Chords for World-renowned Elvis Presley tribute artist Ben Portsmouth
Tempo:
125.45 bpm
Chords used:
G
D
C
E
B
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[D]
[E] [G]
[D] [G]
[C] [D]
[C] [G]
[N] He is the ultimate Elvis tribute artist.
Ben Portsmouth is with us right now.
Ben, how are you?
Hi, Dylan, yeah, very well, thank you.
Should I address you as the king?
Oh, just Ben's fine.
Ben's cool.
Good.
Obviously, there is a love for Elvis here.
And so how far are we going back now?
Ever since I can remember, really, yeah.
My dad listened to Elvis when I was a child in the car, yeah.
What part of the world are you from?
A little old island called England.
A little old island called England, okay.
So am I to understand correctly, so you're the first ever European Elvis tribute artist
that won a major award a few years back.
Can you tell us about this?
Yeah, that's correct, yeah.
It's a big competition, the biggest Elvis contest in the world, actually.
And there's qualifiers all around the world to make it through to Memphis.
I actually qualified in Collingwood in Canada.
And yeah, so that was great.
And so I got through to Memphis, went through the heat and what have you, and it gets whittled
down and yeah, I was lucky enough to win it, yeah.
How did you begin in Collingwood?
How did it start there?
Because if you're over in England, how did you get over to Collingwood?
Just, obviously I knew about the festival, you know, because it's one of the biggest
in the world.
And so yeah, so I just thought I'd go there and do it, you know.
How many years now have we been paying tribute to Elvis?
Oh my God, must be over 10 years now, yeah.
I used to look young.
You're super young.
Late night.
So, I also want to talk as well, because obviously, I mean, this has taken you all over the world.
Is there any place in the world you would like to perform that you haven't been yet?
Oh, gosh.
I'm glad I said that.
Oops, sorry.
Maybe China, you know.
China, yeah.
That'd be interesting, yeah.
Because obviously Elvis was loved across the world.
Yeah, yeah, he'd go anywhere around the world and everyone knows who he is and you can perform there.
That's testament to his talent, isn't it? Yeah.
Now, I've had a chance to see you in action a couple of times and one of my favorite moments
is whenever you're handing out the, sort of, the scarf to the ladies.
Does that ever get old for you or is that pretty
No, I think it's a great thing that Elvis did.
It gives you that connection, you know.
So, I think it's great and I enjoy doing that.
Yeah, that's fun.
So, what are your favorite tunes of his to perform?
American Trilogy is a really amazing song.
Is that the one you performed on David Letterman?
Yeah.
So, that experience itself, I mean Incredible, yeah.
I was so lucky to have that opportunity.
Yeah, and that video, for people searching it out, it's got thousands and thousands of
views as well.
Yeah.
Was that something to meet David Letterman through this?
It was incredible, yeah.
I mean, you know, I never thought
I'm just a country boy from a little village in England, you know.
I never thought I'd get to national television in America, you know.
It's incredible.
Are there any songs of Elvis's repertoire that you don't know?
I'm sure there's the odd song, you know.
You're always hearing this, oh, you know.
A lot of the obscure movie ones, you know.
Yeah.
You know, some of them I'm not actually too keen on, so, you know.
I just do the ones I want.
I'm quite selfish.
The ones you like, right?
I'm selfish, yeah.
Because, I mean, I've been a fan and it's good.
I mean, this is your show, right?
And I've been a fan of Elvis and a fan of what you do.
And I'll come to your show and I'll not recognize some.
So, but you pull out a lot of gems.
Yeah, I try to, you know, obviously do the A-list standard ones.
But I try and put some in there that I think are really nice and it's not the obvious, you know.
Tell us about the show.
So, The King is Back, Tuesday, April 4th, National Arts Centre is where you're going to be performing.
You're on the bill with, let's say, a younger Elvis.
Yeah, oh, no, yeah, sure.
He's a young guy from the USA, Cody Ray Slaughter, and he's amazing at doing the 50s.
So, you know, if you were in Ottawa, first time around seeing Elvis in 57, it would be, yeah, like watching it all over again.
Yeah.
How much work do you put into being Elvis on a daily basis with just the visual look, the working out, the performing?
Obviously, when I'm, you know, not doing things at SR, just, you know, down there, play it as best I can.
But, yeah, you know, when you're on stage and what have you, you need to try and create an illusion, don't you?
You need to make it believable from a distance.
So, yeah, you know, just dye my hair and whatever else, you know.
How often do you get recognized or people come up to you all the time and say your resemblance to Elvis is uncanny?
Well, if you're in an Elvis bubble or something, you know, if you're in Memphis or something, obviously.
But, you know, sometimes you get the odd look in the supermarket, you know, but, you know, I just carry on my business, really.
Yeah.
OK.
So the show, The King is Back, what will you be performing?
Are there specific songs that we can look forward to?
Well, yeah, we have Cody from the US in the early years.
And then we also have Derek Fage that used to. Of course.
He's emceeing.
And we have the Sweet Inspirations, which was Elvis's original backing.
That's incredible.
And I'll be doing the 70s, you know, so if you haven't seen Elvis in the 70s, hopefully I can try and recreate that.
Yeah, that's going to be a lot of fun.
And the mayor as well.
See, I didn't even know this, but you guys let me in on this in the green room.
Something is happening this upcoming Monday.
Yeah, the third.
Yeah.
And the mayor of Ottawa is announcing it Elvis Presley Day.
Which is cool because it's going to be 60 years to the day.
Yeah.
Elvis is in town.
That's correct.
Yeah.
He did two shows here in Ottawa, I believe.
Yeah.
OK, so will you be in attendance for the.
Yeah, hopefully I can meet the mayor and I'll be there to watch.
Jim Watson, you'd like to get a selfie with our mayor?
Maybe not a selfie, but your photo.
Yeah, definitely.
Our mayor, Jim, is one of the coolest guys around.
So what is what is next for you?
I mean, how long do we hope to keep this going?
I mean, you just got to, you know, as long as you're enjoying it, that's the main thing.
But, you know, we are right.
You love what you love.
I do.
Yeah, I'm very lucky.
Yeah.
But, you know, then you do have to look in the mirror and say to yourself, you know, can I get away with this?
You know, so when that time comes, I'll let you know.
Where's the mirror?
There's plenty.
I'm looking in them all the time.
So what is the best part of being on that stage and being the ultimate tribute artist to Elvis?
I suppose.
Yeah.
To sing the music is great.
You know, to sing those amazing songs, like I say, in a trilogy and what have you.
And, you know, to make people happy is really nice thing.
Because you realize it.
I mean, well, first of all, do you believe the real Elvis is still out there?
No, I believe he died.
Yeah.
For sure.
Yeah.
Because he lives through you and the music.
And because when I see you on stage and I've taken photos of you as well and I've looked at them afterwards and you could swear that Elvis is right in front of you.
So that's got to that's got to make you feel good.
Yeah.
You said you've got to try and create an illusion, haven't you?
Yeah.
You sort of become that person, you know, so.
Big tour of Ireland coming up as well.
Yeah.
When I come back from Canada, I'll be off to Ireland.
Yeah.
I really like Ireland.
People are great.
And the Guinness is really good.
Yeah.
It's not easy being the king.
It's not easy.
This is awesome.
Ben, thank you very much for being here today.
And thank you for the show as well on Tuesday.
[B] I'll see you on Tuesday.
Tuesday, April 4th, National Arts Centre.
The King is back.
Get your tickets through the NAC [G] box office.
More daytime Ottawa straight [A] ahead.
[E] [G]
[D] [G]
[C] [D]
[C] [G]
[N] He is the ultimate Elvis tribute artist.
Ben Portsmouth is with us right now.
Ben, how are you?
Hi, Dylan, yeah, very well, thank you.
Should I address you as the king?
Oh, just Ben's fine.
Ben's cool.
Good.
Obviously, there is a love for Elvis here.
And so how far are we going back now?
Ever since I can remember, really, yeah.
My dad listened to Elvis when I was a child in the car, yeah.
What part of the world are you from?
A little old island called England.
A little old island called England, okay.
So am I to understand correctly, so you're the first ever European Elvis tribute artist
that won a major award a few years back.
Can you tell us about this?
Yeah, that's correct, yeah.
It's a big competition, the biggest Elvis contest in the world, actually.
And there's qualifiers all around the world to make it through to Memphis.
I actually qualified in Collingwood in Canada.
And yeah, so that was great.
And so I got through to Memphis, went through the heat and what have you, and it gets whittled
down and yeah, I was lucky enough to win it, yeah.
How did you begin in Collingwood?
How did it start there?
Because if you're over in England, how did you get over to Collingwood?
Just, obviously I knew about the festival, you know, because it's one of the biggest
in the world.
And so yeah, so I just thought I'd go there and do it, you know.
How many years now have we been paying tribute to Elvis?
Oh my God, must be over 10 years now, yeah.
I used to look young.
You're super young.
Late night.
So, I also want to talk as well, because obviously, I mean, this has taken you all over the world.
Is there any place in the world you would like to perform that you haven't been yet?
Oh, gosh.
I'm glad I said that.
Oops, sorry.
Maybe China, you know.
China, yeah.
That'd be interesting, yeah.
Because obviously Elvis was loved across the world.
Yeah, yeah, he'd go anywhere around the world and everyone knows who he is and you can perform there.
That's testament to his talent, isn't it? Yeah.
Now, I've had a chance to see you in action a couple of times and one of my favorite moments
is whenever you're handing out the, sort of, the scarf to the ladies.
Does that ever get old for you or is that pretty
No, I think it's a great thing that Elvis did.
It gives you that connection, you know.
So, I think it's great and I enjoy doing that.
Yeah, that's fun.
So, what are your favorite tunes of his to perform?
American Trilogy is a really amazing song.
Is that the one you performed on David Letterman?
Yeah.
So, that experience itself, I mean Incredible, yeah.
I was so lucky to have that opportunity.
Yeah, and that video, for people searching it out, it's got thousands and thousands of
views as well.
Yeah.
Was that something to meet David Letterman through this?
It was incredible, yeah.
I mean, you know, I never thought
I'm just a country boy from a little village in England, you know.
I never thought I'd get to national television in America, you know.
It's incredible.
Are there any songs of Elvis's repertoire that you don't know?
I'm sure there's the odd song, you know.
You're always hearing this, oh, you know.
A lot of the obscure movie ones, you know.
Yeah.
You know, some of them I'm not actually too keen on, so, you know.
I just do the ones I want.
I'm quite selfish.
The ones you like, right?
I'm selfish, yeah.
Because, I mean, I've been a fan and it's good.
I mean, this is your show, right?
And I've been a fan of Elvis and a fan of what you do.
And I'll come to your show and I'll not recognize some.
So, but you pull out a lot of gems.
Yeah, I try to, you know, obviously do the A-list standard ones.
But I try and put some in there that I think are really nice and it's not the obvious, you know.
Tell us about the show.
So, The King is Back, Tuesday, April 4th, National Arts Centre is where you're going to be performing.
You're on the bill with, let's say, a younger Elvis.
Yeah, oh, no, yeah, sure.
He's a young guy from the USA, Cody Ray Slaughter, and he's amazing at doing the 50s.
So, you know, if you were in Ottawa, first time around seeing Elvis in 57, it would be, yeah, like watching it all over again.
Yeah.
How much work do you put into being Elvis on a daily basis with just the visual look, the working out, the performing?
Obviously, when I'm, you know, not doing things at SR, just, you know, down there, play it as best I can.
But, yeah, you know, when you're on stage and what have you, you need to try and create an illusion, don't you?
You need to make it believable from a distance.
So, yeah, you know, just dye my hair and whatever else, you know.
How often do you get recognized or people come up to you all the time and say your resemblance to Elvis is uncanny?
Well, if you're in an Elvis bubble or something, you know, if you're in Memphis or something, obviously.
But, you know, sometimes you get the odd look in the supermarket, you know, but, you know, I just carry on my business, really.
Yeah.
OK.
So the show, The King is Back, what will you be performing?
Are there specific songs that we can look forward to?
Well, yeah, we have Cody from the US in the early years.
And then we also have Derek Fage that used to. Of course.
He's emceeing.
And we have the Sweet Inspirations, which was Elvis's original backing.
That's incredible.
And I'll be doing the 70s, you know, so if you haven't seen Elvis in the 70s, hopefully I can try and recreate that.
Yeah, that's going to be a lot of fun.
And the mayor as well.
See, I didn't even know this, but you guys let me in on this in the green room.
Something is happening this upcoming Monday.
Yeah, the third.
Yeah.
And the mayor of Ottawa is announcing it Elvis Presley Day.
Which is cool because it's going to be 60 years to the day.
Yeah.
Elvis is in town.
That's correct.
Yeah.
He did two shows here in Ottawa, I believe.
Yeah.
OK, so will you be in attendance for the.
Yeah, hopefully I can meet the mayor and I'll be there to watch.
Jim Watson, you'd like to get a selfie with our mayor?
Maybe not a selfie, but your photo.
Yeah, definitely.
Our mayor, Jim, is one of the coolest guys around.
So what is what is next for you?
I mean, how long do we hope to keep this going?
I mean, you just got to, you know, as long as you're enjoying it, that's the main thing.
But, you know, we are right.
You love what you love.
I do.
Yeah, I'm very lucky.
Yeah.
But, you know, then you do have to look in the mirror and say to yourself, you know, can I get away with this?
You know, so when that time comes, I'll let you know.
Where's the mirror?
There's plenty.
I'm looking in them all the time.
So what is the best part of being on that stage and being the ultimate tribute artist to Elvis?
I suppose.
Yeah.
To sing the music is great.
You know, to sing those amazing songs, like I say, in a trilogy and what have you.
And, you know, to make people happy is really nice thing.
Because you realize it.
I mean, well, first of all, do you believe the real Elvis is still out there?
No, I believe he died.
Yeah.
For sure.
Yeah.
Because he lives through you and the music.
And because when I see you on stage and I've taken photos of you as well and I've looked at them afterwards and you could swear that Elvis is right in front of you.
So that's got to that's got to make you feel good.
Yeah.
You said you've got to try and create an illusion, haven't you?
Yeah.
You sort of become that person, you know, so.
Big tour of Ireland coming up as well.
Yeah.
When I come back from Canada, I'll be off to Ireland.
Yeah.
I really like Ireland.
People are great.
And the Guinness is really good.
Yeah.
It's not easy being the king.
It's not easy.
This is awesome.
Ben, thank you very much for being here today.
And thank you for the show as well on Tuesday.
[B] I'll see you on Tuesday.
Tuesday, April 4th, National Arts Centre.
The King is back.
Get your tickets through the NAC [G] box office.
More daytime Ottawa straight [A] ahead.
Key:
G
D
C
E
B
G
D
C
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ [E] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ [N] _ He is the ultimate Elvis tribute artist.
Ben Portsmouth is with us right now.
Ben, how are you?
Hi, Dylan, yeah, very well, thank you.
Should I address you as the king?
Oh, just Ben's fine.
Ben's cool.
Good.
_ Obviously, there is a love for Elvis here.
And so how far are we going back now?
_ Ever since I can remember, really, yeah.
My dad listened to Elvis when I was a child in the car, yeah.
What part of the world are you from?
A little old island called England.
A little old island called England, okay.
So am I to understand correctly, so you're the first ever European Elvis tribute artist
that won a major award a few years back.
Can you tell us about this?
Yeah, that's correct, yeah.
It's a big competition, the biggest Elvis contest in the world, actually.
And there's qualifiers all around the world to make it through to Memphis.
I actually qualified in Collingwood in Canada.
_ _ And yeah, so that was great.
And so I got through to Memphis, went through the heat and what have you, and it gets whittled
down and yeah, I was lucky enough to win it, yeah.
How did you begin in Collingwood?
How did it start there?
Because if you're over in England, how did you get over to Collingwood?
Just, obviously I knew about the festival, you know, because it's one of the biggest
in the world.
And so yeah, so I just thought I'd go there and do it, you know.
How many years now have we been paying tribute to Elvis?
Oh my God, _ _ must be over 10 years now, yeah.
I used to look young.
You're super young.
Late night.
So, _ I also want to talk as well, because obviously, I mean, this has taken you all over the world.
Is there any place in the world you would like to perform that you haven't been yet?
_ Oh, gosh. _ _
I'm glad I said that.
Oops, sorry. _ _ _
Maybe China, you know.
China, yeah.
That'd be interesting, yeah.
Because obviously Elvis was loved across the world.
Yeah, yeah, he'd go anywhere around the world and everyone knows who he is and you can perform there.
That's testament to his talent, isn't it? Yeah.
Now, I've had a chance to see you in action a couple of times and one of my favorite moments
is whenever you're handing out the, sort of, the scarf to the ladies.
Does that ever get old for you or is that pretty_
No, I think it's a great thing that Elvis did.
It gives you that connection, you know.
So, I think it's great and I enjoy doing that.
Yeah, that's fun.
So, what are your favorite tunes of his to perform?
_ _ _ American Trilogy is a really amazing song.
Is that the one you performed on David Letterman?
Yeah.
So, that experience itself, I mean_ Incredible, yeah.
I was so lucky to have that opportunity.
Yeah, and that video, for people searching it out, it's got thousands and thousands of
views as well.
Yeah.
Was that something to meet David Letterman through this?
It was incredible, yeah.
I mean, you know, I never thought_
I'm just a country boy from a little village in England, you know.
I never thought I'd get to national television in America, you know.
It's incredible.
Are there any songs of Elvis's repertoire that you don't know?
_ I'm sure there's the odd song, you know.
You're always hearing this, oh, you know.
A lot of the obscure movie ones, you know.
Yeah.
You know, some of them I'm not actually too keen on, so, you know.
I just do the ones I want.
I'm quite selfish.
The ones you like, right?
I'm selfish, yeah.
Because, I mean, I've been a fan and it's good.
I mean, this is your show, right?
And I've been a fan of Elvis and a fan of what you do.
And I'll come to your show and I'll not recognize some.
So, but you pull out a lot of gems.
_ Yeah, I try to, you know, obviously do the A-list standard ones.
But I try and put some in there that I think are really nice and it's not the obvious, you know.
Tell us about the show.
So, The King is Back, Tuesday, April 4th, National Arts Centre is where you're going to be performing.
You're on the bill with, let's say, a younger Elvis.
Yeah, oh, no, yeah, sure.
He's a young guy from the USA, Cody Ray Slaughter, and he's amazing at doing the 50s.
So, you know, if you were in Ottawa, first time around seeing Elvis in 57, it would be, yeah, like watching it all over again.
Yeah.
How much work do you put into being Elvis on a daily basis with just the visual look, the working out, the performing?
Obviously, when I'm, you know, not doing things at SR, just, you know, down there, play it as best I can.
But, yeah, you know, when you're on stage and what have you, you need to try and create an illusion, don't you?
You need to make it believable from a distance.
_ So, yeah, you know, just dye my hair and whatever else, you know.
How often do you get recognized or people come up to you all the time and say your resemblance to Elvis is uncanny?
_ _ Well, if you're in an Elvis bubble or something, you know, if you're in Memphis or something, obviously.
But, _ you know, sometimes you get the odd look in the supermarket, you know, but, you know, I just carry on my business, really.
Yeah.
OK.
So the show, The King is Back, what will you be performing?
Are there specific songs that we can look forward to?
Well, _ yeah, we have Cody from the US in the early years.
_ And then we also have _ Derek Fage that used to. Of course. _
He's emceeing.
_ And we have the Sweet Inspirations, which was Elvis's original _ backing.
That's incredible.
And I'll be doing the 70s, you know, so if you haven't seen Elvis in the 70s, hopefully I can try and recreate that.
Yeah, that's going to be a lot of fun.
And the mayor as well.
See, I didn't even know this, but you guys let me in on this in the green room.
Something is happening this upcoming _ Monday.
Yeah, the third.
Yeah.
And the mayor of Ottawa is announcing it Elvis Presley Day.
Which is cool because it's going to be 60 years to the day.
Yeah.
Elvis is in town.
That's correct.
Yeah.
He did two shows here in Ottawa, I believe.
Yeah.
OK, so will you be in attendance for the.
Yeah, hopefully I can meet the mayor and I'll be there to watch.
Jim Watson, you'd like to get a selfie with our mayor?
Maybe not a selfie, but your photo.
Yeah, definitely.
_ Our mayor, Jim, is one of the coolest guys around.
So what is what is next for you?
I mean, how long do we hope to keep this going?
I mean, you just got to, you know, as long as you're enjoying it, that's the main thing.
But, you know, we are right.
You love what you love.
I do.
Yeah, I'm very lucky.
Yeah.
But, you know, then you do have to look in the mirror and say to yourself, you know, can I get away with this?
You know, so when that time comes, I'll let you know.
Where's the mirror?
_ _ There's plenty.
I'm looking in them all the time.
So what is the best part of being on that stage and being the ultimate tribute artist to Elvis?
_ I suppose.
Yeah.
To sing the music is great.
You know, to sing those amazing songs, like I say, in a trilogy and what have you.
_ And, you know, to make people happy is really nice thing.
Because you realize it.
I mean, well, first of all, do you believe the real Elvis is still out there?
No, I believe he died.
Yeah.
For sure.
Yeah.
Because he lives through you and the music.
And because when I see you on stage and I've taken photos of you as well and I've looked at them afterwards and you could swear that Elvis is right in front of you.
So that's got to that's got to make you feel good.
Yeah.
You said you've got to try and create an illusion, haven't you?
Yeah.
You sort of become that person, you know, so.
Big tour of Ireland coming up as well.
Yeah.
When I come back from Canada, I'll be off to Ireland.
Yeah.
I really like Ireland.
People are great.
And the Guinness is really good.
Yeah.
It's not easy being the king.
It's not easy.
This is awesome.
Ben, thank you very much for being here today.
And thank you for the show as well on Tuesday.
[B] I'll see you on Tuesday.
Tuesday, April 4th, National Arts Centre.
The King is back.
Get your tickets through the NAC [G] box office.
More daytime Ottawa straight [A] ahead.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ [N] _ He is the ultimate Elvis tribute artist.
Ben Portsmouth is with us right now.
Ben, how are you?
Hi, Dylan, yeah, very well, thank you.
Should I address you as the king?
Oh, just Ben's fine.
Ben's cool.
Good.
_ Obviously, there is a love for Elvis here.
And so how far are we going back now?
_ Ever since I can remember, really, yeah.
My dad listened to Elvis when I was a child in the car, yeah.
What part of the world are you from?
A little old island called England.
A little old island called England, okay.
So am I to understand correctly, so you're the first ever European Elvis tribute artist
that won a major award a few years back.
Can you tell us about this?
Yeah, that's correct, yeah.
It's a big competition, the biggest Elvis contest in the world, actually.
And there's qualifiers all around the world to make it through to Memphis.
I actually qualified in Collingwood in Canada.
_ _ And yeah, so that was great.
And so I got through to Memphis, went through the heat and what have you, and it gets whittled
down and yeah, I was lucky enough to win it, yeah.
How did you begin in Collingwood?
How did it start there?
Because if you're over in England, how did you get over to Collingwood?
Just, obviously I knew about the festival, you know, because it's one of the biggest
in the world.
And so yeah, so I just thought I'd go there and do it, you know.
How many years now have we been paying tribute to Elvis?
Oh my God, _ _ must be over 10 years now, yeah.
I used to look young.
You're super young.
Late night.
So, _ I also want to talk as well, because obviously, I mean, this has taken you all over the world.
Is there any place in the world you would like to perform that you haven't been yet?
_ Oh, gosh. _ _
I'm glad I said that.
Oops, sorry. _ _ _
Maybe China, you know.
China, yeah.
That'd be interesting, yeah.
Because obviously Elvis was loved across the world.
Yeah, yeah, he'd go anywhere around the world and everyone knows who he is and you can perform there.
That's testament to his talent, isn't it? Yeah.
Now, I've had a chance to see you in action a couple of times and one of my favorite moments
is whenever you're handing out the, sort of, the scarf to the ladies.
Does that ever get old for you or is that pretty_
No, I think it's a great thing that Elvis did.
It gives you that connection, you know.
So, I think it's great and I enjoy doing that.
Yeah, that's fun.
So, what are your favorite tunes of his to perform?
_ _ _ American Trilogy is a really amazing song.
Is that the one you performed on David Letterman?
Yeah.
So, that experience itself, I mean_ Incredible, yeah.
I was so lucky to have that opportunity.
Yeah, and that video, for people searching it out, it's got thousands and thousands of
views as well.
Yeah.
Was that something to meet David Letterman through this?
It was incredible, yeah.
I mean, you know, I never thought_
I'm just a country boy from a little village in England, you know.
I never thought I'd get to national television in America, you know.
It's incredible.
Are there any songs of Elvis's repertoire that you don't know?
_ I'm sure there's the odd song, you know.
You're always hearing this, oh, you know.
A lot of the obscure movie ones, you know.
Yeah.
You know, some of them I'm not actually too keen on, so, you know.
I just do the ones I want.
I'm quite selfish.
The ones you like, right?
I'm selfish, yeah.
Because, I mean, I've been a fan and it's good.
I mean, this is your show, right?
And I've been a fan of Elvis and a fan of what you do.
And I'll come to your show and I'll not recognize some.
So, but you pull out a lot of gems.
_ Yeah, I try to, you know, obviously do the A-list standard ones.
But I try and put some in there that I think are really nice and it's not the obvious, you know.
Tell us about the show.
So, The King is Back, Tuesday, April 4th, National Arts Centre is where you're going to be performing.
You're on the bill with, let's say, a younger Elvis.
Yeah, oh, no, yeah, sure.
He's a young guy from the USA, Cody Ray Slaughter, and he's amazing at doing the 50s.
So, you know, if you were in Ottawa, first time around seeing Elvis in 57, it would be, yeah, like watching it all over again.
Yeah.
How much work do you put into being Elvis on a daily basis with just the visual look, the working out, the performing?
Obviously, when I'm, you know, not doing things at SR, just, you know, down there, play it as best I can.
But, yeah, you know, when you're on stage and what have you, you need to try and create an illusion, don't you?
You need to make it believable from a distance.
_ So, yeah, you know, just dye my hair and whatever else, you know.
How often do you get recognized or people come up to you all the time and say your resemblance to Elvis is uncanny?
_ _ Well, if you're in an Elvis bubble or something, you know, if you're in Memphis or something, obviously.
But, _ you know, sometimes you get the odd look in the supermarket, you know, but, you know, I just carry on my business, really.
Yeah.
OK.
So the show, The King is Back, what will you be performing?
Are there specific songs that we can look forward to?
Well, _ yeah, we have Cody from the US in the early years.
_ And then we also have _ Derek Fage that used to. Of course. _
He's emceeing.
_ And we have the Sweet Inspirations, which was Elvis's original _ backing.
That's incredible.
And I'll be doing the 70s, you know, so if you haven't seen Elvis in the 70s, hopefully I can try and recreate that.
Yeah, that's going to be a lot of fun.
And the mayor as well.
See, I didn't even know this, but you guys let me in on this in the green room.
Something is happening this upcoming _ Monday.
Yeah, the third.
Yeah.
And the mayor of Ottawa is announcing it Elvis Presley Day.
Which is cool because it's going to be 60 years to the day.
Yeah.
Elvis is in town.
That's correct.
Yeah.
He did two shows here in Ottawa, I believe.
Yeah.
OK, so will you be in attendance for the.
Yeah, hopefully I can meet the mayor and I'll be there to watch.
Jim Watson, you'd like to get a selfie with our mayor?
Maybe not a selfie, but your photo.
Yeah, definitely.
_ Our mayor, Jim, is one of the coolest guys around.
So what is what is next for you?
I mean, how long do we hope to keep this going?
I mean, you just got to, you know, as long as you're enjoying it, that's the main thing.
But, you know, we are right.
You love what you love.
I do.
Yeah, I'm very lucky.
Yeah.
But, you know, then you do have to look in the mirror and say to yourself, you know, can I get away with this?
You know, so when that time comes, I'll let you know.
Where's the mirror?
_ _ There's plenty.
I'm looking in them all the time.
So what is the best part of being on that stage and being the ultimate tribute artist to Elvis?
_ I suppose.
Yeah.
To sing the music is great.
You know, to sing those amazing songs, like I say, in a trilogy and what have you.
_ And, you know, to make people happy is really nice thing.
Because you realize it.
I mean, well, first of all, do you believe the real Elvis is still out there?
No, I believe he died.
Yeah.
For sure.
Yeah.
Because he lives through you and the music.
And because when I see you on stage and I've taken photos of you as well and I've looked at them afterwards and you could swear that Elvis is right in front of you.
So that's got to that's got to make you feel good.
Yeah.
You said you've got to try and create an illusion, haven't you?
Yeah.
You sort of become that person, you know, so.
Big tour of Ireland coming up as well.
Yeah.
When I come back from Canada, I'll be off to Ireland.
Yeah.
I really like Ireland.
People are great.
And the Guinness is really good.
Yeah.
It's not easy being the king.
It's not easy.
This is awesome.
Ben, thank you very much for being here today.
And thank you for the show as well on Tuesday.
[B] I'll see you on Tuesday.
Tuesday, April 4th, National Arts Centre.
The King is back.
Get your tickets through the NAC [G] box office.
More daytime Ottawa straight [A] ahead.
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