Isaak pays tribute to Sun Studio greats

Chris Isaak has too much going for him. He's an acclaimed stage performer, he acts in movies, he's a humble sex symbol. And he fixes his mom's house.

Isaak called me the other day, and I asked him what he was up to.

"My mom had a leak with her plumbing, and you never stop being a son just because you get to be in rock 'n' roll," he said.

"So it's 1-800-rockstar-plumbing," he said jovially.

Isaak is on his way to Vegas. He and his terrific band perform Saturday at Green Valley Ranch.

He'll sing "Wicked Game" and his own songs, plus Sun Records standards from his great 2011 album, "Beyond the Sun."

He recorded the album at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn., covering Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire," Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never" and more.

"People say, 'Do you hear a ghost or anything?' You don't hear a ghost," he said. "There doesn't have to be ghosts. There's records!

"All you have to do is pick it up and play it. You can hear Elvis like he's 18 years old, and he's singing in that room still. It's beautiful."

Isaak, 55, never met Elvis or Sam Phillips, even though Phillips said in interviews that he was a big fan of Isaak's.

Isaak got to work with Cash. That's when Isaak handed him a photo of a young Cash and asked for an autograph.

"He took the picture and looked at it for a minute. It seemed like an hour and a half," Isaak recalled. "I thought, 'Oh no, I've upset him.' "

But Cash finally spoke.

"Damn, I was a good-looking man," he told Isaak.

To this day, Isaak has just two photos up in his house: one of his mom when she was 5 and that autographed picture of Cash.

Isaak also worked with Lewis, who I personally think of as the first punk rocker (he set his piano on fire!), and the first tragic rock figure because he was ruined for marrying a young cousin.

"I think he got a bum ride," Isaak said. "Can you imagine today if they were kicking people out of rock 'n' roll because of their morality? They couldn't put together a trio!

"Here was Elvis, living with 14-year-old Priscilla. Nobody was on that.

"Thank God we've moved on to the point now that no one expects any musician to have any morality!" he said and laughed.

That's easy for Isaak to say. He doesn't drink alcohol and shows the door to people who talk drugs around him.

Or as he jokes, "I have no credibility because I've never been arrested."

iHEART RETURNING

Clear Channel says it's bringing iHeartRadio concerts to Vegas for a second year, on Sept. 21-22. Ryan Seacrest will again host a bevy of A-list pop stars.

SIGHTINGS

Kenny Chesney and Ashton Kutcher drank vodka and Crown Royal with friends Sunday night at ghostbar. ... Nicole Richie took five ladies to XS on Sunday. ... Martina McBride ate Monday at MGM's Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill. ... Elizabeth Perkins and Dick Clark, separately, saw Brad Garrett's comedy club show Saturday at MGM. ... Kate Gosselin chowed with some dude at MGM's Wolfgang Puck on Saturday. ... LeAnn Rimes went to Michael Boychuck's Salon at Caesars on Saturday for hair, makeup, manicure, pedicure and Champagne.

@VEGASANONYMOUS

"Saw the great Penn and Teller in Vegas. They caught bullets in their teeth. But if it hadn't worked, it would have been SO MEMORABLE." -- Steve Martin on Twitter on Sunday.

Doug Elfman's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.