CD Reviews

ELVIS HASN'T LEFT!

If there's one thing I like to hear done right - mainly because it's nigh-on impossible to do right - it's an exceptionally executed flim flam scam of a sham that transcends your typical garden variety put on of a con.

And I'm not talking about some kind of officially approved parody like Stan Freeberg's Jack Webb-sanctioned "St. George And The Dragonet" satire or a "Weird" Al Yankovic squeeze box subterfuge, I'm talking about something that actually purports to be something else; a Grade A artifice that would do Sgt. Bilko proud.

You know, like the Masked Marauders really being Dylan and the Stones; or Klaatu really being the Beatles; or Orion really being Elvis. Those great pretenders may have fooled a few people for five minutes, but I'm here to tell ya that this ain't no fake Elvis Presley pastiche, no suh. Son, this is the real TCB deal.

That said, this album wasn't actually recorded by The King; it was waxed by former Nixon-appointed FBI Drug Enforcement Agency special agent "Jon Burrows" who, until recently, was living incognito in suburban seclusion within a DEA witness protection program - you Memphis Mafia members know what I'm talkin' about, don'tcha?

Elvi-er, "Jon Burrows" dives into an eclectic song selection that includes "Every Breath You Take" (by the Police-Sting, geddit?) and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (by a former son in law, geddit?)

The Kin-er, "Jon Burrows" also revisits a number of past hits ranging from the obvious "Heartbreak Hotel" to the obscure "Hawaiian Wedding Song." And don't you dare miss the triumphant album-ending "Elvis Is Back" rap which is influenced by Tyler Durden's "This Is Your Life" single as produced by the Dust Brothers.

So buy it; listen to it; run it through an FBI spectrographic voice analyzer; and see if you don't agree with me that Elvis Found Alive is the absolute best Elvis Presl-–er, "Jon Burrows" album you've heard since the '68 comeback special - which is only fitting since this is a comeback album in its own right.

 

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