I'm back again, and I've got something very special with me. It's a collection of Latin Garage Rock from the 1960's! With four CD's and almost a hundred tracks (though it's also available in a set of records, for vinyl junkies), writing up this beast is going to be quite an endeavor, so I hope you'll pardon me if I skip the introductions and jump right to it! Rather than plowing through it all at once, I'll split this one up and look at each CD individually over time. Ideally, I'll post a new part every day, alongside whatever Garage Rock album/compilation I'm looking at that day (so you'll all get two entries for the next few days). Alright, let's go!
Los Nuggetz
For fans of cheesy horror/sci-fi movies, the homage to "Santo" on the bottom right should get a smile out of you! He was a quintessential part of Latin cinema in the 1960's.
From S'More Entertainment and Rock Beat Records, this is essentially the Latin answer to the fairly well known "Nuggets" collection on Elektra/Rhino. Produced by James Austin, a veteran compiler who used to work with Rhino, he apparently left them to co-found Rock Beat Records. Now, let's dive right into this thing!
Disc One
1. Los Shains - "Bule Bule" - Fairly well known compared to many of their peers, Los Shains kick off this compilation with a rockin' cover of Sam the Sham's "Wooly Bully"! Fast and furious, the guitar work is nice and distorted and culminates in a fun scramble in the middle of the track.
2. Los Locos Del Ritmo - "Hey Joe" - A Garage Rock classic, Hey Joe was a pretty popular song for bands to cover back in the day. This version is fun and energetic, capturing the Psychadelic sound of America and England with it's electric organ and fuzz guitar work.
3. Los Salvajes - "Es Le Edad" - Another fairly well known band in their time, Los Salvajes offer the compilation it's first song that isn't a cover. A wild number with a great guitar solo, there's also a fun part where the singer talks to the audience in a comically deep and gravelly voice (around the fifty second mark).
Los Salvajes!
4. Los Yorks - "El Psicodelico" - Starting with a shout, this one just gets rougher as it goes on! If you couldn't tell by the name, this track is a wild go go mover with a tinge of Psychadelia to it. While it's certainly energetic, I think it could have used something like a tone shift to keep things interesting.
5. Kaleidoscope - "Colours" - Starting with a drum line, things heat up when the fuzz guitars kick in. Unlike the previous tracks, this Psychadelic number is sung in English (though they have a pretty heavy accent). There are fun (if random) sound effects, like a bike horn and amp feedback (as well as the obligatory electric organ).
6. Los Ovnis - "Ya Se" - This one hits you with a fuzz guitar that sounds like it's coming through a slashed amplifier cone (a lovely tradition started by The Kinks)! A fun song with enough changes and excitement to keep things nice and hot (and the guitar solo is a nice touch).
7. Erasmo Carlos e Sues Tremandoes - "Vem Quento Que Eu Estou Fervendo" - Looks like they were trying to set the record for "longest song title" and "longest band name" in this journal. Well, they won! A bit slower than the last tracks, this one focuses on the electric organ and drums rather than guitar work (and even has a fun solo where the saxophone and electric organ call-and-respond).
8. Los Matematicos - "Me Atrapaste" - You should recognize this one right away; it's a cover of "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks! I think it's a little slower than the original, but it certainly makes up for it with sheer intensity on the part of the vocalist. And just like the original, it has a guitar solo that rolls around like a happy cat! I believe Los Matematicos were another fairly well known band in their time, and most of their songs from what I've heard have been pretty good covers (Like "La Nina Bu", a cover of Sam the Sham's "Ring Dang Doo").
Los Matematicos!
9. Los Shains - "El Tren Pasa Esta Noche" - A cover of Johnny Burnette's famous take on the song "Train Kept A Rollin'", one the songs that helped cement heavy distorted guitars in the world of Rock 'n Roll. With good vocals and guitar work that remains faithful to the Rockabilly classic, this one is sure to please the golden age rocker in you!
10. Gloria Benavides - "Esta Botas Son Para Caminar" - Yup, it's a cover of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'". The vocals are alright, but the drumming is very weak compared to the originals (and honestly, the short drum burst before Nancy's vocals was my favorite part of the original! Don't know why). All in all, it just sounds a little flat, and could have used more energy.
11. Los Bravos - "La Moto" - Another track that hits you right from the start with a fuzz guitar! This one has cleaner vocals than many of the other tracks, and the vocalist sounds like they were probably more used to Ballads than Garage Rock numbers (though they do have a good bit of grit to their voice).
12. Los Apson - "Satisfaccion" - I probably don't even need to say what this is a cover of ("Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones). I love the heavy drums that slam in after the guitar intro! With good vocals/harmonies and great guitar work, this one has enough energy to do the Rolling Stones proud!
Los Apson!
13. Los Mockers - "I Wanna Go" - Another song where the vocalist sings in heavily-accented English. Obviously taking their cues from sloppy singers like Mick Jagger, it certainly adds to the strange and wild atmosphere. Love the harmonica, by the way!
14. Los Matematicos - "Pregunto" - Los Matematicos return with another Kinks cover, this time playing "I Need You" (which is one of my favorite tracks of theirs). This one stays pretty faithful to the original, and the vocals (especially the light harmonies) are good as well.
15. Los Americans - "Probemos Otra Vez" - A cover of "Let's Try Again" originally by the Rockin' Berries, this one has more of a contemporary Latin sound to it than it does a Garage Rock sound. With two vocalists that harmonize well with each other, this one would be right at home on a modern Latin radio station.
Los Americans!
16. Los Apson - "Triste Luna" - A cover of "Mr. Moonlight", a song that was apparently originally performed by Dr. Feelgood (and later covered by The Beatles). A nice and slow song, it's good but a little unremarkable.
17. "Xerb/Xerk Radio ID" - An awesome addition to the atmosphere of the compilation, this is a vintage Latin radio station ID! It allows you to hear what anxious radio listeners heard back in the day, right before a rockin' song came on.
18. Los Polares - "Que Chica Tan Formal" - Wow, this compilation has a lot of fuzz guitars! I'm not complaining, though. With a talented and clean vocalist (as well as good backing harmonies), a nice contrast is created with the dirty guitars. A cover of "Respectable" by the Isley Brothers (of "Twist and Shout" fame).
19. Los Salvajes - "Todo Negro" - Garage bands really loved The Rolling Stones and The Kinks back then, huh? Here's a cover of the driving yet haunting "Paint It Black". It's not bad, but I don't think it quite captures the energy and depth of the original (this is what I meant when I said that I didn't think anyone could quite capture the sound of Paint It Black like the Stones, back in the Girls in the Garage Volume 2 entry).
20. Los Cheyenes - "Conoces El Final" - I like the Beat/Jazz taste of the drums and bass, as well as the Psychadelic electric organ, however the vocalist sounds completely wiped out here. They're very strained sounding, and it drags down the potential power of the track.
Los Cheyenes!
21. Los Apson - "Voy Por Ti" - A cover of Willie Dixon's (he sure wrote a lot of fun songs, huh? I need to learn more about him) "Seventh Son", this is a rough shuffle with a backing female vocalist coming in for the chorus. There's also a harmonic wave (ala "Twist and Shout"), which is of course followed by shouting and a guitar solo.
22. Los Shakers - "Amame Dos Veces" - A cover of The Door's "Love Me Two Times", this one is actually pretty good! With a talented vocalist and guitarist, and fun electric organ work during the chorus, there's a lot to like here.
23. Los Polares - "La Droga" - A cover of "LSD" by The Pretty Things, this number is a pretty simple and straight forward rocker with nice, rough vocals. It's a little humorous, with the backing vocalists harmonizing the acronym "LSD".
24. Los Shains - "Shains A Go Go" - There is a universal law that states that everything with "a go go" in the title must be excellent (though whether it's excellently good like this song or excellently bad like "Monster A Go Go" is a toss-up). A very fun instrumental, this one was obviously created to keep the go go clubs a-movin'.
Los Shains!
25. Los Chijuas - "Te Quiero" - If you like The Zombies, you might get a kick out of this cover of their song "I Love You"! Taking a page out of The Zombies jarring yet catchy semi-Psychadelic Vocal-Pop style, it's definitely a fun track!
26. "Spanish Cola Commercial" - Remember Coke's old theme song? Here's a fun Latin version of it that made the radio rounds back in the day. Like the radio ID that popped up earlier, it's a fun addition to the compilation!
Well, that's part one down! Now I've only got three left to go...