Published: January 11, 2009 09:21 pm      

Vuto bringing spirit of ‘The King’ to Bluefield stage

BLUEFIELD — Never will there be another singer like the late Elvis Presley, but fans who remember hearing him in person and new fans who dream of such an experience will soon have an opportunity to get a taste of what it was like to be in the presence of “The King.”

Tribute artist Lou Vuto usually performs the Memories Theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. but at 7 p.m., Jan. 31, he will appear on stage at the Bluefield Performing Arts Center in Bluefield High School to help raise funds for the Bluefield Daily Telegraph’s Newspapers in Education program.

Lou Vuto was 16 when he first tried to imitate Elvis Presley but he saw the man known as “The King” perform in 1975.

“I’ve been an Elvis fan since I was 10 years old. I had a cousin I looked up to who was an Elvis fan, and I actually saw Elvis in Long Island, New York at the Nassau Coliseum.

“I don’t remember that much of the concert. I was so excited to be there. All I remember is the first song, the last song and one obscure song in the middle. It was Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”

Years later, Vuto heard a recording of the very concert he had attended and purchased photographs shot during the show.One aspect of the concert he remembers is the excitement, the “electricity” Elvis’s performance generated in the audience. While he sang, people kept taking pictures to capture the occasion. The cameras’ flashes kept Elvis illuminated in bursts of light.

“It was like strobe lights going off,” Vuto recalled. “Thousands of lights were constantly going off.”

Vuto says he credits Elvis’s work during his shows and tries to give audiences some idea of what it was like to see Elvis perform on stage. The idea is to bring back memories for fans who saw Elvis in the past, and to give people who never had the chance to see him “a taste” of what it was like to see him in person.

“We like to say we do a tribute to Elvis,” he said. “So I’m not trying to be Elvis. I’m paying tribute to him. At the theater where I work at...we try to bring back some memories and give them a little taste of what it was like. There will never be another Elvis.”

What does a performer need in order to give fans an idea of what it was like to hear Elvis sing?

“I think the first basic, fundamental thing is this: You have to be an Elvis fan, you have to respect Elvis to begin with,” Vuto said. “You can tell when somebody loves and respects what Elvis did.”

Secondly, a good tribute artist must watch a lot of Elvis films and videos, and listen to a lot of his music, Vuto said. It’s important to watch the original Elvis in action and study him carefully. Trying to present Elvis after watching another person imitate him is trying to make a counterfeit dollar from a copy instead of an original, he said.

Why has the music of Elvis Presley endured so strongly?

“I don’t think I know the answer to that,” Vuto said. “His image gets bigger as the years go by.”

Vuto recalled the words of the late Charlie Hodge, one of Elvis’s best friends, who said, “Other than good looks, enormous talent and being incredibly wealthy, Elvis didn’t have anything going for him.”

Hodge first meet Elvis in 1956 and later went to the same Army boot camp with him, Vuto said. When they were discharged, Elvis gave Hodge, who was enormously talented, a job, Vuto said.

“It was a treat to work with him,” Vuto said of Hodge. Listening to a person who knew Elvis so well helped Vuto develop his own performance.

While many fans who saw Elvis years ago and listened to Elvis’s music during his lifetime come to the shows, plenty of young people are discovering Elvis and becoming new fans, Vuto said. Even 3- and 4-year-olds arrive dressed as Elvis and get on stage.

“It’s remarkable how many young people come in the theater and are introduced to Elvis,” he said. “They go out, buy his CDs and movies, and become Elvis fans. I think Elvis is bigger than when he was alive. His image and everything about him has grown.”

One aspect of Elvis’s personality that always stands out is his generosity; he gave people both money and his time, Vuto said. Elvis was even the largest single contributor to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, the site preserving the memory of the men lost aboard the battleship U.S.S. Arizona when it was bombed and destroyed at Pearl Harbor. Elvis remembered his humble origins.

“I think he never forgot who he was,” Vuto said. “As some people say, ‘He never got above his raising.’”

Vuto will perform for Newspapers in Education effort. The program, financed by donations and fundraising events, provides copies of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph to schools in southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia.

“I enjoy paying tribute to Elvis and I’m looking forward to being part of your cause over there,” he said.

Tickets are $30 for VIP level, which includes a meet and greet reception. Preferred seating is $18, and general admission is $12. VIP and preferred seating are prepaid, and general admission will be available at the door.

For ticket purchases, call the Bluefield Daily Telegraph at (304) 327-2800. Tickets can be purchased at the newspaper’s offices on Bluefield Avenue in Bluefield.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com