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Tex-mex and Chicano

54 articles

Chris Montez: Give Me The Flamenco

Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 2 February 1963

"I REALLY like Spanish dancing best." Chris Montez told me over the transatlantic phone, "And 'though I jive and twist a lot I guess it's ...

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs: Minus Beard And Turbans, Sam & Pharoahs Host Press

Report and Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 26 February 1966

HOLLYWOOD – Press conferences for pop artists are getting to be a welcome habit around here. Of course, press conferences have been going on for ...

Herb Alpert: The Mariachi Sound

Interview by Peter Jones, Beat Instrumental, March 1966

THE CALL from London to A&M Records, on Sunset Boulevard, went through surprisingly quickly. Chap who first answered the phone there was the "M" part ...

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs: Sam Is Just a Sham With Earring and Beard

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 10 June 1966

YOU SEE a guy with a thick beard, long curly hair, a gold earring on his right ear, and a poet-sleeved bandanna print shirt and ...

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs: Twentieth Century Pharaoh: A Texan Named Sam The Sham

Profile by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 23 July 1966

'WOOLY BULLY' and a beard. Turbans and sheet-like outfits. The whole thing seems like years ago but actually isn't. Since 'Wooly Bully' Sam The Sham ...

Augie Meyers, The Sir Douglas Quintet: The Sir Douglas Quintet, Augie Meyers: Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 23 September 1971

His Lordship at Troubadour ...

Doug Sahm: Doug Sahm and Band

Review by Charlie Gillett, Rolling Stone, 1 March 1973

THEY DON'T SAY so on the jacket, but this is The Doug Sahm Showcase, featuring the former leader of the Sir Douglas Quintet paying homage ...

Doug Sahm: Doug Sahm And Band (Atlantic K40466)

Review by Greil Marcus, Let It Rock, April 1973

HI, WELCOME to 1973! (You’re probably used to it by now, but this was written in January) It’s gonna be a banner year for rock’n’roll ...

Doug Sahm: Book of Sahm

Overview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 10 November 1973

"You just can't live in Texas if you don't have a lotta soul" – 'At The Crossroads' by the Sir Douglas Quintet, 1969. ...

Freddy Fender, Doug Sahm: Viva Tex Mex... Viva MD 20/20... Viva Freddy Fender!

Report and Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, Zoo World, 6 June 1974

"...and Freddy Fender is probably still down in Nuevo Laredo waiting to turn the world on — wonder if Sir Doug's found him yet?" ...

Doug Sahm: Tornado Warnings From Texas

Report and Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, Zoo World, 12 September 1974

"We... can play all the music" Doug Sahm says flatly of the veteran Southwestern aggregation he is taking on the road ...

Doug Sahm: Groover's Paradise (Warner Bros.)

Review by Fred Dellar, New Musical Express, 19 October 1974

OL' UNCLE Doug sure is a goodtimer. Take a whole chunk of that Johnny Rivers Boogie Band feel, dilute with a touch of pure Mike ...

Doug Sahm: Groovers Paradise

Review by Michael Gray, Let It Rock, December 1974

DOUG SAHM'S LAST album, Doug Sahm And Band on Atlantic Records, was one of the very finest bits of squashed vinyl of 1973. Sahm's band ...

Freddy Fender's Tex-Mex 'Teardrop'

Profile and Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 5 June 1975

AUSTIN — "RIGHT ON, Cacheton," an orange-suited Freddy Fender drawled to a Western-attired onlooker at the El Paso Cattle Co., a steel building that was ...

Ritchie Valens, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs: Chicano Rock: Down Mexico Way

Overview by Bill Millar, Let It Rock, September 1975

Chicano Rock: Ritchie Valens, Sam The Sham, Sunny and the Sunglows and more. ...

Freddy Fender: Back In San Antone

Profile by Bill Millar, Let It Rock, October 1975

DURING THE SEVENTEEN years he's been making records Freddy Fender has drawn standing room only crowds to club appearances, done time in Angola and scored ...

Ry Cooder: Roots and Branches

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1976

Ry Cooder, cult figure and esoteric guitarist, tells CHRIS CHARLESWORTH in New York why he's now into Tex-Mex music ...

Freddy Fender, Tommy McLain, Doug Sahm: Freddy Fender's Easter: Vaya Con Dios Y'All

Report by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 3 June 1976

SAN BENITO, Texas — With all the baby kissing, long-winded speechmaking and high school cheerleading, not to mention the Jimmy Carter Spanish-language leaflets flapping in ...

Ry Cooder: Chicken Skin Music

Review by John Morthland, Creem, November 1976

BY NOW, Ry Cooder has established his niche so conclusively that you already know whether you like him or not. His curiously pinched vocals. His ...

Ry Cooder, Flaco Jimenez: Ry Cooder: Ry Talks

Profile and Interview by Richard Harrington, Unicorn Times, November 1976

IF YOU know Ry Cooder's music for its own brilliance, then you can be considered lucky. If you don't know it specifically, then chances are ...

Ry Cooder (1976)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 1976

The great guitar player talks about the musicians who influenced him; his friendship with John Fahey; the Rising Sons, and Ed Cassidy and Taj Mahal; his encounter with Captain Beefheart; film scores (and more) with Jack Nitzsche; other things he did and didn't do; his early Warner Bros. albums, and Depression-era songs; his unique album covers; Paradise and Lunch, and not being a songwriter; getting into Hawaiian and Tex-Mex music, and his latest album, Chicken Skin Music.

File format: mp3; file size: 51.1mb, interview length: 53' 14" sound quality: ****

Ry Cooder, Flaco Jimenez: Flaco Jimenez: In Search Of The Polka-Rock Fusion

Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 10 February 1977

IF THE ACCORDION ever manages to rise from the underground of ethnic music as rock's undiscovered lead instrument, Flaco Jimenez will at long last be ...

Ry Cooder, Flaco Jimenez: Flaco Jimenez: Viva los Accordion

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 February 1977

THE DIATONIC accordion is basically a fairly rudimentary instrument. Like a mouth organ, it plays one note as you pull it out and another as ...

Freddy Fender: Behind the Scenes: Huey Meaux's bathtub sound

Profile and Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 13 July 1978

HOUSTON — "Y'SEE, the Big Bopper needed a flip side to 'The Witch Doctor Meets the Flying Purple People Eater', so he wrote this tune ...

Ry Cooder: Ry And Related Stuff

Interview by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 11 August 1979

"Me and my wife, Went all over town, And everywhere we went, The people turned us down, Lord, in a bourgeois town, In a bourgeois ...

Doug Sahm, The Sir Douglas Quintet: Tex Mex Makes Your Feet Smile

Overview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 22 March 1980

MARTIN HAWKINS uncovers the Tex-Mex mix that gives the roots to the San Antonio sound. It's time to discover the music of Sahm, Fender and ...

Ritchie Valens Lives!

Retrospective by Don Waller, L.A. Weekly, 29 October 1981

RITCHIE VALENS, born Richard Valenzuela in Pacoima, California, on May 13, 1941, cut three hit records before he finished high school: 'Come On Let's Go', ...

Ritchie Valens: The Young Singer Who Pioneered Chicano Rock

Retrospective by Martin Hawkins, The History of Rock, March 1982

WHEN ROCK'N'ROLL first stopped calling itself rhythm and blues in the mid Fifties, it became a young man's game. Teenage performers like Ritchie Valens began ...

Los Lobos

Profile by Don Snowden, Musician, May 1983

THE SET PASSES the midway point without incident when a commotion suddenly breaks out in the packed, sweat-drenched crowd on the dance floor. Rival gangs ...

Doug Sahm, The Sir Douglas Quintet: Sahm Enchanted Evening: Sir Douglas Quintet at London’s Mean Fiddler

Live Review by Cynthia Rose, New Musical Express, 1985

THE LONG Ryders, Lone Justice, Blasters and the rest? Forget ‘em! Sir Doug has returned to show these punks how good "rock and roll from ...

Los Lobos: Hour Of The Wolves

Interview by Gene Santoro, Downbeat, April 1985

FROM THE beginning, the real "news" about rock & roll has been the way it's ransacked, revitalized, and rearranged the musical styles that gave birth ...

Los Lobos: Lords of the Barrio

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 20 April 1985

Suddenly, LOS LOBOS are shaping up to be stars with their LP How Will The Wolf Survive and scorching single 'Don't Worry Baby'. Adam Sweeting ...

Doug Sahm: It's The Sahm Old Song

Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 7 September 1985

DOUG SAHM, Tex Mex rocker from San Antonio to Stockholm, is still fighting fit at 40. GAVIN MARTIN hears the secrets of his rock'n'roll survival. ...

Los Lobos: Charing Cross Road Astoria, London

Live Review by Andy Gill, Sounds, 14 February 1987

CRAZY LIKE A WOLF ...

Los Lobos: By The Light Of The Moon (Warner Bros 1-25523)

Review by Gene Santoro, Downbeat, April 1987

BY NOW it should be pretty damn clear to anybody with ears that these guys are no novelty act ready to fade back into the ...

Los Lobos: A Story of Survival

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, April 1987

YOU CAN'T say Los Lobos is special just because they've been together thirteen years, or because most of the band has known one another since ...

Los Lobos, Ritchie Valens: Los Lobos: The Company Of Wolves

Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 8 August 1987

It's Tex-Mex, tortilla chips with everything and a large helping of Mexican folklore with Los Lobos, who reached numero uno in the charts with a ...

Steve Jordan: El Huracan

Sleeve notes by John Morthland, Rounder Records, 1989

ONCE, I TRIED to interview Steve Jordan. Oh, I knew it was unlikely I would ever pull it off, because everyone around the Texas music ...

Texas Tornados: A Return of the Sir Douglas Quintet (+ 2)

Report and Interview by Bill Wasserzieher, unpublished, November 1990

PARAPHERNALIA FROM the psychedelic 1960s – retina-blitzing strobes, black lights, go-go dancers in body paint and big-dipper boots – all very, very retro, especially for ...

Selena: The Queen is Dead

Special Feature by Joe Nick Patoski, Texas Music, May 1995

Selena Quintanilla Perez, tejano's first superstar, was about to become an international pop sensation. Instead, she's another victim of gun violence in Texas. ...

Los Lobos: Greek Theatre, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 13 October 1997

From Blues-Based Riffs to Norteño, Los Lobos Deliver an Intense Set ...

The West Side Horns: West Side Horns: San Quilmas (Dialtone)

Review by Joe Nick Patoski, Austin Chronicle, 13 September 2002

WITHIN THE FIRST few bars of 'Rainbow Riot', the opening track of the West Side Horns' San Quilmas, three great revelations came to me while ...

Joe "King" Carrasco: The Ballad of Joe "King" Carrasco and El Molino

Retrospective by Bill Bentley, Austin Chronicle, 11 October 2002

IN TEXAS, it's damn near impossible to start a band so unscrewed that even hardcore fans shake their heads in wonder at the absurdity of ...

Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm, The Sir Douglas Quintet: Doug Sahm Day at Camargo Park/Tribute To Augie Meyers at Guadalupe Cultural Arts Centre, San Antonio

Live Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 13 October 2002

YOU'D NEVER KNOW it from the history books, but San Antonio had an incredibly vital rock scene in the late 1950s and early '60s. ...

Doug Sahm: A Review

Overview by Geoffrey Himes, Harp, Spring 2002

LIKE DR. JOHN in New Orleans and Paul Butterfield in Chicago, Doug Sahm was a white kid whose musical curiosity led him to the wrong ...

Ry Cooder: Ode to a lost shangri-la

Report and Interview by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 11 June 2005

After the Buena Vista phenomenon, Ry Cooder has made an album about his home town of LA. He talks to Robert Sandall. ...

Ry Cooder: Long Road Home

Interview by Alan Light, Mother Jones, July 2005

Ry Cooder's new album tunes into L.A.'s Chavez Ravine and the dawn of Chicano consciousness. ...

Ry Cooder: Chávez Ravine (Nonesuch)

Review by John L. Walters, TuneTribe, Summer 2005

CHÁVEZ RAVINE is Ry Cooder's What A Carve Up, a multilayered song-cycle about the way a Hispanic neighbourhood of Los Angeles was cleared to make ...

The New Southern Rock

Book Excerpt by Mark Kemp, Novello Festival Press, April 2008

Essay published in music anthology: Wicker, Ann, ed., Making Notes: Music of the Carolinas. Charlotte, NC: Novello Festival Press, April 2008. ISBN: 0615159699 ...

Los Lobos: Tin Can Trust

Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 6 August 2010

Another quality offering from the L.A. outfit who once styled themselves "just another band" – but are definitely not. ...

Los Lobos: Tin Can Trust

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2010

East LA's finest return to their roots and deliver a landmark album ...

Calexico: Edge Of The Sun

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2015

OVER NEARLY twenty years of existence on the fringes of Americana, Calexico have not paid for guitar-shaped swimming pools for their constituent members. But they ...

Doug Sahm: Joe Nick Patoski on Doug Sahm

Interview by Stephen K. Peeples, stephenkpeeples.com, 25 July 2015

Totally true tall tales from Texas about Biblical floods, Doug Sahm, Texas music, Texas Tornados, rednecks, cowboys, hippies, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Huey P. Meaux, ...

Calexico: The Thread That Keeps Us

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 17 January 2018

NOW EXPANDED to a full-time septet, Calexico display a new resourcefulness and determination on The Thread That Keeps Us, which may be the album that ...

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