Rudy Tutti learned from Elvis

Rudy Tutti Grayzel, a Rockabilly Hall of Fame performer, was Elvis Presley’s opening act for two years, and during this time he learned much about life and personal style from Elvis. Rudy was 17 and Elvis was 18 and they’d been introduced via Sam Phillips who helped launch both young men via his Sun Records recording label. “I owe so much to Elvis. He was so talented and had an almost magical charisma, but he was always kind and polite to people. He always took the time to listen to people and answer their questions, and I learned so much from him, verses Jerry Lee Lewis, for example, who I worked with later and who had a knack for insulting everyone in the bar and causing fights wherever he performed. It was almost comical.” Rudy had been an amateur boxer in El Paso, Texas as a boy, and would occasionally jump in to soothe frayed nerves between bar patrons and Lewis. “But Elvis was a totally different guy, with natural class and style and always had perfect manners. I learned how to dress from Elvis, how to go the extra mile at every performance, how to demand fair treatment from the promoters we worked with, so many things. I even learned how to soothe a throat from him because Elvis used to carry around a box of Pine Bros throat drops wherever he went. He loved the honey and the wild cherry, and he swore by them. I started doing the same thing and I still love ’em.” The CEO of the Pine Bros throat drop company learned of Rudy Tutti’s connection to the throat drop brand and in 2010 hired Rudy to promote Pine Bros in a series of funny TV and internet commercials. “When you’re young and on the road, away from home, you’re still developing as a person and a performer it’s important to have good role models. Luckily I had Elvis, and I look back now and thank my lucky stars for that. I say thank you to God and to Elvis every day.”