Blelvis
May 3, 2013 9:36 AM Subscribe
Let Blelvis, the Black Elvis, tell you what he is not doing. He is not begging, and he is not homeless. But Blelvis would never dream of denying you the opportunity to donate to his favorite charity, which, incidentally, is named Blelvis. So he'll just turn around, nice and discreet, while you see what you can spare. The best nation in the world is a do nation, and that's the truth.
"You make the claim that you know every single word of every single song that Elvis ever did, now that's a thousand songs, am I correct in assuming?"Awesome. ALL HAIL KING BLELVIS!
"No, actually, it's a thousand one hundred and twelve."
"One thousand one hundred and twelve songs, and you know every word?"
"Yeah."
"To every song?"
"Every word to every song ever recorded by Elvis."
"From the film Girls, Girls, Girls, there was a song that Elvis did called The Shrimp Song."
"Actually, the name of the song was Song of the Shrimp."
posted by Flunkie at 9:50 AM on May 3, 2013 [9 favorites]
Not to be confused with El Vez, The Mexican Elvis
posted by jquinby at 9:54 AM on May 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by jquinby at 9:54 AM on May 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
I've only spent a few days in DC and I ran into this dude, at the Red Derby in Columbia Heights I think. It's a good act. I did indeed donate to the Blelvis charity.
posted by evisceratordeath at 9:54 AM on May 3, 2013
posted by evisceratordeath at 9:54 AM on May 3, 2013
Again, awesome:
"Hi," he says. "I'm Blel-- "posted by Flunkie at 10:02 AM on May 3, 2013 [7 favorites]
"Omigod, it's Blelvis!" says the woman to her husband. "Honey, this is the guy I met seven years ago. Blelvis, I talk about you all the time."
"Are you sure you're not confusing me with Bliberace?"
The newest article is six years old. Anyone got an update on this dude?
posted by svenni at 10:08 AM on May 3, 2013
posted by svenni at 10:08 AM on May 3, 2013
I have a human-sized pink papier-mâché bunny head from an El Vez show.
Yes, I do.
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:08 AM on May 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yes, I do.
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:08 AM on May 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Per Wikipedia he's got a Bacheolor's in Theology as well.
posted by sotonohito at 10:12 AM on May 3, 2013
posted by sotonohito at 10:12 AM on May 3, 2013
His children are named Elvison and Elvisa.
That is all.
posted by shoesietart at 10:23 AM on May 3, 2013
That is all.
posted by shoesietart at 10:23 AM on May 3, 2013
The newest article of the three linked is from 2007. I wonder what he is up to these days.
posted by exogenous at 10:35 AM on May 3, 2013
posted by exogenous at 10:35 AM on May 3, 2013
svenni: he doesn't come around as much these days as he used to. There was a period in the mid-2000s when he would turn up at the bars in Columbia Heights pretty frequently (I used to see him at Wonderland quite a lot in the first few years it was open), but now it's hit or miss. I don't live in DC anymore, but about a year and a half ago I was in town and ran into him and he started singing "Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce," which, years before, he assigned as the official date song for my boyfriend and me. It frankly brought tears to my eyes that his memory was so sharp. He told me he'd sing it at our wedding now that it's legal in DC for just a small fee, which I would gladly pay.
Every now and then, social media feeds erupt with, "Ladies and gentlemen, Blelvis is at (Bar X)" and everybody sends their hellos.
(I stopped lurking and signed up just so I could comment on Blelvis!)
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:43 AM on May 3, 2013 [11 favorites]
Every now and then, social media feeds erupt with, "Ladies and gentlemen, Blelvis is at (Bar X)" and everybody sends their hellos.
(I stopped lurking and signed up just so I could comment on Blelvis!)
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:43 AM on May 3, 2013 [11 favorites]
Not to be confused with El Vez, The Mexican Elvis
Nor Dodger Elvis, AKA Elvez Del Toro, who goes to all the Dodger games and is awesome.
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:48 AM on May 3, 2013
Nor Dodger Elvis, AKA Elvez Del Toro, who goes to all the Dodger games and is awesome.
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:48 AM on May 3, 2013
This thoughtul letter to the ed following the 1998 story linked above is worth considering. Blelvis is cast from no one's mold, but talk about him does occasionally toe the line.
Sam Greenspan's radio piece on WAMU digs into our collective fascination. The desire to encounter Blelvis, to know Blelvis, to find Blelvis, to find the Blelvis in each of us.
posted by wam at 10:50 AM on May 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Sam Greenspan's radio piece on WAMU digs into our collective fascination. The desire to encounter Blelvis, to know Blelvis, to find Blelvis, to find the Blelvis in each of us.
posted by wam at 10:50 AM on May 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
You forgot Elvis Gratton and Elvis Wong (mild 1980s Québecois racism).
posted by furtive at 12:43 PM on May 3, 2013
posted by furtive at 12:43 PM on May 3, 2013
I've seen him a lot. Sadly, he's gotten a lot more confrontational of late. Acted inexcusably towards a friend early last year very late one weekend night. He's been gone from DC for some time and only just returned.
posted by Ironmouth at 1:43 PM on May 3, 2013
posted by Ironmouth at 1:43 PM on May 3, 2013
Just to keep this party going, I am a member of the Krewe of the Rolling Elvi and a good friend of mine is Elvis DeLarge of Clockwork Elvis.
Here we are in Muses '11 and '13 and a few KRE at roller derby a couple of weekends ago.
That is the most bragging I've done in a long time. It felt good. (=
posted by djeo at 6:00 PM on May 3, 2013
Here we are in Muses '11 and '13 and a few KRE at roller derby a couple of weekends ago.
That is the most bragging I've done in a long time. It felt good. (=
posted by djeo at 6:00 PM on May 3, 2013
OMG, Blelvis.
I lived at 14th and Fairmont back in the early Aughts, before that area became an inner-city suburb. There was more than one night when Blelvis, out of the kindness of his heart and the strangness of his person, escorted me home from the 18th street bars at 3 or 4 in the morning, just to, in his words "keep me safe'. I guess he thought being a white dude in that neighborhood meant I was in for trouble, but I never stopped him from walking with me. He'd sing and tell stories for 8 or 10 blocks, Id give him whatever i had left in my pockets (working for non-profits back then it was usually less than five dollars) and he'd wish me good night.
That guy is just made of awesome. Not a bad bone in his body.
posted by mikoroshi at 11:43 PM on May 3, 2013
I lived at 14th and Fairmont back in the early Aughts, before that area became an inner-city suburb. There was more than one night when Blelvis, out of the kindness of his heart and the strangness of his person, escorted me home from the 18th street bars at 3 or 4 in the morning, just to, in his words "keep me safe'. I guess he thought being a white dude in that neighborhood meant I was in for trouble, but I never stopped him from walking with me. He'd sing and tell stories for 8 or 10 blocks, Id give him whatever i had left in my pockets (working for non-profits back then it was usually less than five dollars) and he'd wish me good night.
That guy is just made of awesome. Not a bad bone in his body.
posted by mikoroshi at 11:43 PM on May 3, 2013
Found Blelvis through Found Footage Festival, by the way.
posted by josher71 at 4:56 AM on May 4, 2013
posted by josher71 at 4:56 AM on May 4, 2013
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