At the start of his music career, Ellis sang in nightclubs and, in 1964, released a single, "Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch," for a small Georgia label, Dradco. His vocals closely resembled those of
Elvis Presley, and in 1969
Shelby Singleton, who had acquired the rights to
Sun Records' back catalog, other than Presley's recordings for the label, released a single of Ellis' recordings of Presley's early songs, "
That's All Right (Mama)" and "
Blue Moon of Kentucky". The label credited the recordings simply to "?", and it was rumored that they were alternate takes from Presley sessions (despite featuring an electric rather than
string bass). After Presley died in 1977, Singleton revived the hoax by releasing singles that overdubbed Ellis' voice onto known Sun recordings by
Jerry Lee Lewis,
Carl Perkins and others, including a version of "
Save the Last Dance For Me," on which there was simply a credit to "Friend". The records were endorsed as genuine Presley recordings by the song's co-writer
Doc Pomus, the music journalist
Roy Carr, and the TV show
Good Morning America which undertook a voice comparison test of the song against Presley's voice. Around the same time, Ellis released another single under his name, "I'm Not Trying To Be Like Elvis", and an album,
By Request — Ellis Sings Elvis. In 1978, writer
Gail Brewer-Giorgio published a novel,
Orion, about a leading popular singer – based on Presley – who faked his death. Singleton then persuaded Ellis to start appearing as "Orion", wearing a small mask with dyed hair and in similar clothing to that worn by Presley. His album
Reborn, showing the singer emerging from a coffin, was released on gold-colored vinyl on the Sun label in 1978. Some listeners believed that Orion was, in fact, Presley, who had supposedly faked his death. Orion had several hits on the
country music chart, including "
Am I That Easy to Forget" (1980), "Rockabilly Rebel" (1981), and "
Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (1981). He also recorded several albums for Sun between 1979 and 1981 and built up a substantial live following, still wearing his mask. Ellis tore off his mask at a performance in 1983, saying he would not wear it again. However, after failing to retain his popularity using his real name, he returned to performing as Orion in 1987. He also started to run a store in
Selma, Alabama, with his girlfriend Elaine Thompson. == Murder ==