East Side Story, Vol 9
The last few years have been frustrating for those of us on the Eastside. I’ve been on many a Los Angeles blog explaining, defending and educating folks on why certain parts of the city shouldn’t be called the Eastside. Despite testimonials, historical references and other persuasive truths, there are many who choose to keep using the term Eastside inappropriately. Putting aside the geographical debate, it’s important for many to realize the cultural connection many Mexicans and Chicanos have to the term Eastside.
For those of us who have grown up in these neighborhoods, “Eastside” is a more than just a place, it’s been a cultural signifier. It represents the communities and the cultures of folks who have lived in Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, City Terrace and the great Easterly Beyond. The term Eastside has been used to describe many sorts of cultural innovations emanating from the people east of the river. One of my favorites is a series of albums from the 70s called East Side Story.
From the backside of the album cover:
The EAST SIDE STORY volumes are dedicated to the Low Riders and to those who appreciate the “soul type” oldies.
Never before has there been a collection of oldies that was created especially for the Low Rider.
This creation is the culmination of years of exposure and dedication to the “soul type” oldies, and the results speak for themselves.
The EAST SIDE STORY volumes are destined to be collectors items that will live on forever, because the very nature of the songs goes to the essence of the way of life of the Low Rider.
The immediate success of the EAST SIDE STORY volumes bears this out only too well.
As far as I know, there were twelve volumes released, with classic favorites like:
Smile Now Cry Later-Sunny
Yes I’m Ready-Barbara Mason
Hypnotized-Linda Jones
Baby I’m For Real-The Originals
Hey There Lonely Girl-Eddie Holman
Natural High-Bloodstone
Me & You-Brenton Wood
[Brenton Wood, an unofficial Chicano hero, was once described by a friend of a friend as “The Mozart of cholo slow jams.”]
These “soul oldies” were popularized by radio personalities like Art Laboe and Huggy Boy and can probably still be heard emanating from lowriders in East LA to Norwalk to Rialto. The albums are sadly out of print but have been re-released in a CD boxset (warning, the tracks on the CDs are not exactly the same as the original releases.)
For more info on this popular Eastside cultural export, check out Land of a Thousand Dances: Chicano Rock n’ Roll from Southern California by David Reyes and Tom Waldman and The Old Barrio Guide to Lowrider Music by Ruben Molina.
Rhino Records also has an excellent collection of Chicano oldies called Brown Eyed Soul, check it out, ese!
Morning bonus, some tunes to listen to while you’re reading:
I Just felt it neccesary being a Young(21) White Englishmen who has only VERY recently come across the eastside story Volumes.
This music is just incredile and amongst all the individual disputes going off this has been forgotten. The artists that made these songs all those years ago would prefer us all to listen and enjoy and remenisce about whatever these songs remind us of or how they make us feel.
Hey Lil Cholo,
I will try and get you the track listing for the album above ASAP.
I noticed the track listings for the albums and the CDs are different. I wonder why?
to lil cholo: well i got all the track lists 4 Vol. 12 except vol. 4 so here ya go.
TRACK 12:
1. EIGHTEEN WITH A BULLET – PETE WINGFEILD
2. STAY IN MY CORONER – THE DELLS
3. FOR YOUR PRECIOUS LOVE – JERRY BUTLER
4. FOOLISH LITTLE GIRL – THE SHIRELLS
5. TRY ME – JAMES BROWN
6. COLOR HIM FATHER – THE WINSTONS
7. YOU’LL LOOSE A GOOD THING – BARBRA LEWIS
8. YES I’M READY – BARBRA MASON
9. CATCH YOU ON THE REBOUND – BRENTONWOOD
10. ALL IN MY MIND – MAXINE BROWN
11. SMILE NOW, CRY LATER – SUNNY & THE SUNLINERS
12. THE TOWN I LIVE IN – McKINLEY MITCHELL
“HOPE THAT HELPED”
Chicanos certainly kept this music alive. A lot of this music would have been compost by now. Just look at some of the names of the artists. Never mind the phrase one hit wonder. A lot of them had no mainstream hits. I find myself not recognizing many of the names, while recognizing the songs, due to the songs being so popular amongst Chicanos I was in high school with. And I know a lot of younger Chicanos today don’t know the names of the artists either. That’s evident listening to shows like Art Laboe and hearing kids requesting the song without knowing the artist. Art usually has to school them. How cool. I hope those shows last forever. It’s amazing they’re still even running, considering the business model of modern day radio. It has to be because there’s still a huge demand. And look at where these shows air…Los Angeles, Riverside, Fresno, San Jose, Cali central coast, Phoenix, El Paso, San Antonio…Chicanos are keeping these obscure soul ballads alive.
YEA I KNOW WAT U MEAN…I GOT THESE BURNT BUT THEY WEREN’T THE SAME AS THE LP’S..I GOT MY CD COLLECTION B4 I EVER HEARD ABOUT THE OTHER NEW CD COLLECTION..”I BELIEVE THERES 3 SETS” 2 CD COLLETIONS AND 1 LP SET.
I DNT GOT VOL 4 ON THE CD COLLECTION.
CLICK ON THIS LINK 4 BAD ASS OLDIES AND OLD-SCHOOL JAMS!
http://www.live365.com/profiles/deelady
aiy those oldies, those oldies…i was telling coworkers that LA neighborhoods each had their own soundtrack.
These songs bring both bittersweet moments of my mom, la chaparrita, strutting down the street (in her tacones, no less) whistling her oogum boogum hotness. it also gets me wistful for family and friends Casper, Bad Boy, Thumper, Hazel, and Valentine lost long ago to jail, drugs and the constant moving that’s part and parcel of the immigrant and underground nomadic lifestyle.
Thanks for leading me to the stroll down memory lane, and I am gonna start calling Culver City South Central 🙂
Lil Cholo
Qvo I have been searching for the Og Eastside Story track listing for about two years. Oldies are my life i grew up with them, and my kids are now enjoying the music. I once had the entire music set on casstte even the gold series. But someone broke in to my car and stole all my tapes and Cds, I replaced the cd’s but not those tapes If you could send me an entire track list, I would be greatful. Maybe i could hook you up with some rare and hard to find oldies list.
Everybody who has made comments previously have made some good points. The main point is that the music that we think of as *Chicano Oldies# is BLACK MUSIC!!! DO not forget that simple fact PLEASE! That DOES NOT mean that it is not still OUR MUSIC!!! As I am writing this I am listening to the original version of “Sad Girl” by Jay Wiggins ( NO PUT DOWN TO WILLIE G. or THEE MIDNITERS!!) so don’t put me down as some sort of anti-Chicano music pendejo. The point is that Chicano Oldies are mainly R&B oldies. I don’t give a damn if we are talking SOUL or OLD SCHOOL or (for us vetaeranos), DOO WOP. Before you youngsters go ape shit about what I just said, you have to realize that for many years the EAST L.A. SOUND was based on R&B by cats like Jesse Belvin, Richard Berry, Hank Ballard (ask Willie G. who his favorite singer was and why he called his group Thee Midniters!) Us old vatos were RAISED on R&B,DOO Wop and SWEET SOUL MUSIC!!! Yeah, we took some of it in another direction, but we all dug BLACK MUSIC! Ask your Abuelita about Central Avenue or the EL Monte Legion Stadium and try to understand! If you still don’t get it, then I guess you were not here in the Hey Day of Whittier Blvd. when we were all groovin on KJFJ and Huggy Boy! All I can say is you lost out!!! For all you cahavalones that are saying “F— You” about now, all I can say is that the East Side was a totally different world back then. Hell man, we ALL spoke English then, along with CALO (Pachuco Spanish for you new comers), but that was then and this is now. My EAST L.A. disappeared along time ago along with the Plush Bunny, car clubs and cruisin’ the BOULEVARD. Too bad, because we had our own identity then, as we weren’t Mexicanos. Salvadorenos, or from any other Central or South American country (we were not Latnos or Hispanics then), WE WERE CHICANOS!!! WE were Chicanos whose fathers fought in WWII, Korea, and who fought in Nam and who didn’t put down the country we live in! So sorry, but you have to understand we had a different mentality and dug American R&B and Rock’N Roll. Like it or not, we had our own groove then (NO drive byes or shooting innocent people). Anyway, the music of East L.A. WAS R&B, BLACK MUSIC that we passed along to the next generation for many years. Sorry that is NOT the case anymore.
Hello R. Ayala,
Thanks so much for your contribution to the comments. I love hearing about the days when people were proud to call themselves Chicanos. My father and uncles all grew up in Boyle Heights during the same time as yourself and they always have the best stories about the neighborhood. Perhaps because of the street cars and increased mobility it offered, they were able to get around town a lot easier than kids in BH nowadays. I sometimes think that’s what helped contribute to the friendlier relations between neighborhoods and various groups back then. cheers!
Lil Chola this is not about hate. It is about leaving a correct historical record. The correct term is R&b or soul. Music created by Black people. There is a Black American culture and the music created by that culture would be Black American music. What we didn’t want?! These classic artist made their first and biggest impact with the support of the Black community. It was Black radio, supported by the Black community, that broke their records and introduced them to those outside the community. It was on the “chitlin circuit” that soul/r&b acts honed their craft and made names for themselves. If not for Black American culture and its support of this music you would not have your beloved oldies. Oldies is not a genre of music, it is a radio format. This was the contemporary music of its time. They were not oldies. You are attempting to rewrite history or you are totally ignorant of the history. The Black community had a strong relationship with these artist. We followed many of these artist from their gospel days into the secular world. Everybody knew of Mary Wells’ marriage/relationships with two of the Womack Brothers. David Ruffins’ volatile ways, Arethas’ relationship woes. Knew who had a drug or drinking problem. This was at a time when the mainstream media did not cover this aspect of Black celebrity life. A small portion of weekly wages were spent on new 45s or a new lp. Money put aside to see them live. We had their backs when nobody else did. Anybody can enjoy this music, but only one group can claim this as a cultural creation.
Most Chicano DJ’s and oldies collectors, what have you, understand full and well that it’s black music and will be the first to admit that whenever it’s brought up. Then there’s some exceptions.
“Lil Cholo”
Lil = small, child like, immature
Cholo = a thug, a thief, and proud of it.
…so, go figure.
Why does Black music sound stupid?! Well Mexican, Cuban, Brazilian, French, Polish, German music must sound just as stupid! And yes some Black folks did invent/create soul music. Nobody was playing r&b/soul until they heard Black folk do it first. Why are you comparing technological inventions and music? Mark Dean, a Black American man, created the ISA bus. It is not a Black invention, anyone could have invented it. Madame C.J. Walker was Americas’ first self made female millionaire, not just the first self made Black female millionaire. Again, any woman could have accomplished that. But forms of music, dance, art, etc., are the result of a peoples experience, history and culture. Nobody has their experiences so nobody else can create their music and dance. Don’t the murals of East LA reflect the culture of the people that painted them? Those Latino artist you mentioned? many of them played r&b/soul music (Black music). Sunny and the Sunliners’ biggest hit was a cover of Little Willie Johns’ “Talk To Me”, Little Joe and the Latinaires covered Barbara Lewis’ “Hello Stranger”, El Chicano Marvin Gaye’s “Whats Going On” and the Jackson 5s “What You Don’t Know won’t Hurt You”. One of Ritchie Valen’s most popular songs was a cover of Robert & Johnny’s “We Belong Together”. These groups you mentioned played R&R, r&b/soul, funk, jazz, music forms created by Black people, therefore Black music. Latinos come in many cultures, races. Ralfi Pagan was a Puerto Rican of African descent whose ancestors came on the same slave ships as Black Americans, but got dropped off at different ports.
I’m not sure who is who commenting here. Lil Cholo, is it possible someone is using your computer to write racist, misogynist missives? For the record, LA Eastside does not tolerate people spewing racist rants so one of your comments was deleted.
Oh, and I don’t “throw up” when I eat “real” Chinese food. It’s delicious!
Great comment, October. Such an insightful take from someone who truly does understand the history of these soulful, timeless sounds.
Wow! I sense aggression… Dear lil Cholo, STOP acting like one.
Well, DJ Chimatli, it looks like Lil Cholo made a request for a rare rola called, “delete my comments”. I think that’s a tune we’d all like to hear!
Lil Cholo, I guess I have to continue to school you. The “immigration” experience of Black Americans is completely different from that of other immigrants in USA. It was not voluntary. We were the only ones stripped of all vestiges of culture, language, religion, etc., Black people started from scratch; new language, religions, music and dance. The African root with influences from the new land created a new culture. Minus the homeland connection we developed an identity crisis. We were colored, negro, Black and now many prefer African American. So the music can be called African American music also. But Africa is a continent not a country. Our culture is an amalgamation of several West African countries. If WE decide to call it Black music that is our choice. You have no say in defining our culture anymore than I have in defining Mexican American or Chicano culture. We know the proper name of OUR music since WE created it. If we say it is Black music it is. And yes soul/r&b is American music. So is gospel, jazz, blues, ragtime, hip hop, funk, house, go-go, R&R, all created by Black people. Black music is American music. And I answered your asinine question about software. Anybody from any culture can invent technology that benefits mankind and many have. But every culture creates their own unique art forms. Again, it was the experience of the AFRICANS in this country that produced this music. It could not have been created by the Chinese, German, French, Polish, etc., because it was a different journey, experience & heritage.
@ Sonny,
Word!! Hey DJ C, spin that s**T! 🙂
Lil’ Cholo,
When this thread started, I was appreciative of your comments and insights. I also thought the debate about whether these oldies are “Chicano” or not has some merit. I think it’s perfectly fine to call the music “Chicano Oldies” cause that’s who listens to it but it is also “Black Music.” I don’t see why the terms have to be mutually exclusive. However, this is not about the debate this is about how to have a respectful conversation on LA Eastside.
The stuff you wrote is intolerable, the name calling is ugly. We don’t need hate like that on LA Eastside. Save it for Fox News. The problem is your vitriol and the extremely negative/offensive terms you are using. Yes, it wasn’t cool of Sonny to call you names, that’s no way to debate. However you took the bait and started calling people bitches (which is misogynist), faggot (why’d you go there?), asses, stupids, etc. that’s just plain embarrassing and disrespectful. You say you’re not racist but can demean and talk about Black culture like you have a right to, which you don’t. Telling an African-American to “go back to Africa” is completely racist. Would you say that in front of Brenton Wood? Dude, instead of getting all crazy and lashing out at everybody, you could have kept this debate reasonable but you didn’t, and that’s pretty sad and disappointing.
Never assume stuff either, yes I have eaten REAL Chinese food and I’m female, so there.
This post is/was about oldies and I trully love and appreciate the memories that they bring. It’s a great and imformative post.
Not saying only “Cholos” are aggressive, only “idiots” are.
Chimatli,
Thanks for the kind words, as I was afraid that you and some of the other contributors might have got me wrong on some points. Sorry about all the typos as I am a terrible typist and proof reader (I seem to only see the goofs after I submit them!). Anyway, I sure as hell am no expert on race relations except to say that Racism sure does not belong on a website devoted to music and the appreciation we as Chicanos have for our oldies. I have to add that the love Chicanos have for R&B is not without its counterpart on the East coast. Back in the day when Alan Freed was a sensation spinning BLACK MUSIC and coining the term Rock & Roll the Italians and the Jews were among the very first ethnic groups to dig the message. Out here in L.A. we had the R&B originators on Central Ave. jamming and creating the R&B which was the basis of what Freed called Rock & Roll. As Johnny Otis has noted, first the aficionados were all Black, then the Chicanos came into the fold, followed later by the White teens. The main point is that we Chicanos have been in the groove almost from the very start! Don Tosti’s Pachuco Boogie is a good place to start if early Chicano music interests you. Incidentally, the cross cultural influence goes both ways. Check out the Ray O Vacs doing a cool version of ‘Besame Mucho’ or the Penguins on ‘Hey Senorita’ and You’ll know what I mean. Don’t forget the Honkers like Chuck Higgins’ ‘Pachuco Hop’ or Joe Houston’s ‘All Night Long’ which was Huggy Boy’s theme song for a while. Flash forward to the Blendell’s ‘Huggy’s Bunnies’ which they recorded as a salute to Mr. Hugg (the flip of ‘La La La La La’ for you vinyl collectors). The point is that BLACK R&B was the SOUND of EAST L.A. for many decades and remains the favorite of many Chicanos TODAY!!! We are extremely loyal fans and have kept the careers of artists like Brenton Wood and Big Jay McNeely going, not to mention deceased artists like Don Julian, Richard Berry, Chuck Higgins, etc. You can still get a taste of this great music on my buddy Bill Gardner’s Rhapsody In Black radio show on KPFK and on my other buddy John Minnicucci’s John’s Attic on KCSN. La musica esta de aquellas, ese! CHICANO OLDIES POR VIDA.
WOW, CHICANO OLDIES, SOUL OLDIES,EAST SIDE STORY OLDIES, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU GUYS OLDIES ARE EVERLASTING ROLLAS. WHETHER THEIR UNDER GROUND OLDIES, CHICANO OLDIES, RARE 45″ OLDIES SO EITHER WAY YOU LOOK AT IT, WHEREVER ANY OLDIES ORIGINATED FROM THERES ALWAYS GONNA BE MAD LOVE FOR OLDIES FOR EVERY NATIONALITY. WHEN I DO MY OLDIES SHOW I PLAY A VERIETY OF OLDIES THEREFORE MY OLDIES REACH OUT TO THE WORLD OF MUSIC LOVERS WHO LOVE OLDIES AND LIKE LISTENING TO THEM.
TUNE INTO http://WWW.831THEMIX.COM TO MY SUNDAY NIGHT OLDIES SHOW AND I’LL SHOW YOU ALL A VARIETY OF OLDIES ON MY SUNDAY NIGHT OLDIES SHOW
ONE LOVE,
DJ MELLOWBOY
This is just like the wild wild west here its great!