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The Original Elvis Tribute 2013 (USA) |
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More than 35 years after his death, ELVIS PRESLEY remains one of the greatest icons in popular culture. With more than 1 billion records sold he remains the all-time best selling solo artist, and his albums still continue to sell in significant quantities. His movies and concerts have been reissued numerous times on DVD. His home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee is visited by 600.000 tourists annually, and recently, on August 16th, 2012, more than 75,000 fans visited his grave to celebrate The King’s legacy. Following four wildly successful Europe tours in ’09, ’10 and ‘11, the topnotch theater production ‘THE ORIGINAL ELVIS TRIBUTE’ (USA) will be returning for shows in May ‘13. One of the things that makes this show stand out from the others is that it features several backing vocalists and musicians who originally worked with Elvis. The big surprise of the 2012 tour, Elvis' backing-vocalists GINGER and MARY HOLLADAY, will be back again. On our highly successful tour earlier this year, they delighted the crowds with their great voices and warm personalities. Audiences all over Europe loved it when the Holladays told them stories about working with Elvis in the studio with great warmth and enthusiasm. And their singing was unbelievable – their voices sounding just like they did when they recorded those great hits together with Elvis. Many fans told us that hearing the Holladays sing in person gave them goosebumps. The Holladay sisters were amongst the leading female backing vocalists in the 60s and 70s, and their powerful voices are featured on countless hits & classics. Elvis loved their voices, and he always made sure that Felton would use the Holladays for his recording sessions. Ginger and Mary can be heard on hit-singles like ‘Suspicious Minds’, ‘In The Ghetto’, ‘The Wonder Of You’ and ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’, as well as on 16 original albums like ‘From Elvis In Memphis’, ‘That’s The Way It Is’, ‘Elvis Country’ and the Grammy award-winning ‘He Touched Me’. Elvis’ bassplayer DUKE BARDWELL did 181 shows together with Elvis, and also worked in the studio with him. With his Southern charm and his skillful playing, he’s a tremendous asset to our show. Duke has been with us right from the start, and like with the Holladays and Stump has only done Elvis shows exclusively with us. Duke was very popular in our previous Euro tours, and we’re glad that he is back for another tour. One of the highlights of our show is Duke’s beautiful version of ‘Peace In The Valley’, which on our most recent tour got him a standing ovation every single night. A high profile documentary on his association with Elvis titled ‘Duke & The King’ has just been released. We’re happy to announce that Mr. JEROME ‘STUMP’ MONROE will be back on drums. Stump was the drummer for The Sweet Inspirations, and therefore he was part of the Elvis Presley Show touring from the first 1969 Las Vegas concerts through to the very end in 1977. When regular drummer Ronnie Tutt was ill or absent, Stump stood in as the replacement with the TCB Band on a number of occasions over those years. Stump played the drums behind Elvis in Philadelphia in 1971, in Las Vegas in December 1975 and finally in Madison, WI on June 24th 1977. This show has just been released, and therefore there has been quite a bit of interest in Stump lately. Elvis mentions Stump several times during the concert, and even says at one point: ‘Leave the driving to Stump!’. We have quite a surprise for our upcoming tour, and that is the fact that we have found CAROL MONTGOMERY and will be bringing her on our upcoming tour! For many years, nothing was known about her whereabouts, so this is quite a scoop and one that we are very proud of. Carol Montgomery is a backing vocalist who sang on 11 of Elvis’ original albums from 1969 to ‘73. Carol has worked with many great artists, like Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton and even, believe it or not, Clint Eastwood! Please make a point of reading her bio elsewhere on this website, because it makes for fascinating reading. Carol is really looking forward to meeting the European Elvis fans and taking part in an Elvis tribute for the first time ever: “It’s a priviledge to be able to pay tribute to the greatest performer ever and I will do my best to make this tour memorable for the fans. See you all in May 2013!”. Leadsinger for our show is one of the world’s finest Elvis tribute artists, ROBERT WASHINGTON. His voice and his magnetic stage presence are uncannily close to ‘the real thing’, even though he does not attempt to impersonate Elvis. Washington has won numerous awards with his dynamite performances, including “The World’s Greatest Elvis” in Memphis. Even Elvis’ own family and friends have praised him (“When I closed my eyes, I was amazed! Robert Washington sounded the closest to Elvis I have ever heard” - Sam Thompson, Elvis’ bodyguard). On lead guitar we will have the highly talented CARL BRADYCHOK from Detroit, Michigan. Despite his very young age, he is a widely respected roots music guitarist who has played with rock & roll legends like Jack Scott. He rocked the audiences with his great guitar solos on our most recent tour, and we are looking forward to working with him again. Joining us on keyboards is J.J. LOUIS, a very gifted roots music player who has worked with great rock & roll names like Wanda Jackson and Barrance Whitfield – and no doubt a great asset on our upcoming tour. THE ORIGINAL ELVIS TRIBUTE 2013 is a one-of-a-kind celebration of The King’s music, as performed by those who stood next to him when he shook the world. All his greatest songs are there, including “Suspicious Minds”, “All Shook Up” and “Burning Love”, all performed with fire and great authenticity. This is the one Elvis show that you can’t afford to miss! |
