by julio cinco n.
ELVIS PRESLEY passed away almost two scores ago, but he comes to life again at Ka Freddie's Music Bar and Restaurant (every first Thursday of the month) in various impersonations topbilled by Edgar Opida, long considered to be his heir apparent in the local music scene. Every now and then, The King must be indeed rocking in his grave.
The road from Mandaluyong and Sta. Ana to Adriatico Street, Manila was long and dark in some parts, but the trip was worth it. On a cold rainy evening in July I reached Freddie Aguilar's place at about 10:p.m., and an "unknown" front act was onstage doing the usual covers of various foreign artists--from Frank Sinatra to the Beatles to the Carpenters to Simon and Garfunkel ad infinitum.
And then a booming voice from the dim corner of the stage announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, here he is, Edgar Opida, the "Elvis Presley of Asia!" So he has covered, and presumably conquered, the whole of Asia, I thought. What followed for funfare, sort of, was the opening soundtract of George Lucas's groundbreaking "Star Wars" movie. I found it "forced" though, but the "forcing through" was fun just the same.
Opida's first number was a rolling plea for understanding, perhaps, due to the cruelty of age. Thus went "Don't Be Cruel", and that old original rendition by the early Elvis was somehow palpable in certain lines. With maching vintage Elvis outfit (heavily sequined blazer and flared pants, circa 1970s) and hairdo, Opida's imitation act was surely a sight-sound to behold. Of course, something short of the real thing, considering some measures in a Third World setting.
At any rate, Opida followed it with the earthshaking "Blue Suede Shoes", as the entrepreneur Freddie Aguilar and Bert Dominic (of " Bikining Itim" fame) quietly sauntered into the scene. As if on cue, Opida segued to more familiar Elvis songs:
"You're Always On My Mind"; "Kiss Me Quick"; "Return to Sender"; "Wooden Heart"; and the country song "Your Cheatin' Heart."
To be sure, the night was ripe for more soundtracts of our lives down memory lane: "Hound Dog" ("...the sweet and sentimental song with great lyrics," Opida said in jest); "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" (from the movie "Blue Hawaii"); " "Now or Never" ("O Sole Mio"); "Love Me Tender"; and "Jailhouse Rock."
When Opida crooned "I'm Falling in Love Tonight" he sounded tired, and hurried to call his first "guest singer" for the evening--Col. Boy Sagun, dubbed as "The Elvis Presley of Philippine National Police (PNP)".
Sagun must have been ranked higher when he retired from the PNP because he murmurred, complaining, upon being unceremoniously introduced: "You demoted me..." In other words, he's "bigger" than a colonel. But everybody's equal and the same in music, the universal leveler, so...
Sagun introduced himself as one of the "fanatic fans of Elvis". Tama at may punto siya, mas malandi nga lang ang version niya. His is the "comic Elvis", if ever there was one--voice, showmanship and all.
His first song was an Elvis cover of "Sweet Caroline". A cover of a cover, I should say. Another Elvis cover that he rendered was "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling", for his third song. In between, Sagun tried a differennt version of the Elvis standard, "There's Always Me". And the crowd roared to his kind of rock 'n' roll.
As someone from behind said: "Ang landi-landi naman ng pulis na 'to!" Well, supercops are either supersexy or supersexed, or both, if you care to know.
Really now, talagang ibang klaseng Elvis si Boy Sagun at nag-enjoy ang audience sa mga antic at pakwela niya. The whole place was not filled to the brim, in a manner of speaking, but many came to watch the show. Of course, Opida had invited some of his friends and relations, including a balikbayan birthday celebrant and company, who were here on vacation. Plus a number of walk-in foreigner customers, and then some.
By the way, somebody's version of Bobby Goldsborro's "And I Love You So" didn't do justice to the original. I think Sam Milby's shorter cover of the same song is far better than the one I heard that night. It was almost like Boy Sagun, saying sorry profusely to the widow Zeny Marcelo-Poe (who was in the audience) that he didn't know about the actor Conrad Poe's passing away (a year ago already) to the Great Beyond. And to think that they were supposed to have been bosom buddies, this according to Sagun himself.
Opida's next Elvis guest singer was more laidback. At first, his name was not mentioned; he was simply introduced as "The Elvis Presley of NBI".
The guy said he asked the spirit of Elvis for permission to cover another legendary artist--Louis Armstrong.
The NBI Elvis started with the unmistakably Armstrong song, "What a Wonderful World", at pati ang brilyo ng noted black voice ay halos nakuha rin niya sa ilang linya ng nasabing kanta. Then, for a moment there, he stood still with the song "Till", and the moon seemed to have deserted the sky, as the song goes.
But when he burst into the signature "You Don't Know Me", it was as though Elvis and Louis were rolled into one sound. Remember that during his early days Elvis Presley was tagged as " the white singer with the black voice". And the NBI Elvis had captured some of the nuances of the two great American singers.
After covering Armstrong, the guy again asked Elvis that he'd do some Jerry Vale numbers instead of the old rock 'n' roll routine. But first he did "Can't Help Falling in Love With You", another cover for Opidas earlier cover. Then, without so much ado, he released into the already past midnight air Jerry Vale's "Go Chase a Moonbeam" and "If (They Made Me a King)". He also wanted to sing "Inamorata" and "To Love Again" but the soundsman's minus-one was not in tune.
Later I found out that the guy from the NBI was actually Atty.(?) Edgar "Egay" Higwit, a true-blue Bicolano from Sorsogon who had retired from the NBI, the Quezon City Police and the National Defense. So he covers Elvis Presley for the three departments, and God alone knows if it's the government's loss or gain.
Back to the main act, Opida breezed through "I Can't Stop Loving You", "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Blue Hawaii", perhaps in an attempt to hold back the wee hours of the morning. Then he introduced what he called Elvis's "hymn to Payatas". (Payatas, according to him, is the local version of the American ghetto.)
The song is "In The Ghetto", one of Presleys's less popular tunes. (Another unpopular Elvis song is " Any Day Now", which Opida failed to do, again due to some technical reasons.)
For his valedictory song, Opida reprised himself with what he considered as "The Elvis Presley national anthem"--"Blue Suede Shoes". And I felt the earth move, shake and roll once more. A-one, a-two, a-three... go!.
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