KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasCould Elvis Have Recorded This Song AFTER His Death?

Could Elvis Have Recorded This Song AFTER His Death?

(Feb. 27) -- Although Elvis Presley died in 1977, many fans think he still might be alive. A Las Vegas businessman has offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who can produce the genuine article. The offer was made after listening to a tape that was mailed anonymously to a Las Vegas man along with an unsigned letter. It all sounds like urban folklore -- until you hear the song.

August will mark the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death. Some fans still believe Elvis faked his death and still walks among us, a story which had become a staple of the tabloids. Legions of tribute artists probably inspire many of the false Elvis sightings. But if the guy on this tape is an impersonator, he's a good one.

Elvis fan and collector Jeff Taylor received an anonymous dub of the tape. Taylor, like many others, buys Elvis material and recordings from the vast Elvis underground operating on the Internet. According to the unsigned letter, the recording was made at a Southern California taping kiosk. A man resembling a gray-haired Elvis -- we used computer simulation to recreate the likeness --walked in and recorded two songs, including a 1991 tune by Eric Clapton, "Tears in Heaven."

"I think it sounds like Elvis before he died: the way he phrases things, the sounds of his voice is exactly like it," Taylor said.

We took the tape to software designer Mike Halvorson, inventor of the first commercial audio digitizer for microcomputers. Halvorson charted the mystery tape, then a genuine Elvis recording, and made a basic comparison of vocal frequencies; the two voices are remarkably similar.

"I'm not a Ph.D, but there are similarities that are amazing, considering its not even the same song. The timbre of this person's voice is very close to Elvis' voice. If you look at the way his voice modulate, there are similarities, peaks and valleys that are similar,” Halvorson said.

As a final authority on the recording, we went to Chris Davidson, owner of the Elvis-a-Rama Museum in Las Vegas, a $4 million collection of Elvis stuff, including every recording the king ever made.

"He's got proper voice inflection. He's got the voice down good," Davidson said. "We have 300 to 400 Elvis impersonators on file. Some do sound like Elvis. That's some of the closest material I've ever heard.”

Many who visit Davidson’s museum are convinced Elvis lives. Davidson doesn't agree. After hearing the mystery tape though, he's making an offer: “I will offer $100,000 to anyone who can produce Elvis -- the real Elvis -- bringing him to Elvis-A-Rama for a performance. It's gotta be the real Elvis. I'd love to meet him. He could have all his stuff back.”

Davidson says the reward offer is good until Aug. 16, the anniversary of Elvis' death -- and yes, Elvis is dead. Make no mistake. That doesn't explain the tape. If the person who recorded it isn't working as an Elvis impersonator, he should be. But at this point, we don't know who he is.

Anchor question: We saw the computer comparison between this tape and a real Elvis recording. How accurate a comparison is that?

Answer: Very accurate, but only within a limited scope. While some vocal qualities matched up, a lot of things couldn't even be accurately compared: They were different songs, with different notes and lyrics, recorded in different formats.

Halvorson took a guess. He said whoever recorded the mystery tape was likely in his 30s or early 40s when he did it. Elvis, if alive today, would be 67.

If you'd like to hear the song in its entirety, you can listen to it by clicking on the link below, and also be sure to check out the Website for the Elvis-A-Rama Museum.

To contact George Knapp, click here.