All Shook Up: 80th Birthday of Elvis to Be Celebrated in High Rocking Style

Jonny Whiteside

In the spring of 1956, Cold War-era America was fixated on maintaining a strictly regulated, prim and painfully proper national pathology but when Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” went to number one on the Billboard charts, everything exploded. Presley’s rock and roll hurricane wrought category 5 damage on the nation’s staid gray flannel order yet the revolutionary shouter quickly became one of the most beloved examples of our weird, self-propelled manifest destiny. He became an institution, and his death on Aug. 15 1977 seemed to shatter the spiritual core of American culture. Chaos ensued, both spiritually and in real time. During his funeral service, a car plowed through the crowd of mourners outside Graceland killing two and severely injuring another, almost immediately after his interment a plot to raid his grave and hold the remains for ransom shattered what little peace of mind the nation had managed to regain.

Such an icon demands veneration and local author-rock & roll zeitgeist Art Fein has, for the past 28 years, offered a suitably wildcat ritual with his annual 30-plus band Elvis birthday show. Marking what would have been the King’s 80th birthday this year’s honorarium occurs at Hollywood’s Avalon– on the same stage where Elvis himself appeared on the Milton Berle show, a coincidental fact that’s certain inject an extra jolt of spectral, swivel-hip juju to the affair.

The fast-moving, revue style format is simple: each performer pre-selects a song associated with Elvis and gives it his or her all, a one shot homage that guarantees interpretations that frequently range into unusual and always appealing artistic territory. As usual, Fein has assembled a disparate cornucopia of artists, from the still madly-able 1950’s Texas rockabilly originator Ray Campi to infamous 70’s psych-funk provocateur Swamp Dogg to deliciously offbeat country-jazz stylist Lisa Finnie.

Also among them are such Elvis contemporaries as the great 60’s pop tart Donna Loren (“Shindig,” all those classic AIP “Beach Blanket” movies), powerhouse, self-described 50s bop cat Jimmy Angel and the gender-bending 1960s Sunset Strip lounge sensation Troy Walker, who counted Presley among his fans (“One night Elvis came to see me, and I said, ‘Uh-oh, the King is here! The Queen had better sing!’” Walker said).

With frequent stellar surprise guests (country star Dwight Yoakam. Fabled British rocker Dave Edmunds, even longtime Presley lead guitarist James Burton have participated in years past) and proceeds from ticket sales going to civic charities (this year’s recipients include several LAPD and LAFD community organizations), the Elvis birthday party is, as ever, a not-to-be-missed rock & roll hullabaloo.

The 28th annual Elvis Birthday Celebration at Avalon, Thurs., Jan. 8, 5-9 p.m. $20.