Johnny Cash Album Cover Art the Louisiana Hayride Archive
.....one man's struggle for identity and credence ends in the ultimate tragedy.....
(for the purposes of this article I will use the term Elvis stylist in reference to the person in question)
| Who is this person???: Since Elvis' explosion onto the earth stage in the mid 1950s at that place have been countless Elvis tribute artists, imitators, impersonators, stylists and sound-a-likes offering and emulating a watershed musical icon. Of the thousands who in some manner wait(ed), perform(ed) or sound(ed) like Elvis there is one performer who stands well apart from the rest. He is a miracle in his own right albeit because of his Elvis connexion - a connexion which figuratively haunted him throughout his tragically, shortened career. This dynamic performer differentiates himself from all others for a number of reasons. | |
He:
- was blessed with a natural singing vocalism remarkably similar to Elvis'
- had x Top 100 hits on the Country Music Chart in the Usa!
- had a stage presence which entranced his fans
- was an achieved singer/songwriter
- did not want want to be an Elvis imitator
- for well-nigh of his career did not make a living singing and performing Elvis songs
- had a fan club with over 15,000 members
- had fans who travelled (frequently equally a family unit) up to 500 miles to see him perform
- is the but Elvis stylist to have had an anthology replaced due to controversy
- is the only Elvis stylist to take a acknowledged volume published about his persona
- is the only Elvis stylist to accept had homemade fabric released – more than a dozen labels have released around 150 albums of his studio and live material!
- is the only Elvis stylist to have merchandise and memorabilia released (still sold online in 2014!)......more than than 20 items including coffee mugs, beer steins, calendars, mouse pad, t-shirts, sweat shirts and clocks
- is the only Elvis stylist who almost xx years afterward his tragic decease withal elicits interest from his fans
- is promoted today by a commercial company operating in his name
- has several websites devoted to his life and music
- had several of his recordings featured on the soundtrack of a number of films
- has featured in a number of documentaries about music in the southern states of the The states
- is the field of study of a documentary film being released in 2015
So who is this person – a performer whose sad end is one we usually wait from a fabricated and dramatically intensified Hollywood film?
The reply.......Jimmy Ellis aka the masked homo, Orion. The Jimmy Ellis/Orion story is one of great potential, qualified success, ongoing disappointment and ultimately, tragedy!
Jimmy Ellis (with mask) as Orion (note his pilus color)
Orion (sans mask) as Jimmy Ellis (note his natural hair color)
To a higher place images sourced from the official "Orion-Jimmy Ellis" website
Genesis.... Jimmy Hughes Bong was born on 26 February 1945 to a single mother (named) Gladys. Also like Elvis (surviving twin), he experienced an early life major event when, at the age of iv, he was adopted past Robert and Faye Ellis.
Fiddling is known about Jimmy's life before becoming a recording creative person - what is known is that he was raised past traditional but loving parents who ensured he was able to receive a good education. A talented athlete, Jimmy was awarded a two-yr athletic scholarship at Eye Georgia Junior Higher and was courted for a baseball career and a tryout with the Milwaukie Braves but turned it down. Perhaps critically, Jimmy had made a conclusion that a sporting future wasn't to shape the his story, and in and so doing his futurity would be frustratingly shaped past his song chords as Jimmy'southward singing voice sounded remarkably similar Elvis'.
That vox!.... While he had a natural Elvis-like singing phonation, throughout his adult life Jimmy strove to be recognised as a serious creative person in his own right, a person who was inherently a wonderfully talented and gifted entertainer whose magical presence touched many people. That talent was genetically pre-determined and embryonically, DNA dictated.......its essence was not because he sounded remarkably like Elvis! Inevitably, existence born 10 years later Elvis, his struggle could never be won.
However, in the beginning recordings similar Save The Last Trip the light fantastic For Me, Ebony Optics and Dearest convinced many Elvis fans that their Rex was still physically among them. Which brings us to the incredible story of Orion.
Who was that masked human being?.... Sadly, the convergence of artistic, commercial and greed/fame infused forces which would shape Jimmy's hereafter meant he became a pawn in a multi-faceted promotional campaign involving author Gail Brewer-Giorgio (ix years before her best-selling not-fiction books request if Elvis really died in 1977) and new Lord's day Studio owner, Shelby Singleton, when because of his voice Jimmy was marketed as the mysterious, masked singer, Orion. As the Orion story unfolded, it was clear these forces played straight to the hearts and deep-seated psychological needs of many Elvis fans!
It was (at to the lowest degree initially) a win-win-win situation as all three parties benefitted: Jimmy became an international star, Gail Brewer-Giorgio sold hundreds of thousands of copies of her "Orion" novel and Shelby Singleton sold truckloads of "Orion" records.
It is pertinent to say that while Jimmy was fanatically worshipped by fans, it was Gail Brewer-Giorgio and Shelby Singleton (call up the infamous "Duets" album with Jerry Lee Lewis) who were banking the lion's share of coin as the cash registers kept on "ching chinging" as Jimmy Ellis/Orion connected with an avid, loyal and increasingly fanatical audience.
In the 2006 EIN article, A Tribute to the "Masked Human being": Jimmy Ellis aka "Orion", I observed:
Of course his friends knew him from his early days every bit a child and when he started out equally a singer, but this didn't stop the promoters of the "Elvis is alive" conspiracy theory. They vociferously took advantage of, and preyed upon, those Elvis fans, the "true disbelievers", who had a deep seated need to disbelieve a more prosaic, greed fuelled reality and motivation for the advisedly constructed "Orion" character.
For almost v years the Orion phenomenon captivated its natural audience, not only in the US where fans had like shooting fish in a barrel access to Orion, but besides overseas - somewhat surprisingly given it was a snail postal service, pre-tabloid, pre-Cyberspace era. Orion'south mystique and allure was and then universally popular among fans that Orion singles and albums were released in Europe and "downunder" in Australia.
In context, the Ellis/Orion dichotomy and how information technology resonated through its personal community would always be (organically) problematic for its symbolically conflicted, opposing sides.
Similarly, there was an incontrovertible and diametrically opposed outcome for each side. For 1 side, they would quite naturally (and self-directed), psychologically rationalise and morph their needs to maintain internal equilibrium and ongoing personal and social engagement.......for the other side his outcome would be economically directed and physically terminal, as his 'what if' life diverted to a class which outwardly may have offered some caste of financial and personal satisfaction, just ane which (pragmatically) was also underpinned past a volatile socio-economic environment which could potentially (and did) effect in a seriously intense incident or incidents:
Jimmy Ellis' new (primary) career as a bail bondsman and pawn shop proprietor would very sadly, very unfairly, upshot in his violent, premature death on 12 Dec 1998.
Reflecting on the somewhat foreign, certainly unusual life of Jimmy Ellis, Michael McCall in his fantabulous (although somewhat hyperbolic) article for the Rockabilly Hall of Fame: It's Only Brand-Believe The Strange and Ultimately Sad Story of Elvis Sound-Alike..."Orion" , cogently observed:
It's a tale non just about the American fixation with celebrity, but about the ways in which the myth of stardom tin can become amiss and shoot off in the oddest of trajectories, leaving in its wake a breakable, mortal human like whatever other........
In a town steeped in strange success stories, subconscious agendas, and dashed dreams, Orion's tale is ane of the nigh curious e'er to originate in Music City U.s.--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 manufacture builds stars just destroys individuals.
Artefact from Shelby Singleton'south personal collection.......conspiracy theorists, note the date!
I'm Leavin'.... Despite an initially (somewhat) artistically and (somewhat) financially benign organization for Jimmy Ellis, eventually the combination of an increasingly unfulfilling and unwanted masked career as an Elvis sound-a-like confronted his primal burning desire to exist recognised and appreciated as "himself". The apposite outcome saw Jimmy dramatically rip off his Orion mask in frustration during a" live" performance in 1983.
With fans more interested in seeing "Kemo Sabe" rather than Jimmy Ellis, he spent the next few years focusing more on his business affairs than his music career.
| 'I'm Not Trying To Be Like Elvis' (Jimmy Ellis unmarried on the regional Boblo label - released in 1978 - it is viewed by many as the singer's plea for acceptance in his own right rather than considering of his uncanny Elvis-like singing voice) Click the image to hear the song |  |
If I Tin can Dream....... The internal struggle that Jimmy Ellis had with his Orion alter-ego and his burning desire to record quality music appears to have been always nowadays. Even before the Orion phenomenon had actually taken off he released a self-penned single on the pocket-size Boblo label, I'm Not Trying To Exist Like Elvis.
In their illuminating examination of the infamous 'Elvis Underground' and activities around the belief Elvis did not dice in 1977, Professors R. Serge Denisoff and George Plasketes addressed the Orion phenomenon. Their fascinating book, Truthful Disbelievers The Elvis Contagion, featured excerpts from several interviews with Jimmy Ellis which shed further light on his frustration with his musical management, including:
On working in the recording studio with Shelby Singleton, Jimmy stated:
Nosotros'd play it dorsum, you know, in Shelby'south role, and I'd say, "That's not right." He said, "Don't worry most information technology, you don't purchase the fuckin records anyhow." You know , it was like, here I am creating this and doing the piece of work. Information technology's like an artist painting a motion-picture show. He makes a error and some asshole over here says don't worry about it, it will be alright. And that'southward the way it was.
Jimmy continued, commmenting on the frustration he felt when he would accept to stop the recording session because Shelby Singleton had arranged for a tour group to come through the studio:
At present, what's the priority. A hit record or some fuckin' tour we did that on many a time. That's not recording. That's non a career.
His hectic touring schedule as Orion also restricted Jimmy's time to write songs and this must have also added to the frustration with his career. Jimmy was an accomplished songwriter who could write uptempo, slow and state songs as recordings such as the rockin' Washing Automobile, poignant ballad It Ain't No Mystery and catchy, toe borer Some You lot Win, Some You Lose, attest to.
Afterward his "unmasking" more and more than fans accepted Orion was not Elvis, and for those who could non let go of the King a new theory took form - yes the original Orion wasn't Elvis but the existent (still alive) Elvis was replacing Jimmy Ellis on stage at various concerts!
More recently, i of the few remaining groups in the once prolific and infamous (so-called) 'Elvis Underground' has stated that Jesse (aka the 'still alive' Elvis) believes some of the Orion/Jimmy Ellis recordings are actually him (Jesse) singing.
'My voice is both a blessing and a curse' (Jimmy Ellis/Orion during media interview)
Controversial Sunday Records 1978 Orion 'Reborn' (coffin) anthology embrace
...........replaced with a completely new cover and no coffin!:
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For unofficial publicity purposes Orion connected to strike a favorite pose for the cover of:
Orion Call back Me (Striking One Music label)
(one of nearly 150 'unofficial' Jimmy Ellis/Orion/Ellis James albums - with a striking but obvious graphically altered 'rip-off' cover blueprint/image of the "reborn" Dominicus Records "Reborn" LP - as with its origination - Orion'due south facial expression on the cover nicely reflects the anthology championship)
The Comeback.... While Jimmy probably never wanted to resurrect the Orion character, there was an inevitable comeback. With few bookings for Jimmy Ellis 'live on stage' there was nonetheless a substantial (albeit diminishing) demand of fans to satisfy their deep-seated psychological need and hope that their King had not left them. Consequently, this meant Jimmy could only go well paying work if he donned the Orion mask and (to him) even worse, an Elvis jumpsuit. For a proud man who had so much wanted recognition equally Jimmy Ellis - not Elvis Presley - we can only imagine how galling and emotionally and psychologically scarring this was!
Past the late 1980s, Jimmy was once more performing on phase in his Orion persona and while non enjoying the buoyant career he had betwixt 1978 and the early on 1980s he had regular bookings, including in Europe where he was especially sought after. Popular Ellis/Orion bootleg releases included titles such as Crazy on the Blueish Danube and Jimmy In A Viennese Cellar. For the next 10 years Jimmy would rest music and his business interests.
The King is gone....Long live the King!.... Jimmy's mortal life ended tragically when, on 12 Dec 1998, he was fatally shot in his Alabama pawn and package store during a robbery gone bad. Fittingly, his legend lives on, and quite ironically, both as Jimmy Ellis and Orion! Given Jimmy'south keen sense of humor he must be looking down and smiling!
Evaluating the Jimmy Ellis/Orion legacy..... While many continue to dismiss Jimmy Ellis as simply an Elvis imitator, to practise so ignores critically important organic elements which place his story on a very different level to that of normal Elvis tribute artists!
I mean:
- How many Elvis tribute artists have had 10 Peak 100 hits on the Country Music Nautical chart?
- How many Elvis tribute artists have a fan gild with more than xv,000 members?
- How many Elvis tribute artists accept had any unofficial album releases let alone 150 bootleg albums released?
- How many Elvis tribute artists made a living without singing Elvis songs for about of their career?
- How many other Elvis tribute artists have book, film and radio documentary adaptations of their story?
- How many Elvis tribute artists accept commercially produced memorabilia released about them?
- How many Elvis tribute artists are yet remembered nearly 20 years later their death?
- How many Elvis tribute artists have several websites devoted to them?
The answer is: ONE! Only Jimmy Ellis/Orion can lay claim to these remarkable achievements (and he could just be categorised as an Elvis tribute artist in his concluding years, well later his seminal menstruum as the masked man, Orion).
Very sadly, it is possible, even probable, Jimmy Ellis never fully realised the enormity and significance of his affect as a recording and performing artist!
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In 1999, the famed High german company, Deport Family Records, released a 4CD box set of 108 Orion recordings:
Buy: Orion who was that masked man?
From the pr for the box set: Information technology was Orion Eckley Darnell, keeping the flame of rootsy Southern music alive in the Seventies, and doing it past sounding remarkably similar Elvis Aaron Presley. This boxed set documents Orion'south career on the legendary Dominicus Records label. It begins with the 1972 single on which Orion, then simply Jimmy Ellis, recorded 'That'south All Correct/Blueish Moon Of Kentucky.' It was issued on Sun without an artist name, and created a furor considering Ellis bore such an uncanny vocal resemblance to Elvis.
Then, shortly after Elvis's death, legendary producer Shelby Singleton reconnected with Ellis, signing him to Sunday, and creating the myth of Orion, the hero of a book, in which a famous star fakes his own decease, and takes himself and his music back the roots. Singleton duly took Orion back to Elvis's roots in rockabilly, stone 'north' curl, state, blues, and gospel. He began by overdubbing him onto recordings by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Charlie Rich, and then recording solo albums which many fans thought were better than many of Elvis's later LPs. The association concluded in 1982, and this boxed set includes the very best of the recordings that Jimmy Ellis made for Sun. Amongst the titles are 'Such A Nighttime', 'Honey', 'Patches', 'Ebony Eyes', 'Rocky', and 'Release Me'; the complete overdubs with Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Greenbacks, Charlie Rich, and Carl Perkins, plus many previously unissued titles.
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A selection of the many colorful Orion masks, each with its own name
(much like how each of Elvis' jumpsuits had its own name):
| | | | |
| Black Reborn | Fresh | Gold Glitter | Red Swirl |
Mask images sourced from: oriondiscs.com
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The Orion Legend......
Orion (Jimmy Ellis) with (also in graphic symbol) members of supergroup KISS, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons
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Two of the many Orion items yet being sold in 2014:
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Find out more about the Orion - Jimmy Ellis story:
***Orion - Jimmy Ellis: The Official Web Site***:
(includes news, photo gallery, Books, CDs and DVDs 'For Sale' and 'Costless' MP3 downloads)
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