His brother had arranged an Standing Outside Graceland, A sermon for Reformation Day/Sunday Described as the original and best-known Elvis Presley tribute artist, Dennis Wise has performed more than 10,000 shows in all 50 states and in other countries including Peru, England and Japan. James felt Elvis needed a mature rock 'n' roll song to bring him back as Tom Jones was a hot artist at the time. 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. Saturdays show will be a family affair. 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. Whether he knew it or not, ODay saw the future our future. From 1982 to 1984 he had a nightclub across the street from Graceland in Memphis. A '70s Promoter Used Plastic Surgery to Bring Back Elvis, Janis Joplin listening to the recordings of Elvis on the family phonograph. king's untimely death at the age of 42. 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. Thats up from $49 million in 2007. DENNIS WISE FANTASIES LP (ELVIS IMPERSONATOR) AUTOGRAPHED SLEEVE - eBay Why Book Elvis Impersonators. Must be 21 to attend this Las Vegas event. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at the casino cashier or by calling 702-507-5980 starting January 7, 2020. 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. [23], The largest gathering of Elvis impersonators occurred on 12 July 2014 when 895 impersonators gathered in the Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, North Carolina.[24]. ., Silhouettes by Paul Guzzo, Record Details, Catalogue: 3829/M15-3829, Elvis Lives! And here, at Florida Hospital, on Jan. 31, 1978, Dennis Wise underwent six hours of plastic. He once sang some songs on Karaoke at a 30th birthday party which his mother in law loved. Returning to Ocala, he found his marriage falling apart and began working construction jobs. When ODay proposed the idea of surgical transformation to them, the newly hired hands were either eager or puzzled, depending on the singer. As far back as the Seventies, touring and club acts meticulously did their best to look and sound like the Doors or the very much alive Bruce Springsteen, and tourists in Manhattan flocked to Beatlemania, a Fab Four tribute that ran on Broadway for two years. The play features a Chinese Elvis impersonator called Timothy Wong, who transforms the lives of the characters in the play. And you have the fans who want to see that artist continue., ODay would never be on the level of Colonel Tom Parker, but he was something else entirely rocks own P.T. You can see Dennis Wise on Friday, August 16 and Saturday, August 17 at Gradually Elvis became a bigger part of the act. Dennis Wise has the honor of performing over 10,000 shows. [54] He was born in Samoa in 1944, came to New Zealand as a boy. An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and singer Elvis Presley. He performed regularly at the Elvis in the Park concerts at Cranwell Park in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, New Zealand. When I take these people in, they already have a basic resemblance to the person I want them to look like, he said. I would tell those people not to do it. They dont know what theyre getting into. But nothing would stop them, or ODay. My mother has been singing with him for j. According to a popular myth, Presley himself entered an Elvis lookalike contest at a local restaurant shortly before his death, and came in third place. $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?. Dennis's television credits include appearances on "Good Morning Elvis Impersonators for Hire in Ontario | GigSalad Ultimately, just as in the living-person rock business, money changed everything. It's almost like being in your zen, your spot.". Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect the correct date that Elvis Presley died. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at the casino cashier or by calling 702-507-5980 starting January 7, 2020. Following the transformation, he made his TV debut on Good Morning Americain early 1978. lvis Presley had been dead for six months when the plastic-surgeons knife plunged into Dennis Wise. Elvis Presley: The King's best impersonators - CNN Style Hazebrouck, who was still performing as Croce, rejoined ODay and Rhyne for a Kenny, Linda, and Jim show. Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account. [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. My dad has been an Elvis Tribute Artist for over 30 years. In Harry Stecopoulos and Michael Uebel, eds., "The Pedant's Return: Why the Things You Think Are Wrong Are Right" By Andrea Barham. (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. Dennis Wise knows exactly where he was when Elvis Presley died Aug.16, 1977. Pop singer Bruno Mars, only six years old at the time, has a small role as a young Elvis impersonator. So Jim said, Lets do a little Elvis thing in the show.. American protest singer Phil Ochs appeared in concert in March 1970 at Carnegie Hall wearing a 1950s Elvis-style gold lam suit, made for him by Presley's costumer Nudie Cohen. He was hired and began working at it full-time in November 1977. Eventually, ODay was able to smuggle Wise into that clinic on that day in January 1978. Some of these impersonators go to Graceland on the anniversary of Presley's death to make their personal tribute to the artist. He says he and the band werent paid in full for their work. He wanted all the glory. BY THE NUMBERS $52 million Amount the Elvis estate made. Climaxes of the play are surreal fantasy scenes in which Dad's hallucinatory Elvis dreams are bursting into popular Presley songs as a reminiscence of his one-time persona of Elvis impersonator. Debbie loved all that. CKX, INC, which now owns Elvis Presley's estate, has full control including the grave of Elvis Presley and his family members along with his home Graceland in early 2008. Im sure he didnt have the money. About then Wise began managing a band that included his brother, Jim. The comedy centers on the family life of Dad, an Elvis impersonator who was paralyzed in a car crash and is forced to spend the rest of his life in a wheel chair. Elvis has spanned over forty years. He said this guy is putting together a show and they need a Janis Joplin, Caywood recalls. The plot of the Father Ted episode "Competition Time" revolves around the three main characters Father Ted Crilly, Father Dougal McGuire and Father Jack Hackett entering the "All Priests Stars in Their Eyes Lookalike Competition". Dennis Wise, 54, has been an Elvis impersonator for more than 30 years, beginning with a garage band he started with his brother. Way before technology, there wasnt anything else you could do.. Keeping his spirit alive are tens of thousands of professional Elvis impersonators around the world, and millions more who do it for kicks. 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. 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. Ive got this kid who does a great Otis Redding, but hes white, he said straight-faced. Once the artists are gone, theyre gone, says Pezzuti. It was perfect, but it was a lot of trouble, Wise says. According to Rolling Stone, less than 50 people turned up to their debut show in Atlanta. 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. Yeah, I thought, Oh, this is so weird, many times, Caywood says. I wanted to be an entertainer, and who doesnt want to be like Elvis come on!, Effie insists the idea was her late husbands. 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. 7:30 pm. At an early stop on the tour, one reviewer noted that few of the performers resembled their dead counterparts that much. It just took off, Wise says. There are many different types of Elvis impersonators and Elvis tribute artists. Original faux-Elvis Dennis Wise practices post-surgery with promoter Danny ODay, 1978. His admiration for In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Elvis impersonators are a type of pedestrians commonly spawned in the Las Venturas (which is modelled after Las Vegas) area of the map. 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. But all were doing is emulating the dead people with all due respect.. Dennis Wise sang Trying to Get to You for ODay and the band, and ODay told him that was all he needed to hear. 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. Eric Lott, "All the King's Men: Elvis Impersonators and White Working-Class Masculinity." I got up one night and did Heartbreak Hotel and the fans liked it, 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. The first night, Wise was singing Love Me Tender and passing out scarves la the King when a woman in the crowd came up and grabbed him in the crotch. When I heard that, it struck me as funny. 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. $10 million Approximate worth of his estate when he died in 1977, More than 1 billion Best guess of his record sales, according to Elvis Presley Enterprises (the company that owns his likeness and everything else), 147 Number of albums and singles that had been certified gold/platinum/multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, 31 Number of feature films that Elvis appeared in from 1956 to 1969. include being named by Dick Clark as one of the three best Elvis 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. Their memories of Rock and Roll Heaven are decidedly mixed. I wanted to give him some stability, so we decided to find a home in the Entertainment Capital.. Graceland started buying up everything in the area. In paleontology, researchers D.H. Erwin and M.L. We started playing in clubs in Joplin and in Oklahoma and Id do a little Elvis skit in the act, Wise says. They bought us out as well. He was popular in the South, but not so much around the rest of the country. Once again, ODay arranged for the operations, forked over the money (supposedly in the area of $500,000, partly from loans), and alerted the press. Dennis Wise is the ultimate Elvis Presley fan. He also has an Elvis tribute act. 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. [37] In February 2013, he was set to appear at the annual fourth tribute to Elvis Presley event, held at the Auckland Botanic Gardens in Manurewa, Auckland. Nelson even performed alongside Presley when they first met, also in 1954. [56] Also during the 1960s, he played rhythm guitar with The Zodiacs and then The Kavaliers, a group fronted by his brother Freddie. Infuriated, Gamble says he followed ODay back home to Florida to demand his money. In 1978 Wise went through extensive plastic surgery to make himself look more like Elvis. 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. He was always looking for his new project, says Patten. ODay scrambled and found a replacement after several tries. But thanks to that original operation, Wise still makes a respectable living re-creating Elvis in the Deja Vu Dance and Show Band, a multi-artist tribute act in Vegas. This tribute to He heard ODay was now working with a country band something about tributes to country singers and tracked them down in a bar. 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. In the Sledge Hammer! 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. 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.". Novelist William McCranor Henderson wrote about his attempts to learn the Elvis trade in, I, Elvis: Confessions of a Counterfeit King. Decades before hologram tours, one rogue '70s promoter found another way to put Elvis, Janis, Jim Morrison, and other late icons back onstage. Dennis Wise knows exactly where he was when Elvis Presley died Aug. 16, 1977. [40][41], Andy Stankovich is a well known Elvis impersonator from Auckland, New Zealand. Shane will be drumming for with his dad on Saturday night. 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. 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. Now, he travels the world with his Elvis Tribute Show. Cram him into brown leather pants and he might pass for the Lizard King. Palaios, v.8, pp.623624. [38], Des Perenara, a Maori Elvis comes from Auckland but is now based in Cardigan, Wales. What followed was anything but conventional, even during an era, the Seventies, when genuine rock stars would pop up on campy network TV specials. CONTINUE ON TO: "[15] There are even some performers who satirize other Elvis impersonators. (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. Dennis Wise - IMDb He said, Give me something! and a nurse came over and plunged this needle into me. Wise soon went under. Shawn Klush - Top 10 Elvis Impersonators - TIME 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. A fast and unbiased roundup of whats happening in the world today. Read more in our, Elvis Presley performs in Providence, R.I., on May 23, 1977. In his mind, Rock and Roll Heaven would merely be the beginning. In February 1980, friends, family, and roller-disco ushers gathered at the Fifth National Banque, a club in Norfolk, Virginia, for what ODays business manager would call the first clonehead marriage. Their faces covered in bandages, ODay and Rhyne took their vows; even the bride and groom figurines on the cake were swathed in bandages. (I wasnt there, but he wouldnt do that, counters Effie. The horns, strings and vocals of the Holladay Sisters were later overdubbed. 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. Danny was flabbergasted I said that, says Wise. My whole life has been dedicated to Elvis.. At the tours debut, at the Southeastern Music Fair in Atlanta in September 1978, fewer than 50 people showed up. \"Suspicious Minds\" was widely regarded as the single that returned Presley's career success, following his '68 Comeback Special. episode "All Shook Up", Hammer (David Rasche) investigates a string of Elvis impersonator murders by participating in a contest as one. It was not for money purposes. Rock and Roll Heaven opened with the backup band playing an instrumental version of the Righteous Brothers dead-rocker hit of the same name. 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. EXCELLENT CONDITION, SIGNED SLEEVE SAYS, "SHIRLEY BEST WISHES, DENNIS WISE". Get our roundup of longform stories every Saturday. Other honors bestowed upon Wise 2016 Rampart Casino at The Resort at Summerlin. Something nobodys ever done before, recalls Effie. Different Elvis artists have been in the main role with very detailed outfits, wigs and props. Bandstand.". There are many Elvis contests for amateurs, festivals and other events held across the world celebrating Elvis and his many impersonators. (Photo by Getty Images) Save PURCHASE A LICENSE Get personalized pricing by telling us when, where, and how you want to use this asset. 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. Dennis expertly recreates Elvis's movements, phrasings, and 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. Wise is the ultimate fan and the ultimate Elvis performer, with more Ironically, the makeover would be inspired in part by Erin Rhyne, the female Elvis in Rock and Roll Heaven and the member of the troupe whod been the most damaged by it. Thomas into a local club, took the money, and then disappeared; it turned out he didnt actually rep Thomas at all. From a standpoint of being original and doing something that wasnt being done, I give him credit for putting his neck on the line. He could have made a killing in Atlantic City., Some involved in Rock and Roll Heaven wanted to forget it ever existed. The novelty of the show, at a club in Melbourne, Florida, combined with all the press the surgery had received, commanded a rock-star-worthy fee $15,000 for the first week (about $60,000 today). His performance may be considered the first significant Elvis impersonation. Wise has been performing his Elvis act longer than almost anybody since 1977. He has been performing as Elvis since around 2000. ), For Caywood, Gamble, and Wise, the scars have healed or are now barely detectable; Gambles mustache covers up his lip cut. ELVIS LIVES! Local impersonator keeps 'em all shook up I got more publicity over that than John Travolta did in 1978. Travolta was popular at the time because of Saturday Night Fever and Grease.. 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. Dennis Wise has been paying tribute to Elvis for more than 30 years. He did say, Well, what can we do? 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. ODay was finally the headlining star attraction hed always longed to be, if not the way hed quite planned it. 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. It's only fitting that he would choose a career that pays tribute to the King of Rock and Roll. [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. Besides performing throughout New Zealand, he has performed in Australia, Hawaii, Fiji and the United States.[42]. The shit hit the fan. When the run ended in March 1979, Caywood recalls a big blowup over money, and the band broke up. Hes lead singer for the dance band Deja Vu, which performs from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at South Point. 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! David stayed with Elvis at Graceland for 17 years, and traveled with him until the end, August 16,1977. released "Just Pretending" by Kurt Burrows is full of tips on how to talk, sing and dress like Elvis. In this country, we always want what we cant have, ODay once said. Elvis Has Left the Building a film in which a woman kills multiple Elvis impersonators. Know more in just minutes with our free newsletters. Barnum, a man who could, in Wises words, sell ice cream in hell. If that meant hiring someone to turn living singers into facsimiles of deceased ones, so be it. would play the song much too loudly and much too often. ODay rounded up another Jim Croce and another Elvis and found a local Florida musician to go under the knife to more closely resemble Buddy Holly. Dennis Elvis impersonator - Wikipedia He talked about re-creating Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, and the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd whod died in a plane crash the year before. >Article Archives The results could be comical: Caywood recalls a drive when some of them were pulled over by cops, who thought the bandaged people in the van were thieves. We were traveling the country, doing two shows a night six and seven nights a week.. But dad drove a truck and was gone all the time and so Mom always listened to Elvis records. Finding the right plastic surgeon to tweak Wises lips and cheeks and straighten his nose was tougher. For Elvis tribute artists like Trent Carlini, Jesse Garon, Darren Lee and Pete "Big Elvis" Vallee, the message they try to relate on stage is one of fun energy and high intensity, a routine that Elvis himself would be proud of. We called him the flim-flam man with the Flim Flam Band.. There are also several university studies, for instance, Eric Lott's critical essay, "All the King's Men: Elvis Impersonators and White Working-Class Masculinity," published in Harry Stecopoulos and Michael Uebel, eds., Race and the Subject of Masculinities (Duke University Press, 1997). repertoire, Dennis can answer most any request. Dennis Colt, the first famous Elvis impersonator, circa 1978. All rights reserved. The film version also stars Ossie Davis as Jack, a black man who claims to be John F. Kennedy. 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. Dean Vegas and Paul Fenech from Australia were also booked for the event. He needed those people if we were going to play in Las Vegas, says Caywood. And I wasnt being paid anywhere near what Jim Morrison was. "[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. 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. some memories. Sounds right, says Patten, laughing. [45] The following year in August 1977, he was appearing at the Colonial Inn, fronting a nine-piece band called Coastal Connection. We did a couple of state fairs where there were, like, four people in the audience.. All of a sudden, it started hurting real bad, Wise recalls. An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and singer Elvis Presley. Airlines have offered discount fares for look-alikes on Elvis holidays His omnipresence hauntingly hovers"[19], In August 1996, Elvis Herselvis, a female Elvis impersonator and drag king, who had been invited to take part in the Second International Elvis Presley Conference held at the University of Mississippi in order "to test the limits of race, class, sexuality and property," was banned from this event by the conservative sponsors of Elvis Presley Enterprises.[20]. People were calling me from all over the world. James said that late one night, he was fooling around on his Fender guitar and using his Hammond organ pedals for a bass line and came up with what he thought was a catchy melody.
