In 1959, a young Johnny Cash attempted to impersonate the King of Rock and Roll while filming a segment for the television show Vel’s Ford Town Hall Party.
Although Elvis and Johnny cash crossed paths, like being part of the ‘Million Dollar Quartet,‘ a recording of a jam session with them and Jerry Lee Lewis in 1956 at Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, the iconic pair were never quite friends.
In an excerpt from Cash: The Autobiography, he recalls. “He and I liked each other, but we weren’t that tight – I was older than he was, for one thing, and married, for another – and we weren’t close at all in his later years. I took the hint when he closed his world around him; I didn’t try to invade his privacy.”
Cash continues… “In the ’60s and ’70s, he and I chatted on the phone a couple of times and swapped notes now and again. If he were closing at the Las Vegas Hilton as I was getting ready to open, he’d wish me luck, that kind of thing – but that was about the extent of it.”
But there was definitely an admiration from Cash of Elvis, he says,
Elvis was so good.
Every show I did with him, I never missed the chance to stand in the wings and watch.
We all did. He was that charismatic.
This makes the video clip of a young Johnny Cash impersonating Elvis even more captivating, showing a more humorous side to the “Man In Black.”
In 1959, Elvis had been drafted into the U.S. Army, so who knows if he even saw the impersonation by a young Johnny Cash...
Enjoy watching Cash swiveling his hips, drawling his vocals, and flipping his hairdo in an attempt to embody the King of Rock and Roll’s style. Well before the King’s ultimate demise.
Watch a Young Johnny Cash Hilariously Impersonating Elvis Below
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