In 1998,
I was asked to do a column for a local Palm Springs, California
rock newspaper by a long-time friend, drummer/recording engineer,
Leon Becken. At first I was very reluctant because I'm
so busy with my musical and personal activities and don't enjoy
the pressure of deadlines. However, after much prodding
from Leon, I came to realize it could be a unique opportunity.
I decided I'd like my column to be about Chicano music and
musicians. Aside from the fact that I am a Chicano
musician who writes and records in many musical styles including
Chicano rock, I know there are many talented Chicano musicians
who have not received their fair share of mainstream attention
in the music industry and the media. In my experience I've
found that if you're Chicano and want to record mainstream rock, the record companies
don't think you'll be accepted nationally, and if you want to
record Chicano music, they think there's not a big enough market
for it. So you are neither fish nor fowl and wind up
either not recording or recording and not promoted because they
don't know how to market you. Despite these obstacles,
some have enjoyed some notoriety such as Los Lobos, Tierra, and
El Chicano, but you don't really hear them on
the radio or see any of them on MTV or VH1 either. Therefore,
the following articles are to spotlight various Chicano musical
artists, many of whom I've known or worked with over the years.
When I started my website in December of 1998, it made sense
to put my articles up on internet to give them a permanent
home and to reach a wider audience.
At this point I would like it understood that I love rock
& roll, reggae, r&b, and country music and have
performed and written songs in all those genres. The artists
that most influenced and inspired me are the Beatles, Bob
Dylan, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,
James Taylor, and Steely Dan. On the other hand, I grew
up in East L.A. in the midst of a musical renaissance in the
60's that produced Chicano rock groups such as the Premiers,
the Blendells, and Cannibal & the Headhunters. All
these groups enjoyed national hits and Cannibal & the
Headhunters even toured with the Beatles in 1965. I
had a popular teenage band at the time called Mark & the
Escorts, who was managed by Billy Cardenas, the same manager
of the aforementioned groups. Also my father is Chicano
music legend Lalo Guerrero.
By way
of introduction, I'll give you some of my musical
background. In the 70s, I recorded as a solo artist
for Ode Records, produced by the legendary Lou Adler, who
also produced the Mamas & the Papas and Carole King. I
also recorded solo for Capitol Records and, with my group
Tango, for A&M Records. My songs have been recorded by
artists such as Herb Alpert, Trini Lopez, and Chan Romero and I've written and recorded
many songs with my father. I've performed live with
my dad many times, the most memorable being a concert in Paris,
France in February on 1998 and a show in his hometown of Tucson,
Arizona in May of 1999. I've also performed live with
artists such as Eric Burdon, Ry Cooder, Denny Laine, Redbone,
El Chicano, Tierra, and Flaco Jimenez,
in addition to recording with Chan Romero, Harry Nilsson,
and Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos. I'm one of the featured
artists in a book called "Land of a Thousand Dances"
by Tom Waldman and David Reyes, which chronicles the history
of Chicano rock in Southern California (University of New Mexico Press). I also have
two songs on a CD entitled "The Chicano Alliance"
on Our Town Records (1998), which also features recordings
by Tierra, Malo, and El Chicano.
In
January 2001, an album was released entitled, "Eastside Sound,
Vol. 2, Featuring Mark & the Escorts" on the Dionysus record
label. It contains four songs recorded by my teenage band,
Mark & the Escorts, in 1965. Mark & the Escorts' 1965
instrumental recording "Get Your Baby" is now a garage-rock
classic, having been included on five different
compilation CDs around the world. In 2009, my song and
recording "I'm Brown" was enshrined in the Grammy Museum in an
exhibit called "Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom."
I'm also featured in the documentary "Chicano Rock: The Sounds
of East Los Angeles" and the television special "Trini
Lopez Presents Latin Music Legends." Articles I've written
on my website have appeared in magazines in the U.S. and
England, as well as on other websites. I look forward
to introducing you to many interesting and talented artists
on my website and hope that meeting them through my articleswilllead you to their music.
Selected Mark
Guerrero You Tube Videos
Mark Guerrero "I'm Brown" (1972) (words & music by Mark Guerrero)
Mark Guerrero "What You Gonna Do (When the Well Runs
Dry)" (1995) (words & music by Mark Guerrero)
Hear Mark's episode on his "Chicano Music Chronicles" podcast
about his music and career
by clicking the play button on the photo link below
Mark Guerrero
Recordings Featured on Show
1. Room For the Latin (In
Rock & Roll) 2. Pre-Columbian Dream 3. I'm
Brown 4. On the Boulevard 5. If I Could Touch
Your Life 6. Rock & Roll Queen 7. Mihijito
8. Zoot Suit 9. Lila, Love Me Tonight 10.
Lonely 11.
Rosalie 12. Nobody's Satisfied 13. I'm a Human 14. Livin' Off the Land
15. Don't Rain on My Parade 16. Brown Hair
Growin' 17. Wild Night at the Old Rest Home 18.
Greenback Blues 19. Holy Moses 20. Rock & Roll
Circus 21. Whitewash 22. Oh Maria 23.
Ay Yi Yi Yi (Nobody Told Me) 24. Get Your Baby 25.
Three's a Crowd 26. I'll Take Rock & Roll (Any Ol'
Time)
