ELVIS TRIBUTE AT THE PARK

I admit having a fondness for tribute bands and artists. And this is for several reasons. The main one being that they are generally good musicians who love the artists they give tribute to. Among others, I've seen The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and the David Lee Roth version of Van Halen. Needless to say , there's a slim to none chance I would see them in person. So a tribute band is usually the best and only way to experience them live. And frankly they've all been terrific. It's amazing how similar they look and sound. Besides, it's hard to beat the price, which is usually free where I live. I guess it's one of the perks of living in SoCal.

This last one I've gone to was an Elvis tribute. I know Elvis impersonators are a cliche and a joke. And for good reason. You can't get any cornier than the Flying Elvi. Which are officially sanctioned by Elvis Enterprises. Fortunately, and to quote Mr. Larry David, the Elvis impersonator was "pretty pretty good." He didn't take himself seriously and was funny to boot. Probably funnier than the real Elvis. He spent a great deal of time with the audience and would mostly go after the older ladies, which was fun. He sung a good deal of the hits. There was one song from one of his movies that I've never heard before that was really good. It was a bluesy number that I wish I could remember. I wish I knew his real name so that I could recommend him. All I remember is that his first name was Richard and spends a great deal of his time in Vegas.

One of the songs he played was "Heartbreak Hotel". The song has a really interesting story. Elvis was only 21 years old when he recorded it. This was the first single he recorded for RCA. Sun Records sold Elvis's contract for $40,000. The idea for the song came to Thomas Durden when he read a newspaper article about a person who killed himself in a hotel room. The suicide note said, "I walk a lonely street." The song was recorded in the hallway to get that echo sound . When the RCA executives heard the song, they hated it and didn't want to release it. It was released anyway and the song was number one for eight weeks. “Heartbreak Hotel” has become such a big part of the American culture that there's even a hotel named after it in Memphis. You can't say that about that many songs. Maybe just Hotel California. If you ever get a chance to see an Elvis impersonator, by all means go. It just might surprise you.