El Chicano was an American

brown-eyed soul Brown-eyed soul, also referred to as Chicano soul, is soul music performed in the United States mainly by Latinos in Southern California, East Los Angeles, and San Antonio (Texas) during the 1960s, continuing through to the early 1980s. AllMusic: ...

group from

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' ...

, California, whose style incorporated various modern music genres including

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 ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, and

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

. The group's name was from

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

, a term for United States citizens of typically Mexican descent.

History

El Chicano, originally formed by Freddie Sanchez under the name The VIP's arose during a period of increasing

consciousness in America. Their initial hit, "Viva Tirado", was a

y soul rock rendition of

Gerald Wilson Gerald Stanley Wilson (September 4, 1918 – September 8, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. Born in Mississippi, he was based in Los Angeles from the early 1940s. In addition to being a ...

's original song about a bullfighter. The song did very well on Los Angeles radio and remained #1 for thirteen straight weeks. Other notable tracks recorded by El Chicano are the

funky Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mid ...

"Tell Her She's Lovely" as well as a cover of Van Morrison's 1967 hit, "

Brown Eyed Girl "Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang la ...

". Original members of El Chicano include Bobby Espinosa, Freddie Sanchez, Mickey Lespron, Andre Baeza, and John De Luna. Ersi Arvisu was lead singer. During the 1970s, new members

Rudy Regalado Rudolph Valentino Regalado (May 21, 1930 – February 12, 2018) was a Major League Baseball player. He was an infielder for the Cleveland Indians from 1954 to 1956, and played in the 1954 World Series. He was born in Los Angeles, Californi ...

, Max Garduno, Danny Lamonte, Brian Magness, Jerry Salas, Joe Pererria. joined the group. On their 1970 album, ''Viva Tirado'' the group covered

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

" Cantaloupe Island". The song was one of nine on the album, which included the hit single "Viva Tirado" that went gold. El Chicano continues to be active with a combination of original and new members. They performed on the 2009

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

pledge break special, ''

Trini Lopez Trinidad López III (May 15, 1937 – August 11, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and actor. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's " If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. His other hits include ...

Presents 'The Legends of Latin Rock' '', along with

Thee Midniters Thee Midniters were an American rock group, among the first Chicano rock bands to have a major hit in the United States. They were one of the best known acts to come out of East Los Angeles in the 1960s, with a cover of " Land of a Thousand Dan ...

Tierra Tierra may refer to: Astronomy *Earth in the Spanish and Asturian language Computing and games * Tierra (computer simulation), a computer simulation of life by the ecologist Thomas S. Ray * Tierra Entertainment, now known as AGD Interactive, a ...

, and

Gregg Rolie Gregg Alan Rolie (born June 17, 1947) is an American singer and keyboardist. Rolie served as lead singer of the bands Santana and Journey – both of which he co-founded. He also helmed rock group The Storm, performed in Ringo Starr & His A ...

(of

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

and

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

fame). Original keyboardist, Bobby Espinosa ‒ who laid down

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

on some of El Chicano's most recognizable tracks ‒ died on February 27, 2010. Former

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, Rudy Regalado, who spent twelve years with the band died on November 4, 2010. Latin percussionist of former

renown, Walfredo Reyes Jr., recorded with the band from 2010 to 2012, and is currently performing with the band

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Members

* Ersi Arvisu, lead vocals - 1970 * Eddie Avila , drums (2010 - present) * Andre Baeza, congas – 1970 * John De Luna, drums – 1970 * Bobby Espinosa, organ – 1970; died February 27, 2010 * Max Garduno, congas * Danny Lamonte, drums * Mickey Lespron, guitar – 1970 * Brian Magness, bass * Joe Perreria, bass * Rudy Regalado, timbales – joined c. 1971; died November 4, 2010 * Walfredo "Wally" Reyes, Jr., drums,congas (2010–2012) * Joseph Baeza, congas (2011–2013); died October 18, 2016 * David "Chango" Chavez, congas (2015–present) * Jerry Salas, lead vocals, guitar – joined in 1973 * Rudy Salas,vocals, 1970 died December 29, 2020 * Steve Salas, vocals, 1970 died February 10, 2022 * Freddie Sanchez, bass – 1970 The Cuban History.co
WALFREDO REYES, Jr. Musician, “Santana” conga drum player. (born in Havana) ** Walfredo Reyes, Jr. músico, congas. (nacido en La Habana)
/ref>

Discography

Albums

Main singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chicano, El 1969 establishments in California 2000 disestablishments in California Musical groups from Los Angeles American soul musical groups Rock music groups from California Chicano rock musicians MCA Records artists Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 2000