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El Vez Is King

By Mark Keresman

Published on July 30, 2008

American icon Elvis Presley inspired many emulators. But El Vez is matchless, drawing upon the King as a point of departure for singing about the Mexican-American experience. Who else would have the moxie to take one of Presley's most angst-ridden songs, "Cold Kentucky Rain," and recast it as "Frida's World of Pain," a bio of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo? El Vez also gets the (grim) joke like no one else, setting the lyrics of David Bowie's "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" to Elvis' "If I Can Dream." As with They Might Be Giants, there's love in his lampooning. Plus, El Vez is the second or third hardest-working man in show business, giving you more for your entertainment dollar (or peso)!



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