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El
Chicano: Latin Rock Pioneers
by Mark
Guerrero
One of the best and
most successful bands to emerge from the musically
fertile ground of East Los Angeles is El Chicano. Originally formed as the V.I.P.s in the late 60's, the
group recorded a rendition of a song by jazz composer
Gerald Wilson, "Viva Tirado," an homage to a Mexican
bullfighter by the name of Jose Ramon Tirado. The album
and single were released on MCA Records in 1970. With
the cultural awakening of the Mexican- American in full
swing and the new Chicano consciousness on the rise, the
band was renamed El Chicano. The record became a local
hit in Los Angeles, remaining at number one for thirteen
consecutive weeks. It also did well in New York,
Baltimore, the South and the Midwest. It was
historically significant because it was the first single
to attain positions in all popular music categories
except country and western. The recording had a definite
mid-tempo latin jazz feel and was an instrumental,
featuring the Hammond organ of Bobby Espinosa and the
Wes Montgomery-inspired guitar of Mickey Lespron. With
the success of their first record, they toured
extensively, playing the Ohio Jazz Festival and became
the first Chicano band to perform at the legendary
Apollo Theater. El Chicano went on to release six other
albums with MCA, which include, "Revolution" (1971),
"Celebration" (1972), "El Chicano" (1973), "Cinco"
(1974), "The Best of Everything" (1975)" and "Pyramid"
(1976). Also in 1976, they recorded an album
called "This Is El Chicano" for the
independent Shady Brooke label. It was the first
record on which they had been in full creative
control. During this period they had hits with their
version of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl" in 1972 and
"Tell Her She's Lovely," which reached number 40 on the
national charts in 1973. In 1982, they recorded an album
for CBS entitled, "Do You Want Me."
In the ensuing years,
El Chicano has made a huge name for themselves in Japan
and abroad. They have performed in such diverse places
as Nicaragua, Canada, Malaysia and Korea. They have
performed on the same bill with such diverse artists as
Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, ZZ Top, Earth, Wind and
Fire, Olivia Newton-John, Chaka Kahn, Chicago, Santana
and War. Their success prompted MCA to reissue a
greatest hits collection entitled, "Viva! El Chicano,
Their Very Best" in 1988, and five of El Chicano's MCA
albums to be re-released on Bomba Records, as a Japanese
import, in 1995. In addition to touring, El Chicano has
appeared on the "Donny Brasco" (Tri Star) soundtrack
with "The Latin One" (1998) as well as doing the entire
score in collaboration with John Taylor (Duran Duran)
for the movie "Mi Vida Loca" ("My Crazy Life") in 1995.
In 1997, El Chicano resurfaced on Thump Records with the
release of "Latin Legends Live," a live recording that
also includes the Chicano bands Malo and Tierra. The
groups went on to do a Southwest tour for the release.
I
played on
the same bill with the V.I.P.s many times with my bands
Mark & the Escorts in 1965 and the Men from
S.O.U.N.D. in '66. According to some fliers I
still have, we shared the same stage nine times at such
Eastside venues as the Montebello Ballroom, Boulevard
Theater, Kennedy Hall, and the Big and Little Union
Halls. Years later, in 1972, I was on the same bill with El
Chicano at the "Feria de la Raza" concert at Cal State
L.A., when I was a solo artist with Capitol
Records. I also saw them perform at Magic Mountain in
Valencia, CA in the early 70's where they tore it up
and, most recently, a couple of years ago at the House
of Blues in L.A. I was very impressed with them that
night. They played some great instrumentals and had the
vocal contributions of veteran East L.A. vocalists Steve
Salas, formerly of Tierra, and Geree, one of the finest
Mexican-American female singers of all time. El Chicano
has gone through many personnel changes over the years,
but the one constant is Bobby Espinosa. It's become much
like the Steely Dan model, where it started as a band
with a set lineup and evolved into Donald Fagen and
Walter Becker and whatever sidemen they hire. El
Chicano's lineup on their first album was: Bobby
Espinoza, organ, Andre Baeza, congas, Freddie Sanchez,
bass, Mickey Lespron, guitar, and John De Luna,
drums. Other members during the 70s were:
Ersi Arvisu, lead vocals, Rudy Regalado, timbales, Max
Garduno, congas, Danny Lamonte, drums, Brian Magness,
bass, Joe Perreria, bass, Jerry Salas, lead vocals and
guitar, and Rudy and Steve Salas of Tierra fame, on
guitar and lead vocals respectively. Whatever
the lineup, El Chicano always has excellent musicians
and are musically very tight.
In
1998, El Chicano recorded a new album entitled, "Painting the Moment."
It
is their first new collection of songs in well over a
decade. It also marks the return of original guitarist,
Mickey Lespron, after a 20 year absence. I'm personally
happy to hear that Mickey is on this album because he and Bobby
have a great musical chemistry together. After all, it
was that team that put El Chicano on the map in the
first place. The new album features instrumentals as
well as vocal performances by Steve Salas. In the words
of bandleader Bobby Espinosa, "This album is an
evolution of the El Chicano of the 70's. With our well
known sound signature, we've managed to keep the
original musical formula intact while taking it to a new
level by adding horns. I am very pleased with the
results." In 1997, MCA released another
collection of El Chicano songs entitled, "Chicano
Chant" and Varese Sarabande recently reissued their
self-produced 1976 album, "This Is El
Chicano." If you'd like a sampling of what the early El
Chicano was all about, I recommend, "Viva! El Chicano,
Their Very Best" on MCA, and to hear what they're about
now, pick up their new album "Painting the Moment" on
Thump Records. To order "Painting the Moment" from Thump
Records, call 1-909-595-2144 or visit the label's
website at
www.thumprecords.com.
Update
In 2000, I got an e
mail from Jerry Salas, who sang lead on most of El
Chicano's albums as well as their hit "Tell Her
She's Lovely." He had run into Little Willie
G. who was performing in Portland, Oregon, where Jerry
now lives. Willie told him about my website and he
contacted me. Jerry has a
Christian band, who in 2001 performed in Brazil for
90,000 people live plus millions via television.
He's doing concerts around Oregon and recording albums
for his church. I
occasionally see original drummer, John De Luna, when he
comes to the Palm Springs area. He sat in with my
band for a couple of songs in 2001.
In
October 2002, Freddy Sanchez (El Chicano's original
bassist) and his wife visited me at my home gig in Palm
Springs. It happened to be Halloween night.
We hadn't seen each other since the early 70s.
Freddy now manages El Chicano and runs their website out
of Phoenix, Arizona. The website uses my article
on El Chicano on their history page. Freddy says
that he (along with Mickey Lespron) plans to play some
gigs and possibly record with El Chicano in the near
future.
On November 1, 2003, Mark Guerrero & Radio Aztlán
shared the stage with El Chicano, Tierra, Thee Midniters
with Special Guest Little Willie G. The East L.A. Revue
All Stars featuring The Premiers, The Best of
Everything, and Cauldron, at the Latin Oldies Festival
2003 at Arrowhead Credit Union Park in San Bernardino,
CA. El Chicano, led by founding member and
keyboardist Bobby Espinoza, sounded as good as ever with
a set that included their hits "Viva Tirado,"
"Brown-Eyed Girl," and "Tell Her She's
Lovely." I'll be performing with my band
along with El Chicano again on October 16, 2004 at the
John Anson Ford Amphitheater in Hollywood, CA for a Day
of the Dead celebration.
Real
Audio Sound Bytes
Real
Player Required- Download it here,
if needed
Tell
Her She's Lovely - El Chicano 1973
Painting
the Moment - El Chicano 1998
Contact me at: info@markguerrero.net
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