RESOLUTION NO. RS2012-231

A resolution recognizing John Patrick Beardsley as “The Nashville King”.

WHEREAS, John Patrick Beardsley was born in Bristol, Connecticut on August 5th, 1965 to parents Edgar and Annemarie Beardsley. He attended elementary school and graduated from St Paul Catholic High School in Bristol in 1983; and

WHEREAS, John was deeply inspired while watching Johnny Cash on a TV show when he was 5 years old and as a result of that program he became a devoted fan and quickly began to do shows, acting as his idol for family members. His passion for staying current on all things “Cash” were demonstrated by his personal subscription to Country Song Roundup and the ever growing collection of records he often took to school to share with his classmates; and

WHEREAS, during these early years of John’s focus on Johnny Cash he learned of and researched the connections that were in place through Memphis and Sun Records with Elvis Presley and by age 12, John’s focus had shifted to his new interest in Elvis; and

WHEREAS, by age 14 John had worked to develop an impersonation of Elvis and in September of 1981 he made his first public appearance as Elvis at a political fundraiser; and

WHEREAS, during these early teen years John’s musical abilities had been recognized by a group of guys who comprised a popular night club band called The Mystery Train after one of Elvis’s hit songs. The invitation to join Mystery Train introduced John to a musical career at age 16 as he found himself doing lead vocals, playing rhythm guitar and being featured in an Elvis set each night; and

WHEREAS, John’s musical career developed from this early start and has grown through the years to include such milestone moments as being the first Elvis show to ever appear in Russia. He has performed and opened for such names as Chuck Berry, Danny and the Juniors, The Marvellettes, The Shangri-Las, The Drifters, The Coasters, The Shirelles and others from the oldies era. More recently John has performed with T. Graham Brown, Lee Roy Parnell, Kitty Wells, Mark Collie, Vince Gill and the Radio City Rockettes; and

WHEREAS, John has appeared as Elvis on CMT, NBC, E Entertainment and FOX television networks and has staged special events for such national known groups as the National Cattleman’s Association, the Leukemia Society of America, the National MS Society, the National VFW Convention, Mercedes Benz, NASCAR, Sports Illustrated and many more too numerous to mention. John and his wife Darlene visited Nashville in August of 1999 during “Elvis Week” to do four Elvis shows at the Stardust Theater in Music Valley. They were subsequently invited by the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to return in November of that year to perform for the National Tour Association Convention; and

WHEREAS, these two performance opportunities produced the inspiration to write a musical biography of Elvis for staging and resulted in the couple’s relocation to Nashville in January 2000 and in April of 2000 “A Tribute to the King Thru the Years; 1953-1977” began its first season at the Texas Troubadour Theater in Music Valley; and

WHEREAS, Since that time, John has performed a total of 753 shows; excluding special cooperate events for Gaylord and other large hotels in the Nashville area, “A Tribute to the King Thru the Years; 1953-1977” is the longest running staged musical in Nashville and the longest running Elvis show in all the southern states; and

WHEREAS, a presentation of this recognition is particularly significant in that tonight marks the thirteenth anniversary of the first staging of “A Tribute to the King” in 1999. D. J Fontana who was the long time drummer of Elvis has labeled the show as “GREAT…very authentic” and the word “AWESOME” has been used by Wynonna, who happens to be one of John’s devoted fans; and

WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that the Metropolitan Council recognizes the dedication and perseverance necessary to reach such a success point it seems appropriate to recognize John Beardsley as a Nashville Ambassador and to officially confer on him the title of THE NASHVILLE KING.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:

Section 1. The Metropolitan Council hereby goes on record as recognizing John Patrick Beardsley as “The Nashville King”.

Section 2. The Metropolitan Council Office is directed to prepare a copy of this Resolution to be presented to John Patrick Beardsley.

Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.

Sponsored by: Phil Claiborne

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Referred to:	Rules & Confirmations Committee
Introduced:	May 1, 2012
Adopted:	May 1, 2012
Approved:	May 2, 2012
By: