Eastside Sound and Conjunto Music in Chicano Culture - Assignment Example

The Eastside Sound and Conjuncto Music The Americans of Mexican descent are referred to as the Chicanos. During the 1960s, the kind of music that was popular among the Chicanos of East Los Angeles was the eastside sound which was a mixture of other musical styles. Conjuncto music is a specific kind of music performed by small groups of musicians. It was popular among the Texan-Mexicans from 1935-1955. For conjuncto style of music, the most important instrument is the accordion which the Chicanos adopted from the Europeans who settled in America. The other theory was that the accordion was adopted from the German immigrants in Mexico. It was the only instrument that was popular among the Chicanos in Texas in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Later on saxophone was also used by the conjuncto groups. The conjuncto style was considered similar to the norteno music which was common in Northern Mexico. Although initially the conjuncto style was popular among the Chicanos working class, it gradually spread to other regions of America and became well known among the non-Chicanos. (Castro, 63) The band concept was like a ritual process in the East Los Angeles and the eastside musicians satisfied the passion for music of the audiences. The eastside sound was formed with adopted genres like “rhythm and blues, soul, rock, funk, salsa and Mexican traditional forms”. Eastside music was influenced both by American and Mexican cultures. It was more popular among the “lowrider car clubs, street gangs and high school teens”. (Loza, 95) Narciso Martinez who was born in Mexico but grew up in Texas is known as the one who was gave birth to conjuncto music. He was a professional accordion player and he did his first recording in 1935. As the recording proved to be a huge success, its date is considered as the birth date of conjuncto music. Another popular contemporary accordion player was Santiago Jimenez who did his first recording of songs in 1936. (Castro, 63-64) The success story of the eastside music is of tragedy as musicians like Ritchie Valens who popularized Mexican rock and roll version with hits like Donna died early in a plane crash. Another important person was producer Eddie Davis who recorded eastside groups in the 1960s and 1970s. (Loza, 96) By 1962, eastside music was made popular in nightclubs by Davis and his partner Billy Cardenas. One popular eastside musical group was formed by Salsa brothers who sang Mexican rancheras and boleros in family reunions. (Loza, 96-97) Conjuncto music became more popular among the ballroom dance culture during the World War II. It reached out to the common Chicanos more often by radio stations that played Spanish music. In the middle of 1950, conjuncto music became a popular music for dancing and one of the common dance forms was polka. Today conjuncto music is identified with folk and country music because of Flaco Jimenez who was born in Texas. He popularized the music in college campuses and city theaters all over America. Conjuncto music has Texan and North Mexican flavor and themes are “love, tragic love affairs, undocumented workers, contraband, and illegal border crossing”. (Castro, 64) Both eastside sound and conjuncto music were forms of Chicano style and were adoptions from other genres. Multi ethnicity was a common feature in both eastside music and conjuncto music. Small musical bands popularized both kinds of music in the twentieth century. References 1. Castro, Rafaela G. Chicano Folklore: A Guide to the Folktales, Traditions, Rituals and Religious Practices of Mexican Americans, USA: Oxford University, 2000 2. Loza, Steven. Barrio Rhythm: Mexican American Music in Los Angeles, USA: University of Illinois, 1993 The Eastside sound and Chicano rock During the 1960s, the kind of music that was popular among the Chicanos of East Los Angeles was the eastside sound which was a mixture of other musical styles. Chicano rock was a form of punk-rock music performed by the Chicanos whose themes were influenced by the Chicano culture. The band concept was like a ritual process in the East Los Angeles and the eastside musicians satisfied the inherent passion for music of the audiences. The eastside sound was formed with adopted genres like “rhythm and blues, soul, rock, funk, salsa and Mexican traditional forms”. Eastside music was influenced both by American and Mexican cultures. It was more popular among the “lowrider car clubs, street gangs and high school teens”. (Loza, 95) Chicano rock is a mixture of different styles and approaches with no single dominating form. The main connection of chicano rock with Latin American music is strong influence by Rhythm and Blues which is popular genre of music that originated in the 1940s. Chicano rock was more popular with the working class people in London, New York and Detroit. East Los Angeles was another place where it became extremely popular. The Chicano community of this place adopted the aesthetic value of punk-rock and through this form of music they expressed the feelings of “anger, distress, marginalization, alienation and class-consciousness”. This kind of ideological connection cultivated the relationship between Latino and punk rock music in Los Angeles. (Avant-Mier, 153) The success story of the eastside music is of tragedy as musicians like Ritchie Valens who popularized Mexican rock and roll version with hits like Donna died early in a plane crash. Another important person was producer Eddie Davis who recorded eastside groups in the 1960s and 1970s. His recording studio produced labels like Faro, Limba and Rampart. One popular eastside musical band was The Premiers whose song Farmer John was played by the radio and became extremely famous. Another band was The Blendells who sang for the recording company, Reprise Records. (Loza, 96) Puck-rock music was made extremely popular in the late 1970s by musical bands like Los Illegals. They deliberately converted a form of Latino music to rock music. The Chicano punk-rock musicians like The Plugz wrote a version of ‘La Bamba” with a punk dissonance. The original singer of the song was Ritchie Valens. Some other popular punk-rock bands were The Zeros, The Brat, The Bags, and The Odd Squad. These groups through their performances commented on politics, social issues and street gangs.(Avant-Mier, 153) By 1962, eastside music was made popular in nightclubs by Davis and his partner Billy Cardenas. One popular eastside musical group was formed by Salsa brothers who were barely in their teens when they used to sing Mexican rancheras and boleros in family reunions (Loza, 96-97). In 1960s Chicano punk-rock was played in community weddings and local clubs. (Avent-Mier, 157) Unlike eastside music which adopted various styles from other music forms, the Chicano rock was not based upon any specific style or form. The punk rockers used their music as platform to comment on political social matters while eastside groups were more focused on satisfying the musical tastes of the audiences. References 1. Avant-Mier, Roberto. Rock the Nation: Latin/o Identities and the Latin Rock Diaspora, USA: Continuum International Publishing, 2010 2. Loza, Steven. Barrio Rhythm: Mexican American Music in Los Angeles, USA: University of Illinois, 1993 Lalo Guerrero and Don Tosti Edmundo Martinez Tostado more popularly known as Don Tosti was a musician and composer born in Texas in 1923. His style of music ranged form classical, jazz to rhythm and blues. Lalo Guerrero was a Chicano guitarist and singer born in Tucson in 1916. He specialized in Latin music and wrote the lyrics of his songs. Lalo Guerrero nurtured his dream of making his career in music from a very young age. He gained worldwide popularity from 1930s to 1990s and is known as the father of Chicano music. He worked with every style and genre that was common in the Southwest (Pena, 184). His approach towards music was more diverse in nature than Don Tosti although the latter also experimented with several variations in music ranging from classical, jazz to rhythm and blues. Don Tosti was a professional musician in the swing era that ranged from 1935-1946. During that time the music industry in America was exposed to racism and musicians formed their own groups based on social, economic and cultural backgrounds (Macias, 18). Although Lalo Guirrero belonged to the same era as Tosti, they emerged from different social backdrops. Although it was an era of swing and jazz music, both Guirrero and Tosti created a different and appealing music style known as pachuco boogie woogie that “expanded both the Mexican American generation’s collective mojo and the city’s urban civility” (Macias, 124). From young age Lalo Guirrero enjoyed accordion songs. He learnt American pop-songs and tap dancing from Hollywood musicals. Guerrero also became more inclined towards piano and taught himself to play the instrument when he was ten. He did tap dancing along with singing in his first public performance at school. At fourteen he learnt to play the guitar from his mother. He wrote a Mexican song when he was seventeen and that had a great impact on the Mexican culture (Macias, 44). In the later years Guirrero’s performances with guitar influenced the urban culture of Los Angeles where he performed to entertain the tourists. Don Tosti learnt classical music on the violin when he was a child and he became an expert violin player. As a teenager he became leader of a swing orchestra in his school. He was also a prominent bassist and traveled all over the United States with big bands of Charlie Barnet. Tosti wrote the famous Pachuco Boogie. It was an example of African American music adopted by the Chicano musicians as part of their cultural sensibilities. On the other hand Lalo Guirrero adapted Latin music in his style that illustrated Chicano musicians were also influenced by Afro-Latino traditions (Aparicio, 186). Both Lalo Guirrero and Don Tosti belonged to the swing era of the 1930s and 1940s, but they managed to make distinctive marks with their own music styles. Guirrero was more of an instrumental player and in various times of his life he played different instruments like violin, bass and guitar. Tosti on the advice of his father concentrated more on composing his own songs for a musical band he himself created. References 1. Aparicio, Frances R. & et.al. Musical Migrations: Transnationalism and Cultural Hybridity in Latin/O America: Vol.1, USA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003 2. Macias, Anthony. Mexican American Mojo: Popular Music, Dance, and Urban Culture in Los Angeles: 1935-1968, USA: Duke University, 2008 3. Pena, Manuel. The Mexican American Orquesta, USA: University of Texas, 1999 Read More