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It’s July, and I always think back to that hot, hot day in Dallas in 2005, when I got a chance to sing Elvis songs with Presley’s last touring keyboard player, Tony Brown, on piano. Not only Brown, but also Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco) on guitar and Johnny Reno (ex- of Chris Isaak) on sax. And Holly Williams, Hank Jr.’s daughter, singing backup. Whew!
This was the annual BBQ Bash fundraiser at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, where chef Dean Fearing, a guitar slinger himself, gathered fellow musician/chefs and ringers every summer (until last year, when he left the Mansion for another venture).
I’d covered one of the bashes, and Fearing heard that I liked singing Elvis, and invited me to join the troupe. In 2004, I did Ricky Nelson’s “Stood Up” and Elvis’ “Treat Me Nice.” Now, I’d be doing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and “Don’t Be Cruel” to about 500 guests.
What a thrill, at rehearsal, having Tony Brown sit down and play that familiar opening run, and then nod for me to begin. On stage, I muffled some of “Cruel,” but thought we did OK. Tony leaned into a microphone and intoned: “Elvis has left the building.” All around the Mansion on Turtle Creek, audience members called me “Elvis,” and one man told me, “I never liked Elvis, but I liked you singing Elvis.”
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But, as I returned to my table, Wynonna, the big guest star for the 2005 Bash, brought me down to earth. “Boy, I’ll tell you one thing,” she said. “You’ve got a lot of courage.”
Wynonna, of course, had her own experience with that song—on a slightly loftier level. She recorded it back in 1987, when she was with her Mom in the Judds, with backup vocals from none other than the Jordanaires. |
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