Elvis Hitler | en

Elvis Hitler is a band from Detroit. They are best known for their minor "hit" song "Green Haze", a song combining the music of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" with the lyrics to the successful TV-show Green Acres theme song.

The band produced three albums on Restless Records: "Disgraceland", "Hellbilly", and "Supersadomasochisticexpialidocious". Not really parody, and only slightly punk, they were actually a seminal American psychobilly outfit, taking cues from the likes of The Meteors and Mad Sin.

The band was active in the late Eighties, early Nineties, and has recently reformed (2005). It consists of singer Jim Leedy (a.k.a. "Elvis Hitler"), guitarist John Defever, bassist Warren Defever, and drummer Damian Lang.

Their irreverent mix of rockabilly and lowbrow humor led to them having a cult following in their day, though they never had commercial success. They then disappeared from the public spotlight for the first time. Warren DeFever (a.k.a Warn DeFever) would go on to form the dramatically-different sounding experimental rock band His Name Is Alive, and work as a record producer for underground bands. He is known for going under various pseudonyms, and is also a member of numerous other bands including The Dirteaters (The Dirt Eaters), and the avant-garde noise / performance group Princess Dragonmom (Princess Dragon-mom).

In 1998, however, Elvis Hitler reunited as a four piece band, with Rich Strock filling in on bass, and played at various locations in Detroit and in Chicago. They then faded away again. They once more reunited in 2003 at The Magic Stick club in Detroit with Warren Defever returning to the bass. They played one more concert at that club on September 4th, 2004.

Due to the resistance of having a band with the name Hitler in the title, regardless of its intent, the band released one album under the name "Splatter." .