PHOTO FROM ELVIS PRESLEY FACEBOOK PAGE

Hollywood, MD – Thursday, August 16, 1977—for many adults it was a day they became all shook up. It was 40 years ago that Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘N’ Roll, died, discovered unresponsive at his Graceland mansion and pronounced dead at a Memphis hospital. While scholars who contribute to the Elvis History Blog present documented evidence of the King’s decline a few months before his death—including a bizarre, late May performance in Baltimore—others have steadfastly worked to salvage the man’s reputation as a performer. They have simply refused to write Elvis Presley off as another dead celebrity.

“There has been so much written that has been negative,” said entertainer Ann-Margret in a 1994 interview by Charlie Rose. “I want to celebrate his life. He was so gifted.”
And so it is with many tribute artists throughout the world and here in Southern Maryland. “That’s pretty much what I was raised on, that genre,” said Steve Weems, a Calvert County commissioner and St. Leonard liquor store owner who has gained a following with his Elvis impersonations. “My mother loved him,” said Weems, who started aping Elvis when he was 6-years-old. Weems told TheBayNet.com that his aunt would give him a quarter every time he sang to her in his Elvis voice. “I loved it,” he recalled. “It just gave me joy.”

Calvert resident Jim Godbold remembered hanging out at a College Park sandwich shop, dropping money in the jukebox and listening to Elvis sing “In the Ghetto.” Growing up in a house where his parents listened to country while he preferred rock, it seemed eventual that Elvis Presley, the quintessential crossover artist would make an impression that would lead to obsession. “I was 22 when Elvis passed away,” said Godbold. A few weeks after Presley’s death, Godbold began to grow long, thick sideburns. Was this in memory of the King? Godbold said, in reality, “it was out of laziness. I hate shaving. But people started asking me, ‘are you trying to look like Elvis?’ it bloomed from there.” It was in the late 1990s when Godbold, by then a Southern Maryland resident, entered an Elvis look-alike contest at the Calvert County Fair and won. The bloom then got a little larger as Godbold became “Rockin’ Elvis,” performing as the King at benefits, store promotions, and of course, perennially returning to the Calvert County Fair to entertain on Seniors and Handicapped Day.

Other events that book Rockin’ Elvis on a regular basis include The Night of 100 Elvises, held in early December at the ritzy Lord Baltimore Hotel in downtown Baltimore. Portions of the proceeds from the weekend event benefit Johns Hopkins’ Children’s Center. Additionally, Godbold (pictured right, to the left of Santa) performs for residents of the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home and On Our Own of Calvert County’s annual luau.
“I don’t try to be Elvis,” said Godbold, who was recognized as Calvert County’s “Official Elvis” in 2008 by the Board of County Commissioners. “I just try to make people happy and keep his music alive.”

As the baby boomer generation ages, concert-goers who saw him perform live forget some of the specifics of the show they saw and disc jockeys who played Elvis records while he was living either retire or pass away, Presley’s music remains part of the 20th century soundtrack. The images—photographs, films and video—are key components to the chronicling of the history of Rock ‘N’ Roll. And 40 years later an army of Elvises marches on.

“It’s good to be the King,” said Godbold.

Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com