Ted, pictured with wife, Georgie, has the unique life of both a pilot and an Elvis Presley tribute artist. Behind them is their restored 1943 Stearman biplane.

The King of Rock and Roll’s spirit is alive and well right here in Suwannee County through Elvis Presley tribute artist Ted McMullen, perhaps better known as Teddy Mac Elvis. This 56-year-old father, grandfather and newlywed has perfected the art of being King, although he prefers not to call himself an impersonator since he focuses more on the music than the character.

Many folks know Ted from his numerous performances at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park over the past decade and at local and state festivals, but Ted’s connection to Elvis goes even further back. You might even say his connection is what made Elvis, well, Elvis.

According to Ted, his father, Bill, composed music for lyrics written by Tommy Durden and Mae Boren Axton in the 1950s when the McMullens were living in Jacksonville. That song was given to up-and-coming musician Elvis Presley to record and it became his first number one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel.”

“Dad got $5 for it, which evidently must of been a bunch of money,” Ted recalled. “After Elvis’ first album came out and he was just getting well known, he sent the album to dad just as a ‘thank you’ and had actually signed it. Me and my sister, Tina, played frisbee with it and it broke, so we just threw the whole thing away.”

Ted said his father quickly forgave his children and holds no grudges now that his son regularly performs as Elvis.

“My dad thinks it’s great,” Ted said. “He actually said it’s like a full circle. He’s very proud of what I do.”

Ted’s mother, Delores, on the other hand, didn’t know about her son’s performances until about 10 years ago after Ted had already been a tribute artist for decades. Ted said he had just kept it to himself as a personal enjoyment, but now that his mom knows, she’s his biggest fan.

“My cousin and my sister brought her to the first Elvis show that she’d ever known I was doing, and I could hear her crying in the audience,” Ted recalled. “She could not believe it. She really rips me now for not letting her know what I did. She’s been traveling, going to see my competitions and stuff, and she hates when she has to miss one.”

Growing up to be ‘King’

While Ted was born in Jacksonville, he grew up in a small community just north of Lee, Fla. called Hickory Grove. His grandparents owned the only grocery store in Lee for years, McMullen’s Grocery, and his parents had a 1,600 acre farm.

“I was raised on a John Deere tractor from eight years old,” Ted remarked.

It was through his years on the farm that Ted discovered his other passion: planes. Eight-year-old Ted and his father took a $20 ride on a Stearman biplane, and when they landed Ted said he wanted to become a pilot. He crop dusted for two summers on the farm, became a pilot in the 1980s and now flies almost every weekend from his Suwannee County air park home in his very own restored PT17 1943 Stearman.

“I just love planes,” Ted said. “And now, I own a Stearman. It was a dream.”

Ted’s family moved to Hilliard, Fla. when he was a teenager and he later graduated from Hilliard High School. At 15 years old he started his own country and classic rock cover band, continuing to play guitar up until an injury to his hand cut off the feeling in his fingertips. His injury didn’t keep him from singing, however, and he continues to perform country and classic rock apart from his Elvis tribute.

The “Teddy Mac Elvis” legend began after years of folks telling Ted he sounded like Elvis Presley when he sang. When he was 22, Ted was asked to perform some demos for a producer to sell in Nashville, but when he came out of the recording studio and listened to his voice, he thought they were playing someone else’s version.

“The three guys in the sound booth, they just kind of turned around and looked at me and said, ‘That’s you singing,’” Ted remembered. “They said, ‘You sound like Elvis,’ and it kind of built from that point.”

Fans and fame

About a decade after that moment Ted began donning the trademark 1970s Elvis look: flashy jumpsuits, dramatic capes and belts all bejeweled in thousands of rhinestones, a dark pompadour, and plenty of scarves to throw out to the ladies in the crowd.

“I had to learn really early in the beginning that when I go to give them a scarf, the microphone has to go way away,” Ted said, laughing. “Because if not, they say some things that will make you blush.”

Akin to the real Elvis’ fans, the ladies receiving a scarf sometimes return the favor; Ted said his previous manager jokingly stored a boxful of undergarments that had been thrown on to the stage while he performed. Fortunately, Ted’s wife, Georgie, says she finds the whole thing rather humorous.

Ted’s costumes are custom made in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and they don’t come lightly, by price or by actual weight.

“The designer’s got the exact designs of all the Elvis costumes,” said Ted. “It takes 36 measurements to make one. It fits just you; it don’t fit anybody else.”

Ted performs as ‘70s Elvis because he enjoys the ballads and costumes of that time period plus his body “can’t handle” the other Elvis eras, he said. As a tribute artist of over 30 years, Ted has had an intimate look at the King’s life and his following and believes it is simply Elvis’ talent that has kept his spirit alive for so long.

“People realized he wasn’t as bad as everybody wanted to make him out to be as far as shaking and moving on stage,” Ted said. “I think that got their attention and then it built from that, from the early days when he was all over the stage from the time he went into the ballads. His actual music was so dynamic due to the orchestra behind him, and the biggest thing that really took off was the gospel. Elvis’ gospel really changed the era of the churches.”

Ted’s own charisma and talent has earned him his own fans and following, too. Women and men, young and young at heart, flock to Ted’s “Legends” show and Elvis competitions at the Spirit of the Suwannee and to packed festivals around the state, such as Steinhatchee’s Fiddler Crab Festival or Jasper’s Wild Blackberry Festival. Ted said his fans are what drives him to continue performing.

“They’re devoted and that makes me devoted in my music. I’ve got to do the best I can,” Ted said. “When I feel like I didn’t do good in a show or I wasn’t up to par, then it’s time for me to retire. But as long as my voice stays strong, I will keep doing what I’m doing.”

Being an Elvis tribute artist means some of his fans are also Elvis Presley’s original fans who have aged, and losing such a longtime fan to old age impacts Ted greatly. He remembered one elderly fan who was dying from cancer in a nursing home when her family reached out to Ted to come and visit her. She had been unresponsive for the past 10 hours, but when Ted came in – fully costumed since he’d just returned from a show – the woman opened her eyes and yelled his name out.

“I remember I climbed right in the bed and held her and talked to her for about 15 minutes,” Ted recalled. “She had my pictures all over the dresser in front of her. I told her I’d come back and see her the next day. I left there and the whole family thanked me for doing that and they were all excited. I lived three minutes away and when I walked through the door, the phone rang and the family said she had just passed away. Things like that, you just can’t…it gives me chills just thinking about it.”

Keeping the King at bay

Although Teddy Mac Elvis has a powerful effect on others, Ted manages to keep the tribute artist act out of his personal life. He never practices or studies Elvis’ mannerisms or performances and doesn’t really try to impersonate the King at all; despite that, folks say Ted’s pretty close to the real thing when he performs.

“I don’t preplan anything that I do in a show; it just comes out,” Ted said. “It’s kind of a natural thing that’s just evolved, I guess. I’ve been doing it so long now, everybody asks me, ‘Are you nervous when you go out there?’ No, matter of fact, when I get dressed the only thing I’m thinking is, ‘Let’s go.’”

It’s hard not to treat his friends to a little bit of Elvis every now and then, Ted said, like when he puts on his “Elvis voice” and says, “Thank you, thank you very much.”

“I’m more or less just me all the time – a country boy,” Ted remarked. “Georgie says I don’t come with a dictionary because I say things kind of funny sometimes.”

Outside of Teddy Mac Elvis, Ted has worked with the Duval County School District in Jacksonville for 28 years as an HVAC water mechanic and has owned property in Suwannee County for five years. He lives here with his wife, Georgie, who has taken on the role of being his manager and assistant, and their rat terrier (or “terror,” as they call her), Bailey. Ted has one daughter, Melissa, and five grandchildren aged six months to 10 years old: Hannah, Jesse, Ella, Evelyn and Oliver.

Even with Ted’s busy life full of family, flying and work, the center stage and the faithful fans keep “Teddy Mac Elvis” coming back for more. “Elvis will never die,” Ted said, and neither will Ted’s passion for performing.