The Two Elvises
"Nor should we forget the Elvises - both of them. Burton led Presley's backing band from 1969 until his death in 1977, and says he was sitting at his desk at home in California one day when he picked the telephone and heard a voice say "James, this is Elvis Costello". "I nearly dropped the phone." He toured Australia with Costello in 1987 after playing on his album, King of America.
And the Elvis? "I was with him 'til he died," says Burton, who was in Australia in 1999 with the Elvis, The Concert virtual-reality show, featuring the King on giant video screens. He returns this week with Presley's Taking Care of Business (TCB) Band - Jerry Scheff (bass), Glenn D. Hardin (piano) and Ronnie Tutt (drums) - and Australian singer Mick Gerace, who starred in the show, Intimate and Rare/In the Spirit of Elvis."