Evil Elvis sings Original Elvis

April 24, 2020 7:58 AM

Glenn Danzig is well aware that his fans sometimes call him “Evil Elvis.” “That’s fine,” he says with a laugh. “Anytime someone mentions my name and Elvis’ name in the same sentence, that’s great. It doesn’t get better than that.” Danzig’s love for the King has been well documented over the years, as he’s covered Presley tracks [older YT playlist] going back to the early days of his pioneering punk group the Misfits. [Rolling Stone] Danzig now showcases his love of The King in the long-in-the-works Danzig Sings Elvis [YouTube playlist + playlist of Elvis originals]
posted by filthy light thief (10 comments total)

I am legally obliged to post a link to Henry and Glenn Forever
It's the law
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:40 AM on April 24, 2020 [10 favorites]

Danzig Sings Elvis

wow, this has to be anagram material :

Sadness Vigil Zing
Gazing Devils Sins
Lads Given Sizings
posted by thelonius at 8:51 AM on April 24, 2020 [3 favorites]

Elvis sings on Gdansk Bay trolley bus
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:03 AM on April 24, 2020 [4 favorites]

This is a thing that I did not know about and am sort of delighted by.
posted by cortex at 10:07 AM on April 24, 2020

I am legally obliged to post a link to Henry and Glenn Forever

Previously (as also helpfully linked in the Related Posts, at least as of writing this comment).
posted by filthy light thief at 10:20 AM on April 24, 2020

Man his voice ain't what it was
posted by anazgnos at 3:32 PM on April 24, 2020 [1 favorite]

My first impressions of the Misfits were that this dude was trying to sing sorta like Jim Morrison, who himself was often reminiscent of a demented Elvis impersonator. It all adds up.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:57 PM on April 24, 2020 [3 favorites]

Danzig's first three or four solo albums were (and still are) very solid blues rock--I still listen to them fairly often, especially II and III--and he's probably a better singer than most Elvis imitators, but he doesn't have an instrument anywhere near as good as Elvis' was (at least up until the last few years), because very few singers of Elvis' era and genre did. (I think that the only artist that Elvis didn't want to follow was Roy Orbison.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:26 PM on April 24, 2020 [2 favorites]

Morrison's primary vocal influence was indeed Elvis -- he was obsessed with the singer. Elvis, in the meanwhile, was heavily influenced by Dean Martin, which is especially easy to hear in his ballads. Dean Martin insisted his primary influence was Harry Mills of the Mills Brothers. Harry Mills primary influence was his own kazoo, which he forgot one performance and so simply did an impression of, which led to the entire band impersonating musical instruments.

So there we have it. An entire genre of rock borrowed very heavily from the sound of a kazoo.
posted by maxsparber at 1:45 PM on April 26, 2020

I feel I should point out that Joy Division were heavily influenced by the Doors.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 2:51 PM on April 26, 2020