The King

[Bish Bash Bosh]

Thanks to the Slider. I have recently been listening to a guy who calls
himself The King. Anyone got any info on who he is,And if he plays
live anywhere.

[Bungo the Mungo]

Thanks to the Slider i have recently been listening to a guy who calls
himself The King. Anyone got any info on who he is,And if he plays
live anywhere.

i think Hes quite good he plays somehwere hes good i have all his records too

[Bish Bash Bosh]

Thanks to the Slider i have recently been listening to a guy who calls
himself The King. Anyone got any info on who he is,And if he plays
live anywhere.

i think Hes quite good he plays somehwere hes good i have all his records to
o

Ok.I will try harder.

[Bungo the Mungo]

Thanks to the Slider i have recently been listening to a guy who calls
himself The King. Anyone got any info on who he is,And if he plays
live anywhere.

i think Hes quite good he plays somehwere hes good i have all his records to
o

Ok.I will try harder.

[The Slider]

http://www.homeoftheking.com/index.html

In 1998 'The King' or Jim Brown was a postal worker from Belfast, Northern Ireland until hitting the big time with his re-interpretations of contemporary songs, in the style of Elvis Presley.

The road to stardom for Jimmy started on a Sunday afternoon at a works karaoke; he was surprised to hear the compere call him up to the stage... well until he saw his wife and aunt laughing and he realised he'd been set up.

Supposedly he'd sang in the shower, on his post rounds and occasionally before his family, but never to so many strangers. He chose Elvis's 'The Wonder Of You' and 'Suspicious Minds', the audience were impressed and so was the club owner; who offered him a spot to do an act. One performance into his stint, the producer Bap Kennedy came over introduced himself and asked Jimmy if he wanted to make a couple of records.

The album was to be in the style of Elvis, and they talked over what songs to put on it, Jimmy said :-

"I told him I tried to imagine if Elvis was alive today what maybe he would be doing. I told him I thought the old Eddie Cochran song, 'Something Else,' was a song I could imagine Elvis singing. I loved the way the Sex Pistols had done the song. We talked about some modern-day hit songs. Then he suggested, 'What do you think of Elvis tributes Nirvana?' I thought it was a bit bizarre. He gave me a copy of the 'Nevermind' album. I had heard a couple of Nirvana tracks and liked some of the songs I heard, but I never actually sat down and listened to a whole album. I listened to it and called him up a few days later and said I didn't want to pursue that project. I just didn't like the idea of a whole album of Nirvana songs. I did think 'Come As You Are' was a very eligible track. We had those two songs, then he suggested Bob Marley's 'No Woman No Cry.' I laughed, 'Elvis singing a reggae song?' He said, 'We don't have to do it in reggae style. We can change it a little to make it a ballad with a bit of a country feel to it.' It was at that point that we realized each artist sadly was no longer with us, and hence 'Gravelands' was born."

Jimmy signed the deal with EMI and Gravelands (1998) his first album was released to critical acclaim, Bob Geldof and DJ John Peel openly praised him. Despite it being an album of cover songs Jimmy is just singing the only way he knows how, and it's probably because he's just so good and the material is so right that he's had the success he has. Jimmy actually met Charlie Hodge one of Elvis's friends :- "He met Elvis in the Army and they became lifelong friends," Brown said. "He sang a lot of harmonies on most of his records from 1960 onwards and was always there beside him onstage on all his tours, right up to the very end. Charlie Hodge said about me 'This guy made my flesh creep.' He thought his old boss was back again."
Admitedly Jimmy doesn't have the ego the size of a planet like most rock stars do, and here's what he says about his own voice:-
"I'm coming completely clean, I'm not really hot about the sound of me voice anyway. I've listened to Elvis Presley since I was a young boy; his voice was much warmer, richer and deeper than mine. His voice was beautiful, so when I hear me own voice, it's like 'Ooooo.' "

All I can say is listen and decide for yourself, I think Gravelands is a fantastic album, I suppose I coudn't help laughing at Nirvana's Come As You Are done in the Elvis stylee. But Jimmy's integrity, balls and talent carries it. If everybody should own an Elvis album, then you could do a lot worse than this one.

His fan base is still growing, Robbie Williams has supposedely approached him to do a duet, Fun Lovin' Criminals invited him on tour, and a track from his Return to Splendor has been used by Audi in Germany as part of it's advertising. He seems keen to keep recording, and isn't short of inspiration; check him out, I reckon he'll be doing his thing for quite some time, and is probably a damn good stage act.

Discography
Return To Splendor 2000
Gravelands 1998


Sources :- http://www.gravelands.com/, http://www.thesun.co.uk/news/archive/7518965, http://www.pauseandplay.com/035arch.htm



AMG Review by Heather Phares
Belfast postal carrier by day, Elvis impersonator by night — that's the life of James Brown, aka the King. His debut album Gravelands suggests a possible answer to the question "what songs would Elvis perform today?" The hits of other dead rock stars, of course. From Nirvana's "Come As You Are" to Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," the King pays tribute to the departed greats, all with regal rock flair. Gravelands displays the King's soulful side as well, with lip-curling versions of Otis Redding's "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay" and Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it Through the Grapevine." For rock fans with a sense of humor, Gravelands is a tribute that's dead-on in more ways than one.

http://www.elvislives.de/

The famoust Rock'n roll myth of all times celebrates his rebirth. With all the trimmings : chubby, the hip swing, the hair, the sideburns. Everything is correct. But the most important is naturally the incomparable voice. This stone-softening Elvis Timbre is breath-robbing authentically. With the recent generation can experience that, about which our parents got damp dreams and faint attacks. But does not sing any old stuff from the Rock`n`Roll junk. is a seriously meant and historically comprehensive Hommage at far to more than one dozen of the deceased artists of Rock’n Roll history is. The true art of the album is that each Song sounds like an Elvis Song. Even AC/DCs "Whole Lotta Rosie" and Bob Marleys "no Woman, no Cry" turn out under the wings of to genuine Nuggets. There it surprises also not more that even John Peel completely turned out and explained as one of its absolute favorites already in the year 1998. writes a new chapter Rock`n`Roll history. Perhaps Elvis does not live no more, but revives now only correctly. The Rebirth of a true Legend !

[beenieman]

http://www.homeoftheking.com/index.html

In 1998 'The King' or Jim Brown was a postal worker from Belfast, Northern Ireland until hitting the big time with his re-interpretations of contemporary songs, in the style of Elvis Presley.

The road to stardom for Jimmy started on a Sunday afternoon at a works karaoke; he was surprised to hear the compere call him up to the stage... well until he saw his wife and aunt laughing and he realised he'd been set up.

Supposedly he'd sang in the shower, on his post rounds and occasionally before his family, but never to so many strangers. He chose Elvis's 'The Wonder Of You' and 'Suspicious Minds', the audience were impressed and so was the club owner; who offered him a spot to do an act. One performance into his stint, the producer Bap Kennedy came over introduced himself and asked Jimmy if he wanted to make a couple of records.

The album was to be in the style of Elvis, and they talked over what songs to put on it, Jimmy said :-

"I told him I tried to imagine if Elvis was alive today what maybe he would be doing. I told him I thought the old Eddie Cochran song, 'Something Else,' was a song I could imagine Elvis singing. I loved the way the Sex Pistols had done the song. We talked about some modern-day hit songs. Then he suggested, 'What do you think of Elvis tributes Nirvana?' I thought it was a bit bizarre. He gave me a copy of the 'Nevermind' album. I had heard a couple of Nirvana tracks and liked some of the songs I heard, but I never actually sat down and listened to a whole album. I listened to it and called him up a few days later and said I didn't want to pursue that project. I just didn't like the idea of a whole album of Nirvana songs. I did think 'Come As You Are' was a very eligible track. We had those two songs, then he suggested Bob Marley's 'No Woman No Cry.' I laughed, 'Elvis singing a reggae song?' He said, 'We don't have to do it in reggae style. We can change it a little to make it a ballad with a bit of a country feel to it.' It was at that point that we realized each artist sadly was no longer with us, and hence 'Gravelands' was born."

Jimmy signed the deal with EMI and Gravelands (1998) his first album was released to critical acclaim, Bob Geldof and DJ John Peel openly praised him. Despite it being an album of cover songs Jimmy is just singing the only way he knows how, and it's probably because he's just so good and the material is so right that he's had the success he has. Jimmy actually met Charlie Hodge one of Elvis's friends :- "He met Elvis in the Army and they became lifelong friends," Brown said. "He sang a lot of harmonies on most of his records from 1960 onwards and was always there beside him onstage on all his tours, right up to the very end. Charlie Hodge said about me 'This guy made my flesh creep.' He thought his old boss was back again."
Admitedly Jimmy doesn't have the ego the size of a planet like most rock stars do, and here's what he says about his own voice:-
"I'm coming completely clean, I'm not really hot about the sound of me voice anyway. I've listened to Elvis Presley since I was a young boy; his voice was much warmer, richer and deeper than mine. His voice was beautiful, so when I hear me own voice, it's like 'Ooooo.' "

All I can say is listen and decide for yourself, I think Gravelands is a fantastic album, I suppose I coudn't help laughing at Nirvana's Come As You Are done in the Elvis stylee. But Jimmy's integrity, balls and talent carries it. If everybody should own an Elvis album, then you could do a lot worse than this one.

His fan base is still growing, Robbie Williams has supposedely approached him to do a duet, Fun Lovin' Criminals invited him on tour, and a track from his Return to Splendor has been used by Audi in Germany as part of it's advertising. He seems keen to keep recording, and isn't short of inspiration; check him out, I reckon he'll be doing his thing for quite some time, and is probably a damn good stage act.

Discography
Return To Splendor 2000
Gravelands 1998


Sources :- http://www.gravelands.com/, http://www.thesun.co.uk/news/archive/7518965, http://www.pauseandplay.com/035arch.htm



AMG Review by Heather Phares
Belfast postal carrier by day, Elvis impersonator by night — that's the life of James Brown, aka the King. His debut album Gravelands suggests a possible answer to the question "what songs would Elvis perform today?" The hits of other dead rock stars, of course. From Nirvana's "Come As You Are" to Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," the King pays tribute to the departed greats, all with regal rock flair. Gravelands displays the King's soulful side as well, with lip-curling versions of Otis Redding's "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay" and Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it Through the Grapevine." For rock fans with a sense of humor, Gravelands is a tribute that's dead-on in more ways than one.

http://www.elvislives.de/

The famoust Rock'n roll myth of all times celebrates his rebirth. With all the trimmings : chubby, the hip swing, the hair, the sideburns. Everything is correct. But the most important is naturally the incomparable voice. This stone-softening Elvis Timbre is breath-robbing authentically. With the recent generation can experience that, about which our parents got damp dreams and faint attacks. But does not sing any old stuff from the Rock`n`Roll junk. is a seriously meant and historically comprehensive Hommage at far to more than one dozen of the deceased artists of Rock’n Roll history is. The true art of the album is that each Song sounds like an Elvis Song. Even AC/DCs "Whole Lotta Rosie" and Bob Marleys "no Woman, no Cry" turn out under the wings of to genuine Nuggets. There it surprises also not more that even John Peel completely turned out and explained as one of its absolute favorites already in the year 1998. writes a new chapter Rock`n`Roll history. Perhaps Elvis does not live no more, but revives now only correctly. The Rebirth of a true Legend !

Surprised he hasn't wound up on UK's got Talent or whatever it is.

Did he ever do that duet with Robbie Williams?