Jerry Lee Lewis & The King -What'd I say

[NightFlasher34]

uncel ray is a genie-

[MrLadyfeet]

Pathetic & boring version.

[Lamvesp]

Still good but I expected the see the King.

[heartstar118]

that's jimmy ellis doing elvis

[heartstar118]

that's not elvis it's jimmy ellis

[unkmike43]

What's the name of the blackgroup at 2:55 ??? Geart post.

[Baxrc]

If this is Elvis, I'll need to have my ears checked, as in right now. This guy sounds fake.

[heartstar118]

@Baxrc that's jimmy ellis doing elvis

[jaimolin]

jerry lee lewis the king of rock´n roll!!!!

[TheTrigger900]

it,s a great vid, anyway. good job puttin it togetter,  i say shut up and get up and dance.

[1996LiamC]

The King& Elvis.

[Kline123456789]

Well I could tell that wasnt Elvis by miles. Jerry lee is ok, but the king is Elvis slurfs

[ridingthewaves09]

who cares - they were both terrific - but the Killer is still cranking



[wkhenslee]

the definittive only living king of rock'n roll. I seen them both perform in the best of their years and you couldn't make me say who was the greatest entertainer that ever lived. It sent Elvis to an early grave, God rest his sole, and probably will never hear a voice like that again. And The Killer is what he is, what a man.....

[jerry328i]

I hate Elvis impersonators

[TheTrigger900]

@jerry328i but if you can,t have what you want take what you get, lol peace. i take seconds alot.

[Andrei1453]

This not THE KING! But it is Ok,,,

[CapitalDeLaLadilla]

That is Jimmy Ellis

[haileyalexis709]

That is not Elvis singing.  That is Jimmy Ellis.

[SanDamonphotographe]

First Elvis,second Little richard,third Jerry lee lewis

[singers333]

Elvis had it ALL Voice, Charisma, Stage Presence, acting etc. that is why his house is the second most visited place in the U.S. next to the White House. Elvis never toured Europe his whole career either imagined if he had.

[samysam1313]

For all those who think this is Elvis singing with Jerry Lee. It is not Elvis. It is Orion aka Jimmy Ellis.

[BoomerProduction96]

Elvis is the king Freddie the Queen Jerry the killer :D

[Pumarisi124]

Yeah, but your "king" is dead. Jerry Lee didn't take the easy way and check out.

[ovelonse]

The true king of rock and roll named jerry lee Lewis!!!

[elamite66]

"The Killer and the King" it has a truly simple but consumately fitting ring I could have thought of it myself, not to be guilty of self promotion but I thought of just that title way back in the day but to get to the point so to speak, the way you have melded the two performances or facsimle thereof in the case of the King is innovative and skillful Thanks for the effort It certainly gets a thumb up from this humble music fan

[ppamq1]

yesssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!

[paul1967ify]

at least its jerry lee 4 real fuck the pub singer



[samysam1313]

@paul1967ify The pub singer as you call him is in fact Orion. He was a great talent in his own right.

[thisisraudj]

i love Ray Charles

[ProbableFiction]

Lewis was infinitely more talented than Elvis. Elvis just had people writing better songs for him.

Anyway, Brother Ray's original annhilates both the Killer's and Elvis's versions of What'd I Say.

[tk3302]

@ProbableFiction

"Brother Ray" would be "Homeless Ray" if not for Elvis..

[ProbableFiction]

@tk3302 That's easily the dumbest thing I've read today.

[lanko24ify]

@tk3302 what are you talking about?

[elamite66]

@tk3302 that's a little harsh isn't it? and not entirely true in fact not true at all while Elvis' success may have opened doors for Ray I think, with all due respect, that you're overplaying Elvis' role in Ray's carreer NO?

[kiwidave666]

@ProbableFiction wrong,Elvis was an entertainer who could sing any type of music and do it well.he had an unmatchable voice and stage presence

[ProbableFiction]

@kiwidave666 And people writing good songs for him. At least you called him an entertainer rather than a musician.

[Rajachemayel]

the KIng of them all is CHUCK BERRY !!

[Slurfs]

For me The Killer is the real King of rock'n roll!

[Andrei1453]

@Slurfs yeah, for you and only for you...But for the rest of mankind he was, he is and he will be only a KING - E L V I S!

[Andrei1453]

@Slurfs For you and we respect that, BUT FOR THE WHOLE WILD WORLD HE IS THE ONLY KING - E L V I S!

[Slurfs]

@Andrei1453 No offence but you do not speak on the behalf of the world. You are an individual period.

[daveyanna]

@Slurfs .... he'd be pleased to hear you say that Slurfs .. but you'd both be wrong ;)

[xxxdokan]

@Slurfs

Both are great...the one is the Killer, the other one the King...so what...

Let´s enjoy the music and not discuss who is or was better...

[MrLadyfeet]

@Slurfs bullshit 

[daisykneale]

Hey, you've cheated us with a fake Elvis singing the song - that's not fair!!!

[SoCalCaitlin14]

LOVED IT and im oly 15 :]

[ProbableFiction]

@SoCalCaitlin14 What does your age have to do with liking a song?

[emosuperbad]

I'm sorry, but I'd know Elvis' voice anywhere, younger or older, and that is definitely him. I don't give a rats ass who thinks otherwise, I know it to be Elvis. Orion WAS Elvis!!! It was his cover!! Call me a crazed freak all you want, I know the truth.

[mrboogie107]

elvis can kiss my ass jerry lee lewis is thw true king of rock n roll

[BearStar1]

@mrboogie107 MRBoogie, here's a note for You, YOU CAN KISS MY ASS !!!

Jerry Lee Lewis , even as good of a performer that he was and a good piano player, but NO WAY WAS HE AS GOOD AS FLOYD CRAMER WHO COULD PLAY CIRCLES AROUND LEWIS WITH ONE HAND TIED BEHIND HIS BACK AND BLINDFOLDED, WOULD NOT HAVE EVEN MADE A PIMPLE ON ELVIS' BACKSIDE WHEN IT CAME TO SINGING ! True, He could play a Piano, but SING? NO FUCKING WAY , JOSE !!!

[0Bucefalo]

This is Jerry Lee Lewis, you idiots

[Geepsterr]

@0Bucefalo Yes this is definitely Jerry Lee Lewis with another singer added on some verses. Elvis did this song in the movie as seen here but he did it in a much higher key, the question remains whether they recorded a duet or this is a clever "mash up" recording trick using bits of Elvis live versions or another singer sounding like Elvis like this Jimmy Ellis added to the Lewis track .

[crashbug]

By Michael McCall

[crashbug]

The man who turned Jimmy Ellis into Orion grants one thing: The singer truly was a gifted vocalist and a charismatic performer. "He really was good," Singleton says. "I think he could have been a star on his own, except he was burdened by the fact that, no matter what he did, he sounded like Elvis. That's a shame, but it was something he couldn't do anything about."

[crashbug]

After a career paying tribute to a man who led such a glorified life, Jimmy Ellis' own existence ended abruptly, violently, unfairly. If there's any kind of parallel to Elvis here, it's that death is rarely ever reasonable--and yet it unifies us all in the most definitive way. And even if Orion doesn't inspire the kind of posthumous hero-worship that Elvis Presley does, it's clear that his talents have regardless survived him.

[crashbug]

The gunmen shot the 53-year-old Ellis, his 44-year-old fiancee Elaine Thompson, and a friend, Helen King. Ellis and Thompson were killed; King was severely wounded but has recovered. Ellis was survived by his son Jimmy Ellis Jr.

[crashbug]

If he was never completely able to leave behind his bizarre recording career, at least he had attained a degree of peace about it. But even that was short-lived: On the night of Dec. 12, 1998, Ellis was behind the register at his convenience store when three local teens charged into the store brandishing sawed-off shotguns.

[crashbug]

Ellis expressed disappointment at ever taking on the guise of Orion. "I just wanted to perform, to use the talent that I had," he said. As the years wore on, Ellis continued to distance himself from his fictional persona, and from the entertainment business as a whole.

[crashbug]

"It exposed who he was, and that ended my gimmick," Singleton says, frowning. The producer immediately severed his contractual ties with the singer. "I told him, `You can do something else, or you can keep on being Orion. I don't care. I'm not going to fool with you anymore.'"

[crashbug]

on New Year's Eve of 1981, the tension reached a head: In mid-performance, Orion ripped off his mask during a dramatic crescendo. A photographer captured the moment; the photos made it clear that the man onstage bore little resemblance to Elvis Presley.

[crashbug]

Ellis and Singleton began to feud.

[crashbug]

It worked, at least to some degree. "Immediately after I put it out, it got on the radio and of course everyone thought it was Elvis, that it was something I found in the can," Singleton says. "We kind of had a reputation for doing weird things anyway."

[crashbug]

Singleton realized that he needed to continue stoking the idea that Ellis might actually be Elvis. But instead of simply having him sing covers of Presley songs, he began pairing the singer with Presley's famous colleagues from the Sun Records era. To start, he took Ellis in the studio and put his voice onto some old Jerry Lee Lewis masters, issuing the recordings as Jerry Lee & Friends, in hopes that people would think the unnamed singer was Elvis Presley.

[crashbug]

They cut the classic song "Release Me," as well as several other songs that Presley hadn't ever recorded. Listening to those recordings now, it's obvious that Ellis managed to resemble Presley's vocal tone and mannerisms more than other sound-alikes and imitators.

[crashbug]

Singleton was skeptical about the singer's potential. Nonetheless, he agreed to meet with the two men. In the meantime, in true enterprising fashion, he began to wonder if Ellis might sound like Elvis even when singing material that Presley never recorded.

[crashbug]

In the years that followed, he stayed busy conceiving outlandish ways to repackage Sun recordings, all of which allowed him to keep selling the same famous songs over and over again. But his business plan had one major stumbling block: He only had access to a limited number of recordings by Sun's biggest stars, which, besides Presley, included Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Charlie Rich.

[crashbug]

In 1968, he scored one of the biggest independent-label hits in Nashville history Singleton produced with Jeannie C. Riley's recording of a Tom T. Hall song, "Harper Valley P.T.A." The single sold 4 million copies, and the accompanying album more than 500,000 units. Flush with cash from that success, Singleton purchased Sun Records from Sam Phillips.

[crashbug]

Smith rushed the Ellis Sings Elvis album onto the market, at the same time contacting Singleton to ask if Sun might want to get involved.

[crashbug]

The album was created before Presley's death. But as Ellis and Smith were preparing to put the album out, Presley passed away at his Graceland mansion. Overnight, of course, the star evolved from a pitiable shadow figure of a once-great artist into the overwhelmingly revered Dead Elvis. Interest in all things Elvis immediately heightened.

[crashbug]

A few years after the release of the single, which encountered some success thanks to rural radio play in the South, Ellis got involved with another record man, Bobby Smith of Macon, Ga. The two collaborated on a couple of singles and an album, Ellis Sings Elvis, that traded off on the singer's uncanny vocal resemblance to the most famous rocker in the world.

[crashbug]

When RCA heard the Jimmy Ellis recordings, it too thought Singleton had dug up more lost Elvis tapes. "RCA came very close to suing me over the record," Singleton says. "I kept telling them it wasn't Elvis, but they didn't believe me, and they thought I kept a name off the single because it was Elvis.... So they ran a voice print on it. That's when they found out it really wasn't Elvis."

[crashbug]

Singleton had a plan. "I put the record out on Sun Records without a name on it," the record company owner recalls, a devilish twinkle in his eye. "Everybody came back and swore that I had some long lost Elvis tracks, that I found them in the Sun vaults and rereleased them."

[crashbug]

Singleton made specific requests: "That's Alright Mama" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky," the two songs that launched Presley's career on Sun Records in 1954. "I told them to try to duplicate the Elvis records as close as possible," Singleton recalls. "And that's what they did."

[crashbug]

Then, in 1972, a Florida record producer named Finlay Duncan sent Singleton a two-song single that Ellis had recorded in Fort Walton, Fla. When Singleton heard the song, he thought, "Man, either that is Elvis Presley singing, or it's someone who sounds just like him."

[crashbug]

Ellis had been recording songs and yearning for a big break since 1964, when he first began issuing dramatic ballads and traditional rockabilly songs on the Dradco label. By the time he encountered Singleton, he'd spent nearly a decade pursuing a career as a romantic Southern crooner and hip-shaking rocker. But he'd found little success, partly because deejays and record executives said he sounded too much like a second-rate Elvis.

[crashbug]

It was in the early '70s that Singleton first crossed paths with Jimmy Ellis, the man who would become Orion incarnate.

[crashbug]

Shelby Singleton, who had purchased the rights to the Sun Records catalog from famed record producer Sam Phillips in 1969 and relocated the company from Memphis to Nashville. Since Elvis had first come to fame on Sun, Singleton had a heightened interest in anything to do with Presley's legacy.

[crashbug]

In a sense, there really were two Orions: There was Jimmy Ellis, the man behind the mask, and there was the fictional persona he perhaps all too willingly assumed. This latter Orion was born in the mind of a Georgia-based writer, Gail Brewer-Giorgio. but she's an idiot so we wont go there...

[BearStar1]

@crashbug NO, YOU ARE THE FRIGGIN' IDIOT FOR DISSING A WELL RESPECTED WRITER WHO GATHERS FACTS AND WRITES THE TRUTH!!!

[crashbug]

@BearStar1 what r you talking about?

[BearStar1]

@crashbug your distasteful & disrespectful attack on a well known writer and research journalist who spent over 10 years of her life gathering well documented FACTS about ELVIS and wrote the TRUTH !

Your attack and slander on Gail Brewer Giorgio was WAY OUT OF LINE !!! SO BACK THE FUCK OFF AND WATCH YOUR REMARKS, ASSHOLE !!

[crashbug]

@BearStar1 sounds like your off your meds.hope you get better soon.

[crashbug]

After seeing a dozen variations on the same image, you can't help but ask: "Who is this guy, what the hell is his story, and who does he think he's kidding?" That man was Orion, and in his day, he and his producer, Shelby Singleton, apparently fooled more than a few people.

[crashbug]

If you've ever set foot inside a used record store and flipped through the country bins, you've seen them--countless albums, all emblazoned with the same masked man on the cover. The clothes are always some variation on tacky '70s stagewear, but that sequined mask is always there, without fail, revealing only a rounded chin below and a full, black head of hair up top.

[crashbug]

Orion's tale is one of the most curious ever to originate in Music City USA--which is saying something. In its way, the story underscores some of the dark, disturbing aspects of image-making, music marketing, and how the music industry builds stars but destroys individuals.

[crashbug]

The story of the singer Orion began as fiction and grew into a fanciful real-life tale that wound up trapping a desperate performer behind a mask he never wanted to put on.

[crashbug]

Looking at these impersonators, we might find that Presley's own tragic story is repeated in miniature, dozens of times over. At least in the case of one such artist--who perhaps ironically insisted he wasn't imitating Elvis--the story is arguably even more tragic and without a doubt far stranger.

[crashbug]

Nothing quite offers a testament to Presley's iconic status like the proliferation of impersonators who've flourished in the years since The King's death. No other performer has inspired this kind of tribute, or at least to such an enormous degree.

[crashbug]

The myth of Elvis Presley looms large in popular culture. Not only did he play a key role in the birth of rock 'n' roll music--thereby forever changing the course of American history--Tupelo's most famous son became the embodiment of everything both glorious and tragic about stardom in the late 20th century. If the years since Presley's passing have taught us anything, it's that his legacy has only grown.

[diavorini]

la bonne époque sa c'était de la musique lolk

[spangleJ]

It was a rough era in American history. I wonder how much it has changed...

[biltom]

This is not Elvis you idiots,....it is Jimmy Orion Ellis with Jerry Lee Lewis, the difference in Elvis and Ellis is this, Ellis was a better singer

[BearStar1]

@biltom YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT !!! NO WAY IN HELL WAS ELLIS A BETTER SINGER THAN ELVIS , YOU DIPSHIT !!!

[BestmanPi]

Jerry Lee Lewis is the Killer. Elvis is the King. When the people say the King , the people say Elvis.

[elvispresley445]

this is jimmy ellis not elvis

[ronnywhitebear]

JERRY LEE LEWIS IN DUET WITH JERRY LEE LEWIS....BRILLIANT.

[demonoid1024]

Fooling the world in 78-82 this was Jimmy Ellis Jerry was performed by himself.

[danhabsfan9]

jerry lee lewis & the king? i didn't know jerry lee did duets with himself.

[ZT0NEE]

no elvis !

[freejack]

Great Elvis tribute band NOW OR NEVER playing in Santa Monica this Sunday at Dakota Lounge March 21st.7pm

[rockabillyboogieblue]

i see you all don t know nothing of jerry lee

this is orion he singing with.

and yes jerry did sing with elvis in the million dollar quartet but never did record with elvis himself so if you don t know anything about rockabilly music don t say anything about it

[1980fisichella]

Is the Killer with Jimmy ''Orion'' Ellis

[freejack]

Two legends!

[TheKing59159]

@freejack that's not elvis,the voice sound like the original but it's jimmy ellis

[biroutheboss]

is it really elvis??????

[gixxerich]

@biroutheboss if you watch the film "walking the line" you can see that they toured together, johnny cash also

[TheKing59159]

@biroutheboss no,Jimmy Ellis who recorded with Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins too.

[berrolv]

Horribelt töntigt saxofontrudeluttande..!!

[jerryleelewis1935]

what is that kind of crap u are writting there???? off course its Elvis. do u really think that jerry lee vould play a duet with a no named person and then put elvis´s voice over... only people who dont have calss and style do that, Jerry lee en Elvis did sing a lot of duets through the time.

[captainzorikh]

Yep, that's not Elvis. It's a great recording, and the resto fo the album ("duets" with an unnamed singer who sounds like Him), but if you listen, the voice sounds just a little TOO MUCH like Elvis... Even the audio quality is different, as if his voice were recorded at a different session. And if you listen to the Jerry Lee release of this song, you can hear that they just pasted the "Elvis" voice over it.

[Mr4500MG]

jerry the kiler elvis the king of rock n roll

[jerry328i]

I still have that LP :)

[georgestarr72]

its supid fake...

[1961leeg]

its jimmy ellis. him & jerry lee tried to full the world in 77.

[demonoid1024]

@1961leeg Jerry pulled the strings, Ellis either pulled along or not....Jerry thought of his earnings, for actually stabalising his family setting, would you do the same.?

[dayroemer]

Brutus if u say so.I wasnt there so I truly don't know only what I've heard.The song sounds good regardless,and Jerry Lee ruled it.The true King Daddy is still alive thats for sure

[bicycleguy111]

its jimmy orion

[bicycleguy111]

i know that i was trying to say that jerry lee lewis was the king in my opinion

[Roystothecoolkid]

elvis you dumbcrack

[bicycleguy111]

what do u mean jerry lee lewis (and the king) he is the king

[DiElv1sPresley]

the king of what ?

[Kakarot21591]

The King meaning The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.

[bertrandui]

@Kakarot21591 Here it s not elvis , don t you know that ?? How do you you know who is the king of Rock and Roll if you re not be able to recognize the voice of Elvis Presley. Here is Jimmy Ellis. ok. Shame of few comments here . I love Elvis but sometimes i don t like his fans of last years. they don t know the real rock and roll . Long live the Killer Jerry Lee Lewis the Last Man standing !!

[daveyanna]

@bertrandui .... shame it wsn't Elvis who was the last man standing ;)

[jonny611000]

@daveyanna

JLL has always been his own man, Elvis too manipulated

[daveyanna]

@jonny611000 .... I do listen to Jerry Lee quite regularly and he gets me dancin' for sure. Perhaps Elvis was a nicer person that Jerry (who has a mean streak) and Elvis' kinder, sweeter, gentler nature shines through his singing ... and elevates him way above our Jerry Lee.

[andykshipp]

@bertrandui I thought that straight away it wasnt Elvis

[dayroemer]

you can hear Sam in the background man u hit it like he couldn't beleive they pulled it off with Jimmy Ellis

[dayroemer]

Sam Phillips was still in denial about selling Elvis' contract to RCA,so he fiqured a sound alike Jimmy Ellis could pass and fool enough people to make some money

[slaenterprises]

This is NOT Elvis, it's Jimmy Ellis "Orion!"

[Elvisbizz]

Yeah. And non-Jerry voice is Orion, not Elvis.