Rock and Revolution: An Interview with El Vez, the Mexican Elvis

If there is any hope for America it lies in a Revolution. If there is any hope for a Revolution it lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara. —Phil Ochs Rock and Revolution: An Interview with El Vez, the Mexican Elvis 142 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Mainstream American popular music is synonymous with big business and synergy-seeking transnational executives. It is marketed like any other product and in turn is used to market everything from shampoo to hamburgers to Presidents. Many of us cringe when we hear Beatles songs selling overpriced sneakers or Janis Joplin's voice promoting luxury sedans . The commodification of real human emotions, feelings and beliefs tends to make people cynical because it encourages the view that music can't provide anything substantive in the way of message or authenticity. For anyone who grows up with popular music, though, it's effect on us can't be denied. It's central to our culture because it has the power to document, react to and improvise on the private and public politics of our lives. It often comments—directly or indirectly—on such things as economic inequality, race, sexuality, feminism, crime and more. Popular music has been an important avenue of American cultural influence in the world, for better or for worse. The music of El Vez, a.k.a. Robert López, has a unique position in the history of popular American music. He has entertained fans across two continents with his back-up singers the Elvettes and his band the Memphis Mariachis. Much more than just another Elvis impersonator, El Vez's performances are made up of a high-energy blend of Mexican popular culture, Memphis kitsch and grass roots politics. While undeniably attracted to the showy glamour emblematic of everything Elvis, his powerful and direct commentaries on Mexican-American history, life on the border and the plight of the barrio both inform and entertain. One good way of summing up the El Vez experience appeared on the publicity photos he signed for his fans after a recent show: "The only hope for a Revolution lies in Elvis Presley becoming Che Guevara," reads the Phil Ochs quote. Supported primarily by independent record labels, El Vez has produced seven CDs in as many years and toured extensively in the United States and Europe. He rewrites familiar Elvis songs. "Blue Suede Shoes" becomes "Huaraches Azules," "In the Ghetto" "En el Barrio." "Viva Las Vegas" becomes "Viva La Raza," with the lyrics, "Aztec city sacrifice my soul / sacrifice my soul on fire / after Mayans and Tolrecs cameTenotchitlan / taking civilization much higher." His version of Elvis's "Lirtle Sister" becomes an empowering feminist "Chicanisma." Robert López started impersonating Elvis just for kicks but he soon gained a devoted following and found ways to include political and social commentary in what he was doing. He writes songs about Aztec kings, Frida Kahlo, Zapata, César Chavez, Proposition 187, pochos and, last not but least, himself. The melody of the first track on his 1996 "Rock and Revolution" release, for example, is James Brown's "I'm Black 143 and I'm Proud." El Vez, accompanied by a large, enthusiastic group of first-time back-up singers from, as the liner notes tell us, Elena Prietos class at Cheremoya Elementary School, sings: Say it loud! I'm brown and I'm proud! Some say we got a lot of malice Some say we got a ht of nerve I say we won't quit until we get what we deserve We been 'buked and we've been scorned We call it maize, whileyou're still calling it corn Just as sure as it takes two to make the masa This one's going out for, for LA RATA! I've worked all day with my hands and my feet And all the time we're running from some governor named Pete 187 tried to keep us down That won't happen just because I'm brown Say it loud! I'm brown and I'm proud! Ooooowee, the Mexican in me! Que pasa! LA RAZA! Ooooowee, the Mexican in me! Say it bud! I'm brown...