“ORION, PERSONIFICATION OF ELVIS” – By Des Kelly
Very recently, a television documentary caught my attention, and held it tenaciously, even though it was a fairly long “true story” regarding James (Jimmy) Ellis, a simple Americsn Country lad whose only wish was to be a great entertainer, pursued his dream, made his way to the “big sticks”, to finally be presented with the stage-name Orion, the masked “ghost” of the king of rock n roll Elvis Presley.
This is just an introduction to what was a most interesting story, which proves how tremendously difficult it is, for anyone to gain recognition, let alone “Star-status”, in
the entertainment field, in America, or anywhere else, for that matter. Orion “made it” alright, but only as a masked
Lone Ranger figure, emulating his own idol, Elvis, who had already passed on. Orion did not need that mask, and this is where the story becomes interesting. Orion, the man who would be King, actually recorded a song with the great Jerry Lee Lewis. The song was”Save the last dance for me”.
Credits for the song include the name Elvis Presley, but folks, Elvis was nowhere around when this song was recorded at the Sun Studio, in Nashville, Tennessee. It was Jerry Lee Lewis singing the song, with the co-oporation of Jimmy Ellis (Orion, without the mask).
I certainly hope that all our readers of eLanka will read and enjoy the story of “Orion, Personification of Elvis.
Desmond Kelly.
(Editor -in-Chief) eLanka
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King – poignant story of Elvis soundalike
Source:The Guardian
The tale of a talented singer and his part in the Elvis-is-alive myth is stranger than fiction, and comes with a sad, shocking ending
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