LOS LOBOS, THE BEST. TABLATURE
BOOK FOR GUITAR WITH TABLATURE
Los Lobos' Los Angeles is two cities; It's the Ellis Island where immigrants come to find
freedom and prosperity. and its the city where America comes bringing its talents and
hopes in search of media exposure. Within this teeming caldron of talent and ethnic
diversity. the hip and the mundane. old and new. and hype and struggle. immigrants and
artists alike break up into small semi-cloistered pockets of urban life seasoned with the
flavor of small-town neighborhoods.
Los Lobos' songwriters David Hidalgo and Louie Perez and musicians Cesar Rosa and
Conrad Lorano grew up in East L.A.. an integral part of metropolitan Los Angeles with the
separateness typical of other areas of L.A.'s urban sprawl. The cultural security of
Hispanic lifestyle surrounded them with physical boundaries and isolated them from
outside influences and the Anglo world beyond. But the barrio, or neighborhood. could
not keep out the radiowaves of the 1960'sand 1970'sthat spread rock 'n' roll throughout
Southern California. Hidalgo and Perez grew up listening to the norteno music of their
parents. a type of folk music from the Northern border sates of Mexico. and the rock 'n'
roll broadcast from Los Angeles' Top 40 stations.
As a team. listening to the music your parents enjoy is usually high on the adolescent
anathema list. However. Los Lobos discovered a kind of inborn attraction for the
traditional Mexican music they had been exposed to as children. And as they matured.
Los Lobos succumbed to this magnetic attraction and the ancestral rhythm of the songs
of their parents.
This attraction to the traditional folk genre did not occur in a vacuum. It was nurtured
during a period of Hispanic renaissance-a time when Cesar Chavez was organizing the
migrant agricultural laborers. It was also a period of political unrest for Hispanics in Los
Angeles. There were marches and celebrations-protests against the Catholic church
and the way its parishioners were treated. And there was what some call an
"assassination" of a popular Hispanic journalist who was instrumental in getting stories
out of the sequestered area of East L.A. and into the media's eye. The attraction to
tradition happened in a period of pride in the heritage that enabled Hispanic people to
endure.
Los Lobos learned and practiced the songs and music of traditional Mexican folk music
for about eight years and gained traditional Mexican folk music for about eight years
and gained fluency in the ~uSiCof many regions such as Jalisco, La
Huasteca. Michoacan and Veracruz. But it was the norteno style that
offered the most influence and the style that is revealed most in their
music. The two distinct song styles that norteno offered to Los Lobos
are corrido-a narrative ballad style accompanied by a harp. guitar or
ensemble-and ranchera-often slow love songs or as Perez has been
quoted as saying. "Ranchera is the blues."
Individually. David Hidalgo. Cesar Rosas. Louie Perez and Conrad Lozano
each developed their own styles by emulating their own long lists of favorite
players. Their collective influences include Mick Abrahams. Duane Allman,
the Beatles. Blue Cheer. James Brown, BuffalO Springfield. Canned Heat.
Eric Clapton. Bruce Conti, Cream, Ronnie Earl. Duane Eddy. Peter Green,
Jimi Hendrix. B.B. King. King Crimson. Led Zeppelin. Scotty Moore. Buck Owens,
Dave Paladin. Les Paul. Louis Prima, Hubert Sumlin. Richard Thompson.
Merle Travis.Ritchie Valens-an Angeleno hero of their youth-Jimmy Vaughan.
the Ventures. T-Bone Walker. Little Walter. Clarence White. Hank Williams, Johnny Winter.
Yes. Neil Young and many more.
Along with the more traditional instruments of the contemporary rock style. L.osL.obos
incorporates a number of instruments of Mexican origin. They reverberate the echoes of
Hispanic heritage and cast shadowy musical glimpses of periods of struggle and earlier
untamed vaquero (cowboy) days on the llano (range) characteristic of L.osL.obos·sound.
These instruments include: the bajo sexto. a guitar-like instrument with doubled steel strings;
the guitarron. a six-stringed bass guitar-like instrument: the hidalgarron. an eight-stringed
modified flat-top steel-string guitar created for David Hidalgo: the huapanguera. a smallnecked
guitar-like instrument with a large body and doubled strings: the jarana. a five-stringed
small guitar-like instrument: the requinto. a four-stringed small-bodies guitar; and the vihuela.
a small five-stringed guitar common to mariachi music.
Los L.obos·genesis was as a rock band. playing other peoples' songs while intermingling
norteno music in with their rock sets. They played for weddings. dances and whatever other
gigs they could find. They developed enough acclaim to become the subject of a 1975publictelevision
documentary and were "held up as Chicano role models." The band was eventually
"reduced to playing what Rosas calls the 'Red Onion circuit. ..· franchised and Americanized
Mexican food restaurants that cater to clientele looking for Mexican authenticity without
having to leave the suburbs.
A chance meeting with the Blasters outside Of the Roxy. a West Hollywood club. opened new
doors for L.osL.obos. After hearing a L.osL.obosdemo tape. the Blasters helped them connect
with Slash Records. Blasters' saxophonist Steve Berlin enjoyed L.osL.obos·music so much
that he joined the band as a full-time member. The appeal to Berlin was the band's versatility:
Los Lobos incorporates not only the influence of traditional Mexican folk style "but also soul.
gospel. country. blues. Cajun. zydeco and New Wave:' as one reviewer phrased it. The
Blasters' meeting and the connection with Slash culminated in an acoustic album Just Another
Band From East L..A.. now nearly unattainable. Their EP .....And A Time To Dance" earned L.os
L.obosa 1984Grammy for the best Mexican-American performance as well as selling 90.000
copies.
Los L.obosfollowed with the L.PHow Will The Wolf Survive? in 1984which transformed them into
a nationally-known group and sold 325.000 copies. This "year of critical praise culminated in
L.osL.obos·being named both the Best NewBand and Band Of the Year in 1984Rolling Stone
Critics Poll:' according to Rolling Stone magazine.
Critical acclaim also earned them admiration and work from artists such as Paul Simon-L.os
L.obos played background on a cut on Graceland. Ry Cooder for his Alamo Bay soundtrack.
Elvis Costello. who covered "A Matter Of Time" for his acoustic tour of Europe. Waylon
Jennings. who covered "Will The Wolf Survive" and the Fabulous Thunderbirds who sang
backup vocals on "Tuff Enuff.'· L.osL.obosalso recorded the music and made a brief
appearance as a brothel band for the film L.aBamba. the film biography Of the late Ritchie
Valens. and that. unfortunately. has distorted and obscured the band's image to the audience
previously unexposed to the Los Lobos sound.
Perez. who spoke of their music's appeal. was once quoted as saying. "All the people we write
about are resilient. They bounce back from what seems like the worst thing that ever
happened to them.· Los Lobos·style is a music evolved from experience-not only musical
but Oftheir own lives. L.iketheir songs' characters. L.osL.obos is resilient and adaptive. They
are of a people who have SUffered.endured and rebounded. Their music reflects an ability to
adapt and endure that has enabled them to continue a creative process born outside of the
media spotlight.
Joe Velazquez
NOTES FROM TRANSCRIBER
Any true fan of Los Lobos has probably felt privy to a well kept secret. Of course
the entire world remembers the band that played "La Bamba" for the soundtrack of
the motion picture of the same name, but in spite of such notoriety many people
would still fail a "listening test" if they were asked to identify who played the R&B
influenced "I Can't Understand" or the country picking on "One Time, One Night."
They have achieved critical acclaim, and admiration (not to mention work) from
artists such as Paul Simon (for background on a cut on "Graceland"), Ry Cooder
(for his "Alamo Bay" soundtrack), Elvis Costello (who covered "A Matter Of Time" for
his acoustic tour of Europe), Waylon Jennings (who covered "Will The Wolf Survive"
for his album of the same name) and the Fabulous Thunderbirds (for backup vocals
to "Tuff Enuff'. Ironically, the public's view of Los Lobos' "true colors" has been
eclipsed by the success of "La Bamba."
Of course a loyal fan would know that it is just as easy for this "Tex-Mexretro
garage band nostalgia act" (in the words of one interviewer) to crank it up with
"Shakin' Shakin' Shakes" and "Don't Worry Baby" as it is for them to playa slow
ballad like "The Tears Of God" or a Mexican traditional waltz like "Prenda Del Alma"
(complete with Mexican traditional instruments). In fact, one of the first lessons that
a Los Lobos fan must learn is how not to be surprised at what these guys can do
with just about any instrument that ends up in their hands.
The bottom line is that Los Lobos is not "JustAnother Band from East L.A." (the title
from their debut 1983EP on Slash records) that just happened to make it overnight.
They have paid their dues in fUll and in advance. Not only have they stayed
together for seventeen years, but they have played every kind of "gig" situation
that you could ever imagine from juke joints to Carnegie Hall.
Anyone who decides to study Los Lobos style will discover that they've tapped
into a gold mine of experience, skill, versatility and inspiration. Even though you
won't find any music conservatory graduates among them, they have all made
listening an art form in itself. True to the integrity of their root-oriented style, they
follow one primary conviction; it's the feel that counts!
Like the Wolf (their namesake) their prime motivations have been hunger and survival.
They have always had a healthy appetite to learn anything from a new lick to a new
instrument from anyone, any time, anywhere. That helped them survive as a working
band for many years, since they always had to be ready to adapt and change
quickly. These traits have become important ingredients to their rich "melting pot"
style that has transcended any attempt to type-cast them.
One of their strongest attributes has been their ability to write music that allows the
listener to vicariously experience the peaks and valleys of life's experiences and
emotions. This is especially evident in songs like "The Neighborhood: "The Hardest
Time," '" Can't Understand," "Tears Of God," "One Time, One Night" and "A Hatter Of
Time." One way that they have nurtured this intangible and rare gift is by keeping their
feet firmly planted on the ground and avoiding the entrapments of stardom. They do
not use their talent and skills as an excuse to separate themselves from the "little
people", but instead they use their music as a way of embracing the real world. They
have managed to combine their fascination with cultures and traditions Ofthe past with
their love of family and friends Ofthe present. and they have filled a rich reservoir of
Inspiration to draw from for many years to come. Colgan Bryan
Transcribed by COLGAN BRYAN
THE BEST OF LOS LOBOS
INTRODUCTION
NOTES FROM THE TRANSCRIBER
DON'T WORRY BABY from HOW WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE ? - CESAR ROSAS, LUIS PEREZ, T-BONE BURNETT - 1984
ESTOY SENTADO AQUI' from LA PISTOLA Y EL CORAZON – CESAR ROSAS - 1988
LA PISTOLA Y EL CORAZON from LA PISTOLA Y EL CORAZON – LUIS PEREZ, DAVID HIDALGO - 1988
HARDEST TIME. THE from BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON – LUIS PEREZ, DAVID HIDALGO - 1987
I CAN'T UNDERSTAND from THE NEIGHBORHOOD – CESAR ROSAS, WILLIE DIXON 1990
LA BAMBA from LA BAMBA ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK – TRADITIONAL, ARRANGED BY: LIUS PEREZ, DAVID HIDALGO, CESAR ROSAS, STEVE BERLIN, CONRAD LOZANO - 1987
MATTER OF TIME, A from HOW WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE ? - LUIS PEREZ, DAVID HIDALGO - 1984
ONE TIME, ONE NIGHT from BY THE LIGHT CF THE MOON – LUIS PEREZ, DAVID HIDALGO - 1987
RIVER OF FOOLS from BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON – LUIS PEREZ, DAVID HIDALGO - 1987
SHAKIN' SHAKIN' SHAKES from BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON – CESAR ROSAS, T-BONE BURNETT - 1987
TEARS OF GOD from BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON – LUIS PEREZ, DAVID HIDALGO - 1987
WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE ? from HOW WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE? - LUIS PEREZ, DAVID HIDALGO - 1984
NOTATION LEGEND
Cover photo by DAVID BLANK
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