Rick Saucedo
Rick Saucedo is a musician, songwriter, actor, and Elvis tribute artist.
Raised in the city of Chicago, Illinois. Saucedo had an increasing interest in music and he had always appreciated the music of Elvis Presley. In 1972, one particular song caught his attention. "Burning Love", which turned out to become the main catalyst for Saucedo and began the creation of his tribute performances to Elvis Presley. At the age of seventeen, Saucedo began performing in nightclubs and bars around Chicago. Upon forming his band The Ambassadors, Saucedo landed the role of Elvis in the 1978 Broadway musical Elvis-The Legend Lives. Along with Elvis' original backup group, The Jordanaires, Elvis' original drummer, D.J. Fontana, and original backup vocalist Millie Kirkham, Saucedo recreated Elvis' career. Ever since, Saucedo has been credited as one of the original Elvis tribute artists. He has been performing longer than Elvis himself did and this became Rick's full-time job before people made habits out of impersonating Elvis. Decades later, Saucedo is still considered one of the top tributes to Elvis and has never stopped entertaining. He performs at clubs, restaurants, festivals, theaters, casinos, banquet halls, and more. Saucedo's schedule has him performing at over one hundred places a year.
The musician
Rick Saucedo is a trained player of acoustic guitar, electric guitar, sitar, bass guitar, drums, piano, and several other instruments. He often incorporates his talents into his performances by playing the piano or guitar for his audiences. Throughout the years, when not performing his Elvis tribute, Saucedo has often played in one of his own rock bands, such as Redwing, The Fabulous Ambassadors, or a Beatles band. In these bands, he often plays his own music, along with singing lead vocals and playing the piano or guitar.The tribute artist
Saucedo is a versatile Elvis tribute artist. Over time, he has covered all eras of Elvis performance: the Rockabilly '50s, the Rocking '50s Gold, the Army Years, the Movie Era, the Worldwide Hits of the '60s, the '68 Comeback NBC Special, the 1969 International Vegas, the 1970 That's the Way It Is, the 1972 Elvis on Tour, the 1973 Aloha, and the 1977 CBS Elvis In Concert. Saucedo owns a wide variety of Elvis accessories. Through his performances, he has revealed that he has an extensive collection of Elvis' wardrobe: the 1970s jumpsuits, movie wardrobe, GI Army uniform, Black Leather, high-collar shirts, and more. Over time, he has entered the stage equipped with exact replicas of many of Elvis' guitars. Saucedo has a large and diverse collection. Many of his Elvis guitars are not recent reproductions, but original models, such as the electric guitar Elvis used in his 1968 special. It is over forty years old and as authentic as Elvis himself. Though Saucedo has yet to acquire one of Elvis' personally-owned guitars, he does have a guitar owned by John Lennon. If portraying the older Elvis, Rick keeps his hair and sideburns long. If he portrays the earlier Elvis, he styles his hair short and high, allowing him to remain natural and not use any wigs or hairpieces. During his run on Broadway, he was given the title: "The Prince of Rock 'n Roll". Saucedo says he will stop at nothing to give everything he has to his tribute, as quoted in the Chicago Tribune:
"I'll give 150 percent every time, as long as the promoters don't tell me I gotta do this or I gotta do that. I just don't like being told what to do"
The 1978 Broadway musical
Rick Saucedo signed on to play Elvis Presley in the New York Broadway play Elvis-The Legend Lives. Joined with The Jordanaires, D.J. Fontana, Millie Kirkham, and more, Saucedo recreated numerous eras of Elvis Presley's musical career. The play was two acts. Act 1 began with a look at the very beginnings of rock 'n' roll's ties, such as "The Charleston" and "In the Mood". The setting is Sun Studio and a young Elvis Presley enters the stage and begins recreating Elvis' first recording session. The next scene focuses on The Ed Sullivan Show and Elvis' television performances. Following scenes cover the Army years, the Hollywood songs, and the '68 Comeback. Act 1 ends and Act 2 is an entire concert performance of the 1970s era of Elvis. The title song for the play was a tribute song, "The Legend Lives On", written by Elvis songwriters Doc Pomus and Bruce Foster. Saucedo arranged the music and sang it. The song has become the tagline for his performances. It has been released on 45 vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CD, and DVD. The musical ran for five months and Saucedo played six times a week for the entire five months, never missing a show and never using a double. Opening night was 31 January 1978 and closing night came 30 April 1978. The show became a hit and the following year Saucedo took the show to the Stardust in Las Vegas.The bands
Saucedo was first seen playing with The Ambassadors. He remained with The Ambassadors full-time for many years until he began performing music different from The King of Rock 'n' Roll. Saucedo performed his own original music and music of The Beatles in the 1980s with his band, Redwing. When he returned to the Elvis format, Saucedo played with pick-up bands and cycled through other bands. In the 1990s, following the breakup of Redwing, Saucedo played again with The Ambassadors, now called The Fabulous Ambassadors. Saucedo always performed with a band until 1997 when he played a one-month-long engagement in Aruba at the Alhambra Casino. With no band available for the engagement, Rick decided to use backing tracks. Performing each night for one month, Saucedo used backing tracks and showed that he was enjoying them more. Upon returning to the states, Saucedo began entering the stage with no equipment but a microphone and speakers. He had made the switch from band to backing tracks. Saucedo uses tracks everywhere he performs except at fests and theatres. For larger venues, he uses live bands. Since switching to tracks in 1997, Saucedo has cycled among three bands: The Ambassadors, The EAS Band and The Change of Habit Tribute Band. Saucedo played with EAS from the late 90s through 2004. Since 2004, it has been Rick Saucedo and the Change of Habit Tribute Band. In 2004, Saucedo reunited with The Ambassadors for a show and has since performed several times with The Ambassadors. Though at this time Rick performs with the Change of Habit as his band, fans can still find a couple of shows a year with Rick Saucedo and The Ambassadors.The songwriter
Saucedo is an original songwriter who has written dozens of songs, and has completed over fifty. Other songs have incomplete lyrics or music, and thus are yet to be released. Rick begins by creating the music for a song and then it takes anywhere from fifteen minutes to ten years to come up with the perfect lyrics and mix in order for the song to be of releasable quality. As of 2009, Saucedo has written, completed, and released nearly five dozen songs. He has written songs of all kinds, including rock, country, love ballads, rock ballads, slasher songs, gospel, holiday, Elvis-style, Beatles-style, Latin-American, psychedelic, and Elvis tributes. Some original songs Saucedo has never performed live, while others have become regular songs in his performances, and a few are mistaken as Elvis' own. He wrote his first song, "In My Mind", while in junior high in 1968. Saucedo released his first album in 1978 at the age of 23.Original music
- Song Title
- All Alone Without Love
- All Right Now
- America: Red, White, and Blue
- Aruba
- Baby in the Sand
- Ballad of Robert Johnson, The
- Broken Heart Again
- Country Girl
- Destiny
- Don't Put Me Down
- Down Stream Dream
- El Diablo
- Eleanor
- Evening Glow
- Feeling Love
- Girl in Blue Jeans
- Good to See Y'All
- Heart & Soul
- Heartbeat
- Heaven Was Blue
- Hell Cat
- Her Lovin' Arms
- History Makin', Country Shakin'
- Hot Tail Mama Blues
- I Will Stay
- I'll Die
- I'm Movin' On
- It Burns Again Today
- In My Mind
- Just a Lie
- King of Blue Suede Soul
- Lazy Crazy
- Legend Lives On, The
- Livin' Elvis' Life
- Love Inside You
- Love is a Game
- Love Will Grow
- Mama
- Meanings
- Memphis, I'm Coming Home
- Mother Nature's Song
- My Lord
- Nativity
- Next Victim
- Never Let You Go
- No One But You
- Oh My Darlynn
- Oh My God
- Once Again
- Our Love
- Passion of Love
- Pedal to the Metal
- Ready Freddy 23 Skidoo Tonight
- Reality
- Rockabilly Boogie
- Rock 'n Roll
- Rock 'n Roll Oldies Show
- Rock All Night
- Santa and His Reindeer
- Shame, Shame on You
- Someone New
- Summer Day
- Tell Me Why
- Things We Say Today
- This Song for You
- Today, Tomorrow, and Forever
Hollywood
Saucedo turned down the title role in ', the 1979 television movie starring Kurt Russell, in order to keep performing and playing Las Vegas. In the late 1990s, a television show was in the works that featured an Elvis character. Saucedo was to play the Elvis character, but the show fell through. Today, Saucedo would rather perform live than act.
Discography
To date, Saucedo has released twenty-one albums, some of which began on vinyl, made it to cassette, and now CD. He began writing and releasing original material in 1978, which was a common practice for him in the 1990s. After an eight-year absence from recording an entirely original album, Saucedo returned to the recording studio in 2006 with new material. In 2009, using fan input, he gathered a selection of his greatest hits and went back to the original recordings to remaster them. Saucedo's most recent projects have been built around the delta blues, rockabilly, and country influences that would eventually lead to rock 'n roll.Albums
Album list- Rick Saucedo Live with the Ambassadors
- Heaven Was Blue
- Evening Glow
- The Legend Lives On - Volume 1 '
- Freak of Nature
- Spiritual Christmas
- Memphis, I'm Coming Home
- King of Blue Suede Soul '
- Rick Saucedo Live in Chicago
- History Makin', Country Shakin'
- The Love Inside You - Sounds of the '60s
- Redwing - The Essential 1980's
- The Elvis Story: The Legend Lives On
- Rick Saucedo's Halloween Party
- That's The Way It Was
- Once Again: The Greatest Hits
- Traditional Christmas
- The Wonder Of You
- I'm Movin' On
- Mountain Moonshine
- The City of Night Lights
Singles
- Reality/History Makin', Country Shakin'
- The Legend Lives On/How Great Thou Art
- The King of Blue Suede Soul/Jailhouse Rock
- Too Much/Dead Man's Curve
- Santa and His Reindeer/The Nativity
Awards and accomplishments