SOUNDTRACK: LOS LOBOS-“Guantanamera” (1978).
I never listened to much Los Lobos, although their recent tiny Desk Concert opened my eyes to the,
This review from Hornby made me want to check out some of their music. I’m not interested in their rock n’ roll songs, but I am quite interested in their Mexicali and more diverse songs.
Their debut album was mostly traditional songs. I hadn’t heard their take on “Guantanamera,” a song that is in my consciousness, although I’m not sure from where, exactly. I know the Pete Seeger version, but that can’t be the one I am most familiar with, right?
The Los Lobos version is, surprisingly, slower and a but less catchy that the version I am familiar with. Although I imagine their version is more accurate. Los Lobos has three lead singers. It’s interesting that the guy with the fewest lead vocal songs, bassist Conrad Lozano is the lead singer here.
[READ: September 10, 2019] “The Entertainers”
This essay is about Los Lobos and the art of box sets.
The turn of the century was a pretty big time for the box set. I have too many of them myself.
You get home busting with anticipation, and sit down to listen to the first half-dozen songs of a beloved artist’s recording career, and to read the weighty accompanying essay and then, somewhere along the line, a vague disappointment kicks in. You become irritated that your favorite song is represented only by a demo or a live recording or an alternate mix that omits the horns. Pretty soon, you find that you’re playing only the last few tracks on the second CD–tracks that you probably already own. A few weeks later, you realize, guiltily, that the fourth CD has not yet been removed from the box and that it never will be.
This is a bit excessive in my experience, but the general tenor is spot on.
He explains though that the fourth CD usually covers the music after a band has found success and has started releasing music that borders of self-parody. He also says that there are really only a few artists who warrant such treatment (of course, one is Bob Dylan–but he defies anyone to listen to The Byrds box set in its entirety).
Nobody would say that Los Lobos changed the course of pop-music history, but El Cancionero a 23 year retrospective “is a joy from beginning to (almost) end.” [I might suggest that that’s because he probably didn’t listen to much Los Lobos before this and so the box set isn’t rehashing things he knows, it’s an introduction to the band. But I could be wrong].
He says this box set sounds like a couple of two-hour sets at a (fantastic) wedding reception.
Los Lobos has been playing together since 1973 [!]. Steve Berlin is the new guy, who joined them in the early 80s. The other performers are David Hidalgo – guitar (and more) and lead vocals; Cesar Rosas – guitar (and more) lead vocals and Louie Pérez – guitar (and more).
The second track, “Sabor a Mi” is a bolero which has sweet acoustic guitar solos from three members. And although their earliest recordings were for the punk label Slash, their rendition of “Guantanamera” is pretty and unironic. Indeed many of their songs are uninfected versions of old cumbias and rancheras.
The first original song of the collection “We’re Gonna Rock” is a straight ahead rock n’ roll song–with no cross pollination into more traditional sounds. Similarly, “I Got Loaded” sounds like an R&B standard but isn’t. Between the two styles, you get two bands for the price of one.
It’s in 1988 with their cover of “I Wanna Be Like You” from The Jungle Book on the Disney compilation Stay Awake that they start mixing Hispanic acoustic guitars with a mainstream American sax solo.
The third disc contains music from Kiko, their richest and most ambitious album. It contains “When the Circus Comes” a stately folk song with exotic instrumentation and the rhythm section adding a limber funk that is way beyond the grasp of most guitar rock acts. [I know the Phish version and was really surprised to learn this was a Los Lobos song].
Since Kiko, their descent has been gentle. There are four songs from their last album This Time. I wonder what Hornby thinks to realize that Los Lobos have now released seven albums since This Time, almost as many as are covered in the box.
The mythical fourth CD in this box set is not trying to re-create youthful glories. Rather it is side projects–The Latin Playboys (sexy, ambient and modern), Los Super Seven (Mexicana) and Houndog (deep blues)–solo albums, and unlikely collaborations (Money Mark, The Beastie Boys).
The one bad thing about the box set is the weedy and ill-advised cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” with Sheryl Crow.
Not bad for “Just another band from East L.A.”
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