My 2004 Recording Session with Chan Romero

by Mark Guerrero

     I first met Chan Romero in Palm Springs, California around 1995 and we have since done many recording sessions together, as well as some live shows.  However, this story is about a session in the fall of 2004 when he recorded a song I wrote for him.  Chan had called me to ask me to play guitar on an upcoming album he was about to record.  I told him I would be happy to, but would also be interested in writing a song for him.  He agreed.  I knew up front I wanted to write an up tempo rocker in the spirit of an early Little Richard record since Chan is an authentic rock & roller who could pull it off in spades.  I had a title I had written down in a notebook about fifteen years prior that I thought would be perfect, "Rockin' Like There's No Tomorrow."  So I sat down one afternoon and wrote it in about a half an hour.  When I played it for him a few days later, he liked it and wanted to record it.  Chan thought it was a natural and fit his style well.

     The sessions were to be produced by legendary "Eastside Sound" producer, Billy Cardenas.  Cardenas had been the manager and producer of my teenage band Mark & the Escorts in the mid-60s.  He also managed storied East L.A. groups such as Cannibal & the Headhunters, The Premiers, The Blendells, and many others.  He'd also worked with Chan in the 90s.  The musicians for this new project included some original "Eastside Sound" veterans such as Andy Tesso, formerly of The Romancers, on guitar and John Perez of The Premiers on drums.  The other musicians were Willie Mondragon on bass, Louis Durazo on piano and yours truly on lead guitar.  I drove the 100 miles from Palm Springs to Los Angeles for a couple of rehearsals prior to the sessions.

     The recordings sessions for Chan's new album took place at Sanctuary Studios in Montebello, California in East L.A.  Sanctuary is owned by another "Eastside Sound" pioneer, Little Ray Jimenez.  Little Ray was and is a great singer/performer and also a songwriter.  The first time Chan and the musicians attempted to do my song I was not present due to another commitment.  As it turned out, the version they did was not satisfactory because my song, although a simple rocker, had chords that were different than the typical one, four, five changes.  However, the solo section should have been the straight rock changes for the best soloing opportunities.  When I heard it, I knew it wouldn't work right because they did the solo section with the unorthodox changes of the verses so I asked Chan if we could record it again with me present.  He talked to Billy about it and they agreed to do it again much to my relief.  A session was scheduled for a Saturday afternoon.  We laid down a basic track of "Rockin' Like There's No Tomorrow" that really rocked.  Chan sang a scratch vocal to guide us as we played.  A scratch vocal, for those who don't know, is done to keep the band together and help with the groove and feel of a recording.  It is later "scratched" and replaced with a final vocal.  It took about three takes to get the one we wanted.  Andy Tesso and I had played rhythm guitar on the basic track.  I  then overdubbed a lead guitar onto it.  I felt a little pressure because I had to get back to Palm Springs for a gig that night, however after a few takes I got a solo I liked.

     A week or so later, we went back to the studio to finish up the track.  By this time the other basic tracks for the other nine songs had been cut.  (All the other nine songs were written by Chan).  However, Billy Cardenas had left the project due to some issues in his private life.  Chan Romero laid down two great lead vocal tracks to my song, from which we created one monster vocal track.  This is done by picking the best sections of the two vocal performances.  In listening to the recording, we noticed the bass had some unusable noises on it.  We couldn't locate Willie Mondragon to redo his part, so I called my bass player from my current band, Mark Guerrero & Radio Aztlán, Leo Valenzuela.  Leo happened to live nearby so he came right over and laid down a great bass part.  We then added some great tenor sax solos by Steve Alaniz, who also plays in my band.  Steve then laid down some great solos on about seven of the other tracks.  One of them was a great flute solo.  Steve did virtually all his solos in one take to the amazement of everyone present.  He may have taken two takes on one of them.  Everyone was very pleased with his work.  I made one more trip into L.A. to sing background vocals on the album.  Chan and I were very pleased that Little Ray Jimenez agreed to sing with us on the backgrounds.  We had a heck of vocal trio for the job.  We sang on about five or six tracks, doing them all in a hour or two.  We all enjoyed singing together and the end result was great.  Chan went on to finish the album over the next few months, doing lead vocals, overdubs, and mixing.

     Later that year, I took a trip to Liverpool, England where I played "Rockin' Like There's No Tomorrow" on the Spencer Leigh radio show on BBC Merseyside.  Chan is still known and admired in Liverpool because of his legendary song "The Hippy Hippy Shake," which was performed by countless Liverpool bands of the early 60s, including The Beatles, The Swingin' Blue Jeans, and Kingsize Taylor & the Dominoes.  Unfortunately, Chan's new album called "On the Right Track" has not been officially released yet due to some personal and legal issues that arose, not involving Chan or me.  The latest I've heard is that it may finally be released later this year, 2007.  Hopefully, it will come out because it has ten excellent songs on it.  Some of the songs Chan wrote that are standouts include "All You Had To Do," "Ya Me Voy," "Carousel," and "Right Track."  I'm also very happy with the way the recording of my song came out.  Chan and the band are rockin', the solos are great, and it has the spirit and atmosphere of a Little Richard record of the 50s, the way I hoped it would.  The album has ballads and rockers and Chan Romero has a lot of soul and can still flat out sing.  For more info on Chan Romero and his career, click here to go my article on Chan on this website.
 

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Rockin' Like There's No Tomorrow

Chan Romero (2004)
 

Contact me at:  info@markguerrero.net

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