Johnny Cash is known for his talents as an incredible musician and songwriter. Did you know that he was also a pretty great Elvis Presley impersonator?
The two musicians toured together back in 1959, with Cash acting as Presley's opening act. Both had great formative rock 'n' roll voices, which made it the perfect concert for fans who were obsessed with Elvis. The singers both got their big break in Tennessee in the mid-1950s, sharing similar musical interests and influences both eventually being signed by Sun Records in 1954.
Fun Fact, Cash's first Elvis "concert" was when the singer was performing on a flatbed of a truck singing to a crowd at a drugstore opening. There, Presley invited Cash and his then-wife Vivian to his next show in Memphis Tennesee at the Eagle's Nest in July 1954. In his autobiography, Cash: The Autobiography, Cash noted, "The date was a blunder, because the place was an adult club where teenagers weren't welcome, and so Vivian and I were two of only a dozen or so patrons, fifteen at the most. All the same, I thought Elvis was great ... He didn't say much. He didn't have to, of course; his charisma alone kept everyone's attention."
Cash would regularly poke fun at his tour-mate by doing hilarious impersonations of him during his set. Sometimes, Elvis would even join him during his comedy routine and play a song or two together.
In the hilarious clip above, you can see a young Johnny Cash as he combs out his hair and takes on the persona of Elvis. "If I lose my pants I'll have to charge you extra to get in next time," he jokes with the crowd.
He does his own interpretation of the thrusting dances that drove female Elvis fans wild, although it doesn't go quite as smoothly for him.
The video is a rare piece of musical history that shows Cash's good humor and talents when it came to working his crowd.
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Editors Note: This article was originally published on January 8, 2019.
