Did Engelbert Humperdinck influence Elvis' look?

[Marlena]

Singer Engelbert Humperdinck has recently told the media that he has the high-collars and sideburns first. "I had them in 1965 and Elvis put his on in 1972! The true story is this, Elvis had a lady sketching him to find an outfit for him to go on his world tour. That's where the white jump suit came in. She designed this white jumpsuit with the high collar and the long black side-burns. She presented it to him and he went (in Elvis voice) 'Hell, that's not me, that's Engelbert Humperdinck'. So therefore you know who had it first".
Elvis and Engelbert were great friends. 'I loved the man,' he said. 'The first time I met him he had come to meet me. He came to see my show first before I went to see him. Believe me, it took me a good 10 minutes to quieten the audience down once I introduced him. He stood up and he had a cape on and he opened the cape as he stood in the booth in Las Vegas with the cape open like Batman. The audience went absolutely berserk and I said 'shhhh, this is my show'. No, I couldn't quieten them down. So I brought out some of my big gun songs to try - which worked in the end. Elvis came backstage and he said 'thank you very much, what a great show'. This is how humble he was. He said 'thank you for introducing me'. Elvis! I said 'Elvis, I can't thank you enough for being at my show'. Elvis was such a nice guy, a very nice guy."

[1100ccRider]

What the hell?

Not that it matters -- big sideburns of '70s style certainly existed on some pop-culture figures before the '70s (and, no, you don't even have to go as far back as the 18th Century, or further, when they were all the rage) -- but from what I know of Engelbert his sideburns in 1966-67 (as seen on the cover of the "Release Me" LP, complete with rather startling bare patch mid-sideburn) were about what Elvis sported circa late '67 and early '68, basically not much bigger than Elvis' '50s versions. No high collars visible, either.

Of course, there's that '74 Tahoe concert (the 27th, I think) in which Elvis introduces Billy Eckstein and credits him for the high collars but, again, the high-collar thing was most likely largely an Elvis innovation based on his request of Bill Belew for the black leather suit in '68. And again, of course, we can go much further back to see that this sort of collar was hardly Bill's creation; it's not called 'Napoleonic' for nothing. The evolution of the jumpsuit (another item many take spurious credit for) is apparent from the karate origins of Elvis' two-piece 1969 stagewear and the preference for high collar follows Elvis' longstanding '50s (and sometimes '60s) habit of popping his collar upright on regular shirts.

In other words, I think the Humpster -- cool dude though he may be -- is off base with any claim that Elvis borrowed either hair or costume from him.

[LuckyJackson]

Well Elvis copied no-one...lol

[buttonhead]

I got to see Engelbert concerts many times.. and he did mentioned about 'side burn' he said it was him who started it and Elvis follow suit ... i think Engelbert was joking we all knew Elvis was inspired by those truck drivers in the past where they had sideburn ... Correct me if i am wrong, just dont kill me ,k ?
If any one here has chance to see Engelbert show...go and see it ... he joked quite a bit on his show.. very talkative.. and a perfectionist of his voice. This is when I missed Elvis you know ?? Wish he still around us, he would have made many many wonderful records and shows too for his fans..

[KPM]

Singer Engelbert Humperdinck has recently told the media that he has the high-collars and sideburns first. "I had them in 1965 and Elvis put his on in 1972! The true story is this, Elvis had a lady sketching him to find an outfit for him to go on his world tour. That's where the white jump suit came in. She designed this white jumpsuit with the high collar and the long black side-burns. She presented it to him and he went (in Elvis voice) 'Hell, that's not me, that's Engelbert Humperdinck'. So therefore you know who had it first".
Elvis and Engelbert were great friends. 'I loved the man,' he said. 'The first time I met him he had come to meet me. He came to see my show first before I went to see him. Believe me, it took me a good 10 minutes to quieten the audience down once I introduced him. He stood up and he had a cape on and he opened the cape as he stood in the booth in Las Vegas with the cape open like Batman. The audience went absolutely berserk and I said 'shhhh, this is my show'. No, I couldn't quieten them down. So I brought out some of my big gun songs to try - which worked in the end. Elvis came backstage and he said 'thank you very much, what a great show'. This is how humble he was. He said 'thank you for introducing me'. Elvis! I said 'Elvis, I can't thank you enough for being at my show'. Elvis was such a nice guy, a very nice guy."

I think Mr Humperdinck is wistfully thinking backward.
Thats funny Elvis never went on a "world tour"
Elvis had the high collars in 1970 (and turned up his collars since he was 15) and he had sideburns way back when Mr Humperdinck went by his real name of Dorsey.
I think Engelbert wants credit for something that was a long established early trademark of Elvis.

[IM4Elvis]

First, thank you for the article. While he is a wonderful entertainer in his own right, yet I do think that Englebert might be rewriting history just a bit. As it has been stated, long side burns were very common here in the US mid-to-late 1960's. Many, not just entertainers, had the long side burns. How about the way Elvis was sporting them in the 1950's in his pre-army days? As far as the high collars, again that was the fashion trend in the 1960's. If you read the new FTD book "Fashion for a King," you will read why it was suggested to Elvis that he wear the high collars when performing.
I think it is less than accurate to say that Elvis was copying Engelbert with his stage attire. An accurate look at the historical facts show otherwise.

[Jimmy1966]

elvis had sideburns in the 50's, dont think engelbert was in show business back then,