Whole lotta shakin' goin' on

Women say they like Shane Jones' voice or his personality or the costumes the Elvis impersonator wears, some of which cost $4,000. But you have only to watch the reactions at Jones' show to see what they really like: the way he shimmies.

Some admit it. "He has a good body. And I like the shimmies," says Kathy Yallaly of Cape Girardeau.

"I like the way he moves his body," says Carolyn Rouviere of Cape Girardeau. "He's beautiful. He's sensual."

Her friend, Pat Gohn, has pictures of Jones in one of her family photo albums.

Women swoon when Jones drapes one of his monogrammed satin scarves around a lucky neck and leaves behind the scarf and a kiss. Carbondale, Ill., resident Jane Woods has collected three scarves so far. They hang on the picture of Jones in her bedroom. Elvis' picture is in her bedroom too.

Jones performs every Tuesday night at Casa Mexicana in Cape Girardeau. The restaurant seats about 80 people. All the tables are full long before the 7 p.m. show began Tuesday. The week of the anniversary of Elvis' death, a line of people waited outside hoping to find a seat or standing room for the show.

Except for the waiters, the restaurant is almost completely filled with women. You'd think men stopped eating Mexican food on Tuesdays.

He arrives in a long Pace Arrow recreational vehicle with his image painted on the side. He changes into one of his closetful of Elvis costumes in the Jungle Room, an area at the rear of the RV decorated in animal prints like Elvis' famed playroom at Graceland.

The 38-year-old Jones is married and has three children. His wife doesn't mind the female adulation at the shows, he says. "But she doesn't come a lot. I don't have any problem with it as long as she's not there."

The show begins as Elvis' did, to the strains of "Also Sprach Zarathustra." A stage manager throws a spotlight on the back of the room. This is a man who would make women's heads turn if he walked into a restaurant to eat. But when he walked into the Casa Mexicana in a low-slung black leather and zebra-striped outfit Tuesday night, women applauded. Later on there would be squeals.

He doesn't hit every note perfectly. Hard to find anyone who cares.

"Viva Las Vegas" is his show stopper during the 1 1/2-hour tribute. "Poke Salad Annie" gets him and the audience moving, too. The 1 1/2-hour tribute ends with "Can't Help Falling in Love with You." There are CDs and T-shirts for sale.

Jones happened onto his current employment. He was a high school football coach in the Paducah, Ky., area who had never sung in public before when he was asked to impersonate Elvis at a high school pep rally in 1994. That led to other appearances that brought him to begin looking at impersonating Elvis as his job a year and a half ago. The Paducah resident now coaches football only part-time.

He has physical similarities to the King, namely black-on-black hair and a handsome face. He also approximates the physique of the mid-career Elvis.

Jones was a quarterback. He smiles when points out the similarity between playing quarterback and playing Elvis: "Everybody is looking at you."

Jones grew up liking Elvis' music but admits, "I don't like everything about Elvis."

He isn't particularly fond of the true-believer Elvis fans, especially those who call him Elvis. "Most of them don't think he's dead," Jones says.

He refuses to copy Elvis' trademark moves and never mumbles "Thankewvermuch."

His version of Elvis currently is on a tour of the Casa Mexicana restaurants owned by Dee and Israel Delapaz in Cape Girardeau, Paducah and Medicineville, Ky. But he recently performed before 1,000 people at JR's Executive Inn in Paducah.

Jones has a fan club and fans who follow him from one performance to another. Jane Woods has missed only one show since June.

Joan Foeste of Cape Girardeau calls herself a fan of both Jones and Elvis. Two rooms of her house are filled with Elvis memorabilia, including120 Elvis plates.

She thinks Jones "sounds just like Elvis. He brings back a lot of memories," she said.

At the show, Jones lavishes attention on one table of seven women. Two go home with scarves, five get hugs and kisses. Doris Emerson, June Lincoln, Ann Crites, Judy Brown, Joan Griffaw, Pat Boyd and Sue Vaughn are all 1958 Central High School graduates who meet once a month for dinner. This is their first Elvis gathering. They spend some time fanning each other's faces.

Vaughn says her husband doesn't mind "as long as I'm home by 9."

Colorado truck driver Jerry Offenbacker is one of the few men in the audience Tuesday. He saw two real Elvis concerts. He complains that Jones' sideburns are too short. He isn't convinced Elvis was a man's man anyway.

Rachel Ford, 21, and Jamie Simpson, 22, are two of the youngest enthusiasts at Tuesday's concert. The Southeast Missouri State University students heard about Jones through friends.

They aren't big fans of Elvis but they liked Jones' moves.

Simpson is a management information systems major. Asked her major, Ford grins.

"Biology," she said.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182