Natural Born Elvis: The Story of Bill Haney, the First Elvis Impersonator

Natural Born Elvis is the story of the very first Elvis impersonator, Bill Haney. Ironically, Haney claims that he never set out to impersonate the King of Rock and Roll, but that others began to associate his voice with Elvis's. Little by little Bill Haney built a following in the Mid-South among Elvis fans to the point where Elvis himself became curious and went to see Haney perform from a darkened corner of the club. Haney tells the surreal tale in his own inimitable voice and describes meeting Elvis at Graceland. It goes without saying that Haney was the only impersonator ever to meet Elvis and was one of only a handful of full-time impersonators earning a living at the trade before Elvis died. Haney hung up his jumpsuit in 1982 and tells author Tom Graves, the award-winning biographer of bluesman Robert Johnson, the fascinating story of an impersonator's life. Graves has long claimed that Natural Born Elvis is his finest piece of writing. It is a long-form journalism article that was originally published to much acclaim in the 1996 all-music issue of The Oxford American magazine. The article was also chosen for the anthology The Oxford American Book of Great Music Writing. The article is republished here as an ebook with its original introduction restored.