In the living room of the Graceland South home of Jim and Judy Reese is a statue of Elvis that they spotted in front of a gallery on the way back from an engagement in Branson, Missouri. Herald-Tribune staff photo by Dan Wagner
Graceland South is a rambling piece of property in a secluded Sarasota neighborhood owned by two retired school teachers, Judy and Jim Reese. They built their home about 35 years ago and have since transformed it into a lively art and memorabilia gallery dedicated to Elvis Presley.
It’s an inspirational setting for Jim Reese, who is a professional Elvis tribute artist. In full Elvis regalia, he’s performed for years locally and around the country from specialty venues from Branson, Missouri, to KOA campgrounds to hotels and resorts.
Born and raised in Sarasota, Jim Reese is 80, the same age that Elvis would be today (the King died in 1977 at age 42). Jim served in the military in the Philippines while Elvis was serving in Germany in the late 1950s, and Jim’s 15 costumes replicate the glitzy, skin-tight jumpsuits that the rock ‘n’ roll icon wore on stage.
Jim’s most recent costume, a $3,750, magnificently detailed sleek white jumpsuit festooned with turquoise, green and blue beads, worked in a glamorous peacock motif, was especially made for Jim by Gene Doucette (B&K Enterprises), who designed and made costumes for Elvis to wear on tour and in Las Vegas.
Jim saw his musical hero perform twice in person. “The second time, it was just a year before Elvis died,” he said. “He was heavy and had on a two-piece costume in dark blue, which was meant to hide his shape. Some people in the audience thought he looked like a postman.
“But, the voice could still get to you. When he sang, it went right to the heart and soul. It’s what got me started on singing Elvis’ songs in the first place. His voice touched me from the first time I heard it, which was on my dad’s commercial fishing boat when I was a teenager. I was mending a net and when I head Elvis’s voice on the radio, I put down my needle and just listened.”
Jim always liked to sing, but it wasn’t until after he married Judy and got a guitar that he began informally performing for friends because of her encouragement. “I started with country songs, and I’ve always loved gospel. Then gradually, I added an Elvis song or two and people really responded and asked me to do more Elvis.
“I evolved into a tribute artist, and Judy and I started traveling the country in the summer for engagements. When we retired from teaching, performing became my career.”
Jim’ two favorite Elvis pieces to perform are “American Trilogy” and “How Great Thou Art.” Presley won three Grammy awards for gospel songs.
“Elvis fans know that he sang a lot of gospel music and that he loved to do it,” said Jim, “and I do, too.”
“American Trilogy” is an arrangement of three songs — “Dixie,” “All My Trials” and “The Battle Hymn of The Republic.”
Judy Reese, taught art at Fruitville School for 37 years and has always thought of her home as one big art project.
Herald-Tribune staff photo by Dan Wagner
While Jim rehearsed, Judy picked Elvis as her decorating theme and carried it out in rather amazing ways. “One of the first gifts Jim gave me was a large painting on black velvet of Elvis, and that seemed to get things going,” she said. “My color palette throughout the house is black and red with accents of zebra-skin prints.”
For accessories, there are big and tiny guitars in every room, framed Elvis art, life-size statues of Elvis, tabletop sculptures of Elvis, and displays of Elvis memorabilia and souvenirs that the couple brought back from places where Jim has performed.
Judy admits that she is a collector by nature. “When I got into collecting things associated with Elvis, I decided to go all the way,” she said. “We have lots more stuff than we could ever display at any one time.”
There are even framed photos of Elvis on the ceilings in several rooms of the house. Judy was an art teacher for 37 years at Fruitville School, and she considered decorating the house as one big ongoing art project. The Reese kitchen is all black — floor, cabinets, counters, appliances. But the cabinet and drawer pulls are brass, and boldly initialed “EP.”
“They are from Elvis’ kitchen in Graceland,” said Judy. “We were able to acquire them from a salvage operator after the Graceland kitchen was remodeled. He probably touched these cabinet knobs every day.”
A life size statue of Elvis greets guests as they approach the Sarasota home of Jim and Judy Reese. Herald-Tribune staff photo by Dan Wagner
You know when you’ve arrived at the Reese property because there’s a huge statue of Elvis in a gold jacket in the front yard. There’s also a shiny red 2000 Corvette convertible in the yard with a decal of Jim in costume on the hood of the car. The entrance gates are ornamented with silhouettes of Elvis standing at a microphone. The garage door is a mural of Graceland. The bottom of the Reese swimming pool features a life-size mosaic figure of Elvis. Elvis lights are on the lanai.
One non-Elvis souvenir has pride of place in the yard — one of the original concrete sea horses from the famous Lido Beach Casino, where Jim was a teenage lifeguard. When the place was demolished in early 1969, he was able to rescue the icon. When the Sarasota Quay was being built, the developers came to Jim to have plaster casts made from his original for decorative use at the Quay.
Judy and Jim Reese have taken Elvis cruises and been to Graceland three times, most recently during Elvis Week, when they stayed eight days. Judy bought so many home-accessory souvenirs at the Graceland shop that her credit card was declined because the card company thought it had been stolen and was being exploited.
“I had to get them on the phone and explain that my wife is a serious collector and this is the way she buys,” said Jim. “I told them to get ready because she was probably going to do it again at another shop down the road.”
More people than you might think have seen the Sarasota Elvis tribute house because Jim and Judy are renowned party-givers. Their biggest one is always the last Saturday in January; they call it the Chinese New Year’s celebration. Judy’s dining room is Asian-inspired because her dad was stationed in that part of the world when he served in the military.
As part of her elaborate party decorations, Judy displays Jim’s costumes so guests can admire the tailoring and workmanship. Of course, there’s a gleaming gold jacket and plenty of white boots in the wardrobe collection.
Lately, Judy has added touches of turquoise and iridescent blue to her decorating scheme — peacock feathers and pillows because she’s so fond of Jim’s new peacock costume. “When Jim and I met at the Lido Beach Casino as teenagers, I was visiting from Ohio with my parents,” she recalled. “I really wasn’t that into Elvis Presley. That sure changed.”
