Johnny was born on July 11th in Kansas City, Missouri. His father Forrest was a preacher and his mother Naomi was a sunday school teacher. Johnny did not start singing until age 11 when God miraculously healed him from stuttering. He began to sing regularly at his father's church and local revivals. Pictured at the right is Johnny at age 16. It was apparent even before this age that he resembled Elvis Presley in both voice and demeanor. During his latter teen years Johnny drove a trash truck on the late night hauls. He frequently dashed over the state line late at night to enter singing contests and then would have to leave before the winners were announced so he could get back to work before he was missed. He won many contests, but would not find out until the next day. He never received any prize money since he could not stay to claim it!

 

There has never been and never will be another Elvis emulator like Johnny Harra. The magic of "The King" still lives on through the musical stylings of Mr. Harra. Seeing him in concert is the closest some generations will ever come to experiencing the magic Elvis conveyed to his audiences. Some say his spirit lives on in Johnny. Ever since Johnny was 11 years old people have noticed his uncanny resemblance to Elvis Presley, from the face, lips and hair to his voice and mannerisms. Their upbringing and roots were almost identical too. Johnny's mother Naomi strongly resembles Elvis's mother Gladys, and his daughter Lisa Marie looks so much like Elvis's daughter that the National Enquirer accidentally switched their pictures in one article. With so much in common it is no surprise that Johnny has paid tribute to Elvis by emulating his music for 40 years now.

Johnny Harra began touring the American Southwest and Europe to standing room only crowds. Less than a month after the death of Elvis, he packed the Cotton Cowl in Dallas, Tx with over 20,000 fans. A small riot occurred among the women in the audience over a scarf he threw. When he helped open Red Bird Mall, also in the Dallas area, he set a record for attendance with an estimated 200,000 people. Johnny was soon chosen to headline the Continental Theater for the Silver Bird Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Night after night he played to sold out audiences with his amazing "Profiles of Presley" show. The success of his show there lead to an exclusive three year/six million dollar contract with the Silver Bird in 1978. Johnny's band conductor was Elvis's own Bobby Morris, who conducted for Presley from 1969-1973. Johnny left the Silver Bird after two years due to contract disputes and went on to tour even more and start a cinema career

One huge regret Johnny Harra has is that he never had the chance to meet Elvis Presley. While Elvis was still alive Johnny was mistaken for him so frequently he had to employ bodyguards to protect him. He once attended an Elvis Presley concert in Denver, Colorado, where fans mistook him for Elvis and mobbed him. Photographer Bill Perry snapped Johnny's picture which ran on page one of the Denver paper captioned "Elvis - Of Course". Police and bodyguards had to intervene to save him from the concert fans. Later during the concert Elvis saw Johnny in the audience, smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. Perry said afterwards when alerted to his mistake, "Well it sure looked like him".

 

Johnny Harra was chosen to portray Elvis in the 1981 Warner Brothers movie This Is Elvis. This movie is the only movie ever sanctioned by the Presley estate and family. The picture on the left was taken at Graceland with Johnny wearing Elvis's glasses and clothes. Johnny was one of five actors who played Elvis in the movie and he was cast as the older Elvis during the last seven years of his life. He was required to gain 42 pounds in three months for this part. The filming took place inside Graceland and acting the death scene was very stressful on Johnny. More information, newspaper articles, and pictures about This Is Elvis can be found on the Movies page. Below are several photographs and newspaper articles related to the highlights of Johnny's successful music and film career. Click on any picture to view the full size article and be patient as some may take a while to load.

BRON : http://www.geocities.com/jharra2000/
Dit tevens ook de enige echte johnny harra website

We gaan het hebben over Brandon Bennet uit Louisana Usa ,

deze artiest is veleden week verkozen door vele elvis fans en bloedverwanten tot '' Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist of 2008 '' !
Hiermee is hij niet aan zen proefstuk toe deze getalenteerde elvis Lookalike heeft een show genaamd Elvis My Way !
hiermee treed hij al jaren op en met veel succes  , door zijn ongelooflijke gelijkenis met elvis zou je bijna gaan geloven
dat hij familie is van the king himself ! Hij heeft tal van wedstrijden gewonnen waaronder de wereldbekende
''images of the king contest'' in 2002 ! Hij is veel gevraagd elvis impersonator in las vegas  , Hijzelf stamt af van een muzikale
familie zijn zus is zeer bekend in amerika door haar deelname aan Idols 2006 ! Hij is zelf getrouwd en heeft 2 kids , dit was zo
wat het verhaal van Brandon Bennet ! Hieronder staat een foto van de man in kwestie kijk goed naar de gelijkenis met de King !



Deze woorden staan geschreven als je achter deze Elvis act zoekt !

This young man’s physical resemblance to Elvis is so uncanny you would think he is a blood relative of the King.  Though he is also a Southern boy, he is not Elvis’ relative. Six years after Elvis’ death, Brandon was born in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.  But even at a very young age, everyone noticed how much he resembled the Ultimate Entertainer of all time.

       Having been born with almost the face of Elvis, it is Brandon’s destiny to become an Elvis Tribute Artist!

Bron : Ladyluckmusic
Herschreven door : Redacteur Elvis en Artiest