Who was?

[mislulu]

Hey gang, who was the singer named Orion that came out with a couple of hits in 1978? He wore a lone ranger mask and had two hit singles. The first one was "Texas Tea" and the second one was "Am I that easy to forget".

I need to know if the singer named Orion was actually Rol Donner. Can you help.

[ajr]

Jimmy Ellis

[Lisarose]

Hey gang, who was the singer named Orion that came out with a couple of hits in 1978? He wore a lone ranger mask and had two hit singles. The first one was "Texas Tea" and the second one was "Am I that easy to forget".

I need to know if the singer named Orion was actually Rol Donner. Can you help.

Jimmy Ellis - just saw a thread in OffTopic about this man. Thread was started by Smasher1977 (?) Smasher for sure, don't recall the numbers behind the name. also includes a youtube clip. Great singer, btw.

[mislulu]

Thank you! I found the link. My husband wanted me to ask you all about this. So I will show him the thread by Smasher!

[thehillbillycat]

Actually there was two Orion's and no the other wasn't Elvis. The other Orion was Jim E. Conwell who now lives in Griffin, GA. He took over as Orion when Jimmy Ellis (The real Orion) was either sick or on call as Jimmy Ellis. Their was one date that Jimmy Ellis and Orion appeared on stage at the same time from what I got from a person who went to the show. Orion sung his usual songs and then Jimmy Ellis appeared on stage and sung with him. I guess people thought it was Elvis on stage with Jimmy that night. But Jimmy Ellis is the real Orion and is the one that you hear on the LPs.

[EP6873]

Hey gang, who was the singer named Orion that came out with a couple of hits in 1978? He wore a lone ranger mask and had two hit singles. The first one was "Texas Tea" and the second one was "Am I that easy to forget".

I need to know if the singer named Orion was actually Rol Donner. Can you help.

Yea Jimmy Ellis was great. I'm also a big fan of his. If you go to his website you can download some audio clips. Also there are some videos on YouTube, type in "Orion Jimmy Ellis". http://members.fortunecity.com/oriondiscs/index.html This is a good website for more information. http://musicmoz.org/Bands_and_Artist...ks/Fans_Pages/ Also this site has some nice links. I've got many of his songs, so I can help with more info if you want!

[Tony Trout]

Here's some info 'bout the murder of Jimmy Ellis/Orion on December 12, 1998:



Top Elvis Impersonator Killed..
Gunned Down in His Alabama Pawn Shop Dec. 12, 1998

By Todd Venezia
ORRVILLE, Ala. (APB) -- One of the world's most famous Elvis impersonators was killed when a robber with a sawed-off shotgun stormed into a pawn shop he owned and blasted him and his ex-wife at close range, authorities said.
Jimmy Ellis, who for years used his remarkably Elvis-like voice in a masked stage persona he called Orion, was standing before the display counter in his Jimmy's Pawn and Package Store just after noon Saturday when the gunman burst in and, in seconds, turned the quiet shop into a slaughterhouse.
"Mr. Ellis never had time to do nothing or say nothing," Dallas County Sheriff Harris Huffman Jr. told APB News. "He just opened fire in seconds and hit Mr. Ellis in the side."
After the first blast, which left the 53-year-old Ellis mortally wounded and crawling for safety, the gunman turned his weapon on the singer's 44-year-old ex-wife, Elaine Thompson, who was on a stool behind the counter. He fired once into her face, killing her instantly and hitting another worker, Helen King, in the hand.
Wounded victim shot at again..

The gunman, who police believe is Plantersville resident Jeffery James Lee, then fired twice more in an attempt to blast Ellis a second time as he struggled to find a haven behind a computer desk, Huffman said.
The shot missed, and then Lee allegedly turned his attention to the cash register, which he knocked off the counter after he could not open it, Huffman said. He then dropped the gun, fled the store and drove off in a car with two accomplices, authorities said.
Huffman said King, who played dead, was treated and released from a hospital for her hand wound. Ellis died in his store about 10 minutes after the attack, Huffman said.
Later that day, sheriff's deputies caught up with the two alleged accomplices, Andre Darren Lee, 19, who is the alleged gunman's brother, and Jerry Dewayne Johnson, 17, who is his cousin. Police later found Lee holed up in a motel about 30 miles outside Atlanta. All three are being held without bail and are facing the possibility of the death penalty on two counts of capital murder, authorities said.
Fans mourn star's death..
Word quickly spread through this town about 20 minutes west of Selma that one of its most popular residents was killed. Soon, Ellis fans around the country were mourning.
"I was just devastated," said Kathy Hoffman, a Maryland woman who is the president of the Jimmy Ellis fan club. "It's just a very sad thing. He was just the sweetest guy."
Ellis' career took off after Elvis Presley's death in the late 1970s when producers at Presley's former record label, Sun Records, discovered that his voice sounded hauntingly like the King's.
They suggested that he don a mask and perform under the name "Orion," doing a mix of old Presley standard and his own work. He stood out among the many Elvis impersonators partly because of his voice and partly because he only performed as Orion, never claiming publicly to be copying Elvis.
Broke from Presley image..
He enjoyed several years of popularity and worked with many of the top performers in Nashville such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Loretta Lynn. According to Hoffman, his fan club once numbered in the thousands. However, in the mid-1980s, the novelty of his act wore off, and he removed his mask in an attempt to be taken more seriously.
It wasn't an easy move for the Orrville native. In a 1997 interview, he said that his attempt to be a star in his own right was stifled by his voice's natural likeness to Presley. "It's been both a blessing and a curse," he said. "The Nashville establishment won't accept anyone who sounds that close to Presley."
In the '90s he went back to his Orion persona and played the U.S. earlier this year. He also stayed closed to his core fans. "He was a friend," Hoffman said. "He was a very easygoing person. His career was important to him, and he was sometimes discouraged because he had so many ups and downs."

[mislulu]

Thanks Tony. That was a good read. Very sad!

[ColinB]

Thanks for the article, Tony !

Is there any follow-up ?

Were they found guilty ?

Were they executed ?

[Tony Trout]

Thanks for the article, Tony !

Is there any follow-up ?

Were they found guilty ?

Were they executed ?

Colin,

I'm not sure what happened to the three men...I've looked all over the 'net but can't find any info.

[elvisfan4life]

Wow! I didn't realize or I had forgotten that Orion was dead. What a tragedy.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

He was a great singer.
It is a tragedy that he was killed.
I have a 4CD box from Orion and i must say: he really sounded like Elvis.

WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN (4 CD's) BEAR FAMILY BCD 16330 DI

Disc One:Moody Blue; Return To Sender; Hurt; Kentucky Rain; Can't Help Falling In Love; It's Now Or Never; Burning Love; You Don't Have To Say You Love Me; My Way; Love Me Tender; Mean Woman Blues; Teddy Bear; Hound Dog; That's All Right; Blue Moon Of Kentucky; I Forgot To Remember To Forget; Such A Night; Where He Leads Me; Sweet Hour Of Prayer; I Surrender All; Peace In The Valley; It Is No Secret; I Believe; He Touched Me; Softly And Tenderly; Where No One Stands Alone; Just A Closer Walk With Thee.

Disc Two: Honey; Billy And Sue; The Last Kiss; Long Black Limousine; Teen Angel; Endless Sleep; Patches; Tell Laura I Love Her; Tragedy; Ebony Eyes; Rocky; Suzie Q; Long Tall Sally; Peggy Sue; Rockin' Little Angel; Maybelline; Mona Lisa; Lonesome Angel; Midnight Rendezvous; I Hear You Knockin'; Matchbox; I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday; Rockabilly Rebel; Crazy Little Thing Called Love; Memphis Sun.

Disc Three: Feelings; Before The Next Teardrop Falls; She Hates To Be Alone; Am I That Easy To Forget; Just Out Of Reach; There Ya Go; What Did I Promise Her Last Night; Rollin' With The Flow; Green Green Grass Of Home; Long Black Veil; Faded Love; Crazy Arms; Release Me; Texas Tea; Please Help Me I'm Falling; Send Me The Pillow You Dream On; He'll Have To Go; Snowbird; I Can't Stop Loving You; I Love You Because; No One Will Ever Know; Old Mexico; Night Of Rain; These Sometimes; Listen To Daddy; Ballad Of A Teenage Queen*; Glad All Over*.

Disc Four: Be Bop A Lula*; On My Knees*; Dixie Fried*; Gentle As A Lamb*; Money*; Break Up*; Matchbox*; Good Rockin' Tonight*; Gone, Gone, Gone*; Sittin' And Thinkin'*; Save The Last Dance For Me*; Sweet Little Sixteen*; I Love You Because*; C.C. Rider*; Cold, Cold Heart*; Hello Josephine*; It Won't Happen With Me*; What'd I Say*; Good Golly Miss Molly*; Rockin' The Boat Of Love*; You True Love*; Put Your Cat Clothes On*; Country Boy*; Caught In The Middle*; When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again*; Honey Don't*; Get Rhythm*; Who Will The Next Fool Be*; Lonely Street*.

*Duet with Jerry Lee Lewis. *Duet with Charlie Rich. *Duet With Carl Perkins. *Duet with Johnny Cash.