They say the King never really died.
One particularly elaborate tale has Elvis Presley faking his death, climbing aboard a black helicopter and disappearing with the FBI to somewhere no one would think to look.
That somewhere, naturally, was Iowa.
The agents tucked Presley into a bunker beneath a cornfield, where he stayed hidden and picked up some unusual work with the FBI, the CIA and the Men in Black. Before long, Elvis was flying around in a saucer with Marilyn Monroe, chasing international and intergalactic criminals.
Years passed. At 90, the King went into a futuristic “med bed” meant to turn back the clock. There was plastic surgery. He grew a beard. By the end of it, he looked considerably less like Elvis Presley and considerably more like a certain man from New Virginia, Iowa.
Perfect for someone still undercover.
Every once in a while, the “King Incognito” comes out of hiding for what might be his grandest stage of all: the Iowa State Fair.
The ‘King Incognito’ takes the stage at the Iowa State Fair
On Monday, Aug. 17, the “King Incognito” bounded onto the Pioneer Hall stage in a glittering jumpsuit and red sunglasses, microphone in hand.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” he announced. “It’s good to be back after 47 years.”
A couple hundred fairgoers sat around the stage as he shook his leg, sent karate kicks into the air and worked through the Presley songbook, from “Fool” and “Long Tall Sally” to “Heartbreak Hotel.” He riled up the crowd, had them clapping along, handed out plushies and pulled a few fairgoers from their seats to twirl around the floor with him, sending more than one back blushing.
Only after the shades come off does the King return to being James David Brown, 66, a longtime Iowa musician, pastor and State Fair vendor who has spent about eight years developing an Elvis character with one obvious complication.
“I don’t look like Elvis,” Brown told the Register before his act. “I thought, ‘Well, now how am I going to sell this?'”
He made the mismatch part of the premise, building an alternate life for Presley in Iowa.
“I’m not trying to be Elvis,” Brown said. “I think of The King Incognito as a show and as a character in itself. It’s a storyline within itself. Kind of like a comic or a graphic novel.”
Who is the man behind the sunglasses?
Brown, who grew up in Kansas City and now lives in New Virginia, used to perform with The Rivieras, a central Iowa band that played 1950s and ’60s rock and roll around Iowa and into Nebraska and South Dakota. He said he had already been singing Elvis songs for years when he decided to give the look a try.
He bought a jumpsuit. Then came the sunglasses.
“Really when it hits you, man, is when you put the sunglasses on,” Brown said. “When you top it off with the sunglasses, then you know, ‘Hey man, something’s happening here.’ There’s something magical about it.”
Brown has another stage on Sundays.
He’s a pastor at Eagle Vision Church in Norwalk, and his connection to Presley began partly through gospel music. Some of the first Elvis albums he listened to were gospel records before he found his way into the rest of the catalog.
“Elvis loved gospel music, too,” Brown said.
For Brown, the connection is what the music does to a room.
“It’s about life and energy and building people up, making people have joy and a good time,” Brown said. “That’s what my message is all about.”
At Pioneer Hall, he has had plenty of time to put that philosophy to work.
James David Brown has long history with the Iowa State Fair
Brown has operated a booth inside the building for about 22 years, long before The King Incognito entered the picture. It is packed with pop-culture odds and ends, from Star Wars and Star Trek memorabilia to Elvis himself.
“It connects us to our childhood and the good things and good memories,” Brown said. “There’s memories floating around all inside of that booth.”
And the people stopping by are not all old enough to remember Presley.
Brown said teenagers and college-age fans have increasingly found their way to Elvis, something he credits in part to the 2022 film “Elvis.” He said he has folded some of the movie’s soundtrack into his own shows while keeping the songs longtime fans expect.
“It’s renewing, it’s reintroducing his music to a brand-new fanbase,” Brown said. “It’s just really exciting.”
Brown would like to keep that revival going.
“We need to have a rock and roll revival here in America,” he said.
For an Elvis who supposedly spent decades hiding beneath Iowa corn, Brown can think of few better places to reemerge.
“What would be a better place to come to touch the heart of America than the Iowa State Fair?” Brown said. “It’s Americana.”
Nick El Hajj is a reporter at the Register. He can be reached at nelhajj@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State Fair Elvis act comes with aliens, the FBI and a cornfield
Reporting by Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
