0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07'A life that was the stuff of fables. The world didn't notice his birth
0:00:07 > 0:00:09'in a two-roomed shack. But it noticed his death.
0:00:09 > 0:00:10'Elvis Presley, country boy,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14'died in a mansion on a street that was named for him.'
0:00:15 > 0:00:19'Police estimated that as many as 80,000 mourners gathered
0:00:19 > 0:00:21'to pay their last respects to the dead singer.'
0:00:21 > 0:00:24POLICE TALK THROUGH MEGAPHONE
0:00:26 > 0:00:28'Dozens of people fainted while waiting in the long line,
0:00:28 > 0:00:30'and some uncontrollably saddened.'
0:00:30 > 0:00:32SHE WAILS
0:00:32 > 0:00:36- How do you feel about seeing him for the last time?- I hate it.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38I can't believe it.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40It's just unreal right now.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41I'm just numb.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I've been very upset since I heard the news.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46I just wish he would come back.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52CROWD CHEERING
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Thank you very much.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06# Now, you can't judge an apple by looking at the tree
0:01:06 > 0:01:10# You can't judge honey by looking at the bee
0:01:10 > 0:01:14# Can't judge a daughter by looking at her mother
0:01:14 > 0:01:20# Can't judge a book by looking at the cover... #
0:01:20 > 0:01:23'There are plenty of people who think the King is still alive,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26'and every once in a while someone claims they've actually seen him.
0:01:26 > 0:01:32'In fact, if Elvis is alive, he wears a mask and goes by the name Orion.'
0:01:32 > 0:01:35# You can't judge a book by looking at the cover... #
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Orion Eckley Darnell, that's your full name?
0:01:38 > 0:01:39- Right.- Where you come from?
0:01:39 > 0:01:43I was born at Sun Records, in the studio.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47- Do you ever take off your mask? - Only when I go through customs.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52The multimillion dollar question - are you Elvis or are you not Elvis?
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I am Orion. Period.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01He just had that magic about him. Look at this guy. Who is he?
0:02:01 > 0:02:05'Here is Orion on the Sun label with Ebony Eyes.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08'Listen to a wonderful voice, and a superstar to be.'
0:02:09 > 0:02:13# Oh, the weekend passed
0:02:13 > 0:02:16# I wouldn't have time
0:02:16 > 0:02:19# To get home and marry... #
0:02:19 > 0:02:23They always tell you, especially down here in Nashville,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Well, in Jimmy's case, that's exactly what it was.
0:02:30 > 0:02:39# ..My beautiful ebony eyes. #
0:02:52 > 0:02:55# See the tree, how big it's grown
0:02:55 > 0:02:58# But, friends it hasn't been too long
0:02:58 > 0:03:00# It wasn't big
0:03:03 > 0:03:06# You know, I laughed at her and she got mad
0:03:06 > 0:03:09# The first day that she planted it
0:03:09 > 0:03:11# Was just a twig
0:03:13 > 0:03:16# Then the first snow came
0:03:16 > 0:03:20# And she ran out to brush the snow away
0:03:20 > 0:03:22# So it wouldn't die
0:03:25 > 0:03:28# Came running in all excited
0:03:28 > 0:03:31# Slipped and almost hurt herself
0:03:31 > 0:03:34# I laughed till I cried
0:03:34 > 0:03:37# And, honey, I miss you
0:03:40 > 0:03:43# And I'm being good
0:03:46 > 0:03:49# And, honey, I miss you
0:03:51 > 0:03:54# And I'm being good
0:03:56 > 0:04:00# And I'd love to be with you
0:04:02 > 0:04:05# If only I could... #
0:04:11 > 0:04:14- Your real name is Jimmy Ellis, isn't it?- That's correct.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- Where are you from?- Little town called Orrville, Alabama.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19CHEERING
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Orrville, Alabama. It's about 15 miles south of Selma, Alabama.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26I know you've heard of Selma, Alabama.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01Jimmy was sort of famous around our community for being the guy
0:05:01 > 0:05:04that could really sing. He could never have any peace and quiet.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Folks would always want to get him to, "Sing us a song, Jimmy."
0:05:08 > 0:05:11If he was in a good mood, he'd sing one.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14If one of his girls had made him mad, he wouldn't sing at all.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29# A love is but a love
0:05:29 > 0:05:32# A kiss is but a kiss... #
0:05:39 > 0:05:43We met when we were 18 years old. One of Elvis's songs was playing.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47One of the ballplayers said, "Do you know who that is singing?"
0:05:47 > 0:05:52"Well, sure. It's Elvis Presley." All the guys kind of laughed.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55I said, "No, it's not. It's that guy."
0:05:55 > 0:06:00That was just a shock to hear a guy that sounded like he did.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08Back then, Elvis was a big deal. You know, he was the thing.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13THEY SCREAM
0:06:15 > 0:06:20- What did Jimmy think of Elvis? - He loved the way he sang.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23He said, "There was nothing Elvis could sing that I can't sing."
0:06:23 > 0:06:25I think he knew he had a real talent.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32It was just unreal that he sounded so much like Elvis.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34When we graduated, at the ceremony,
0:06:34 > 0:06:39he sang some of the most beautiful songs. I knew the music was in him.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42You know, it was in his soul.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44He'd either entertain you with his singing,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47or he'd entertain you with his joking around.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50If you were down, you'd be around Jimmy five minutes
0:06:50 > 0:06:54and you'd be laughing and cheerful, and forget all your problems.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12# You said we had to part
0:07:12 > 0:07:16# I thought my heart would break
0:07:16 > 0:07:19# You were my only love
0:07:19 > 0:07:23# It's more than I can t-a-a-a-a-ke... #
0:07:37 > 0:07:42Then Jimmy had a meeting with Phil Walden with Capricorn Records.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45He actually offered Jimmy a contract. A recording contract.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00This part of the country, people worked hard on land.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02You know, this is cattleman country
0:08:02 > 0:08:05and farming country and cotton country.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09And when you talk about being a singer, they just frown on it.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33No question about Jimmy. He lived, breathed and ate walking horses.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36And actually trained three world champions.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Jimmy was a star, just like he was a star of the stage.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Jimmy's heart wasn't in it.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50Mr Ellis just constantly pushed Jamie more and more into the horses,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53and you could see him sitting on a horse sometimes,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55he just looked like, "Oh, great."
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Mr Ellis groomed him to take over their business,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03so that, one day, when they weren't there, it would be his.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Daddy was so talented,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37but his interest was music.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41He would sing driving down the road. I mean, it was...
0:09:41 > 0:09:46Wherever you went, you'd be sitting in a pond somewhere fishing
0:09:46 > 0:09:48and he'd just be singing.
0:09:48 > 0:09:49Just where you was.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51I don't know, I can't explain it.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54It's not like a lightning bolt struck him in the head
0:09:54 > 0:09:58and, bam, "You can sing now." He was always that way.
0:10:02 > 0:10:08# If my lonely tears could talk
0:10:08 > 0:10:13# I know just what they'd say... #
0:10:14 > 0:10:18He took me to a little nightclub there in Selma,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21and I didn't know he could sing.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23I knew nothing about it.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25And the guy that ran the nightclub knew him
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and encouraged him to get up and sing.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33And when he opened his mouth, I nearly hit the floor!
0:10:33 > 0:10:35# Please come kiss the hurt away
0:10:35 > 0:10:39# Oh-oh, make it well
0:10:39 > 0:10:42# And take me away
0:10:42 > 0:10:45# From this earth
0:10:45 > 0:10:49# Wave a spell
0:10:49 > 0:10:51# In my lonely, lonely... #
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Growing up, Elvis was my idol.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57I don't guess there's ever been anyone else
0:10:57 > 0:11:00that could even touch the way I felt about Elvis.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05But when Jimmy started singing, I was astonished.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09And I think that was it right then. I said, "This is meant to be."
0:11:09 > 0:11:13This has to be the man I'm meant to be with the rest of my life.
0:11:13 > 0:11:20# And kiss the hurt away! #
0:11:31 > 0:11:35His dad always thought the music business was a bunch of foolishness.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38And I'd heard him say many times,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42"I do not know why Jimmy Ellis wants to run off
0:11:42 > 0:11:47"around the world singing when he has the finest horse farm
0:11:47 > 0:11:49"and the most talents of anyone in the country."
0:11:49 > 0:11:52And that was so. When you raise three world champions,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55you're obviously pretty sharp at what you do.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01- JIMMY:- It just got to the point where I had to either go do it full time,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03cos that's where my heart was...
0:12:04 > 0:12:06..or either I had to just forget about it.
0:12:08 > 0:12:09Well, I couldn't forget about it.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11The saddest thing to me -
0:12:11 > 0:12:13it didn't seem to bother him, though -
0:12:13 > 0:12:15he laid out all of his saddles and bridles
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and everything that belonged to his horses on the ground,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21and it was all for sale in his barn.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23And to walk through there and see
0:12:23 > 0:12:28what I felt like was his entire life laying before me, it was...
0:12:28 > 0:12:30it was heartbreaking to me,
0:12:30 > 0:12:34but he was so excited to sell everything he had
0:12:34 > 0:12:38and go to Los Angeles and try his best to make a career.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56# Tell him his time is over Say goodbye
0:12:57 > 0:13:02# And if he asks the reason Then you can tell him why... #
0:13:02 > 0:13:08His aim was to put together a show that he could take on the road.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11I thought, once Hollywood saw him, that would be it.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14The drawback was they had one Elvis.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16How were they going to make him different?
0:13:16 > 0:13:19They worked with him to try to make it about him.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22The first thing for him to do was to learn to dance,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24and have a stage presence.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27But it was so hard because, one day, at the end of practice,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30when they opened the doors, there was a line.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33One of the girls had called a girlfriend and told her,
0:13:33 > 0:13:34"You won't believe who's here.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37"Elvis is in the building, he's practising."
0:13:37 > 0:13:40And the girls had lined up outside the door
0:13:40 > 0:13:42to wait for him to come out.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44# Never been loved before
0:13:44 > 0:13:46# I can love you better
0:13:46 > 0:13:49# Than you've ever been loved before... #
0:13:49 > 0:13:51They had him go around and meet with different stars,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54and put it in the newspaper to build up interest.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57They would just have him go to different parties
0:13:57 > 0:13:59to introduce him to Hollywood.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03# Than you've ever been loved before
0:14:03 > 0:14:06# La-la-la-la
0:14:06 > 0:14:09# Oh-oh-oh-oh
0:14:09 > 0:14:12# I can love you better... #
0:14:12 > 0:14:16The people in Hollywood, they're there for the money.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21They're there for the bottom line. They knew exactly how much he had.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24They were going to give him something for his money.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29But they, in the end, they were going to get all the money he had.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33And it didn't take them but about a year to do that.
0:14:33 > 0:14:34He had to go back home.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39He had a child. Little Jim, and his mum and dad, and the farm.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44It felt like he had really maybe missed the mark
0:14:44 > 0:14:46because he didn't start at 18.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50He knew that it was a fight for a 30-something
0:14:50 > 0:14:53to actually make his mark and to have a big career.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58It was a very, very defeating time in his life.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00A very depressing time in his life.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02All of us have had opportunities in life
0:15:02 > 0:15:05where we're this close to success,
0:15:05 > 0:15:07or something big happening in our lives, you know?
0:15:07 > 0:15:12For that to fall apart was, obviously, a very depressive time.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17We ended up engaged, and trying to have a normal life.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20But he couldn't let it go. He had too much talent.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23It was a dream that he could not let go.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29That's when we went and stayed with friends of his in Georgia.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34He and his girlfriend stayed with us for three months.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37And I got an appointment to see Bobby Smith.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Bobby had a little recording studio
0:15:40 > 0:15:44and he had recorded Otis Redding at one time.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47A person called me. He brought a tape down -
0:15:47 > 0:15:49would I listen to this thing?
0:15:49 > 0:15:53I listened to it and I said, "I've got an idea."
0:15:53 > 0:15:56I was in the studio with my band, Avalanche,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59and Bobby Smith was our producer. And he said to me,
0:15:59 > 0:16:03"You need to come in here and listen to this guy."
0:16:03 > 0:16:05So we walked into Bobby's office,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08and I seen this tall drink of water, and he had that look,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11even then when I first walked in there, I said,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13"This guy is somebody. He has to be."
0:16:13 > 0:16:15You just don't look like that, you know, and not be somebody.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18So, Bobby, he's got a big smile on his face.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20He said, "Listen to this. Who do you think that is?"
0:16:20 > 0:16:23And he played this tape. I said, "That sounds like Elvis.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26"You're going to tell me that's this guy right there."
0:16:26 > 0:16:28Well, Jimmy started to sing right along with the tape.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30And I just shook my head and said,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33"I just cannot believe what I just heard!"
0:16:33 > 0:16:35What a combination this would be.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37Here we are, a disco band,
0:16:37 > 0:16:42and here comes this pop, country, rockabilly, Elvis sound-alike.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Bobby said, "What do you think?"
0:16:44 > 0:16:47And I said, "It would be kind of interesting, wouldn't it?
0:16:47 > 0:16:50"Because people wouldn't know what to think. Let's try it!"
0:16:56 > 0:17:01# Well, I tossed and turned all night since you've been gone
0:17:03 > 0:17:08# I cried a pool of tears wanting you to come back home... #
0:17:09 > 0:17:14Well, before you know it, we had every screaming woman in the town
0:17:14 > 0:17:18coming to see this big, tall drink of water that sounds like Elvis.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21And those girls screamed and hollered,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and I'm seeing them myself.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26This guy is unreal on stage.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29So I said, "I'll put two records out on you,
0:17:29 > 0:17:31"let's just see what'll happen."
0:17:31 > 0:17:34# Oh, the games you've been playing
0:17:34 > 0:17:37# Oh, the games you've been playing... #
0:17:42 > 0:17:47I was pretty sure that he was "playing around", I'll call it.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Nothing serious with anybody else.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51As he put it to me,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54"You're in the driver's seat, what more do you want?
0:17:54 > 0:17:56"You're at the head of the line."
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Now, to him, that was the best place to be.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01To me, I didn't want a line.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05And I said, "If you think that I'm going to stay at home
0:18:05 > 0:18:08"and you're going to travel out on the road,
0:18:08 > 0:18:10"and you're not going to let me go with you,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12"that's not going to happen."
0:18:13 > 0:18:15And I took the ring off and handed it back to him.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17And he started laughing, and he said,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20"I wonder how many times this is going to go back and forth."
0:18:20 > 0:18:23And I thought, "Once."
0:18:23 > 0:18:28And I got a ticket to Los Angeles, and I moved the next day.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30And I never went back.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38So, I put the first record out on him.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40We had disc jockeys that, "I'm not going to play you,
0:18:40 > 0:18:42"you sound too much like Elvis."
0:18:42 > 0:18:47In the United States, if you sound like Elvis, it's the kiss of death.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Because Elvis was more than just a voice.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54He gave all of the people of my generation
0:18:54 > 0:18:56a freedom that we hadn't had before.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00It was a blessing and a curse.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Everybody always said he's an Elvis impersonator,
0:19:04 > 0:19:05and that was the furthest thing.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09He wanted to get so far away from that, it was crazy.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13But...God gave him that voice.
0:19:33 > 0:19:39# Well, I'm not trying to be just like Elvis
0:19:40 > 0:19:46# I'm doing my best to make it on my own... #
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Jimmy tried all kinds of things.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53Great recordings, but didn't really do a lot.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59Bobby Smith, who was producing him, he brought him to Nashville.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01I always used to tell people,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04"If you want to be a model, you go to New York.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06"If you want to make cars, go to Detroit.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08"If you want to be a star, go to Hollywood.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11"If you want to make records, go to Nashville."
0:20:33 > 0:20:37I would say probably 1,000 a week come through Nashville
0:20:37 > 0:20:39looking for recording contracts.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41What percentage of them make it?
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Er, probably 1/100 of 1 percent.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Of course, the original Sun Studios are in Memphis.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51We are standing in the birthplace of rock and roll.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Sun Studio, Memphis Tennessee. It's where it all began.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Elvis Presley stood on that X and changed history.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Shelby bought Sun Records, the label, from Sam Phillips
0:21:05 > 0:21:07and moved Sun Records to Nashville.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13Jimmy Ellis says, "You know Shelby Singleton, don't you?"
0:21:13 > 0:21:19He came to see me and I didn't have any idea of how to promote him
0:21:19 > 0:21:21because of the way his voice sounded.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24You know, if there wasn't an Elvis at that time,
0:21:24 > 0:21:26he could have probably been a star.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Jimmy wanted to be a superstar. And he should have been.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36There was no way that he could have failed if Elvis had never lived.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44'Tonight, August 16, reported from the NBC News Centre in New York.'
0:21:47 > 0:21:48Good evening.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Elvis Presley died today. He was 42.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53Apparently, it was a heart attack.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56When word of Presley's death came, there was a rush on his records.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59You can't even buy one here now. They're all sold out.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02We had people lined up outside the store this morning
0:22:02 > 0:22:05waiting to come in to buy Elvis records.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09RCA Records is reportedly working day and night to turn out
0:22:09 > 0:22:11as many new albums as it needs to meet the demand.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Charles Osgood, CBS News, New York.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19Shelby had an idea.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24He owned the masters on Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, Carl Perkins,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27all the old entertainers at Sun Records.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31I decided I could bring him in and over-dub him on the tracks
0:22:31 > 0:22:35and, of course, everybody thought that I'd found an Elvis master
0:22:35 > 0:22:38in the catalogue after I'd bought Sun.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56- How was the label put out on that record?- Did not have my name on it.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Right, it didn't have your name on it? It caused a bit of a stir.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Yeah, it was a controversial record.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Bobby was a promotional man and he knew that outrageous schemes
0:23:04 > 0:23:05could sometimes draw a lot of attention.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Is this Elvis, or is it not? Sort of what he was trying to sell.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12And then he started pairing him with other Sun classics -
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Carl Perkins and Charlie Rich and Johnny Cash,
0:23:15 > 0:23:16as if they were old recordings.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20The timing was right because all this happened
0:23:20 > 0:23:24within six months after Elvis had died.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Elvis was getting the credit. That was the only problem, you know?
0:23:27 > 0:23:29If someone else is getting the credit,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31then you don't make the money.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35So...I would rather be known for my own ability.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39And then we come along with this great idea.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43And it gives him something to do. Something that's different.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48And now, ladies and gentlemen, if you will, please,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51big round of applause. Mr Jimmy Ellis!
0:23:51 > 0:23:53CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:23:54 > 0:23:57How's everybody tonight at Nashville South?
0:23:57 > 0:23:59CHEERING
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Everybody holler one time real loud.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03- CHEERING - Play it.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08MUSIC: There You Go by Jimmy Ellis
0:24:12 > 0:24:14# There you go... #
0:24:14 > 0:24:17We were in a little club called Nashville South.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20And I really didn't know who was performing that night.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25But when music is being played, the music comes right to me.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28And I said, "My goodness, who is that?"
0:24:28 > 0:24:30He was so magnetic.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32The audience was just in his hand.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35I met him when he came off the stage and I said,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39"You know, I might have something that's going to change your life."
0:24:41 > 0:24:44I began Orion in 1977.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47The concept of Orion came from what it would be like
0:24:47 > 0:24:50to be a prisoner of your own fame, such as Elvis Presley.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53- So, did you start writing Orion before Elvis died?- Oh, yes.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got real serious about it the day he died.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Because I felt I needed to hurry and finish this.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Because people needed to understand what this poor man went through.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07That's what this book is.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11It's exploring the tragedy of a superstar.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15And how he had to escape that tragedy
0:25:15 > 0:25:17just to be able to walk down the street.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21So, Orion, in order to escape, he fakes his own death.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Gail is a great writer.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26And I was writing the songs to go with the book.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30We were intending to have a movie, and we had Hollywood interest.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34And so, when I met him, I knew there was more to this.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37I mean, it was just incredible that he sang like this.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39And that he looked like he did.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42I told Gail, "I want you to go with me.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45"I'm going to show you something you won't believe."
0:25:45 > 0:25:47Jimmy had a beautiful voice.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50We talked about him doing the songs for the movie,
0:25:50 > 0:25:51should there be a movie.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13It just seemed meant to be...
0:26:13 > 0:26:16that I would be in that club on that night.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Because he did one-nighters at that time.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22And he was in his early 30s.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24He had been trying to make it for years.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26And he needed a vehicle.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29He felt like it was the answer to his prayers.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33And we actually thought that Jimmy would kind of walk out of that book.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50The creation of Orion off of the book was really my idea.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53It was part accident and part madman genius.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56I thought that I could create this mystique
0:26:56 > 0:27:00of everybody thinking that he really was Elvis,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04and that he had faked his own death, like the book.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07My character hoaxed his death.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Then, all the rumours began. I didn't start them.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Um, about, "Is Elvis dead?"
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Timing is everything.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23People were very, very emotional and receptive to anything Elvis.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27Shelby Singleton came along at the right time and the right place
0:27:27 > 0:27:30with nothing more than a gimmick.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32A gimmick.
0:27:32 > 0:27:33Despicable gimmick.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Shelby says, "Bobby I've got an idea.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42"It's going to be up to you to talk him into it.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45"It's going to be something he's not going to want to do,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47"cos he was a nice-looking person."
0:27:47 > 0:27:49He says, "Wear a mask."
0:27:49 > 0:27:51I said, "Wear a mask?"
0:27:51 > 0:27:54And I said, "He's not going to like that,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56"I can tell you that right now."
0:27:56 > 0:27:57He was very reluctant.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00As a matter of fact, he didn't even like the idea.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03But Shelby pretty much persuaded him
0:28:03 > 0:28:06that either you put on the mask and you do this,
0:28:06 > 0:28:08or you go back to Alabama
0:28:08 > 0:28:11and see if you can get another deal somewhere else.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15He didn't want to do it, but we finally talked him into doing it.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Otherwise, he was just Jimmy Ellis, you know?.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21And Jimmy Ellis didn't really mean nothing.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26In order to be a successful entertainer,
0:28:26 > 0:28:28you have to want it more than you want to breathe.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30You have to want it more than air.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34And Jimmy desperately, desperately wanted it.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57We had a guy who sounded like Elvis.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59Maybe if he's photographed a certain way
0:28:59 > 0:29:01he could sort of look like Elvis.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Left the fans kind of hoping it was Elvis behind that mask.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10You have this real guy. They put a mask on him.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12And they brought this fictional character alive.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16That's all he was - fiction.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Some people give birth to babies.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20I gave birth to a 6'4" man with a mask!
0:29:20 > 0:29:23It was a hard delivery!
0:29:23 > 0:29:25SHE LAUGHS
0:29:25 > 0:29:27I didn't even know he was going to go on stage, quite frankly.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30I thought they were just up there, going to cut the song
0:29:30 > 0:29:32so I could take him to the producer.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34I don't know how this got to this.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36CHEERING
0:29:36 > 0:29:39He's a cross between Elvis and the Lone Ranger.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44He's called Orion, but his true identity is a well-kept secret.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48His character was born in the pages of the book Orion.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51The book's here.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54I'm here. Which I'm glad of.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56I wouldn't know of any other place
0:29:56 > 0:29:59I'd rather be right now than to be here.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01I think that's the most important thing.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03And that we make a few people happy.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07# Is my love going a-walking?
0:30:07 > 0:30:09# It's a mighty dreary life
0:30:09 > 0:30:11# Loneliness can wound a man
0:30:11 > 0:30:13# Like the cutting of a knife
0:30:13 > 0:30:15# How long must I suffer?
0:30:15 > 0:30:17# Tell me, when will I be free?
0:30:17 > 0:30:20# Anybody out there wanna be close to me?
0:30:20 > 0:30:22# Well, a man can die of hunger
0:30:22 > 0:30:24# He can die of thirst, I know
0:30:24 > 0:30:26# Loneliness can kill me
0:30:26 > 0:30:27# Why, this ain't got far to go
0:30:27 > 0:30:29# How long must I suffer?
0:30:29 > 0:30:31# Tell me, when will I be free?
0:30:31 > 0:30:34# Anybody out there wanna make love to me?
0:30:34 > 0:30:39# Anybody out there wanna come and take my blues away?
0:30:39 > 0:30:42# Hold me close and say the words I want to hear you say
0:30:42 > 0:30:45# I'm in pain and misery as lonely as can be
0:30:45 > 0:30:50# Anybody out there wanna make love to me? Oh, yeah!
0:30:50 > 0:30:53# Anybody out there wanna make love to me? #
0:30:53 > 0:30:54Whoo!
0:30:54 > 0:30:56How about it, ladies and gentlemen? Put your hands together
0:30:56 > 0:30:58for the fantastic Orion, how about it?
0:30:58 > 0:31:02That was when it all started right there, that's 1979.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07It was a phenomenon. I mean, I'd never seen anything like it.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09We had sell-out crowds.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14I mean, you get a place that seats 1,500 to 2,500 people
0:31:14 > 0:31:16and you're selling those out,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18that's a lot of people coming out to see you.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23You want to hear one more, let him hear you, Orion!
0:31:23 > 0:31:26One more song, Orion!
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Everyone loves a fairytale
0:31:29 > 0:31:32and everyone would like to think you can come back from the dead,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35so, let's face it, that's what they were after.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Sun Records would say, "If you could get a tenth of the Elvis fans,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42"you'd have millions of fans." They were trying to live through Jimmy
0:31:42 > 0:31:45what they would have liked to have lived through through Elvis.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47They'd have loved to meet Elvis when he got on his bus,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49but they could do that with Jimmy.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53So you drew that same type fan and many of the same fans.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Elvis that you couldn't talk to,
0:31:55 > 0:31:57all of a sudden here's this sort of stand-in Elvis,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59taking pictures with you with his arms around you.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01Elvis hadn't been able to do that for a long time
0:32:01 > 0:32:04and all of a sudden the fans wanted that sort of magical touch
0:32:04 > 0:32:05would go up and touch him.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08He'd hang out afterwards and sign autographs and the fans loved him.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10It was an experience, I'm telling you
0:32:10 > 0:32:14and I have actually seen girls standing there crying, just shaking.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18He really affected people, he really did.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22The lady sitting beside us said, "Do you know that's Elvis?"
0:32:22 > 0:32:25She said, "You know why he wears the mask?
0:32:25 > 0:32:27"To cover up all the scars that he's got.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30"He had plastic surgery to change his looks."
0:32:30 > 0:32:34I remember some girl coming up to the stage
0:32:34 > 0:32:38with a bouquet of flowers, and comes up reverently
0:32:38 > 0:32:42and bows and genuflects and puts it at his feet
0:32:42 > 0:32:46and I thought, "This is strange. This is just kind of weird."
0:32:46 > 0:32:49She obviously thought he was Elvis.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52To me, it always has been very obvious if you looked at the man,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56even with the mask on, you could tell this was not Elvis Presley.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59His eyes were brown, his nose was different.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03He's built different, he was much taller, he was much younger,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06but there were so many people back in the early '80s
0:33:06 > 0:33:09who so desperately wanted Elvis to still be alive,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12and they took it hook, line and sinker.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15It's almost like the fans become part of the fantasy.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20They're performing - the singer's performing and they're performing.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23They're acting the way they think they're conditioned to act.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27It's all just a myth.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34We preyed on, not only the fans, but on the press itself.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38You know, you couldn't buy the publicity that we did.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42The more lies we told, the more people believed them.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46One of the things playing up the mystery that this could be
0:33:46 > 0:33:51the dead Elvis who was still alive is that his first album had
0:33:51 > 0:33:52this shiny coffin,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55much like the one that Elvis was buried in, on the cover,
0:33:55 > 0:33:58so it was as if he's risen from the dead or he's been born again
0:33:58 > 0:33:59or the coffin is empty -
0:33:59 > 0:34:01you could look at it in a lot of different ways.
0:34:01 > 0:34:07They wanted to put the album on the racks in Walmart and Kmart
0:34:07 > 0:34:09but they got objections from the buyers
0:34:09 > 0:34:11because of the casket that was on there,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13so I had to change the cover on it.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16This one originally...
0:34:16 > 0:34:18turned into that one.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26I was, I guess, shocked when the album came out.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29Everything from my book was on the back of the album.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33This is the prologue of my book
0:34:33 > 0:34:38and he even had Orion Eckley Darnell as a songwriter.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40That's a character in my book.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42It had him under the guidance of Mac Weiman,
0:34:42 > 0:34:44a character in my book.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48Write to Orion, care of Dixie-Land, that's my book.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Everything was my book.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Instead of Graceland, like, down in Memphis, you know,
0:34:53 > 0:34:58where Elvis lived, in the book Orion, it was called Dixie-Land
0:34:58 > 0:35:00and then it said Ribbonsville, Tennessee.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03I always knew there was no such place as Ribbonsville, Tennessee.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06- Where do you call home? - Ribbonsville, Tennessee.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08Well, home is Nashville.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10- I live in Nashville, but I was born in...- Ribbonsville?
0:35:10 > 0:35:14..a little town called Ribbonsville, Tennessee. It's hard to find.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16How many people? What's the population?
0:35:16 > 0:35:20- Well, it was three and now it's two.- Where is it?
0:35:21 > 0:35:24- It's, er... - Really, I've never heard of it.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29You're getting into the mysterious part of my life, Mother.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32I mean, he'd just played, like, two weeks before as Jimmy Ellis
0:35:32 > 0:35:34and all of a sudden he's in the mask, he's Orion,
0:35:34 > 0:35:36and you're not supposed to know who he is.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40It's like we're charging everybody 25 if they call him Jimmy,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43cos you couldn't call him Jimmy, or the secret would get out.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45Taking her character
0:35:45 > 0:35:48and creating the character in reality is what we did.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50I didn't know they were going to do this
0:35:50 > 0:35:53and they never licensed any right to do this.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55How much were you paid for this?
0:35:55 > 0:35:56Nothing.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Zilch, zero. Nothing.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Nothing!
0:36:01 > 0:36:05So Shelby said, er, "So sue me."
0:36:07 > 0:36:12Well, I will say that we were naive a lot.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16We didn't do a lot of things we should have done in contracts.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19Back in the early '80s,
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Shelby Singleton was the most sued man in Tennessee
0:36:23 > 0:36:25for failing to pay
0:36:25 > 0:36:28and for doing things...
0:36:29 > 0:36:32..maybe not quite the way they should have been done.
0:36:33 > 0:36:34Why didn't I sue?
0:36:34 > 0:36:38We thought about it, we thought about even getting an injunction.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41I didn't want to hurt Jimmy, this was just starting up for him.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44I didn't want to hurt Carol Halupke, her songs were getting cut,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47so that's basically what happened - they just ran with it
0:36:47 > 0:36:49and I kind of was the victim.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56# Yeah, the one I love forever is untrue
0:36:57 > 0:36:58# And if I could
0:36:58 > 0:37:01# You know that I would fly away with you... #
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Orion is being billed as the superstar of the '80s
0:37:04 > 0:37:07by Shelby Singleton's Sun Record group, here in Nashville.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10And the response to his singing is almost unbelievable.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14A few weeks ago, he put on a show at Nashville's Tennessee Theatre
0:37:14 > 0:37:17and was scheduled to go on stage at ten o'clock in the evening.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21At four that afternoon, fans started lining up for seats.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23What do I like about him? Everything.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25This is our 15th time to see him.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28- How many times have you seen him? - Oh, too many times to count.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33I thought he was Elvis, I went all the way to Alabama to see who he was,
0:37:33 > 0:37:35followed him ever since.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37One of the things I admire about you
0:37:37 > 0:37:39is you've managed to keep your head about it all.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43You're getting to be, as they say in the business, a mighty big star.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45How do you handle it?
0:37:45 > 0:37:47It's not hard for me to handle.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51I enjoy the fans, I enjoy the publicity,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53I enjoy the business, I enjoy my work,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56so, you know, it's really not hard for me to handle.
0:37:57 > 0:37:58He was developing such a fanfare.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01A promoter could take him at any club or any venue,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04almost guarantee that they'd sell the place out.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08Our fan club now, in one year's time, is up to 20,000 members.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10It's almost to the point now
0:38:10 > 0:38:12where your fan club is nearing a cult following.
0:38:12 > 0:38:17Well, we used to have about 500 fans that would follow him
0:38:17 > 0:38:19every place that he went.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24In fact, we had two ladies that lived in their car out in our parking lot
0:38:24 > 0:38:27and just waited until he would leave town,
0:38:27 > 0:38:29so they could follow him wherever he was going.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33When Jimmy would go out on tour, his fans followed right along
0:38:33 > 0:38:37behind the bus and they'd travel hundreds, thousands of miles.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40It was just so stupid,
0:38:40 > 0:38:41but you're following the damn bus,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43so you'd look through the back of the bus,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47see if they'll stop at the red light and hop out, it's crazy.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51How do you like the life on the road?
0:38:51 > 0:38:55I think I'm just geared for entertainment life.
0:38:55 > 0:38:56I like to be on the road.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59If I'm on the road nine days a week, I like it.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01My agent can tell you that.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03But if I'm home for three days,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06I'm ready to get back on the road the fourth day.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13I remember Daddy flying in from Las Vegas,
0:39:13 > 0:39:15just to watch me play ball,
0:39:15 > 0:39:18and get home and he'd be gone, had to fly back out.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21So he always set aside time for me,
0:39:21 > 0:39:25a couple of weeks that there was nobody but me and him.
0:39:25 > 0:39:26You know, we fished and so on.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32The music business has never been my thing, you know,
0:39:32 > 0:39:34born and raised on a farm
0:39:34 > 0:39:38and, of course, he was too, raised on a farm,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41but, you know, he chased his dream.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46When Jimmy would come into...
0:39:46 > 0:39:50round Orrville after he became Orion,
0:39:50 > 0:39:51people were critical.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56They felt like Jimmy's trying to reach out for the stars
0:39:56 > 0:39:59or something, but they would snub him.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06I think it bothered Jimmy worse that we all thought it was silly
0:40:06 > 0:40:09and many of his close friends would tell him it was silly.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12His hometown folks never really accepted him
0:40:12 > 0:40:18as being any possibility but Jimmy Ellis who wanted to be like Elvis.
0:40:20 > 0:40:21Well, I didn't think I was anything
0:40:21 > 0:40:24except a guy trying to make a living, you know.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27I was not for making people believe that I was somebody else.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29I was not for that.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Orion insists that he wants to be known for his own singing
0:40:32 > 0:40:36and not because he sounds like Elvis. But that has not been easy.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Quite honestly, when Shelby put the mask on him,
0:40:41 > 0:40:45as far as Nashville went, he lost all credibility whatsoever.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Yeah, he's really good, he's got a lovely voice,
0:40:47 > 0:40:49but he's got a mask on.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54Country and western singer Orion is our guest today,
0:40:54 > 0:40:56and, Orion, before you sing,
0:40:56 > 0:41:00I want you to tell the audience a little bit about the mask.
0:41:00 > 0:41:01I'm not hiding anything.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05It's a trademark, it's an idea that the promotional people
0:41:05 > 0:41:08in Nashville, Tennessee, came up with.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12Shelby Singleton, who is the president of Sun Records,
0:41:12 > 0:41:14is probably known in the music business
0:41:14 > 0:41:18as one of the most flamboyant promoters in the business.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22He'll do most anything to promote a product and...
0:41:23 > 0:41:27..he'll try to do it differently than anyone else does it
0:41:27 > 0:41:29and so he wanted to make the thing a little different,
0:41:29 > 0:41:32and I'll grant you it's a little different,
0:41:32 > 0:41:34when you walk into a crowd of people and you're wearing this mask.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40Under his contract with Sun,
0:41:40 > 0:41:43he wasn't allowed to take his mask off when he was in the public eye.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Every time we'd come out of a hotel, we'd look in the bushes
0:41:46 > 0:41:49and there would be a camera crew set up trying to catch Jimmy
0:41:49 > 0:41:52without the mask, so when I'd come back in the room and say,
0:41:52 > 0:41:54"Jimmy, the National Enquirer's in the bushes,"
0:41:54 > 0:41:57I mean, he had come out and he had to wear the mask
0:41:57 > 0:42:00and he hated the mask the entire time he wore it, you know.
0:42:09 > 0:42:14Well, Shelby had had a contract with Walmart that if ever an album
0:42:14 > 0:42:18came out on Orion, we'd have to go into Walmart at a certain time
0:42:18 > 0:42:20and autograph records, you know.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24You can imagine people in the shop buying groceries
0:42:24 > 0:42:26and looked around and seeing a masked man -
0:42:26 > 0:42:30oh, he hated that more than anything and I hated it too.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41I think even from the start, Jimmy Ellis wasn't completely sure
0:42:41 > 0:42:44this was a great idea, but it worked.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46It worked so well and it was so successful
0:42:46 > 0:42:49and this is after years of not being successful, all of a sudden he has,
0:42:49 > 0:42:50you know, records are selling,
0:42:50 > 0:42:52he has people showing up wanting to hear him
0:42:52 > 0:42:55and not just wanting to hear him but going crazy, you know,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58and rushing the stage and grabbing in on him.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01It had to be heady but, at the same time, you know,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04he knew he was selling something that wasn't quite him.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26As much as he hated being under the mask,
0:43:26 > 0:43:31he did have a weakness...for women.
0:43:31 > 0:43:36He was a complicated person, he wasn't Mr Happy-Go-Lucky.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40I mean, he had some issues about women.
0:43:40 > 0:43:45He had a lot of women in his life, a lot.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50Elaine Thompson was in the audience and ended up being his girlfriend
0:43:50 > 0:43:52and he married her.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56She was more like a groupie that was following him around,
0:43:56 > 0:44:00but he had a lot of other girls following him around the same time
0:44:00 > 0:44:04and he seemed to stick with her more than the rest of them,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07although there were many women.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12Jimmy was married to Elaine twice in the early '80s.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14They divorced twice.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17They had a very rocky on-again, off-again relationship,
0:44:17 > 0:44:21probably somewhat like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton,
0:44:21 > 0:44:23quite stormy.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26Elaine was a spitfire, she never trusted him
0:44:26 > 0:44:30and I guess she shouldn't have, but he never trusted her either.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32They were both, like, tit-for-tat.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35What one did, the other one did just as much.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38Jimmy was never, ever true to one woman.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41It was just like he was a chauvinist pig at that point in time
0:44:41 > 0:44:43cos he could have it all.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46It would never be a secret where he was staying at,
0:44:46 > 0:44:48every room would be booked by fans.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51You know, it was just a big party the whole time he was there.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54He would call from room to room to room.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57He didn't like to sleep alone, he didn't want to be alone
0:44:57 > 0:44:59when he went to sleep.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02I don't know why, but he didn't, and you'd think,
0:45:02 > 0:45:06"No, I'm not coming to your room, I saw what just left your room."
0:45:06 > 0:45:08I never did some of the things the others did.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10I was asked to do some,
0:45:10 > 0:45:11but I never did that
0:45:11 > 0:45:14cos I know he did have a briefcase full of pictures -
0:45:14 > 0:45:17he would be happy to show you that - and I'd be like,
0:45:17 > 0:45:20"I don't want to see that, I work at those all day long.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23"I see those where I work, I don't need to see that here."
0:45:23 > 0:45:27- But he was into...- What do you mean?
0:45:27 > 0:45:31I worked for a gynaecologist and he's got pictures of every...
0:45:31 > 0:45:35Lucy is what I call mine. ..every Lucy in town.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37He'd be like... He did!
0:45:37 > 0:45:41Oh, he was silly. I don't know why.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45It's like a trophy collector, he had hundreds of Polaroids
0:45:45 > 0:45:49and how did he know whose was whose is what I want to know.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53He said, "Those women,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56"they don't mean any more to me than smoking a cigarette."
0:45:57 > 0:45:58And they didn't.
0:45:58 > 0:46:04I almost felt he was sort of afraid to trust people wholeheartedly.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06Afraid of being hurt.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10To me, he acted like somebody that had been hurt badly.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12By who, I don't know.
0:46:35 > 0:46:40Daddy had a rough childhood from birth to five years old,
0:46:40 > 0:46:45until my grandparents, his adopted parents, found him
0:46:45 > 0:46:50and, I mean, there are some stories that he told me that...
0:46:50 > 0:46:52that would make you...
0:46:52 > 0:46:56I don't really want to talk about it, but when he found them,
0:46:56 > 0:46:58it was just a whole different world.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00And it took him a while to get used to that
0:47:00 > 0:47:02because he didn't know who to trust.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05Trust is a bitch at five years old.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07He all didn't trust everybody.
0:47:09 > 0:47:10Keep that in mind.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14He was pulled from foster home to foster home
0:47:14 > 0:47:17and he had a thing even into his 30s and 40s
0:47:17 > 0:47:19where he didn't put his things up
0:47:19 > 0:47:22when he was going to be in a hotel for a few days
0:47:22 > 0:47:25because he was pulled from so many different foster homes
0:47:25 > 0:47:27that if you put your things up,
0:47:27 > 0:47:31one of the other kids would get them or you'd be moved.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35So, you know, he always kept everything packed up.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37I thought a lot about it.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39How would you really feel
0:47:39 > 0:47:46if you really didn't even know who your birth mother and father was.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49It would be a lonely... an emptiness.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53I never saw Jimmy really happy. I mean, he was having a good time.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57Most of his days were involved in doing something,
0:47:57 > 0:47:59trying to be successful.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04- ARCHIVE INTERVIEW:- How many albums have you put down?- Seven.
0:48:04 > 0:48:05Seven already, in two years?
0:48:05 > 0:48:08- Seven albums in two years. - You've been a busy man!
0:48:08 > 0:48:12Orion, I believe one album will be the rockabilly-type album?
0:48:12 > 0:48:15Yeah, and the other one Orion has planned to be released real soon
0:48:15 > 0:48:17is a gospel-type album.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20Texas Tea is a little bit more on the country side
0:48:20 > 0:48:23and comes from your album Orion Country.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25We've done a lot of experimenting with
0:48:25 > 0:48:27the middle-of-the-road album, which was the second release
0:48:27 > 0:48:31and, you know, we did the Jerry Lee Lewis album and the Trio Plus album,
0:48:31 > 0:48:33which was a duet with Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich
0:48:33 > 0:48:35and Carl Perkins and myself
0:48:35 > 0:48:37and we've just done a lot of experimenting and we are...
0:48:37 > 0:48:40I think, sooner or later, we're going to come into our own
0:48:40 > 0:48:42and really do some really nice things later.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45Even if the disc jockeys in the early '80s
0:48:45 > 0:48:48were willing to accept a man with a mask on,
0:48:48 > 0:48:50you can't market all that to the same station.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53At least, you couldn't back in the 1980s.
0:48:53 > 0:48:54Now, you could probably market
0:48:54 > 0:48:56everything he did now as just country,
0:48:56 > 0:48:59but at the time, you couldn't. So...
0:49:00 > 0:49:03You know, he threw himself in so many different directions,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06I guess, hoping something would stick.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09It seemed like he was pretty fast in the studio,
0:49:09 > 0:49:11so they could probably get...
0:49:12 > 0:49:15..oh, four songs in three hours.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19It wasn't months and months on one track like some artists do.
0:49:19 > 0:49:24This was originally the Sun studio
0:49:24 > 0:49:28where Jimmy Ellis, Orion, recorded in the '70s and '80s.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32We, a couple of years ago, turned it into our merchandise warehouse.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39Not only was it a working studio, it was also a "tour studio",
0:49:39 > 0:49:42and Shelby had a deal with one of the tour-bus companies.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45They would bring in a busload, you know,
0:49:45 > 0:49:47a big Greyhound bus full of tourists.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49HE LAUGHS
0:49:49 > 0:49:52That's funny. I had never been in that situation before.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54We'd be in the middle of a session.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56All of a sudden, Paul would run in and say, "Bus, bus!"
0:49:56 > 0:49:59and we'd have to stop. I'd be in the middle of a guitar solo.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01It would get aggravating
0:50:01 > 0:50:05because a great solo only comes along once in a lifetime
0:50:05 > 0:50:08and all of a sudden somebody comes in and says, "Cut!"
0:50:09 > 0:50:12You've lost it, you can't never get that back again.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16We'd have to sit there for another hour or two to get the groove back
0:50:16 > 0:50:18and finally get into it again
0:50:18 > 0:50:20and here comes another tour.
0:51:07 > 0:51:11Shelby would release an album first through mail order music,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14which meant he'd send these flyers out to all the fans
0:51:14 > 0:51:15and they'd all buy it,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18THEN he would send it to the record store and it wouldn't sell.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22Why? Because he's already sold thousands through the mail at retail.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24He wanted that retail money first.
0:51:24 > 0:51:25We should have stopped that
0:51:25 > 0:51:27and had 'em go into the record store to get it,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30but they'd look like bad record sales when they didn't sell
0:51:30 > 0:51:33and one of the worst things, I think, that happened to Jimmy,
0:51:33 > 0:51:35I don't think there's any doubt in the world
0:51:35 > 0:51:38that Save The Last Dance with Jerry Lee sold a million copies,
0:51:38 > 0:51:40but Jimmy didn't get a gold record for that.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42I think it's a shame that he's never going to go down
0:51:42 > 0:51:44as a gold-selling artist
0:51:44 > 0:51:47because the money was done in a way that it didn't show up or something.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49But we know he sold at least a million copies of that
0:51:49 > 0:51:51and Reborn might have come close to that.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53To my knowledge,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56he never got a royalty cheque from Shelby Singleton,
0:51:56 > 0:51:57despite the fact that
0:51:57 > 0:52:01there are millions of those albums floating around
0:52:01 > 0:52:04and he should have made some money on that.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06It might have only been 25,000 or 30,000,
0:52:06 > 0:52:08but he should have gotten something.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50# If you've got a lot of loving and you don't know where to put it
0:52:52 > 0:52:56# You been racking your brain and you don't know who might want it
0:52:57 > 0:53:02# If you need someone to hold on to and you don't know who it will be
0:53:02 > 0:53:04# Just look me up
0:53:05 > 0:53:07# And lay it on me
0:53:08 > 0:53:11# Well, look me up and lay it on me
0:53:11 > 0:53:15# I swear I won't regret it
0:53:15 > 0:53:18# I'll love you so many ways
0:53:18 > 0:53:20# Baby, you won't ever forget it
0:53:20 > 0:53:23# If you've got that feeling and you don't know what to do
0:53:25 > 0:53:29# And you need somebody that you can cuddle up to
0:53:31 > 0:53:32# You can't ever tell
0:53:32 > 0:53:36# I just might be the very thing you need
0:53:36 > 0:53:38# Honey, look me up
0:53:38 > 0:53:40# And lay it on me... #
0:53:42 > 0:53:46Shelby had scheduled a tour for Orion in Germany
0:53:46 > 0:53:52because he was a very popular artist in Germany
0:53:52 > 0:53:56and they just had crowds and crowds there.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00But somewhere, while they were there, something happened.
0:54:00 > 0:54:05Orion was standing on a table in a pub in Germany,
0:54:05 > 0:54:08doing tracks to Elvis songs,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11which he hated to do, but he was doing it.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15They were walking down the street and Shelby basically told him,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18"You're always going to be an Elvis impersonator."
0:54:18 > 0:54:21He was basically performing by lip-syncing
0:54:21 > 0:54:24and he didn't think that was fair to the fans.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28We had a big argument and he and I almost got into,
0:54:28 > 0:54:30but we never got to fisticuffs.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34Now, Orion, six foot three.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37Shelby, five eight.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41Orion took his arm...
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Whap! He hit Shelby in the face.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48Shelby fell back in his jumpsuit, his little bitty jumpsuit,
0:54:48 > 0:54:52like a turtle that had been turned over on its back.
0:54:52 > 0:54:58At that point in time, Shelby tried to distance himself from Orion.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13He really didn't want to be Orion.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16He wanted to be Jimmy Ellis.
0:55:18 > 0:55:24The frustration built, it... it started off very small.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28"All right, I have to wear the mask, let me wear the mask,
0:55:28 > 0:55:30"I'll get used to it." That attitude.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34As time went along, it would burn him, it would irk him.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47Why do you wear the mask, Orion?
0:55:50 > 0:55:51Good question.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55He wore it because he was under contract.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58Point blank, simple.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03For a while, he had been arguing with Shelby
0:56:03 > 0:56:06about whether they should take off the mask to stop the charade
0:56:06 > 0:56:09and Shelby kept telling him, "No, the only way this works
0:56:09 > 0:56:11"is if you keep up the mystery."
0:56:24 > 0:56:29It was a gimmick and he hated it because it took his identity.
0:56:31 > 0:56:32I mean, you can imagine
0:56:32 > 0:56:35walking around with a paper bag on your head all your life.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38You know, that's basically the way he summed it up.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43You know, I guess everybody wants a mask to hide behind when you fail,
0:56:43 > 0:56:46but if you succeed...
0:56:46 > 0:56:51"If I do reach the pinnacle... who am I?"
0:56:54 > 0:56:57Reality doesn't mean anything in show business.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59It's all perception and that perception was set.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01There was no way he could have changed it.
0:57:03 > 0:57:05He said, "I'd be up there on that stage doing the show
0:57:05 > 0:57:08"and I'd see these people clapping and applauding
0:57:08 > 0:57:10"and reaching up to grab me."
0:57:10 > 0:57:14And he says, "It dawned on me. They weren't clapping for me.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16"They were clapping for a ghost."
0:57:19 > 0:57:24So, after years of that, he just got tired of it
0:57:24 > 0:57:28and this one day, he decided he'd had enough,
0:57:28 > 0:57:30in the middle of a show.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46I can still see Bobby Smith's face to this day,
0:57:46 > 0:57:50when Jimmy took that mask off and threw it out into the audience.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54Bobby come up off his chair - "Noooo! Noooo!"
0:57:54 > 0:57:55It was like you see in the movies.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59"No! We're done! We're through!" You know? HE LAUGHS
0:57:59 > 0:58:01And basically it was.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04Pretty much after that, it was... Shelby finally said,
0:58:04 > 0:58:07"No, that's it," tore up the contract.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10"You're either going to do it my way or it's the highway."
0:58:10 > 0:58:11And Jimmy took the highway.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30Fans were disappointed before I'd got back to Nashville.
0:58:30 > 0:58:34Fans had already called in to Sun Record Company complaining.
0:58:34 > 0:58:37He was finished at that point.
0:58:37 > 0:58:39What made him had been destroyed.
0:58:39 > 0:58:43If he'd have kept the mask on, he could've been a superstar.
0:58:43 > 0:58:46Do you think it was a mistake, him taking the mask off?
0:58:47 > 0:58:49HE SIGHS
0:58:49 > 0:58:51Well...
0:58:52 > 0:58:57Yes, if he wanted to continue as Orion.
0:58:58 > 0:59:00No, for his own sanity.
0:59:01 > 0:59:05But the fans liked the mask.
0:59:05 > 0:59:09It's like the guy wearing a Santa Claus suit taking off his beard.
0:59:09 > 0:59:13"Oh, no!" Same thing with the mask.
0:59:13 > 0:59:16"Don't take the mask off.
0:59:16 > 0:59:19"Let me be in this paradise fantasy that I love,
0:59:19 > 0:59:21"let me close my eyes
0:59:21 > 0:59:24"and just imagine what you might be without the mask.
0:59:24 > 0:59:26"Don't take it off."
0:59:27 > 0:59:31I think, when he took the mask off, it brought it all to reality.
0:59:32 > 0:59:37It was a gamble. He couldn't be happy with just the success.
0:59:37 > 0:59:39He had to be known.
0:59:39 > 0:59:43There was no way that you could sell him
0:59:43 > 0:59:48to a major label like RCA, CBS, Capitol.
0:59:48 > 0:59:51I think he went through all of them,
0:59:51 > 0:59:54trying to get, you know, deals with them.
0:59:54 > 0:59:57They wanted nothing to do with it.
0:59:57 > 0:59:59If he'd have gone out to Las Vegas
0:59:59 > 1:00:03and gotten recognised as the man with Elvis's voice,
1:00:03 > 1:00:06they would have kept calling him to do soundalikes of Elvis.
1:00:06 > 1:00:08Somebody wants a movie, there's your guy,
1:00:08 > 1:00:12that's who you needed to call and he turned down those
1:00:12 > 1:00:16because, "I'm my own man and I'm not an Elvis impersonator."
1:00:42 > 1:00:46Tony put this out, the Who's The Next Superstar Of The '80s?
1:00:46 > 1:00:50This was all rock and roll, a la Rick Springfield.
1:00:50 > 1:00:52And he was a teenybopper idol.
1:00:52 > 1:00:56His target audience was probably 12-18.
1:00:56 > 1:00:59But, you know, here you had a man who was in his 30s,
1:00:59 > 1:01:02and you were marketing him to the same audience.
1:01:02 > 1:01:04I didn't ever quite understand that,
1:01:04 > 1:01:06but Tony at least seemed to have the connections
1:01:06 > 1:01:09to be able to make it work, if anything was going to work.
1:01:09 > 1:01:10# That's what she told me, she was
1:01:10 > 1:01:14# Still in love with Billy
1:01:14 > 1:01:16# Still in love with Billy... #
1:01:26 > 1:01:29Most of these people that put the money in
1:01:29 > 1:01:31didn't have a background in music.
1:01:31 > 1:01:33They didn't know anything about the industry.
1:01:33 > 1:01:37Except what they saw on TV, movies, that type of thing.
1:01:38 > 1:01:41And that was the other thing, he went by so many different names.
1:01:41 > 1:01:43You had Jimmy Ellis.
1:01:43 > 1:01:45Then you had Mr E.
1:01:45 > 1:01:48I think we also had Mr Excitement.
1:01:48 > 1:01:50There was another one they called Ellis James,
1:01:50 > 1:01:53which was just his name backwards.
1:01:53 > 1:01:56Followed by the Cadillac Man.
1:01:56 > 1:01:59And then later Steven Silver.
1:01:59 > 1:02:02You know, Madonna constantly reinvented herself
1:02:02 > 1:02:05through the '80s and '90s, but in a good way.
1:02:05 > 1:02:10With Jimmy Ellis, he probably just needed to pick one and stick with it.
1:02:10 > 1:02:13Who are you? You know, make up your mind.
1:02:14 > 1:02:17And the only reason why he changed his name so many times
1:02:17 > 1:02:19was he wanted to get away from...
1:02:19 > 1:02:21So nobody would know who he was.
1:02:21 > 1:02:25But his voice was distinctive, it didn't matter what name he used.
1:02:25 > 1:02:28He could use Harvey Schwartz and it was just, you know,
1:02:28 > 1:02:31it was still that voice.
1:02:31 > 1:02:33Didn't matter.
1:02:33 > 1:02:37His vocal ability was God-given. He had a God-given talent.
1:02:37 > 1:02:40He has no idea where he came from, he was adopted.
1:02:41 > 1:02:45A lot of people have tried to say maybe he was related to Elvis.
1:02:45 > 1:02:47He could have been, he didn't know.
1:02:47 > 1:02:50There's no resemblance to Elvis whatsoever.
1:02:50 > 1:02:53But there is to Vernon.
1:02:53 > 1:02:57Vernon Presley and Jimmy Ellis look like the same person.
1:02:59 > 1:03:01He looked just like Vernon Presley.
1:03:01 > 1:03:05I could see the same look, the same hairline, the same ears.
1:03:05 > 1:03:06The same... It was just...
1:03:06 > 1:03:10Can that be a coincidence, have this vocal? I don't know.
1:03:10 > 1:03:12I saw his birth certificate.
1:03:13 > 1:03:16And I remember it was from the state of Mississippi,
1:03:16 > 1:03:18and it said mother, Gladys Bell.
1:03:18 > 1:03:21Father, Vernon, with no last name.
1:03:21 > 1:03:24And it was just blank. And that was all he had ever known.
1:03:24 > 1:03:31Vernon Presley, in his carousing days, could be Jim Ellis's Father.
1:03:31 > 1:03:33I just have a hard time believing
1:03:33 > 1:03:37that two people could look so much alike,
1:03:37 > 1:03:40and then, where does that voice come from?
1:03:40 > 1:03:43Pretty amazing, isn't it? Pretty amazing.
1:03:44 > 1:03:47Jimmy never really told us.
1:03:47 > 1:03:50He never would divulge that part of his life.
1:03:50 > 1:03:53It's almost like he had these secrets,
1:03:53 > 1:03:56and you knew he had a secret, but he would never really...
1:03:56 > 1:03:58He would give you hints.
1:03:58 > 1:04:01Clues. You know, it was like a riddle to Jimmy.
1:05:14 > 1:05:18And then, in the late '80s, he went back to being Orion,
1:05:18 > 1:05:19and even put the mask back on.
1:05:19 > 1:05:22So someone talked him into that, which really surprised me,
1:05:22 > 1:05:24because he hated it so much.
1:05:24 > 1:05:28Hi, everybody, I'm Jim and I've got a real treat for you.
1:05:28 > 1:05:33As a matter of fact, here's the tape we've been waiting for.
1:05:33 > 1:05:37Here's Orion, in concert at Celina, Ohio.
1:05:44 > 1:05:46Now, we...
1:05:46 > 1:05:52We appreciate anything that you folks can do as far as applause.
1:05:52 > 1:05:55We don't care if you get up and dance a little bit, do we?
1:05:55 > 1:05:56No, we don't.
1:05:56 > 1:05:59This is one strange phenomenon about show business.
1:05:59 > 1:06:05One day, that man appears, and all of a sudden,
1:06:05 > 1:06:07you've experienced a superstar.
1:06:07 > 1:06:12And I truly believe tonight you will see a superstar.
1:06:12 > 1:06:16- And if y'all ready to just clap your hands... - CLAPPING
1:06:16 > 1:06:18get your feet together...
1:06:18 > 1:06:21your minds and your bodies, because you're going to see...
1:06:21 > 1:06:26- CHEERING - ..Orion!
1:06:28 > 1:06:30I can't find my way out of here!
1:06:33 > 1:06:35# Uh-huh-huh-huh
1:06:35 > 1:06:37CHEERING
1:06:39 > 1:06:41# I'm making all right
1:06:41 > 1:06:43# From Monday morning to Friday night
1:06:43 > 1:06:46# And oh, that lonely weekend
1:06:46 > 1:06:48# Since you left me
1:06:48 > 1:06:50# I'm as lonely as I can be
1:06:50 > 1:06:53# Oh, it's a lonely weekend
1:06:53 > 1:06:55# Said you'd be
1:06:55 > 1:06:56# Good to me... #
1:06:56 > 1:07:00Orion, an entertainer you'll be hearing and seeing
1:07:00 > 1:07:03as his career continues to grow.
1:07:03 > 1:07:07And he becomes more and more the superstar he deserves to be.
1:07:07 > 1:07:10NO SOUND
1:07:24 > 1:07:27I was going to ask, after a few years of being out there
1:07:27 > 1:07:29without the mask, what made you decide
1:07:29 > 1:07:31to put the mask back on again?
1:07:51 > 1:07:52He hated it.
1:07:52 > 1:07:55But, you know, it's like everybody else,
1:07:55 > 1:07:58you're looking for a payday.
1:07:58 > 1:08:02I got to do this, I got to do that, I got to make ends meet.
1:08:02 > 1:08:03Well, what do you do?
1:08:06 > 1:08:08Do I turn this down because of pride?
1:08:22 > 1:08:26I think the first eight to ten years were semi big time.
1:08:26 > 1:08:30He travelled in a bus like this, there was more money backing him,
1:08:30 > 1:08:33and he was making records on a regular basis.
1:08:33 > 1:08:37And my time with him there, from '88 to '98,
1:08:37 > 1:08:40we tended to travel in a van pulling a trailer.
1:08:40 > 1:08:43They were always fun gigs, they paid OK,
1:08:43 > 1:08:45but it didn't seem real big time.
1:08:51 > 1:08:52It looks bad.
1:08:52 > 1:08:54It looks real bad.
1:08:56 > 1:09:01Unfortunately, Jimmy never made any money except off the concerts.
1:09:01 > 1:09:04Even some of those didn't...
1:09:04 > 1:09:08He got paid X amount to go, but there were so many problems
1:09:08 > 1:09:12with the bus falling apart on the road, getting stranded...
1:09:12 > 1:09:14I mean, things happened.
1:09:14 > 1:09:17So you weren't always turning a profit on every single concert.
1:09:18 > 1:09:21There were other things he could have done to make a living.
1:09:21 > 1:09:23And sometimes that's what he did for a while,
1:09:23 > 1:09:25but he always went back to singing.
1:09:25 > 1:09:26Always.
1:09:26 > 1:09:30If that's something you love to do, you've got to find a way to do it.
1:09:30 > 1:09:32You've got to feed the monkey.
1:09:35 > 1:09:40At 48, most musical careers are over at that time.
1:09:40 > 1:09:42Jimmy didn't understand that.
1:09:42 > 1:09:47He thought he was going to be 32 till the day he was going to die.
1:09:52 > 1:09:56If it had all worked out, it would have been extremely lucrative.
1:09:56 > 1:09:57And towards the end of his career,
1:09:57 > 1:10:00he was like, "To hell with the fame, give me the fortune."
1:10:00 > 1:10:03Because he never really...
1:10:03 > 1:10:05Never saw any of it.
1:10:07 > 1:10:10I think talent is rampant in this town.
1:10:10 > 1:10:14And you can find talent on any street corner, literally.
1:10:14 > 1:10:19So talent really wasn't the issue, it was talent with a hook.
1:10:19 > 1:10:21Talent with...
1:10:21 > 1:10:25what else? Because everybody's talented.
1:10:25 > 1:10:28Oh, I found this great guy and he can sing.
1:10:28 > 1:10:31So what? So can my brother.
1:10:31 > 1:10:33So can his brother. So can his dad.
1:10:33 > 1:10:36Everybody sings, everybody writes.
1:10:36 > 1:10:37It's Nashville.
1:10:39 > 1:10:42Is it a tough place?
1:10:42 > 1:10:43Yeah.
1:10:43 > 1:10:48It's, er... I think it's one of the toughest industries around,
1:10:48 > 1:10:50because it's built on emotions.
1:10:53 > 1:10:56You don't get really interviewed for a job.
1:10:58 > 1:11:00You have to be...
1:11:00 > 1:11:03what somebody wants
1:11:03 > 1:11:05BEFORE you get that interview.
1:11:09 > 1:11:11Probably the toughest industry there is,
1:11:11 > 1:11:15because it plays with your emotions and your mind.
1:11:15 > 1:11:17You have sleepless nights wondering
1:11:17 > 1:11:21if somebody's going to accept this, somebody's going to accept that.
1:11:21 > 1:11:23And that's just the business end of it,
1:11:23 > 1:11:26you've got to get through that before the fans hear you.
1:11:28 > 1:11:31I would not advise anybody to waste their life...
1:11:33 > 1:11:35..doing it.
1:11:35 > 1:11:37It's a one in a million deal.
1:11:39 > 1:11:42You hope to God you run across people you can trust.
1:11:42 > 1:11:44I mean, they're like sharks.
1:11:46 > 1:11:48It's all for me and not you.
1:11:50 > 1:11:53And that's the problem, he trusted everybody.
1:11:54 > 1:11:57MUSIC: I Remember by Saint Saviour
1:12:01 > 1:12:06# Someone should have told you that you'd always have a place to go
1:12:08 > 1:12:11# Oh-oh
1:12:12 > 1:12:17# We thought you would have known
1:12:17 > 1:12:22# Someone should have told you that you'd never find yourself alone
1:12:24 > 1:12:27# Oh-oh
1:12:28 > 1:12:34# We lost you to the snow
1:12:37 > 1:12:41# Or maybe you climbed out after all? #
1:13:07 > 1:13:11It was all going so downhill that even he lost interest.
1:13:11 > 1:13:16"OK, I'm going back to the farm, I'll do a show here and there."
1:13:16 > 1:13:20He still wanted it, but didn't know what he had to do to go and get it.
1:13:32 > 1:13:35MUSIC ON CAR RADIO: Because He Lives by Bill Gaither
1:13:43 > 1:13:45JIMMY SINGS ALONG
1:13:45 > 1:13:49# I'll cross that river
1:13:51 > 1:13:53# I'll fight life's final
1:13:56 > 1:13:58# War with pain
1:14:01 > 1:14:03# And then as death
1:14:06 > 1:14:09# Gives way to victory
1:14:11 > 1:14:15# I'll see the lights of glory
1:14:15 > 1:14:20# And I'll know He lives
1:14:21 > 1:14:26# Because He lives
1:14:26 > 1:14:32# I can face tomorrow
1:14:32 > 1:14:35# Because He lives
1:14:36 > 1:14:39# All fear is gone... #
1:15:23 > 1:15:27Jimmy decided he would get in a business to make a living.
1:15:27 > 1:15:30The horse industry was out of the question,
1:15:30 > 1:15:31he'd been out of it so many years,
1:15:31 > 1:15:34so he decided to open up two businesses.
1:15:34 > 1:15:37One was a pawn shop.
1:15:38 > 1:15:41I was out of money, so I stopped by there,
1:15:41 > 1:15:44because I lived right around the corner.
1:15:44 > 1:15:47Jimmy offered me to work for him.
1:15:47 > 1:15:49And I said, sure.
1:15:49 > 1:15:52That's where we hit it off. We became friends then.
1:15:52 > 1:15:55He was just a fun person to be around with.
1:15:55 > 1:15:57Did anybody else work in the stores?
1:15:57 > 1:15:59Elaine, his ex-wife.
1:15:59 > 1:16:02- What was Elaine like? - Oh, Elaine...
1:16:03 > 1:16:06She is...crazy.
1:16:06 > 1:16:07A sweet kind of crazy.
1:16:07 > 1:16:11To be honest, they still loved each other.
1:16:11 > 1:16:13I know Elaine did, she was crazy about him
1:16:13 > 1:16:15and he was still crazy about her.
1:16:16 > 1:16:19They can't live together.
1:16:19 > 1:16:22They fuss and fight all the time.
1:16:22 > 1:16:24But they can't be without each other.
1:16:26 > 1:16:33In December of 1998, we had a very sensational robbery in our store.
1:16:33 > 1:16:36And Jimmy came straight down and said,
1:16:36 > 1:16:38"Man, I heard about the robbery."
1:16:38 > 1:16:43And we talked about the dangers of being in business,
1:16:43 > 1:16:46dealing with a large number of people every day,
1:16:46 > 1:16:49in an area where the crime rate is high.
1:16:49 > 1:16:55We both talked about dying or getting killed in a robbery,
1:16:55 > 1:16:58on December the 2nd.
1:16:58 > 1:17:00And Jimmy was killed December the 12th.
1:17:12 > 1:17:13In an armed robbery.
1:17:16 > 1:17:21The morning of December 12, 1998, we sat down
1:17:21 > 1:17:25and started joking about who was going to go buy lunch today.
1:17:25 > 1:17:28Elaine kept saying, "It's your turn, Helen." I said, "No, it ain't.
1:17:28 > 1:17:29"I went yesterday!"
1:17:29 > 1:17:32All of a sudden, the door flew open.
1:17:32 > 1:17:34This guy came in and started firing.
1:17:36 > 1:17:39He hit Elaine first, he blew Elaine's face open.
1:17:39 > 1:17:42Then he turned around and shot Jimmy, then he shot me.
1:17:42 > 1:17:44This is where he shot me.
1:17:44 > 1:17:47And I also still got a pellet in my arm.
1:17:48 > 1:17:51As soon as I hit the floor, I came to,
1:17:51 > 1:17:55but I held my breath, pretended I was dead.
1:17:55 > 1:17:58Because if he had seen me move, he would have shot me again.
1:17:58 > 1:18:01So I just stayed still, holding my breath, I said,
1:18:01 > 1:18:04"Lord, if he's going to kill me, let him kill me quick."
1:18:04 > 1:18:06I was saying that in my mind.
1:18:06 > 1:18:08He was trying to pull the register.
1:18:08 > 1:18:11When he couldn't get the register off the counter, he ran out.
1:18:11 > 1:18:15I heard Jimmy moaning, and I saw Jimmy on the floor,
1:18:15 > 1:18:17he was sitting down holding his side.
1:18:18 > 1:18:22And he was practically barely breathing.
1:18:22 > 1:18:24I didn't see no blood at first.
1:18:24 > 1:18:27And so I looked down, and then I saw it.
1:18:29 > 1:18:32One of the sheriffs came, I guess he was the first one
1:18:32 > 1:18:35that heard it on the radio, he kept trying to revive him.
1:18:35 > 1:18:36You know, trying to wake him up.
1:18:36 > 1:18:38It was already too late.
1:18:42 > 1:18:47I don't know why would somebody do that to somebody so nice as Jimmy.
1:18:49 > 1:18:52He made you feel like you're a family.
1:18:52 > 1:18:55You know, and I loved him for that.
1:18:59 > 1:19:01He's a good person.
1:19:01 > 1:19:04And that's all that happened.
1:19:05 > 1:19:08Everybody started showing up, I don't know how they heard it,
1:19:08 > 1:19:11but all of a sudden the whole place was packed.
1:19:14 > 1:19:16I got here, there was...
1:19:17 > 1:19:18You couldn't even...
1:19:19 > 1:19:25There were cars everywhere. It was like a damn rock concert going on.
1:19:25 > 1:19:27Your heart sank, you know?
1:19:27 > 1:19:30It was a day just like today, except it was cold.
1:19:31 > 1:19:34And there was nothing but blue lights.
1:19:36 > 1:19:38It just...
1:19:38 > 1:19:39It'd tear you up.
1:19:40 > 1:19:41It'd tear you up.
1:19:44 > 1:19:45All for nothing.
1:19:49 > 1:19:53Walked out of here with nothing. Right out that door, right there.
1:19:59 > 1:20:01It is what it is, I can't change it.
1:20:03 > 1:20:05I wish to hell I could.
1:20:07 > 1:20:08Wish I could.
1:20:18 > 1:20:22Sometimes I wonder, if we had stayed together,
1:20:22 > 1:20:27and if we had been able to have the life on the farm and be normal...
1:20:28 > 1:20:30..you know, if he'd still be here?
1:20:35 > 1:20:38I wished he hadn't been there.
1:20:38 > 1:20:39He shouldn't have been.
1:20:39 > 1:20:42He should've been singing. He should've been performing,
1:20:42 > 1:20:45he shouldn't have been in that town.
1:20:46 > 1:20:51# Swing low
1:20:52 > 1:20:56# Sweet chariot
1:20:59 > 1:21:07# Coming for to carry me home... #
1:21:08 > 1:21:12There were wreaths from most of the Nashville entertainers.
1:21:12 > 1:21:14Some of the big names, the big labels.
1:21:14 > 1:21:19You don't realise how big of a star you are
1:21:19 > 1:21:21until something like that happens.
1:21:22 > 1:21:25I couldn't cry, I just said,
1:21:25 > 1:21:29"Man, you need to get your ass up out of that box.
1:21:29 > 1:21:31"Come on, let's go play some music."
1:21:32 > 1:21:35And right about then, some people put their arm around me and...
1:21:35 > 1:21:36You know.
1:21:40 > 1:21:42I couldn't face up to it.
1:21:43 > 1:21:44That he was gone.
1:21:47 > 1:21:53# Just tell all my friends
1:21:54 > 1:21:59# That I'm coming too
1:22:01 > 1:22:09# Coming for to carry me home
1:22:10 > 1:22:16- # Yes, Lord, I feel like going home - Feel like going home
1:22:16 > 1:22:18# Guess I tried and failed
1:22:18 > 1:22:21# And I'm tired and weary
1:22:21 > 1:22:27- # Everything I thought was wrong - Thought was wrong
1:22:27 > 1:22:31- # And I feel like going home - Sweet Lord
1:22:31 > 1:22:35- # Sweet chariot - Sweet Lord
1:22:35 > 1:22:39# Swing low, sweet chariot
1:22:39 > 1:22:46- # I'm going home - Going home
1:22:48 > 1:22:53# I am going
1:22:53 > 1:23:03- # Home - I'm going home. #
1:23:22 > 1:23:25# Trees grow tall
1:23:25 > 1:23:27# Where I come from
1:23:27 > 1:23:32# The leaves are green and fine
1:23:33 > 1:23:36# I was born in a world... #