E N T E RTA I N M E N T
Rock on!
After all these years, ‘band’ of friends from East L.A. — El Chicano — still keepin’ it real
By Matt Muñoz MÁS staff
A
uthor Henry David Thoreau once said, “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” Those famous words have never been more appropriate than when telling the story of Latin rock originators El Chicano — a band of friends from East L.A. who, practically overnight in 1970, went from nightclub jammin’ to the world stage. Performing live at the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Latin Food Festival and 10th annual Menudo Cook-Off on Sunday, June 1, at Stramler Park — most fans of the band might be taken aback when they hear their story. No revolutionary origins in the movimiento of the ’70s, no involvement in protests or politics … just rockin’ and jazzin’ after hours. How could that be with a name like “El Chicano?” “El Chicano is an extension of the original band — The VIPs, a band I started in ’67-’68,” explained El Chicano bassist and manager, Fred Sanchez, via telephone from his current home in Cave Creek, Ariz. “Then, in 1970, we recorded the hit, ‘Viva Tirado,’ and we became El Chicano.” Describing the El Chicano sound as “complex simple,” you can just as easily apply that to the band’s history — all of which stands as a statement to the people and culture from which the band’s name is derived. “As The VIPs, we used to play at a supper club called Kabuki Lounge in Los Angeles, just off Crenshaw in the late ’60s,” said Sanchez, 60. “We played R&B, Top-40 dance music, but during dinner we played jazz instrumentals.” With Sanchez on bass and vocals; Bobby Espinoza, keyboards; Mickey Lespron, guitar; John De Luna, drums; Andre Baeza, congas; and friend Ersi Arvizu jumping into the mix with a ballad or two on vocals, the band was a hit on the L.A. live music scene. “We’d have people lined up down the block every night,” remembered Sanchez. Fan favorites, El Chicano, will be the entertainment at the Kern County Hispanic Chamber Working tirelessly six nights a week, the band of Commerce’s 10th annual Menudo Cook-Off event on Sunday, June 1 at Stramler Park. continued going through their catalog of jazz stantake, the band performed the song until the session went south — dards, re-worked with a modern feel. Among the dinner reperthe recording machine broke down and the band went home to toire was a cover of the Gerald Wilson jazz classic, “Viva Tirado,” sleep. a song inspired by Mexican bullfighter, Jose Ramon Tirado. “When that happened, we just kept moving on as we always One night after a show, the band was offered a free recording had,” said Sanchez. “Then, one day I was driving in San Diego session with the help of Espinoza’s brother. and I heard this song come on — ‘Hey, that sounds like my “We’d always wanted to record,” remembered Sanchez. “It band!’” was about 4 a.m. and we went to this studio in Hollywood. They As fate would have it, the warm up track recorded back in L.A. had everything set up for us there. The engineer asked us to play had been released to radio without permission, but that wasn’t all something to get the levels checked, and I suggested ‘Viva Tirathat happened much to the shock of Sanchez. do.’” “They were playing ‘Viva Tirado’ on the radio, and the DJ goes, Partied out, but with enough mellow enthusiasm for a warm up
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May 30, 2008
MÁS