The King

Gravelands (Dressed to Kill)
by Jon Sarre

Gimmick? Novelty? Outrage? Sure, all of that. Funny as hell, too. The King‘s this guy who shares his name with the Godfather of Soul and his voice with the King of Rock’n’Roll. He’s really a postman from Belfast, Northern Ireland who figured it’d only make sense to cover a buncha songs made famous by dead people, but, to make it interesting, to sing ’em exactly as Elvis woulda (cuz he probably couldn’t pass himself off as James Brown even if that coincidentally is his name, too).

It’s shtick, no shit, but as far as shtick goes, it’s not half bad. The King does a really good King (Elvis, I mean). Graveland‘s closer, in fact, “That’s Alright Momma,” the only song actually recorded by Presley, features a vocal that could be mistaken for the Big E. The backing band’s pretty solid too, complete with sultry Elvettes and the Presley touches thrown in, like the “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” quote in Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” or the “Milkcow Blues Boogie” false start on Eddie Cochran’s “Somethin’ Else” (done a la Sid Vicious in The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle) and the “Thus Spake Zarathustra” snippet (Elvis used it as his opening theme in the Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite special) laid into AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie” (kinda sounds like the Misfits, as a matter of fact) drive the parody aspect home nicely. “Sweet Home Alabama” and Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” provide the answers to a couple vexing “what if” questions you’ve probably never had. Even better, a version of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” with intelligible words! Amusing and educational, to be sure, but how ’bout some Brian Jones era Rolling Stones for the sequel?
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