Why Book Elvis Impersonators. Wow your guests with a visit from the King of Rock and Roll! Honeymoon in Vegas is a 1992 comedic movie which was directed by Andrew Bergman. What if, instead of one altered rocker, he had an all-star ensemble of them? They were bombs, man, says Caywood of the earliest, sparsely attended Rock and Roll Heaven shows. Some of these impersonators go to Graceland on the anniversary of Presley's death to make their personal tribute to the artist. His mother introduced Joplin, Missouri native Dennis Wise to the music Ultimately, just as in the living-person rock business, money changed everything. "That was a very strange day," Wise says. 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. Later that year, he was joined by the rest of the clone army for their post-surgery reveal on the daytime show America Alive! I feel weird saying this, but basically I was the hit of the show, says Caywood. All of a sudden, it started hurting real bad, Wise recalls. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Danny O'Day is well, he was in a category all his own. Elvis impersonators are one of the most frequently booked look-alikes and tribute artists. Dennis Wise began listening to Elvis at the tender age of 5, often belting out his favorite song "Heartbreak Hotel." His tribute to Elvis turned professional just one year after the. 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. Way before technology, there wasnt anything else you could do.. This is a publicly distributed handout. He didnt like that, the state fairs, says Effie. SELECT OPTIONS SAVE TO CART 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). He said, Give me something! and a nurse came over and plunged this needle into me. Wise soon went under. "[15] There are even some performers who satirize other Elvis impersonators. He uses a sophisticated lighting system to help convey the many moods of the Elvis oeuvre: rock, blues, country, gospel, and R&B. 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. $52 million Amount the Elvis estate made in 2008, according to Forbes. She wouldnt let go, he chuckles. Some people thought it was very bizarre, but people were interested in it from the standpoint of business.. He needed those people if we were going to play in Las Vegas, says Caywood. Many other Elvis impersonators appeared while Elvis was still alive, evolving mainly out of small town talent competitions which took their influences from major music artists of that time. Erwin, D.H. and Droser, M.L., 1993. A major post-mortem event in Elvis history occurred in Orlando on Jan. 31, 1978, when Dennis Wise underwent six hours of plastic surgery to look more like The King of rock 'n' roll. It was such an odd thing. It was like the stream of consciousness off the top of his head. ), 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. We were offered a job to go to Hawaii, Wise says. some memories. Francesca Brittan, "Women Who 'Do Elvis': Authenticity, Masculinity and Masquerade", published in the. It also featured Clearance Giddens, a black Elvis. When I take these people in, they already have a basic resemblance to the person I want them to look like, he said. The two married in 1974, and ODay eventually adopted her two children from a previous marriage. As it turned out, Duke OConnell, the drummer in an ODay-managed cover band called the Copycats, had been singing Doors songs in that group. 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. He almost never talked about his previous life or Rock and Roll Heaven with family (including a son, Andrew, who performs solo and with an Eighties tribute band around D.C.). It was her motivation that helped him become an Elvis tribute artist. In 1956, shortly after Elvis began to rise in popularity, Smith began jumping on stage and imitating Elvis. appealed to everybody. He was so popular because he was kind and down 2023 Getty Images. He said this guy is putting together a show and they need a Janis Joplin, Caywood recalls. The plus sides, he still has some good moves, accomplishes an acceptable Elvis appearance and performance, but his voice doesn't sound much like Elvis. 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. 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. About then Wise began managing a band that included his brother, Jim. Fans Also Viewed Monster Jam See all 201 Events Monster Energy Supercross See all 13 Events Ed Sheeran But none of it gave ODay even the slightest pause; by now, he was in full Barnum mode. Elvis taxa. He Used Plastic Surgery to Raise Rock Stars From the Dead, These Musicians are Supplying Ukraine With Drones, Burt Bacharach, Master Pop Composer, Dead at 94, New Bootleg Series Installment Maps The Long Road To Dylans Resurrection. ODay also landed them an appearance on Tom Snyders late-night network talk show. He 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. 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. [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. '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. All Rights reserved. Croce hadnt heard of the tribute until contacted by Rolling Stone, and neither the Joplin estate nor the surviving members of the Doors remember these clones from more than 40 years ago. Siegfried & Roy, and Wayne Newton. roll, gospel, pop, and country. Jim called Dennis, who was then selling Toyotas at a Honolulu dealership, and asked if hed want to come to Arkansas and try out for their band. (Photo by Getty Images) Save PURCHASE A LICENSE Get personalized pricing by telling us when, where, and how you want to use this asset. Update information for Dennis Wise More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro Known For The Alaska Experiment Self 2008 The Mike Douglas Show Self - Elvis Presley Impersonator 1978 Hide all | | Edit Filmography Hide Self (3 credits) 2008 The Alaska Experiment (TV Series) Self - Take the Long Way Home (2008) . [59][60] Like Alphonso Keil before him,[61] Angel regularly performs at the Parkes Elvis Festival, an event that now attracts 20,000. When I heard that, it struck me as funny. Wise trekked to ODays home in Ocala, just in time to see his boss roll up, living large. By Laura Fitzpatrick Friday, Jan. 08, 2010. Elvis Presley: The King's best impersonators. [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. The requisite jumpsuits and jewelry are there too. I have no idea. Other honors bestowed upon Wise We were on the road, home-schooling our son, Shane, and he wanted to play ball and do things like normal kids do, Wise says. [58], Another Elvis of Samoan descent is Johnny Angel. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. American Sound Studio was gaining a reputation in the industry as the Box Tops had just recorded \"The Letter\" there so James relocated to Memphis. Theyre yelling at me, How do you feel? What are you thinking?, Wise says he didnt tell anyone in his family, including his parents or brother, since he feared they would think he was nuts. Wise is King for a Night on Saturday at Boulder Station. He is a published author and has appeared on New Zealand television in ads, Like Minds, Like Mine. In The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, a dancer named Tott with a striking resemblance to Elvis Presley appears on Windfall Island. As she later told the Orlando Sentinel, the whole show gave her the creeps due to real weird girls who started hanging out during my shows, biker types. She complained to ODay about her female-Elvis role, but he wasnt listening: Nothing I said seemed to sink in, Rhyne said. At an early stop on the tour, one reviewer noted that few of the performers resembled their dead counterparts that much. With more than 600 Presley tunes in his The 24th season of the American adaptation of Big Brother featured Daniel Durston, an Elvis impersonator from Las Vegas, Nevada. [45] The following year in August 1977, he was appearing at the Colonial Inn, fronting a nine-piece band called Coastal Connection. Dry-ice fog made a cameo, too. Each show is an electric, high-energy performance backed by a full Finding the right plastic surgeon to tweak Wises lips and cheeks and straighten his nose was tougher. 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. Playwright Charlotte Jones' award-winning play "Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis"[32] opened 15 April 1999 at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Cruise kept asking James if he had any songs that would be right for Elvis. [6], The second known impersonator was a 16-year-old boy named Jim Smith. Caywood was already a fireball, get-out-of-my-fucking-way person, as she says, with a bad-ass stare and freewheeling vibe to match. 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. 91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. I wanted to give him some stability, so we decided to find a home in the Entertainment Capital.. Sounds right, says Patten, laughing. To this day, you can easily see tributes to ABBA, Rush, or Eighties and Nineties hip-hop. The group slogged on, hitting up clubs and nightclubs, until the next logical step in the traditional rock-band arc arrived a reunion tour. Wise will perform his annual Elvis birthday concert Saturday at the Chrome Lounge at Santa Fe Station. [4][5], Contrary to popular belief, Elvis impersonators have existed since the mid-1950s, just after Elvis Presley himself began his career. According to Caywood and Gamble, no one was getting paid much, if anything at all, and what pay existed wasnt always equal. O'Day's first foray into the world of tribute acts came in 1977, when he met Dennis Wise, who sounded close enough to Elvis that O'Day convinced him to go under the knife and have his nose, cheeks, and lips made to look more like the King's. 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 idea was to say I was trying to develop the sneer, I guess, he says. He was always looking for his new project, says Patten. Dennis Wise knows exactly where he was when Elvis Presley died Aug. 16, 1977. He wound up in one called the Flim Flam Band, where his future wife Effie saw him perform covers in her hometown of Ocala, Florida, in the early Seventies. A fast and unbiased roundup of whats happening in the world today. Marcia is a schoolteacher, teaching the history of music. [53], Alphonso Keil was an Elvis impersonator and professional musician. In the Digimon Adventure anime, one of the main villains, Etemon has the character of an Elvis impersonator. He has performed more than 10,000 shows as an Elvis impersonator. 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. After spending the next two years on the road, he and his wife, Marcia, decided to settle down in Las Vegas. [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. ODay who used the word clone while agreeing that that wasnt quite the right scientific term for what he had paid doctors to do even boasted hed found a chemist in Los Angeles who could alter someones pigment. First of all, you dont believe it. audition for Wise as an Elvis Presley impersonator. I dont know where it went or if somebody didnt get paid.). With his sandy-brown hair, six-foot-plus height, and strong voice, ODay had the goods: He had talent, and he could play almost any instrument there was, Effie recalls. 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. He has every album Elvis ever recorded and pictures by the thousands. Self Their memories of Rock and Roll Heaven are decidedly mixed. How would Danny come up with that? she says. 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. America," "Today," "Oprah Winfrey," "The Mike Douglas Show," "48 Hours", 9 reviews. 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 . In the mid-1970s, Andy Kaufman made an Elvis impersonation part of his act. Gradually Elvis became a bigger part of the act. Ive got this kid who does a great Otis Redding, but hes white, he said straight-faced. Get ready, music lovers, because Record Store Day 2023 is right around the corner! from the cities of Augusta, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana. He is considered to be one of the first notable Elvis impersonators and even Presley himself supposedly said that Kaufman was his favorite impersonator. Shed previously worked in a health-food store, but for Rock and Roll Heaven, she developed a fleeting taste for Southern Comfort, Joplins drink of choice.
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