Los Lobos: Not Just Another Band From East L.A.

Sometimes you have to look backwards to see the sign posts for your future. Just ask Los Lobos who caught their first break by looking to the folk music of their Mexican heritage for the inspiration that propelled them forward into their career. East L.A. is, in parts, one of the largest barrios in the United States hosting a large concentration of Mexican-Americans. Amongst the youth who live there, many have the same rock and roll dreams of so many other American youths.

Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano, David Hildago and Louis Perez grew up in the same neighborhood and became friends while attending Garfield high school together. While still in school, the four formed Los Lobos (The Wolves) to play local weddings, bars, dances and parties. Initially, like so many youthful bands, they played the popular covers and Top 40 hits of the day. It was good enough to keep them busy on the weekends but the band wanted more and without original material or a unique sound, the dream was out of reach.

Early on, the band collectively decided to explore the acoustic folk music of their heritage and to do that, they had to open themselves up to the Mexican folk-instruments as well. Once they began to become a little more comfortable with instruments like the guittarron and the bajo sexto, they began to learn norteno (music from Northern Mexico) and junto music. The band secured their first full time gig working at a Mexican restaurant in 1978 in Los Angeles. The same year, the band released their initial recording, Just Another Band From East L.A.

In a 1982 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Rosas said "We got satisfaction from being able to play something that was real traditional, our own kind of roots. We were doing it for the love of the music and would learn songs because they were really tough. They were a challenge to the max because of all of the cross rhythms and different things are difficult to play."

Although the album helped them build a strong following in their own community, their efforts to secure gigs in other parts of the city were limited. The band then made the decision to try an open up their repertoire and sound by integrating the Mexican folk into a more electric sound as well as playing more rock, blues, roots and country. The gamble paid off as they began to secure gigs outside of their local neighborhoods.

In 1981, the band had a chance encounter with roots powerhouses Dave and Phil Alvin of The Blasters who remembered the band from a program they appeared on together on local Public Radio. The Blasters asked Lobos to open for them at a gig at the famed Whisky-A-Go-Go on L.A.'s notorious Sunset Strip. The set was solid and well received by the audience but also caught the attention of local music writers and journalists. Shortly after the Go-Go set, the band was brought into to record a Spanish version of 'Devil With The Blue Dress On' for the cult film Eating Raoul. The set had other unexpected but welcomed results. They found themselves being booked into L.A. rock clubs, a venue that had previously ignored the band in the past. It also brought them in contact with saxophonist/percussionist Steve Berlin (who happened to be with The Blasters at the time). By 1983, Berlin left The Blasters and became the 5th member of Los Lobos.

In 1983, the band signed with Slash records and their label debut, '...And A Time To Dance' (produced by Steve Berlin and famed producer T-Bone Burnett) contained a single Anselma that brought the band their first of their three Grammy's (Best Mexican-American performance of 1983). The bands follow up on Slash was 1984's How Will The Wolf Survive?, also produced by Berlin and Burnett, brought the band serious accolades from the national music press including a positive review in the New York Times. The band actually shared the title of Best Band in 1984 in a poll in Rolling Stone with Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.

They followed up with By The Light Of The Moon in early 1987 but by the time that album was released, the band had another impressive credit on their resume; they played on the 'All Around The World' track on Paul Simon's seminal work, 'Graceland'.

But it was the next move that brought the band national prominence when they provided the soundtrack for the 1987 bio-pic about fellow Mexican-American musician Richie Valens entitled 'La Bamba'. The title track charted almost immediately and hit #1 in mid-August of that year where it remained for several weeks. Shortly afterwards, a second track from the soundtrack, 'Come On, Let's Go' also hit the charts and before the end of the year, the track 'One Time, One Night' from By The Light Of The Moon also hit the charts which gave the band three tracks on the Billboard chart at the same time.

But the band opted to return to their roots for their follow up. In 1988, the band released La Pistola y la Corazon which was a disc of traditional Mexican folk music. Perez explained the release in an interview with the L.A. Times. "We didn't want to go for the obvious. We didn't want to put on funny hats. When 'La Bamba' hit, the stage was set for us to sell Doritos for the next twenty-five years. [Selling out] would have perpetuated the stereotypes that have gone on forever about Mexican people. We said 'We're not going to take it," and we probably turned down a whole pile of dough. But we still had to look out at ourselves every day - and at each other."

The band released Kiko in 1992 on a break from a hectic touring schedule. Although the disc won raves from music critics around the country, it failed to strike a chord with record buyers. Four years from its release, the disc settled in at approximately 250,000 copies sold. In 1996, Slash Records released a two disc retrospective entitled 'Just Another Band From East L.A.' which chronicled the bands work over their twenty year career and again failed to ignite with record buyers.

Since the mid-90's, the band has kept themselves busy touring occasionally, contributing to a variety of tribute albums (Hendrix, Buddy Holly, Johnny Thunders, Doc Pomus and the like) and doing steady soundtrack work (films like Feeling Minnesota, Mi Vida Loca and Desperado). Said Perez "It keeps us off the road. It's nice to sleep in your own bed every night and still be able to make a living. We're not 20. We have obligations that go along with being in our 40's and having families. This allows us to satisfy our creative urges and also make a living."

Another reason the band opted to take on a lower profile had to do with their unhappiness with their record label. in 1995 the band left Slash and signed with Warners where they cut Colossal Head but again felt that they were not getting the marketing support from the label and left Warners without finding a new home.

By 1999, the band had regrouped and signed with the Disney owned label, Hollywood Records and released This Time (which dovetailed perfectly with the wildly experimental and somewhat metaphysical gem Kiko. Again, a critical darling but not a commercial success. The band again jumped labels ending up with Mammoth Records in 2002 for their release 'Good Morning Aztlan' and 2004's 'The Ride' which included contributions from artists as diverse as Mavis Staples, Bobby Womack, Tom Waits and Elvis Costello.

In 2010, the band released their first album of all original material in years with 'Tin Can Trust' where the band returned to East L.A. to record in a small, independent studio in an effort to recapture the spirit of the early days.

The band continues to tour appearing at blues and roots festivals and opening for acts like Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal and Los Lonely Boys.

The lengthy and solid career of a band like Los Lobos serves as a reminder that you can stay true to what you believe and the craft that you love and be successful; a valuable lesson not just in music but in life.