Chicano rock
Encyclopedia
Chicano rock is rock music
performed by Mexican American
(Chicano
) groups or music with themes derived from Chicano
culture. Chicano Rock, to a great extent, does not refer to any single style or approach. Some of these groups do not sing in Spanish at all, or use many specifically Latin instruments or sounds. The main unifying factor, whether or not any explicitly Latin American music
is heard, is a strong R&B influence, and a rather independent and rebellious approach to making music that comes from outside the music industry. Chicano Rock also consisted of different instruments such as the Saxophone, or Trumpet and other woodwind and brass instruments.
and country
roots of Rock and roll
. Ritchie Valens
, Sunny and the Sunglows, The Sir Douglas Quintet
, Thee Midniters
, Los Lobos
, Malo
, War
, Tierra
, and El Chicano
all have made music that is heavily based on 1950s R&B, even when general trends moved away from the original sound of rock as time went by.
Another characteristic is the openness to Latin America
n sounds and influences. Trini Lopez
, Santana
, Malo
, and other Chicano 'Latin Rock' groups follow this approach with their fusions of R&B, Jazz, and Caribbean sounds; but all of the groups and performers have some of these influences. Los Lobos in particular alternates between R&B/roots rock
and the Latin rock style.
The 1958 hit song "Tequila!
" was written and sung by the saxophone player Danny Flores
(not to be confused with Danny David Flores, a former member of Renegade) and performed by The Champs
. Flores, who died in September 2006, was known as the "Godfather of Latino Rock." One of the most celebrated rock pioneers was the short-lived Ritchie Valens
, whose death is marked as the Day the Music Died
. Songs by Chicano led bands like Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs' "Wooly Bully
" and Question Mark & the Mysterians' "96 Tears
", while not by definition "Latin Music", may have a Tejano influence in their whirling keyboard runs and beats.
In the mid-1980s Chicano teen rock band Renegade
landed on the international music scene, sporting a combination of heavy metal instrumentation with more pop oriented melodies, resulting in a new sub-genre, termed "commercial metal." The four teens — Kenny Marquez
on lead guitar and vocals, Luis Cardenas
on drums and vocals, Tony De La Rosa
on rhythm guitar and vocals and Danny David Flores on bass guitar and vocals — have been referred to as Chicano rock gods, amongst Mexican-Americans. Renegade or Los Renegados as they are called in Latin-America, went on to sell more than 30 millions units worldwide, with a series of hits in Mexico, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, the United States.
Groups like Ozomatli
and Quetzal
had led the new wave of Latin Rock groups that fuse multiple musical genres.
" and assumed that the groups were black. Dick Hugg
(aka Huggie Boy) and KRLA 1110 played a big role in promoting this music. Chicano rock music was also influenced by the Doo-wop
genre, an example being the song "Angel Baby
" by the Chicana fronted group Rosie and the Originals
.
The roots of Chicano rock are found in the music of Don Tosti and Lalo Guerrero ("The Father of Chicano Music") Tosti's "Pachuco Boogie," recorded in 1949 was the first Chicano million-selling record, a swing tune featuring a Spanish rap, using hipster slang called "Calo
". Guerrero also adapted swing and "jump" styles to Spanish language recordings—all this as rhythm and blues was beginning to emerge as a forerunner to rock 'n' roll. In the 60s there was an explosion of Chicano rock bands in East Los Angeles. One of the first to have a local hit, and even appear on Dick Clark, was The Premiers, with a cover of a Don and Dewey song called "Farmer John." It featured the beat from the popular hit, "Louie, Louie," which was in turn based on a Latino song, "Loco Cha Cha."
In the early to mid 1960s, the American audience was probably more open to Latin sounds than even today; because of the popularity of bossa nova
, bugalú, mambo, and other forms. Also musicians who didn't conform to the rather limited range of early rock could find success as folk performers.
Trini Lopez, whose music was a mixture of folk
, lounge pop, and R&B, was able to prosper before the Beatles
came to America and Bob Dylan
went electric. "Corazón de Melón" takes a Mexican folk tune, and like "Heart of my Heart", makes it into a relaxed, shuffling lounge tune. Trini mainly worked and recorded in a live setting (with a lot of audience participation), and soon the Beatles and The Beach Boys
made studio recording effects dominant in rock, unfortunately making Trini's loose, breezy live-in-club style seem old fashioned all too soon.
The British Invasion challenged all American musicians, not just Chicanos. The Sir Douglas Quintet
is said to have made the most 'English' sounding American music of the Beatlemania
period (actually since the English were playing music that was more rooted in R&B than many white Americans of that time, the Quintet were actually sounding 'English' by keeping to an all-American R&B/Country sound). Indeed, producer Huey P. Meaux
put the Sir in the group's name to emphasize the connection, but that was more a marketing change than a musical one.
While none of these groups challenged the Beatles and the Rolling Stones
for more than a brief time, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, Question Mark and the Mysterians, and Thee Midniters made music that was more like that of the British groups than many other American bands, like The Lovin' Spoonful
or The Beach Boys
. Part of this was their love of pure R&B, and perhaps, in spite of being just as American as anyone else, these bands were treated as "outsiders" to some degree and their music reflects this unconventional point of view. Also, many of these groups produced music on a very low budget, often working on small labels, or even self-producing music; giving some of their work a rougher feel.
, The Brat
, The Plugz
and the Cruzados coming out of the punk scene in Los Angeles
. The rock band ? and the Mysterians, which was primarily made up of Mexican American musicians, was the first band to be described as "punk rock." The term punk rock was reportedly coined in 1971 by rock critic Dave Marsh in a review of their show for Creem
magazine.
Recent Chicano punk bands include Rayos X, Tuberculosis, Mata Mata, Mugre, Venganza and Asko from southern California, La Grita and La plebe from Northern California, as well as Los Crudos
from Chicago.
, Deftones
, Downset, Spineshank
, At the Drive-In
, P.O.D.
, 311
, Fenix TX, Unloco
, Union 13, Voodoo Glow Skulls
, MxPx
, Mento Buru, Dystemic, Adema
, Los Lonely Boys
, Aztlan Underground, Ozomatli
and The Latin Soul Syndicate
. In the early 2000s the Progressive
Latin-influenced rock band The Mars Volta
came onto the scene.
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
performed by Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
(Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
) groups or music with themes derived from Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
culture. Chicano Rock, to a great extent, does not refer to any single style or approach. Some of these groups do not sing in Spanish at all, or use many specifically Latin instruments or sounds. The main unifying factor, whether or not any explicitly Latin American music
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
is heard, is a strong R&B influence, and a rather independent and rebellious approach to making music that comes from outside the music industry. Chicano Rock also consisted of different instruments such as the Saxophone, or Trumpet and other woodwind and brass instruments.
Overview
There are two undercurrents in Chicano rock. One is a devotion to the original rhythm and bluesRhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
roots of Rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
. Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
, Sunny and the Sunglows, The Sir Douglas Quintet
Sir Douglas Quintet
Sir Douglas Quintet was a rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite their British sounding name, they came out of San Antonio, Texas. Their career was established when they began working with Texas record-producer Huey P. Meaux, after which the band relocated to the West Coast...
, Thee Midniters
Thee Midniters
Thee Midniters were an American group, amongst the first Chicano rock bands to have a major hit in the United States. Also they were and one of the best known acts to come out of East Los Angeles in the 1960s, with a cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances", and the instrumental track, "Whittier...
, Los Lobos
Los Lobos
Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
, Malo
Malo
Malo was an American Latin-tinged rock and roll group. The San Francisco-based ensemble was led by Arcelio Garcia and Jorge Santana, the brother of Latin-rock guitarist, Carlos Santana....
, War
War (band)
War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...
, Tierra
Tierra (group)
Tierra is a Latin R&B band, originally from Los Angeles, California, that was established in the late 1970s by former El Chicano members Steve Salas , Rudy Salas , David Torres and Andre Baeza . The other original members were Bobby Navarrete , Joey Guerra , Steve Falomir , and Philip Madayag...
, and El Chicano
El Chicano
El Chicano is an American chicano rock and brown-eyed soul group from Los Angeles, California, whose style incorporates various modern music genres including rock, funk, soul, blues, jazz, and salsa...
all have made music that is heavily based on 1950s R&B, even when general trends moved away from the original sound of rock as time went by.
Another characteristic is the openness to Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n sounds and influences. Trini Lopez
Trini Lopez
Trini Lopez is an American singer, guitarist and actor.-Career:Lopez was born in Dallas, Texas, on Ashland Street in the Little Mexico neighborhood. He began his entertainment career in Dallas playing at the Vegas Club, a nightclub owned by Jack Ruby...
, Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, Malo
Malo
Malo was an American Latin-tinged rock and roll group. The San Francisco-based ensemble was led by Arcelio Garcia and Jorge Santana, the brother of Latin-rock guitarist, Carlos Santana....
, and other Chicano 'Latin Rock' groups follow this approach with their fusions of R&B, Jazz, and Caribbean sounds; but all of the groups and performers have some of these influences. Los Lobos in particular alternates between R&B/roots rock
Roots rock
Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
and the Latin rock style.
The 1958 hit song "Tequila!
Tequila (song)
"Tequila" is a 1958 Latin-flavored rock and roll song recorded by the group, the Champs. The title of the song constitutes the entirety of the lyrics, and is spoken a total of three times during the course of the song. "Tequila" became a #1 hit on both the pop and R&B charts at the time of its...
" was written and sung by the saxophone player Danny Flores
Danny Flores
Daniel Flores was the singer on his self-written song, "Tequila", an American Billboard number one hit in 1958 for The Champs....
(not to be confused with Danny David Flores, a former member of Renegade) and performed by The Champs
The Champs
The Champs were an American rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged instrumental "Tequila". Formed by studio executives at Gene Autry's Challenge Records to record a B-Side for the Dave Burgess single, the intended throwaway track became more famous than its A-Side, "Train to...
. Flores, who died in September 2006, was known as the "Godfather of Latino Rock." One of the most celebrated rock pioneers was the short-lived Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
, whose death is marked as the Day the Music Died
The Day the Music Died
On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll pioneers: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean, in his song...
. Songs by Chicano led bands like Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs' "Wooly Bully
Wooly Bully
"Wooly Bully" is a popular song originally recorded by novelty rock 'n' roll band Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1965. Based on a standard 12-bar blues progression, it was written by the band's leader, Domingo "Sam" Samudio. It was released as a single on the Memphis-based Pen label and...
" and Question Mark & the Mysterians' "96 Tears
96 Tears
"96 Tears" is a popular song recorded by ? in 1966. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and on the RPM 100 in Canada and is ranked #210 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.-History:...
", while not by definition "Latin Music", may have a Tejano influence in their whirling keyboard runs and beats.
In the mid-1980s Chicano teen rock band Renegade
Renegade (band)
Renegade is an American rock n' roll band composed of Luis Cardenas, Kenny Marquez and Tony De La Rosa. Although each member hails from the United States, the band is widely recognized as being the first Hispanic or "Chicano rock" band to gain acceptance in the United States. Throughout Latin...
landed on the international music scene, sporting a combination of heavy metal instrumentation with more pop oriented melodies, resulting in a new sub-genre, termed "commercial metal." The four teens — Kenny Marquez
Kenny Marquez
Kenny Marquez is a noted guitarist, who gained fame in the 1980s as a member of the "Chicano rock" band Renegade.As one of the members of the multi-million selling rocker quartet, Renegade, Kenny Marquez is known for his outrageous banter and behavior that helps the band distinguish itself with...
on lead guitar and vocals, Luis Cardenas
Luis Cardenas
For the Colombian road cyclist see Luis CárdenasLuis Cardenas is an iconic Latin-American drummer who achieved considerable popularity in the late 1980s with both solo work and as a member of the rock band Renegade.-Luis/Renegade History:...
on drums and vocals, Tony De La Rosa
Tony De La Rosa
Tony De La Rosa is a noted bass player and guitarist, who gained fame in the 1980s as a member of the rock band Renegade.As one of the members of the multi-million selling rocker quartet, Renegade, Tony De La Rosa's solid and prolific bass playing and songwriting skills helped propel the band into...
on rhythm guitar and vocals and Danny David Flores on bass guitar and vocals — have been referred to as Chicano rock gods, amongst Mexican-Americans. Renegade or Los Renegados as they are called in Latin-America, went on to sell more than 30 millions units worldwide, with a series of hits in Mexico, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, the United States.
Groups like Ozomatli
Ozomatli
Ozomatli is a seven to ten piece band playing primarily Latin, hip hop, and rock music, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and their wide array of musical styles - including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, rap, and others.In a 2007 NPR interview, band...
and Quetzal
Quetzal (band)
Quetzal is a bilingual Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California.-Biography:The band was founded by Quetzal Flores, with the intention of pushing the boundaries of chicano music and is currently one of Los Angeles' most important and successful groups...
had led the new wave of Latin Rock groups that fuse multiple musical genres.
History
In places such as Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and Dallas and Houston, Texas, the African-American audience was very important to aspiring Latino musicians, and this kept their music wedded to authentic R&B. Undoubtedly, many listeners in the 1960s heard Sunny and the Sunglows "Talk to Me", or Thee Midniters'and more famously, Cannibal and the Headhunters' "Land of a Thousand DancesLand of a Thousand Dances
"Land of a Thousand Dances" is a song written and first recorded by Chris Kenner in 1962. The song is famous for its "na na na na na" hook, which was added by Cannibal & the Headhunters in their version of the song in 1965, whose version peaked at number thirty...
" and assumed that the groups were black. Dick Hugg
Dick Hugg
Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg was a radio disc jockey in Los Angeles, California. He was married to Sandy Hugg and had a son and three daughters.-Rock and Roll:...
(aka Huggie Boy) and KRLA 1110 played a big role in promoting this music. Chicano rock music was also influenced by the Doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
genre, an example being the song "Angel Baby
Angel Baby
Angel Baby may refer to:*"Angel Baby" , a 1960 single by Rosie and the Originals*Angel Baby , starring George Hamilton and Mercedes McCambridge*Angel Baby , starring John Lynch and Jacqueline McKenzie...
" by the Chicana fronted group Rosie and the Originals
Rosie and the Originals
Rosie & The Originals were an American 1960s group best known for their single, "Angel Baby." Fronted by lead singer Rosie Hamlin, the group produced two singles for Highland Records and, like many other artists of the era, ended up in protracted legal battles with their record label over...
.
The roots of Chicano rock are found in the music of Don Tosti and Lalo Guerrero ("The Father of Chicano Music") Tosti's "Pachuco Boogie," recorded in 1949 was the first Chicano million-selling record, a swing tune featuring a Spanish rap, using hipster slang called "Calo
Caló (Chicano)
Caló is an argot or slang of Mexican Spanish which originated during the first half of the 20th century in the Southwestern United States. It is the product of zoot-suit pachuco culture.-Origin:...
". Guerrero also adapted swing and "jump" styles to Spanish language recordings—all this as rhythm and blues was beginning to emerge as a forerunner to rock 'n' roll. In the 60s there was an explosion of Chicano rock bands in East Los Angeles. One of the first to have a local hit, and even appear on Dick Clark, was The Premiers, with a cover of a Don and Dewey song called "Farmer John." It featured the beat from the popular hit, "Louie, Louie," which was in turn based on a Latino song, "Loco Cha Cha."
In the early to mid 1960s, the American audience was probably more open to Latin sounds than even today; because of the popularity of bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
, bugalú, mambo, and other forms. Also musicians who didn't conform to the rather limited range of early rock could find success as folk performers.
Trini Lopez, whose music was a mixture of folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, lounge pop, and R&B, was able to prosper before the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
came to America and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
went electric. "Corazón de Melón" takes a Mexican folk tune, and like "Heart of my Heart", makes it into a relaxed, shuffling lounge tune. Trini mainly worked and recorded in a live setting (with a lot of audience participation), and soon the Beatles and The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
made studio recording effects dominant in rock, unfortunately making Trini's loose, breezy live-in-club style seem old fashioned all too soon.
The British Invasion challenged all American musicians, not just Chicanos. The Sir Douglas Quintet
Sir Douglas Quintet
Sir Douglas Quintet was a rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite their British sounding name, they came out of San Antonio, Texas. Their career was established when they began working with Texas record-producer Huey P. Meaux, after which the band relocated to the West Coast...
is said to have made the most 'English' sounding American music of the Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
period (actually since the English were playing music that was more rooted in R&B than many white Americans of that time, the Quintet were actually sounding 'English' by keeping to an all-American R&B/Country sound). Indeed, producer Huey P. Meaux
Huey P Meaux
Huey Purvis Meaux was an American record producer and recording studio owner .Meaux was born in Wright, Louisiana...
put the Sir in the group's name to emphasize the connection, but that was more a marketing change than a musical one.
While none of these groups challenged the Beatles and the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
for more than a brief time, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, Question Mark and the Mysterians, and Thee Midniters made music that was more like that of the British groups than many other American bands, like The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
or The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
. Part of this was their love of pure R&B, and perhaps, in spite of being just as American as anyone else, these bands were treated as "outsiders" to some degree and their music reflects this unconventional point of view. Also, many of these groups produced music on a very low budget, often working on small labels, or even self-producing music; giving some of their work a rougher feel.
Chicano punk
Chicano punk is a branch of Chicano rock with bands like Los IllegalsLos Illegals
Los Illegals is an American Chicano punk band from Los Angeles, California.- History :The band struck a deal with the local order of radical Catholic nuns to open & run the legendary Club Vex at the Catholic Youth building where they booked & introduced Eastside to Westside groups Los Illegals is...
, The Brat
The Brat
The Brat is a 1931 comedy film directed by John Ford. It is based on the 1917 play by Maude Fulton. A previous silent film had been made in 1919 with Alla Nazimova. This 1931 screen version has been updated to then contemporary standards i.e...
, The Plugz
The Plugz
The Plugz were a Mexican-American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California that formed in 1977. They and The Zeros were among the first Chicano punk bands, although several Latino garage rock bands, such as Thee Midniters and Question Mark & the Mysterians, predated them...
and the Cruzados coming out of the punk scene in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The rock band ? and the Mysterians, which was primarily made up of Mexican American musicians, was the first band to be described as "punk rock." The term punk rock was reportedly coined in 1971 by rock critic Dave Marsh in a review of their show for Creem
Creem
Creem , "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid...
magazine.
Recent Chicano punk bands include Rayos X, Tuberculosis, Mata Mata, Mugre, Venganza and Asko from southern California, La Grita and La plebe from Northern California, as well as Los Crudos
Los Crudos
Los Crudos was an American hardcore punk band from Chicago, Illinois that existed from 1991 to 1998. The band played in the hardcore punk style, and were a popular act within the DIY underground of the 1990s. Being Latino, they paved the way for later Spanish-speaking punk bands and helped to...
from Chicago.
Chicano Rock 1990s-Present
Many popular Chicano and Chicano-led Rock bands began to emerge during the mid and late 90s such as Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
, Deftones
Deftones
Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno , Stephen Carpenter , Chi Cheng , Frank Delgado , and Abe Cunningham . Currently Sergio Vega is standing in on bass while Cheng recovers from a car accident...
, Downset, Spineshank
Spineshank
Spineshank is an American Grammy-nominated alternative metal band. The band has sold over 540,000 records, and has released 3 studio albums.-Formation, Roadrunner Records years :...
, At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...
, P.O.D.
P.O.D.
Payable on Death is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Sonny Sandoval, drummer Wuv Bernardo, guitarist Marcos Curiel, and bassist Traa Daniels. Their Christian faith is an important part of their music.They have released seven studio albums and...
, 311
311 (band)
311 is an American rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. The band was formed in 1988 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Nick Hexum, lead guitarist Jim Watson , bassist Aaron "P-Nut" Wills and drummer Chad Sexton...
, Fenix TX, Unloco
Unloco
Unloco was an alternative metal/hard rock band formed in Austin, Texas.-History:Unloco was formed in 2000 by frontman Joey Duenas...
, Union 13, Voodoo Glow Skulls
Voodoo Glow Skulls
Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California by brothers Frank, Eddie and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill...
, MxPx
MxPx
MxPx is a pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington with connections to the Christian punk scene. The band has recorded eight studio albums, four EPs, four compilation albums, a live album, a VHS tape, a DVD and released 20 singles....
, Mento Buru, Dystemic, Adema
Adema
-2003–2004: Unstable, Mark Chavez's and Mike Ransom's departure:Adema's second album, Unstable, was released by Arista in August 2003. It was produced by Howard Benson, whose credits also include producing albums with P.O.D., Hoobastank and Cold....
, Los Lonely Boys
Los Lonely Boys
Los Lonely Boys is a Chicano rock power trio from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll," combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown eyed soul, country, and Tejano....
, Aztlan Underground, Ozomatli
Ozomatli
Ozomatli is a seven to ten piece band playing primarily Latin, hip hop, and rock music, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and their wide array of musical styles - including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, rap, and others.In a 2007 NPR interview, band...
and The Latin Soul Syndicate
Latin Soul Syndicate
Latin Soul Syndicate is a San Francisco-based band that formed in 2003. On each of their three albums, the core members are joined by a collective of Bay Area based musicians including members of Santana, Chuck Prophet, and Jonathan Richman.Their songs include a blend of upbeat Latin soul,...
. In the early 2000s the Progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
Latin-influenced rock band The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
came onto the scene.
See also
- Rock en EspañolRock en EspañolRock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...
- Mexican rockMexican rockMexican rock music, often referred to in Mexico as rock nacional , originated in the 1950s with covers of standards by Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and The Everly Brothers, among others, bands such as Los Rebeldes del Rock, Los Locos del Ritmo, Los Crazy Boys, Los Nómadas, and Javier Bátiz soon arose...
- Chicano RapChicano rapChicano Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music, Latin rap and gangsta rap that embodies aspects of West Coast and Southwest Mexican American culture and is typically performed by American rappers and musicians of Mexican descent.-Early Years:...
- Latin American MusicLatin American musicLatin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
- Little RayLittle RayLittle Ray also known as Ray Jimenez, was an East Los Angeles, Chicano rock and brown-eyed soul musician, prominent in the 1960s who sang up tempo Rhythm and Blues. Little Ray was born in Delano, California. His first record was “There’s Something On Your Mind.”Little Ray sang briefly with Thee...
- Tejano musicTejano musicTejano music or Tex-Mex music is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Mexican-American populations of Central and Southern Texas...
- Brown-eyed soulBrown-eyed soulBrown-eyed soul is a subgenre of soul music or rhythm and blues created in the United States mainly by Latino in Southern California during the 1960s, continuing through to the early 1980s. The genre of soul music occasionally draws from Latin, and often contains rock music influences...