Elvis Presley & Mexico: Rumors of Racism & the King of Rock's Eventual Redemption Judy Cantor-Navas - Billboard
go to original August 19, 2015

Elvis Presley cantando con Mariachi, Guadalajara! (Jacinto Luque Aguilar)

Rumors of racism brought a backlash against his music and movies in Mexico, but that didn’t keep him from making his Spanish singing debut in 'Fun in Acapulco' and sparking a rock en espanol revolution.

Elvis Presley performed the Mexican standard “Guadalajara” in Spanish with a mariachi band in the film Fun in Acapulco, a postcard picture of the then-sizzling resort in which Elvis also gives a "local" street kid a ride on a bike, singing out, "Life begins in Mexico!"

But Elvis actually filmed his scenes for the 1963 movie on a Hollywood lot and at a California hotel; the boy was Los Angeles child actor Larry Domasin. And despite singing a song in Spanish, Presley was not exactly “El Rey” in Mexico at the time, as far as officials were concerned. After a newspaper columnist revealed in the late '50s that he had called Mexico “a distasteful country” and made ugly remarks about Mexican women during an interview, anti-Elvis protestors rose up, and his albums were reportedly burned by protestors. But Elvis' rebellious image also fueled rowdy youth, who caused a “riot” at the premiere of King Creole. And his music was a spark that ignited Mexican rock.

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