Column: Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin were American originals

Aug. 17—Aug. 16 is an important date in music history.

We lost not one, but two, icons on that date.

Elvis Presley — the "King of Rock 'n' Roll" — died in 1977. Aretha Franklin — the "Queen of Soul" — died in 2018.

I bring this up because Aug. 16 was yesterday, and I recently saw a concert that featured tribute artists for the "King" and "Queen."

Jason Sikes and Tutu D'Vyne performed hit songs by Elvis and Aretha, respectively, last weekend at the Etherredge Center.

As someone who was born in the mid-1960s and was a teenager in the '70s and '80s, I've got a wide range of musical tastes. Thanks to my parents, that includes a lot of Elvis and Motown stars such as Aretha.

Sikes and D'Vyne have been performing in this area for more than two decades. Each does a credible job of paying tribute, and they also can perform songs by other singers.

They decided to do a show together for Sikes' annual Elvis tribute. D'Vyne led off the evening with many recognizable tunes, including "Chain of Fools" and "Respect."

After a brief intermission, Sikes took the stage in his white jumpsuit that Elvis popularized in his Las Vegas heyday of the 1970s. He, too, performed many classic songs, including "Polk Salad Annie" and "Suspicious Minds."

D'Vyne also took the stage again as one of the backup singers for Sikes.

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The shows are always fun — I've probably seen Sikes a half dozen times — and he and D'Vyne did a good job engaging the audience. There was a lot of hand clapping and singing along.

One thing that Sikes said near the end of the show stood out to me. While there are literally thousands of Elvis tribute artists, there was only one Elvis. And Sikes said he can remain in character for a little bit, but he doesn't remain in it long.

That didn't seem to deter many of the ladies in the audience, who were quite open about getting a scarf from Sikes. It's become somewhat of a ritual at his shows for multiple scarves to be given away, after Sikes wipes off his face and neck with them.

After the show, Sikes came out to the lobby area and posed for photos. He took one with our group from the Aiken Standard, and on stage he personally thanked my wife and Diane Daniell for helping him with advertising through the years.

But back to Aug. 16. I vividly remember where I was when I heard the news that Elvis had died, far too young at the age of 42. We were coming back from a family trip to North Carolina when the news came over the radio.

I was almost 12 and, although I didn't fully understand the scope of Elvis' appeal, I knew he was someone my parents liked a lot.

Fast forward four decades, and I was sitting in the Augusta Chronicle newsroom when we found out that Aretha had died at age 76.

With Augusta being so closely associated with James Brown — the "Godfather of Soul" — it was only natural that our news team did a local reaction story to the "Queen of Soul's" death.

Elvis and Aretha were a pair of American originals. They don't make singers like them anymore, but for one night we got to take a trip down memory lane.

As Elvis might say, thank you very much for reading.