got up one night and did Heartbreak Hotel and the fans liked it, Wise says. Cruise kept asking James if he had any songs that would be right for Elvis. He did say, Well, what can we do? Later that year, he was joined by the rest of the clone army for their post-surgery reveal on the daytime show America Alive! Due to confusion about who is going as Elvis all three do it, appearing in sequence as Elvis at different stages of his career, winning the competition. Smith's physical resemblance to Elvis and his mannerisms happened to catch the attention of DJ Norm Pringle of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, who had been playing "That's All Right, Mama" and "Heartbreak Hotel" on the radio. Guess where the money went? Wise wound up suing ODay for negligence (claiming his professional reputation has been damaged) and breach of fiduciary duty, demanding a minimum settlement of $2,500. Almost Elvis[29] is a 75-minute 2001 documentary film that follows a variety of professional Elvis impersonators such as they prepare for a large annual contest in Memphis, Tennessee. The two married in 1974, and ODay eventually adopted her two children from a previous marriage. Events tend to attract large numbers of amateur Elvis impersonators and Elvis fans. Caywood denies a report that she had her jaw restructured, which was likely more ODay hype: When another reviewer pointed out that Caywood wasnt a dead ringer, so to speak, for Joplin, ODay claimed she would have further work done to counter the criticism. The shows are on the weekends before or after the dates so fans can sleep in. In Reno, Gamble saw ODay handing out five-dollar bills to people at the door to lure them inside. covering all phases of Presley's recording career, including rock `n' Dennis Wise is the ultimate Elvis Presley fan. In 1985, he resurfaced in his home state of Maryland, managing a bar, Dannys, on Route 50 in Easton. [8] Jeremy Spencer of British blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac became known for his high-energy Elvis tribute performances during his tenure with the band. Durston was the fifth houseguest evicted, lasting 37 days in the house. "Michael Chapa, an Elvis impersonator who works in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, helped entertain more than 2500 of his relatives at what is believed to be the country's largest Hispanic family reunion "[14], There are also some Elvis impersonators who specialize in experimenting with gender, sexuality, race, taste and decency. It was such an odd thing. The idea was to say I was trying to develop the sneer, I guess, he says. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. "You're no longer the other guy, you're the 'King.' . Since Wise was persona non Presley in ODays world, a new King was needed. [55] During the 1960s, he played drums with Sonny Day and The Sundowners. >Las Vegas Entertainment Today Home Page Somebody hit him in the face and knocked him out. In the late 90s he started up a group called Alphonso Keil and the Kavaliers. A fast and unbiased roundup of whats happening in the world today. [9] In his act, Kaufman would precede with several failed impersonations before unexpectedly launching into a skilled impersonation of Elvis Presley. Talent shows focused on imitating already famous singers will often have Elvis impersonators. Hes great.. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. The King Is Dead, But Wise Works to Keep Spirit Alive It was in his blood, and I want to think it was the drinking that prohibited him from doing more with his life. For reasons that remain mysterious, ODay completely turned his back on show business and began working in sales for car dealerships in the greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C., area. (Photo by Getty Images). "That was a very strange day," Wise says. The Casino is not part of the Hotel and is not part of the JW Marriott system. Thomas into a local club, took the money, and then disappeared; it turned out he didnt actually rep Thomas at all. Some people thought it was very bizarre, but people were interested in it from the standpoint of business.. Cram him into brown leather pants and he might pass for the Lizard King. Joplin had overdosed eight years before, and Caywood knew the repertoire well. Elvis impersonators are one of the most frequently booked look-alikes and tribute artists. But long before Las Vegas residencies, biopics, and massive publishing buyout deals, ODay imagined a world in which classic-rock nostalgia would be a lucrative business. BY THE NUMBERS $52 million Amount the Elvis estate made. \"Suspicious Minds\" was widely regarded as the single that returned Presley's career success, following his '68 Comeback Special. mannerisms. Chips Moman had asked James to come to Memphis to write songs for American Sound Studio. Item Information. The film version also stars Ossie Davis as Jack, a black man who claims to be John F. Kennedy. Saturdays show will be a family affair. Dragging along the white suits theyd been forced to wear onstage, the musicians piled them atop one another and set the clothes afire, resulting in what Caywood recalls as an unholy muck of cow patties, dirt, and melted polyester.. This has seen some impact on what Elvis impersonators and contests have on the media and marketing industry. 9 reviews. It was very fresh at that point compared to now. After the semi-highs of their casino days, they found themselves scrambling to survive, selling magazines to convenience stores and even hawking their own blood to pay the bills, as they told the Orlando Sentinel. At a hotel pool in Florida, an on-message ODay introduced his clones to a writer from the Miami News and regaled the reporter with tales from his rock & roll crypt.