Alex Houston has been performing for more than 50 years along with his ventriloquist dummy named Elmer, which was purchased for $50 when Alex was 8 years old. His act includes parodies of country songs with Elmer doing most of the singing.
In 1954, Alex and Elmer got booked on Jimmy Dean’s TV show, where they appeared for five years. Alex then moved to Nashville and worked as an opening act for country stars like Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, and Charley Pride. Through the years, Alex and Elmer have done approximately 12,000 shows.
Alex and Elmer can still be seen on WBIR-TV in Knoxville, and also in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
In 1972, Alex Houston and Elmer released an album on Willex Records called “Here Comes Peter Cotton Claus,” which features a song by the same name as the first track on each side of the album. On the back cover Charley Pride is quoted as saying: “Alex is so talented that you leave believing there were two guys on that stage.” and “I think Elmer is one of the funniest guys I ever met.” Apparently Charley doesn’t get out much.
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Alex_Houston_and__Elmer_-_Here_Comes_Peter_Cotton_Claus.mp3
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Elmer the dummy looks really nerdy. Of course I realize the pic is probably from the 50s or 60s, so he probably looked pretty cool then. LOL