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East L.A. Revue All Star Band:
The “Eastside Sound” of the 60s Lives
by Mark Guerrero
The East L.A. Revue All Star Band is a musical group made up of a back up band with featured guest performers.
It’s the brainchild of Steven Chavez, who had grown up in East L.A., dancing to the music of the Eastside bands in the 60s.
In February of 2001, he attended a tribute concert for East L.A. manager/producer of the 60s, Billy Cardenas, organized by Chan Romero and yours truly. It featured my
cover band (Hot Rox), the Premiers, Cannibal & the Headhunters, Chan Romero, and my dad, Lalo Guerrero.
This event inspired Steven to create a way to promote and perpetuate the Chicano music of East L.A.
He began by finding venues to present the Premiers and Cannibal & the Headhunters, backed by a band largely made up of musicians who were once part of the East L.A. music scene of the 1960s.
I attended the first such event on August 5, 2001 at the Zacatecas Restaurant in Riverside, California, which featured the Premiers, and Cannibal & the Headhunters.
After doing several of these events at various restaurants, parks, and dance halls, the idea came about of calling the band, with its featured vocalists and musicians,
the East L.A. Revue All Star Band. Chavez has featured artists such as singers Greg Esparza, a new member of Cannibal & the Headhunters, Hank Castro, a former lead singer of Thee Midniters, and others I will mention below.
On June 22, 2003, I attended an East L.A. Revue All Star Band concert at
Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, California.
The event, sponsored by the County of Los Angeles
Department of Parks and Recreation, also featured Chico Vegas’ Drifters Tribute, Lloyd Price, and Jay and the Americans.
The master of ceremonies was the legendary disk jockey,
Huggy Boy. The East L.A. Revue All Star Band was made up of Jimmie Meza, formerly of the Atlantics, and Art Hernandez of the In Crowd, on guitar, Anthony Carrol on bass, Rene Flores on drums, Ray Ybarra on congas and percussion, George Gutierrez and Albert Barron on saxophone, Robert “Chickie” Garcia, formerly of the Counts, on trumpet, and Bertha Oropeza, Vanessa Oropeza (Bertha’s daughter), Judith Muro, and Maria Sandoval on background vocals.
Bertha, Judith, and Maria were also featured performers, along with Lawrence and John Perez of the Premiers, and Mickey Lespron of El Chicano on guitar.
It was a good show which truly captured the sound and atmosphere of the music played in East L.A. in the 1960s.
I know because I was part of the scene with my bands, Mark & the Escorts and the Men from S.O.U.N.D.
The East L.A. Revue All Star Band performed classic songs from the era such as “Huggie’s Bunnies” by the Romancers, “Last Night” by the Mar-Keys, and the ladies did a great job on “Ooh Poo
Pa Do” by the Sisters, with Maria Sandoval on lead vocal.
Maria, a young and talented singer, was also featured on “Tell Mama”
by Etta James and “Heat Wave" by Martha & the
Vandellas.
She obviously loves singing and performing and it comes through to the audience. Judith Muro was the featured vocalist on the all-time low rider classic, “Angel Baby” by Rosie and the Originals.”
The Premiers, Lawrence Perez on lead guitar and vocals and John Perez on drums and vocals, performed their 1964 hit record “Farmer John,” its flipside, the saxophone-featured instrumental, “Duffy’s Blues,” and the guitar-featured instrumental, “Get Your Baby.”
They also sang the r&b classic “So Fine” by the
Fiestas, accompanied by the ladies.
Mickey Lespron of El Chicano came on next and played an instrumental by Freddy King called “Side Tracked” with Lawrence Perez, the guitarists taking turns and trading licks.
Mickey then performed El Chicano’s 1969 hit “Viva Tirado,” “Coming Home,” and an excellent new version of the classic Santo and Johnny instrumental, “Sleepwalk.”
This version will be part of El Chicano’s next CD release.
Bertha Oropeza closed the show with a soulful rendition of the classic ballad “Sabor a Mi,” backed by Mickey Lespron on guitar, and tore up the place with a rousing version of “I’m a Good Woman.”
She showed me she’s one of the great Chicana singers around, yet another major talent from the fertile musical landscape of East L.A.
(Bertha Oropeza was lead vocalist with East L.A.’s Eastside Connection in the 70s and is currently singing with the popular L.A. band, Chico.)
Steven and I have discussed the possibility of my performing with the revue in the future.
After seeing this show, it looks like I would enjoy doing it. This music is nostalgic, good time, good feeling music that’ll make you
want to get up and dance. I would perform only songs I recorded in the 60s with my band Mark & the Escorts and other songs from the era.
To do more current music would miss the point of the revue.
On Steven Chavez’ business card it says, “East L.A. Revue All Star Band: True to the Eastside Sound.”
That’s what this revue is all about, doing the music authentically. There is no attempt to update or modernize the music.
It’s done exactly as it was done in the 60s in East L.A.
I’m happy and grateful that Steven is doing what he’s doing to keep the classic “Eastside Sound” alive so it can be enjoyed by the people who experienced it the first time around, as well as the later generations who weren’t around when it happened.
Along with the books that have come out on the subject, the newspaper and magazine articles, the CD reissues, the documentaries being produced, and my website,
the East L.A. Revue All Star Band is helping to insure that the music and artists of the 60s in East L.A. will not be forgotten. If you are interested in booking the revue, contact Steven Chavez at:
steven.chavez@verizon.net.
For more information visit Steven's website: www.eastlarevue.com.
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Mickey
Lespron and Lawrence Perez |
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