I don’t want to die.
I also know that as much as I don’t want that to pass, it will happen. And it will happen to you, too. When I was younger, the idea that the people I idolized would someday die was something impossible. Christopher Lee will live forever, right? And so would Prince. And David Bowie.
Well… We all know how that turned out.
My Mom was – and still is – a huge Elvis fan. When he died in 1977, she was completely devastated. The death of my dad had less impact on her than the death of Elvis. No editorializing here, just stating the fact. And she was not alone: We forget how absolutely shocking this was. It was that generation’s Kurt Cobain… or John Lennon. The world was stunned.
And some people hoped it wasn’t true. A lot of people, actually.
The myth that Elvis wasn’t really dead, that he faked his own death to escape from Colonel Tom and the limelight started to spread amongst the fans and the pop culture. A similar hopeful murmur had already sprung up about Jim Morrison, also gone a few years before. But this hope… This hope started to gain traction.
Thanks in large part to Jimmy Ellis.
Jimmy Ellis was a 30-year old horse trainer from Alabama who had an amazing singing voice. One for the ages. Except he sounded just like Elvis Presley. EXACTLY like Elvis. So much so you can take a person off the street and play a song he sang and they would think it was an unreleased Elvis track. It was uncanny.
When Elvis was alive he couldn’t break into the music business. There was already one Elvis… there was no market for two. But When Elvis died… an opportunity presented itself.
Based on a novel series (which was a fictionalized version of Elvis’ life), Ellis became ORION… a masked signer who started touring the states and releasing albums. Fans started flocking to his shows, and the rumors started. That was ELVIS, and he wore a mask to disguise himself after plastic surgery. Never mind that he was 10 years younger and several inches taller. And had different color eyes.
My mom believed it. She had a paperback, “Is Elvis Alive?”, which was all about Orion. She hoped. She, like many, believed.
But, of course, it was not to be.
The documentary Orion: The Man Who Would Be King tells the story of Orion, and it is a tragic one. Ellis had great success as a recording artist, due in large part on the hope of fans such as my mom… Hope that death had not reached the King. But it did, and Ellis at one point realizes that his audience wasn’t cheering him… they were cheering a ghost.
I will not reveal any more of the story of Jimmy Ellis, because the documentary tells it far better than I can… and it is worth seeing in full. It is moving, and equally inspirational and heartbreaking. All will pass, whether you are a King or a mere player to the throne.
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King is on Netflix now, and highly recommended.