Searching for Elvis Presley’s humanity with Statler Brother Jimmy Fortune
Youngest Statler Brother Jimmy Fortune replaced ailing original tenor Lew “Flowers on the Wall” DeWitt in 1982 and remained with the country-gospel quartet until their retirement 20 years later. Besides supporting Johnny Cash at the notorious Folsom Prison and being christened “America’s Poets” by counterculture ink slinger Kurt Vonnegut, the Statler Brothers accumulated 46 Top 20 C&W singles between 1965 and 1989. “Elizabeth” [an ode to Cleopatra heroine Liz Taylor] “My Only Love,” “Too Much on My Heart,” “Forever,” and the patriotic “More Than a Name on a Wall” were all written by Fortune and solidified the group’s continued success in the Reagan era [the former three were number ones]. In the first installment of an exclusive conversation, Fortune sheds light on a heretofore unexplored facet of his artistic development — Elvis Presley.
The Jimmy Fortune Interview, Part One
By chance are you an Elvis fan?
Elvis influenced me a lot, even though his voice was in a lower register than mine. I’m a tenor, and Elvis was a high baritone. He always put his heart, soul, and full voice into a song, and that’s the same approach I employ.
His roots were in gospel music, and that’s really what he loved in his soul. Obviously he recorded other genres and did it well, but his heart led him back to gospel. I think he was searching. He already knew all the answers led to Christ, but the physical part of him was so addicted to pills that he couldn’t get away from it.
I never met or saw Elvis in concert, but I really feel like I understand him. People can get addicted to opioids and drugs. I’m talking about good folks that you wouldn’t think would be addicted if not for the hardships that befall them. I think Elvis was in that same situation. Through all the pitfalls of fame that Elvis endured, he was a good Christian man whose love for the Lord shone through in many ways.
“Susan When She Tried” was composed by Statler Brothers lead vocalist Don Reid and turned into a No. 15 C&W hit single for the Staunton, Virginia-based group upon its October 1974 issue on Mercury Records. Five months later Elvis and his crack TCB Band faithfully covered the mid-tempo country tune on the shamefully ignored Today album. Did you get to tackle “Susan When She Tried” after you joined?
We sang “Susan” a lot onstage. Don used to talk about Elvis recording it and how much it meant to him. I loved Elvis’s version. I often though, ‘Man, if Elvis had cut one of my songs, I don’t know what in the world I would have done.’ I feel in my heart that if Elvis had not died so suddenly that he would have. To write for Elvis — what an honor.
We got to be around J.D. Sumner quite a bit [Author’s Note: Sumner managed the Stamps Quartet, who worked on the road and in the studio with Elvis from 1971 until his passing, and insisted that Elvis would have committed to a full gospel tour if the August 16, 1977, overdose, had not been fatal. As a cash-strapped teenager Elvis looked up to the bassist, whose low notes elicited seat reverberations. Sumner allowed the future superstar to visit backstage at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis during all night gospel conventions featuring the Sunshine Boys]. J.D. would always look at me and say, “You know what? I wish Elvis could have known you, and you could have known him. Elvis would have loved you.” That was pretty dadgum cool.
DON’T GO ANYWHERE YET! Here’s Part Two of the Jimmy Fortune interview…
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