Carlos Guitarlos
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Carlos Guitarlos (born Carlos Daniel Ayala, March 18, 1950) is an American
guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
. He first gained attention in Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' remarked of Guitarlos that his career in music "has taken in cult stardom in Los Angeles, alcoholism, homelessness, and an unexpected return to recording in the new millennium."


Early life

As a 2003 feature in the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' recounted, Ayala grew up "in the northeast
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
community of Cypress Park. He talked his mother into buying him a guitar at 10, and learned the basics from an older brother. He had a good ear." The article's author, journalist Bob Baker, quoted Carlos: "By the time I was 13, I could play anything I could hear."


Career

Baker went on to describe how, after graduating from Marshall High, Ayala "played in some undistinguished bands and spent most of his 20s living at home, writing songs and practicing." The narrative continued, "In 1980, at age 30, he got a job as a doorman at the downtown
Hong Kong Café The Hong Kong Café was a Los Angeles restaurant and music venue that was a part of the Los Angeles punk rock scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s when the club was owned and operated by Barry Seidel, Kim Turner and Suzie Frank,followed by ...
, working with his guitar strapped around his neck." It was there that he met James "Top Jimmy" Koncek. "A musician both men knew...introduced the doorman as 'Carlos Guitarlos,' and it stuck."


With Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs

This
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and R&B band emerged in 1980 from the Los Angeles
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
/roots music scene. Music writer Chris Morris—whose work has included many reminiscences about Koncek & Co.—dubbed them "L.A. punk's house band." As lead guitarist, Ayala was the key component of the group that backed frontman Top Jimmy. In a chapter that he contributed to the L.A. punk history ''More Fun in the New World'', Morris described the pair as "imposing, loud, heavy-drinking, and talented."More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk, John Doe and Tom DeSavia, Hachette Books, 2019. During their heyday in the early 1980s, Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs attracted many famous guest stars to their gigs. One of the big names who joined the group on stage was
Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
. As a result, Carlos Guitarlos played on two tracks of the 1983 Waits album ''
Swordfishtrombones ''Swordfishtrombones'' is the eighth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1983 on Island Records. It was the first album that Waits produced himself. Stylistically different from his previous albums, ''Swordfishtrombones'' ...
''. However, Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs slowly crumbled. Internal volatility, fueled by Ayala, was a major reason. Morris noted that Ayala was "truculent...frequently deranged."


As a homeless busker

As Morris went on to chronicle, in 1988, an "increasingly erratic" Ayala followed his estranged wife and daughter to
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. An undiagnosed case of
diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
worsened his problems. He wound up homeless in the
Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...
, playing for change in the streets. ''No Depression'' magazine described how "as a street musician, Guitarlos used to display a sign that read 'Will Play for Fame or Fortune.'" Yet his talent was still visible: Bob Baker noted that the ''
San Francisco Bay Guardian The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaun ...
'' named Ayala "Best Street Musician" in a 1994 survey.


Comeback

According to Baker, Ayala "had sworn off alcohol and drugs" after Koncek died in 2001. After landing "in a hospital...being treated for congestive heart failure" two months later, he turned his life around with the help of a nephew. He proceeded to put out the ''Mission Blues'' album that year. In April 2003, Baker caught up with Carlos. A feature article, "The Ballad of Carlos Guitarlos", started on that day's front page. It described how Ayala, then living in a $35-a-day residence hotel room, was playing at a BART plaza in the Mission District with "unmistakably sophisticated" technique and "an old gravelly blues voice, perfectly cracked." Baker wondered, "Who is this? What is a guy with these chops doing here?" He then unfolded the guitarist's back story. A second album, ''Straight from the Heart'' (2003), followed. It was recorded with friends and fellow members of the L.A. punk scene:
John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are often ...
,
Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...
, and
Dave Alvin David Albert Alvin (born November 11, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s a ...
. ''No Depression'' observed that the record "fully demonstrates his guitar-playing and songwriting skills" in multiple styles. ''The Times'' of London called it "a roots-rock masterpiece." Ayala traveled to England in 2004 and 2005 for performances, attracting featured press coverage. His third album, ''Hell Can Wait'', came out in 2005. Guests included
David Hidalgo David Kent Hidalgo (born October 6, 1954, in Los Angeles.) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requin ...
,
Marcy Levy Marcella Levy (born June 21, 1952), known professionally as Marcy Levy and (later in her career) Marcella Detroit, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-wrote the 1977 Eric Clapton hit "Lay Down Sally" and released her debut al ...
, and Gene Taylor. In 2007, he guested on ''
Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John ''Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John'' is an album by American singer-songwriter Peter Case, released in 2007. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. History The album was Case's first of new material in five years after ...
'' by
Peter Case Peter Case (born April 5, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His career is wide-ranging, from rock n' roll and blues, to folk rock and solo acoustic performance. Biography Early career Case was born in Buffalo, New York a ...
.


Ongoing activity

In 2014,
KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV ...
.org posted another feature about the musician called "The Legend of Carlos Guitarlos." It focused on him at home in Highland Park on his 64th birthday. He was playing as part of the Carlos Guitarlos Trio and had self-released a 2010 album, ''The Innocent Remains''. The feature's author, Nathan Solis, spoke with Ayala's former bandmate with The Rhythm Pigs, Richard Aeilts (a.k.a. Dig the Pig). Aeilts noted that Ayala had mellowed to a degree and offered a succinct description: "a sensitive soul buried within a hardscrabble Highland Park Chicano who doesn't speak Spanish."


References


External links


Carlos Guitarlos Music - home pageCarlos Guitarlos page at Allmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guitarlos, Carlos Living people 1950 births American rhythm and blues guitarists Guitarists from Los Angeles American male guitarists American punk rock guitarists American street performers