The show is about to begin at Panelinha Baiana, a modest, though hectic, bar that used to be at Deputado Lacerda Franco street, in Pinheiros, São Paulo. The announcer, who usually introduced forró and country music trios, takes the microphone to call up a different act, advertised on the badly laid-out poster at the door as "the spiritual brother of Elvis Presley."

"I GIVE YOU ELZYO, THE SPIRIT OF ELVIS PRESLEY'S BROTHER!"
Elvis is really not dead. Nor did he become an anonymous trucker roaming the Memphis area, as the legend goes. In fact, he lives in a kitchenette near Largo da Batata, in São Paulo, and runs, jointly with Nenê, his (biological, not spiritual) brother, a small hardware and household appliances maintenance store, Comércio Elétrico Paes Leme Ltda. Elvis, in this particular case, is 44 year-old Bahia-born Elzo José da Silva, aka Elzyo Presley or, more recently, Elzyo Silver.
If, on the night the announcer at Panelinha Baiana raped William Shakespeare's language, Elvis's spirit failed to manifest itself at the club (as some claim it might, as we will see), one thing is certain: his voice, at least, was there. No one will be less than astounded as Elzyo sings hits like "It's Now or Never," "Love Me Tender," and "American Trilogy" with a timbre almost identical to the King's. Such was the case with Raul Seixas, who was left with his mouth agape when he met the mulatto version of Elvis, in the early 1980's.
But if you want to piss off this native of São Tomé, a village in the Bahia badlands, near Campo Formoso, who moved to the São Paulo State Capital at age 2, all you have to do is call him an "impersonator" or a "cover act." "I'm an interpreter of songs by him and others in the same style," he explains from the height of his 5'8". What is yet to be explained is how this humble, emotional man from the backyard of nowhere fell in love with the American idol's music from the very first time a friend played "Kiss Me Quick" for him for the first time, in 1969. Soon after that, Elzyo would start a career that has been going on for 25 years non-stop.

RAUL SEIXAS-APPROVED
In 1984, on a January afternoon, Elzyo walked the 60 feet that separate his store from a restaurant called Estrela do Norte, at Pais Leme street. The simple dining-room, with a half-dozen metal tables had as a frequent patron Raul Seixas, who liked to eat there whenever he got homesick. Elzyo went there to intercede for a musician friend who wanted to record one of Raul's songs. "Since you're here on behalf of someone else, you must have a kind heart. Sit down," said the rock star.
Between mouthfuls of string-beans and beef jerky, they found their common idol. At the end of the meal, Elzyo gave Raul a beat-up old tape with his recordings. "When he got home, he was impressed with Elzyo's performance and timbre," says 50 year-old Ceará-born musician Elton Frans, who was Raul's manager/producer/babysitter at the time. At 9 A.M. the following day, the author of "Metamorfose Ambulante" ran like mad into the Comércio Elétrico Pais Leme, enthused about recording a tribute to Elvis Presley along with his newfound friend.
"I was in Las Vegas, in 1983, at an Elvis impersonators contest," Raul said. "The best among them would crawl under the table in shame if they heard you sing." To this day, remembering thus brings tears to Elzyo's eyes. From that date, 18 years have passed until the CD came to be - its release is scheduled for this month, by RNV Music, a Rio de Janeiro recording company.