I bless you, Daniel ODay, she says, for opening up such a large part of my life that came out of that.. I forget the script, Gamble says, but it was Elvis coming down from heaven to bring back some friends.. It was a Method-acting thing, says Caywood. (Photo by Getty Images) Save PURCHASE A LICENSE Get personalized pricing by telling us when, where, and how you want to use this asset. (When the ceremony was over, they had some difficulty eating the wedding cake.) Wise had come to Orlando at the request of a newly acquired personal manager, Danny O'Day of Ocala. We've recently seen amateurs at the Elvis Tribute Contest in Vegas that blew Dennis away. Elvis Extravaganza is a 60-minute 2009 Elvis impersonator documentary featuring amateur Elvis impersonators and their quest for the title of the "World's Finest Elvis Impersonator.". 'The World's Greatest Elvis impersonator..EVER!' Rick Bonner 335 subscribers Subscribe 132 121K views 9 years ago A both serious and humerous collection of the world's greatest Elvis. ", "Arkansas Libertarians select candidates lineup; Elvis Presley among nominees", Kiwi Elvis impersonator to take on the Aussies, This man makes snake anti-venom by day and is Ceredigions only Maori Elvis tribute artist by night By Rachael Misstear, Andy Stankovich is Elvis for six New Zealand shows - Courtney Martin, 5-B Mr. Fatu And The Coastal Connection At Colonial Inn, Page 14/LA GACETA/Friday, June 9, 2006 . (Actually, they didnt go on the road so fast: The first gig, at a club in St. Petersburg, Florida, perhaps aptly named J.P. Bottoms Lounge, never happened. Honeymoon in Vegas is a 1992 comedic movie which was directed by Andrew Bergman. Later that year, Don Cruise, Moman's partner, told James that Elvis had booked their studio to record what would become the From Elvis in Memphis album. At the recording session, James sang the lead vocals, and the studio band backed him with Momam producing. by Rick Marino, a well-known tribute artist, released in 2000 by Sourcebooks and the more recent, The Elvis Impersonation Kit by Laura Lee, released in 2006 by Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers. "It's almost like you're on autopilot," Garon said, of drifting into the Presley persona. We started playing in clubs in Joplin and in Oklahoma and Id do a little Elvis skit in the act, Wise says. ", "Guinness book of records - Largest gathering of Elvis impersonators", Gadfly Online: David McNair and Jayson Whitehead, "Love and Theft. [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. The horns, strings and vocals of the Holladay Sisters were later overdubbed. Wise says he never saw a dime, nor ever saw ODay again. 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. Dennis Wise, 54, has been an Elvis tribute artist since before Elvis died (or allegedly passed on if you are one of those who believe he is in hiding). An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and singer Elvis Presley. Hired as: Elvis Impersonator Sharon T. March 17, 2014 Aster Retirement Community wants to thank you Elvis, John! ), Billed occasionally as The Worlds Greatest Clones, ODay, Rhyne, and sometimes Hazebrouck soldiered on for a few more years, playing clubs in their new home base of Virginia and nearby Pennsylvania. [6], The second known impersonator was a 16-year-old boy named Jim Smith. About then Wise began managing a band that included his brother, Jim. [33] A humorous example of mathematical extrapolation posits that if the growth of Elvis impersonators continued at the rate it did since 1977, by 2043, all humans on earth would be Elvis impersonators. The pub and everything in it, including Hamilton Beach mixers, towels, and soap dispensers was sold in 1988. This is a publicly distributed handout. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. I always do a show celebrating his birthday and remembering him on the anniversary of his death.. 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. Condition: Pre-owned Pre-owned It just took off, Wise says. By Clicking "OK" or any content on this site, you agree to allow cookies to be placed. A promoter was looking for an Elvis act, says Wise, who auditioned by singing Trying to Get to You., I sang a few lines and the guy said, Thats enough, Wise says. Wise was doing an Elvis show in Hawaii. (AP Photo, File), Leonard Cohen's Kids: Dad's Ex-Manager Fiddled With Trust, Ed Sheeran on His 2022: 'I Felt Like I Was Drowning', After 'Grotesque Conduct,' $29M for Kobe Bryant's Family, Radio Station Shares 'Incredibly Worrisome' Update on Missing DJ, God Save the King From Trying to Find a Band to Play Coronation, Man Who Worked for Disney Longer Than Anyone Has Died, Manager on Sizemore: 'There Is No Further Hope', Chris Rock Gets Ready to Discuss 'The Slap', Judge's Sentencing Remark Shows Murdaugh Family Pull, 2 Familiar Faces Were on Turbulent Lufthansa Flight, Woman Declared Dead Decades Ago Suddenly Turns Up. During the 1970s, a star attraction at the Aloha Lounge in Florida's Hawaiian Inn was Mr. Fatu. So O'Day moved on: to "Rock and Roll Heaven," a tour he dreamed up that would feature not just an Elvis, but Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jim Croce, too. It's almost like being in your zen, your spot.". It was not for money purposes. James's wife has suspicions of his feelings. A lot of guys stick to your basic Elvis songs, like Jailhouse Rock, but what I try to do is to expand it to let people know this is what Elvis did gospel, rock n roll, R&B. Their fellow townspeople understand this sentiment, but in the final scene they are shown burning those selfsame photographs, which display both Oscar and Emma dressed as Elvis. It was late 1977, Elvis had just died, and maybe there was a market for a tribute act. I would see a morbid aspect if we were being crassly commercial in cashing in on dead people. The shows are on the weekends before or after the dates so fans can sleep in. Danny was flabbergasted I said that, says Wise. He and Effie were divorced in 1979. It was very fresh at that point compared to now. 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. Soon after he received a call from his brother in Little Rock, Ark. Palaios, v.8, pp.623624. [11][bettersourceneeded] This joke may have its origins in Charlie Chaplin, who once did enter a lookalike contest and is often reported to have also placed third, although Chaplin's actual ranking in the contest is not known.[12]. The two still performed in what tiny clubs they could, but one day a waitress told ODay, who was singing Kenny Rogers songs with another act, that he bore some resemblance to the Gambler growler. Its no longer a wrap: the Rock and Roll Heaven band after the bandages came off. Collect, curate and comment on your files. The guys in the band were all laughing.. ACCESS RIGHTS ONLY. ", O'Day landed him a week-long gig in Florida for an eye-popping $15,000 (roughly $60,000 today), but the professional relationship soured after Wise said he never got paid and sued. Smith was featured several times on Pringle's regular TV show, though Smith only pretended to sing and play along with the music since he actually could neither sing nor play the guitar at that time.[7]. his performance, Wise imparts trivia about Elvis's music, as well as The four singers he found also got surgery (it was said to have cost O'Day $500,000, though Browne also notes the surgeries were less invasive than what Wise experienced) and press, but the audience didn't materialize and a planned Vegas run allegedly fell apart over O'Day's unwillingness to let "the Vegas casino establishment" take the reins of the show. Returning to Ocala, he found his marriage falling apart and began working construction jobs. In 1985, he resurfaced in his home state of Maryland, managing a bar, Dannys, on Route 50 in Easton. 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. He would sit around talking about things like that. He could visualize things happening or ways to promote them. [48] His single "Love's Not Made of Time" by "God Will Rule" was produced by John Centinaro,[49] who would work with another Elvis impersonator, Johnny Charro. What if, instead of one altered rocker, he had an all-star ensemble of them? Dennis Wise thought that was the end of it all and he would return to Hawaii, but instead, ODay asked him to meet at his hotel. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. >Las Vegas Leisure Guide. ODay later admitted the idea was also suggested by Rhyne and that he had his own doubts: I said, What, are you crazy? I was there in 1977 when Elvis died.. A fast and unbiased roundup of whats happening in the world today. We were offered a job to go to Hawaii, Wise says. He envisioned a world in which celebrity worship would rule, everyday people could be elevated to stardom, and there would be no shame in any of it. Fans who wish to pay homage to the King of Rock n Roll might enjoy attending Wises annual show commemorating the passing of Elvis. Kwok Lam-sang, known as Melvis, was a long-time Elvis impersonator in Hong Kong. One of the most popular modern plays dealing with Elvis impersonation is Lee Hall's Cooking with Elvis (1999). Often, the shows would start with OConnell as Morrison, vamping through the Doors Light My Fire, Love Me Two Times, and Touch Me, before Hazebrouck came out with Croce hits like Time in a Bottle and Bad, Bad Leroy Brown. After a brief intermission, the band launched into a stomping groove, and Caywood stuck her hand through a curtain holding a bottle of Southern Comfort before emerging feathers flying, she says and starting her Joplin set, which included Ball and Chain and Piece of My Heart. Then, Gamble would re-enter, karate-chopping his way through a medley of Elvis hits, before everyone reconvened onstage for a grand finale. Dennis's Stinson doesn't skimp on his Graceland shows. There have been at least three prominent Elvis impersonators of Samoan descent. 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. The Martin twins dressed-up as twin-Elvises in an episode of The Suite Life where they were appearing on a gameshow called "Risk It All! He said this guy is putting together a show and they need a Janis Joplin, Caywood recalls. Yeah, I thought, Oh, this is so weird, many times, Caywood says. A more scholarly examination of Elvis impersonation is, Impersonating Elvis by Leslie Rubinowski released in 1997. Of course theyll come., Rhyne sang credible Ronstadt covers, while her new husband dug into his performing past to mimic Rogers husky delivery. Dennis Wise shows off his reconstructed face to talk-show host Mike Douglas. "It is indeed one place minstrelsy ends up; where 19th-century white guys imitated what they thought of as slave culture and Elvis took from R & B performers, the impersonators copy the copy, if you willit's minstrelsy once-removed. Swipe your Rampart Rewards card at the door and receive 1,000 points! 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. "He was way ahead of the curve," says Jeff Pezzuti, founder of Eyellusion, responsible for recent. And lastly, Dennis is a bit aged these days and many of his promo photos are of younger years. Thomas into a local club, took the money, and then disappeared; it turned out he didnt actually rep Thomas at all. It was just not right. The Reno Gazette-Journal agreed, noting, Caywood-Moores Ball and Chain is a showstopper., As the Reno run began winding down, ODay planned to take Rock and Roll Heaven to its natural destination: Las Vegas. You know that saying about a lightbulb going off over your head? '"[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]. That landed him appearances on Good Morning America and The Mike Douglas Show., Cosmetic plastic surgery was just a novelty back then. released "Just Pretending" by Kurt Burrows is full of tips on how to talk, sing and dress like Elvis. I kind of took after him.. We just want to bring back 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. choose a career that pays tribute to the King of Rock and Roll. And it didnt do it merely with costumes or note-for-note vocal imitations: ODay hired plastic surgeons to physically alter his tribute singers to look as much as possible like the people they were honoring. A few months after Elvis died Wise traveled to Little Rock, Ark., to audition as an Elvis tribute artist. ODays experience with Wise may have ended badly, but it gave ODay a taste of big-time showbiz, and he wanted more. >Article Archives The two married in 1974, and ODay eventually adopted her two children from a previous marriage. Rock and Roll Heaven opened with the backup band playing an instrumental version of the Righteous Brothers dead-rocker hit of the same name. The voice, the lip curl, the jumpsuit he's a dead ringer. Thanks to an unstable household his mother had several husbands ODay eventually left home for California, where he hustled his way into other bands. The mementos may be gone. I really hated him then. On New Years Eve 1979, during the tours Reno run, she tossed down 50 sleeping pills and some champagne and hoped it would all end. Durston was the fifth houseguest evicted, lasting 37 days in the house. In 1978 Wise went through extensive plastic surgery to make himself look more like Elvis. We did a couple of state fairs where there were, like, four people in the audience., Overall, the short-lived careers of Danny ODays Rock and Roll Heaven tribute band made a pretty minute dent in music history. [57] Keil was influenced by Elvis impersonator Andy Stankovich who he saw live. king's untimely death at the age of 42. 'Rolling Stone' has the story of 'rogue '70s promoter' Danny O'Day. According to Caywood and Gamble, no one was getting paid much, if anything at all, and what pay existed wasnt always equal. For this paper, he interviewed many impersonators and draws parallels with minstrelsy. Graceland started buying up everything in the area. After James' recording failed commercially, the song was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman, becoming a number one song in 1969, and one of the most notable hits of Presley's career. To make himself feel better about the idea, ODay ran it by his mother: What if his younger brother, whod passed away at 21, had been an entertainer and died and had been resurrected by way of plastic surgery? Dennis You can see Dennis Wise on Friday, August 16 and Saturday, August 17 at Something nobodys ever done before, recalls Effie. 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. I was 30 or 32 and wild and crazy anyway. 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. Rolling Stone later ranked it No. It took a long time to get over that.. He knew the time was coming when the bond between rock icons and fans would grow so intense that an industry could rise to exploit that union. He says he and the band werent paid in full for their work. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. 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. His admiration for Elvis has spanned over forty years. They didnt know they were talented musicians. In Miami, the tour was booked into the Persian Room at the Marco Polo Hotel, but when not enough tickets were apparently sold, it was downgraded to the Swingers Lounge Disco. They dont know what theyre getting into. But nothing would stop them, or ODay. 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. In Reno, Gamble saw ODay handing out five-dollar bills to people at the door to lure them inside. He was on hand for the first year anniversary of Elvis' death at the Prince William County Fair in Manassas, VA on August 16, 1978. On their way out of Nevada after the tour ended, a few of the singers and band members made a pit stop in the desert. The plan was scuttled when someone accidentally tossed out the whole mess. [16], According to Gael Sweeney, Elvis impersonation offers a spectacle of the grotesque, the display of the fetishized Elvis body by impersonators who use a combination of Christian and New Age imagery and language to describe their devotion to The King. In the Sledge Hammer! By Laura Fitzpatrick Friday, Jan. 08, 2010. 2023 Getty Images. Ive never missed a year, says Wise. His marriage to Rhyne fell apart. Dave Ehlert from Waukegan, IL began performing as Elvis in 1967 a full 10 years before Elvis died. But more than 40 years ago, Danny ODay took imitation to a place no one imagined before or since. But several weeks later, he made his post-surgery television debut on Good Morning America, and at press conferences began imitating Presleys Southern drawl and polite use of maam and sir. His brother Jim watched one of his TV appearances in a bar. SUMMERS: So it is deep cuts and classics all weekend at the Birmingham Hilton. He didnt like that, the state fairs, says Effie. from the cities of Augusta, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana. [21], Blackpool in the UK, features a busy Elvis wedding chapel[22] based at the Norbreck Castle Hotel, Queens promenade, where couples can have their wedding vows renewed by Martin Fox. He performed regularly at the Elvis in the Park concerts at Cranwell Park in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, New Zealand. He would just come out with that stuff, you know?, Newspaper headline writers reveled in the weirdness of Rock and Roll Heaven, dubbing it the cloneheads and referring to ODay as the clone ranger. ODay brushed off any and all skepticism. To become the Gambler balladeer, ODay had a hair transplant, dyed his hair gray, and had his jowls tightened. Eric Lott, "All the King's Men: Elvis Impersonators and White Working-Class Masculinity." 3000 Miles to Graceland is a 2001 thriller film, starring Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox Arquette, David Arquette, Bokeem Woodbine, Christian Slater, and Kevin Pollak. 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. Why Book Elvis Impersonators. He plays original music with Enjoy the Zoo, a group whose members grew up in Las Vegas. Since Joplin imitators were rare back then, Caywood adds, I was the only person who could do that at the time., Caywood, a native Californian who sang in a sassy rasp reminiscent of Joplins, didnt know the full story. He knew what was coming, but the reality of it didnt really hit him until the doctor, who seemed like a nice enough guy, started carving into his face. 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. Wise channeled Elvis for years, performing with Brenda Lee in a concert in Chile and appearing on shows with Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin and Dick Clark. 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! But the fans gave their tender love to Shawn Klush of Pittston, PA, crowning him King in the finale. The band shifted into Also Sprach Zarathustra (the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey), the traditional orchestral opener for Presleys shows, and Gamble, in full Elvis sunglasses and jumpsuit, welcomed everyone to the performance. Sounds right, says Patten, laughing. Bags were removed from under OConnells eyes, and wrinkles from his cheeks. Decades before hologram tours, one rogue '70s promoter found another way to put Elvis, Janis, Jim Morrison, and other late icons back onstage. We're dealing with a man who can never be replaced. A few years later, Caywood and her then-husband, who was in the band, returned to the site, and there the pile remained, in all its mangled glory. Morrison had been found dead in a Paris bathtub seven years before. Getty Images provides access rights only and does not license the copyright in the image. In an episode of Married with Children, the character Peggy Bundy claims to have seen Elvis at a mall, prompting a large number of Elvis impersonators to come to her home so she can share her "experience.". $12.95 Cost of his first guitar, bought in 1946 at the Tupelo Hardware Store, $17.50 Tickets to dinner show at the Hilton, including lobster or steak, in the 1970s, 837 Consecutive sold-out shows at the International and Hilton, $43.7 million Worth of show tickets sold in Las Vegas (more than $150 million in 2008 dollars), 1956 Heartbreak Hotel, I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, Dont Be Cruel / Hound Dog, Love Me Tender, 1957 Too Much, All Shook Up, (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear, Jailhouse Rock, 1960 Stuck on You, Its Now or Never, Are You Lonesome Tonight?. We want to hear it. Marriott and the JW Marriott system are not associated with any part of The Resort at Summerlin (the Resort) other than the JW Marriott Las Vegas hotel (the Hotel) at the Resort. In the Summer 1997 issue of The Oxford American magazine author Tom Graves wrote an acclaimed article, Natural Born Elvis, about the first Elvis impersonator, Bill Haney, the only tribute artist Elvis himself ever went to see perform. Despite the media splash and countless articles that accompanied it, Rock and Roll Heaven didnt exactly rock the house when it launched. mannerisms. Hes lead singer for the dance band Deja Vu, which performs from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at South Point. ensemble. Watching from afar as he attempted to revive his deflated career as a new Elvis, Dennis Wise had his worries. At the time, he was referred to as the greatest Elvis impressionist around. dead celebs list, except for the year the Kurt Cobain catalog was sold. (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. Once the artists are gone, theyre gone, says Pezzuti. He was from the same family that made up the Keil Isles. repertoire, Dennis can answer most any request. ODay then arranged for the performers, still bandaged up and looking like mummies with large eyeholes, to be publicly unveiled on a network daytime show, America Alive! 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.). The Casino is not part of the Hotel and is not part of the JW Marriott system. 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. Sight unseen, always. And just like ODay, each was hungry for recognition and success, a very different type of American dream.