15424/2GAZETTE & HERALD: ELVIS Aaron Presley Jnr, son of the original king of rock 'n' roll, swapped the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas for Calne to open up a new nightclub.

The White Hart Hotel in London Road officially opened its new function room on Friday night and a capacity crowd of about 100 revellers saw Elvis Jnr perform a selection of his daddy's classic tracks.

He rattled and rolled through his planned programme of It's Now or Never followed by Suspicious Minds before singing two further favourites on request.

Elvis Jnr said he loved coming over to England, a country his father never performed in.

"This is my 13th time over here. Way back in 1993 was the first time and we did a set of shows," he said.

"It's so fast paced in Las Vegas and a nice slower pace here. I have lots of friends and a management company based here so I like to visit."

The entertainer said he still has problems with people not believing he is Elvis's son.

His mother was working in the entertainment business when she had an affair with Elvis in the 1960s, resulting in Elvis Jnr's birth.

Decades later The Federal US Court legally recognised his right to the name Elvis Jnr after DNA test results and sworn testimonies were presented in evidence.

The son of the king said he had always been musical and started to sing at the age of 16. He now performs covers of his father's songs because he says he has to.

"I am here to bring the Elvis Presley to England," he said. "My shows are a lot of songs my father did but I have also recorded a lot of stuff originally written for my father.

"That's what people expect. Frank Sinatra Jnr said to me a long time ago, 'they see you because of your father'.

"I've worked with Delores Fuller who wrote 18 hit songs for my father's movies.

"She wrote many more and there are a few that he was supposed to record for the films but they decided to pull them. I have recorded those.

"I am educating the public to Elvis and I want to do this as long as I can."

Elvis Jnr agreed to perform at the White Hart as a favour between his agents and hotel owner Donal O'Dwyer, who do promotional work together.

"When I perform it's the people's energy that makes the whole night,'' he said. "It doesn't matter if it's a club that holds 200 or a theatre that holds 6,000.

"The reactions always the same. I'm looking to have a good time.

"It's great because the people who come to see me love my music or my father so it's always fun."

Elvis Jnr also had encouraging words for Mr O'Dwyer before a magistrates court hearing next Thursday at which the hotel owner hopes to win the right to open the nightspot on Fridays and Saturdays until 3am.

"From what I've heard this will be refreshing for the town. New generations are coming up all the time and the new generation need a somewhere to go," said Elvis Jnr.

Chris Hehir, from North End, Calne, said he was looking forward to seeing the son of the king. "It's a bit of a coup but funny having Elvis in Calne," he said.

Mr O'Dwyer said the opening night went well: "It was good stuff. It was very busy and a good night was had by all.

"We are going to start building up and promoting the club and building up the food side of the hotel and increasing the range and quality.

"We are looking to put in our own hospitality vehicle to transport people around the town. People won't have to worry about getting a taxi then.

"I had a great night. It was quite stressful getting everything ready but I really enjoyed myself."

Currently Mr O'Dwyer is licensed to open the club, which has yet to be named, until 1am. Next Thursday he will go to court in an attempt to overturn North Wiltshire District Council's licensing committee's refusal to extend the opening to 3am.

The decision followed protests from residents and the town council, who said it was wrong to site a nightclub in the centre of a residential area.