Elvis sings the songs of Jimmy Reed, Lionel Rose, Slim Dusty

I often see him with his Spanish guitar, his suitcase and Bible on Redfern Street, usually wearing a baseball cap and big sunglasses, singing something sonorous from a repertoire which includes songs by Jimmy Reed and BB King, Jim Reeves, Lionel Rose, Jimmy Little, Slim Dusty and Elvis Presley.

“The Deltones gave me that nick-name,” says David. “And when Elvis died in ’77, when I heard about it, I went down on one knee.” There’s a story David tells – in the tradition of the great blues legends – of the King’s ghost appearing to him on a stormy night. “I had the goose-bumps,” he recalls.

The blues-man’s recollections come with a slight tuning adjustment, a riff, a bar or two of strumming. He was born in St George, Queensland, and raised in Bollon on the Wallam Creek – Red River Gum country. As a child he once refused to sing along to ‘God Save the Queen’ at a school assembly and was hauled by the ear into the principal’s office and forced to sing it solo. The principal was so impressed by the young rebel’s voice that he made him star performer at subsequent Easter and Christmas shows!

“There was always music in my family,” says David. “I’d play with Dad – Charlie Beckett – and Mum played bones and spoons. Uncle Herb [West] was a guitar player, and my brother Les would play the blues harp. My cousins Manny and Lone Boy had a band, too.”

David was in Canberra for the first official raising of the Aboriginal flag. He was one time a radio DJ in Bourke, even a police watch-house keeper. He’s been a busker in Brisbane, Melbourne, Townsville and Rockhampton, performed and won awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

He first came to Sydney in his early 20s, spending some time working with Mum Shirl in Redfern. More recently, he performs at various venues, churches, Indigenous and non-Indigenous events.

“I remember playing the Basement one time,” David says. “I was invited to play support for a well-known band, but when I got there they told me there was no money for me. So I went out on stage with my guitar case, and I explained the situation to the audience. I told them that if they liked what they heard they were welcome to drop some money in the case. The folded stuff was fine I told them.” He played four or five songs for over $800!

If you’re passing by Redfern Street – or King Street in Newtown or Oxford Street in Paddington – and you see David Paul “Elvis” Beckett busking, I recommend stopping to listen. You might like to request one of his original compositions. ‘May I Do Some Good Today’ is a stand-out. The King himself would be proud to sing it.

Photo: Caity Burridge David Paul “Elvis” Beckett 

Source: South Sydney Herald October 2007