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The Clavis Isley Story

by Andrew Weston

296 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-2845; ISBN 1-4251-1086-x; US$20.69, C$23.79, EUR16.13, £10.69

The guitar screamed a primitive, sexual cry, sending a shock wave exploding across the floor. The explosion caused a big-breasted blonde, who was walking in front of the speakers, to spill her drink down the front of her white T-shirt.

About the Book

Convinced of his destiny to become a star, eighteen-year-old Clavis Isley left his grandfather's Kentucky farm in 1962 and headed for Nashville. That conviction is reinforced when he is picked up hitchhiking by one of country music's top booking agents. The agent has him sing for him, but rather than sign Clavis to a contract, because he sounds too much like Elvis the agent gets him a job as a dishwasher in his brother's motel bar.

Clavis becomes friends with the house band. In awe of being in the presence of an actual "Nashville" band, Clavis gets the chance to fill in for the lead guitar player when the musician is injured in a fight. His friendship with this group of musicians follows him for the next thirty years.

When Clavis loses the job at the bar he is booked as a single in Bowling Green Kentucky at the Tower of Kentucky motel. It's his first taste of being "crowd noise." He is humbled by the experience until he meets the daughter of the owner, a dark haired beauty named Christine Cartwright. He loses his heart, but not his desire to be a star.

A call from Dennis Ethan, leader of the band, takes Clavis away from Christine, and to a club in Dallas. The trip becomes a tour lasting several years.

The Vietnam War is raging and Clavis is drafted and sent to Chicago where he meets Gigi Lucchessi, a beautiful young woman with mob ties.

Out of the army, Clavis takes a job as an Elvis impersonator, a gig that takes him to Las Vegas. Years roll by, consumed in alcohol, drugs, sex, violence and death. It's the story of a talented man who had the misfortune of sounding TOO MUCH LIKE ELVIS.

About the Author

Andy Weston was a singer and musician for several years. He met his wife Sharon in a recording studio where she was a Recording Artist with ABC Dot Records. Now married thirty-seven years, they have two daughters and five granddaughters.