Coming out of East LA, the Blendells, along with the Premiers and Thee Midniters were at the apex of Chicano "Brown Eyed Soul"; all of these bands released scads of great records that were very influential on the west coast. Sadly, many of these excellent musicians were drafted into the Vietnam War, effectively ending their shots at continued stardom.
This track, with absolutely infectious energy and groove, takes on Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips Part 2" and throws it in a blender along with some cilantro and southern California heat and turns it into an absolute party classic. I played this song out recently in a DJ set and about a half dozen people came up to me and asked what it was.
Recorded live in Fullerton, CA (the Orange County city that was also home to Fender Guitars as well as a strong Latino community), I can only imagine how cool these guys looked up there onstage with all of their locally built Fender gear and hip suits. Ahhh, to go back in time...
from 1965...
THE BLENDELLS - LA LA LA LA LA
5 comments:
you may see them over here :
http://www.markguerrero.com/pa5.php
i never minded it : astonishing how young !
(nice suits ,too)
that's GREAT! Thanks for sending.
The Persuasions version is also great - from '66 I think...
Actually from 1964. It was on the charts in LA in Jul & was in the top 5 for the entire month of Aug at KRLA.
Stevie Wonder did the original - it's on the same LP as "Fingertips".
All those Faro/Rampart releases (Rampart was the original label for this one) were supposedly recorded "live" at The Rhythm Room in Fullerton, CA, but I read somewhere that they were studio recordings with fake audience noise added on.
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