Welsh Elvis

I thought the Welsh Elvis myth was a relatively new phenomenon. Turns out it has been doing the rounds for decades. It first raised its silky quiff back in 1965, as you can see from the cover of Elvis Monthly (issue 69). The journal’s investigation trots out the now familiar tenuous links between The King and Wales. There’s the parish of St Elvis (or St Elwys) outside Haverfordwest; the nearby Prescelly mountains; and the fact that Elvis’s parents were called Gladys and Vernon. Even back then it must have seemed a tad desperate. Anyway, who needs the real Elvis? Wales already has plenty of home grown Elvii: Tom Jones, Shakin’ Stevens, and Mark out of Demented Are Go. That’s enough ersatz rock’n’roll for any country.