Shook up! SCREEN IDOL
was an attempt to help Presley but some believed it was a bid to get his own back and earn an income after being fired.
John said: “He was more than just a bodyguard, he was Elvis’ friend.
“He met him in a toilet when two gurriers were attacking him and he saw them off. Red remained with him almost to the end, until he was sacked with his cousin Sonny in 1976. He sticks in my mind for his honesty, as a man who really tried to help Elvis and was dedicated to him.
“I visited Graceland on the 30th anniversary of his death and wish I could have afforded to go again.
“On Wednesday I’ll remember that visit to Memphis and be grateful for the happy times.
“He changed my whole life, he wasn’t your normal superstar. It goes beyond music, it goes beyond good looks. When you are bitten by the Elvis bug there is no cure – there is no antidote.”
Award-winning Elvis tribute act Tom Gilson, from Lucan in Dublin, is booked for back-to-back gigs such is the demand around the anniversary.
Tom, 47, said: “It’s amazing just how popular he is. Even the younger audience who are not familiar with his songs come back again and again and buy the CDS. His magic still works.
“I started out by accident doing a party piece for a friend’s 40th birthday and it just took off from there.
“I’m a bookbinder by trade so it’s a big contrast to singing and shaking on stage but any job would be a big contrast to an Elvis tribute act.
“I really enjoy it. There’s only one Elvis but it’s great to be bringing that His first gold record was for Heartbreak Hotel in 1956, the same year his first movie, Love Me Tender, was released. Elvis was drafted into the US Army in March 1958 and served six years – two years on active duty and four
When you get bitten by the Elvis bug there is no cure, there is no antidote JOHN KAVANAGH ON HIS DEVOTION TO PRESLEY
He bought Graceland in 1957 for $102,500. Elvis – Aloha from Hawaii was seen in 40 countries. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll has been inducted into five Halls of Fame and won three Grammy awards, all for gospel music. He died at home in Graceland on August 16, 1977, aged 42. energy and performing his music for a live audience. Wednesday will be tinged with sadness but it’s all about celebrating his legacy. There’s never been anybody like him.”
Ollie Berry, president of the Elvis Wonder of You Fan Club, will sing backing vocals at an Elvis tribute event next weekend.
He said: “There’s nearly as much going on in Ireland as there is in Memphis. For such a small country the number of gigs is phenomenal.
“It’s the ultimate rags to riches story, a boy who grew up in a two-room shack in Tupelo who went on to become the world’s greatest star.
“Every guy wanted to look like Elvis, every girl wanted to meet him.
“I feel sad in the sense that he had so much more to give. He’d given so much of himself, he really had.”
sylvia.pownall@irishmirror.ie