Friday, June 1, 2007

‘The Latino Elvis’

Got an amusing little musical number for you this morning. It’s by El Vez, “the Latino Elvis.” It’s his rockabilly version of “Black Magic Woman.”

He’s got a sense of humor, this guy. A Mexican-American covering a song popularized by another Mexican-American (Santana), but refracted through the prism of Elvis Presley.

It gets weirder, because El Vez recorded a Spanish-language version of this song as well, over the same musical backing, while keeping the Elvis vocal twang. It was an Elvis impersonation en español. I forget where I found that version…

The English version is available for purchase through iTunes and eMusic. Or you can cop El Vez’s greatest-hits CD, “How Great Thou Art.”

Click here to hear El Vez doing “Black Magic Woman.”

And if you want to dig deeper into the man and the myth, El Vez’s website is here.

UPDATE (06/03/07): I’ve got the Spanish version – “Mujer de Magica Negra” – streaming now, for those who’d like to hear it.

This track is downloadable through iTunes, and is available on El Vez’s 1995 Spanish-language CD, “Fun in Español.”

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are an internet treasure. I'm eternally grateful to James Wolcott for sending me here.

gob

Anonymous said...

Orale. Sounds like Brian Setzer on guitar btw. Funny and class at the same time.

Undercover Black Man said...

Gob, welcome to my spot! And thank you so much for the kind words.

Bumpster: Funny you should say "Orale." El Vez has a track called "Orale" that's sung to the tune of "Oh Happy Day"... and it's about an illegal immigrant named "Jesus" who walks into the U.S.A.

El Vez is deep.