Chicano rock

Chicano Rock Music is rock music performed by Mexican American 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 did not sing in Spanish at all, or use many specifically Latin instruments or sounds, at least on what little we have heard. 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.

Overview

There are two undercurrents in Chicano rock. One is a devotion to the original rhythm and blues and country roots of Rock and roll. Ritchie Valens, Sunny and the Sunglows, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Thee Midniters, and Los Lobos all have made music that is heavily based on 1950's R&B, even when general trends moved away from the original sound of rock as time went by.

Related Topics:
Rhythm and blues - Country - Ritchie Valens - Sir Douglas Quintet - Thee Midniters - Los Lobos

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Another characteristic is the openness to Latin American 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.

Related Topics:
Latin American - Santana

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Even such songs like Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs "Wooly Bully" and ? & the Mysterians' "96 Tears", while not by definition "Latin Music", may have a Tejano influence in their whirling keyboard runs and beats.

Related Topics:
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs - ? & the Mysterians

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