Concert
for Garfield High School: Gibson Amphitheater, October 14,
2007
by Mark Guerrero
On October 14, 2007, there was a concert at the Gibson Amphitheater
in Universal City, California to benefit my alma
mater, Garfield High School, whose auditorium had been burned
down by an arsonist earlier in the year. Many other
Chicano musicians are alumni of Garfield, including
members of Los Lobos, El Chicano, Thee Midniters, the Blendells,
Los Illegals, Little Ray Jimenez, Hirth Martinez, and many
others. The lineup for the benefit concert included
Los Lobos, El Chicano, Tierra, Little Joe y La Familia, War,
Little Willie G, Upground, and comedian Rudy Moreno.
All the artists donated their time and talents for the worthy
cause of generating funds that will go toward the rebuilding
of the auditorium. Fred Sanchez, leader, manager, and
bassist/vocalist of El Chicano, upon learning that I was a
graduate of Garfield, graciously invited me to perform with
them at the event. El Chicano and I go back a long way.
In the 60s, my bands Mark & the Escorts and the Men From S.O.U.N.D. were often on the bill with the V.I.P.s, who were
later to become El Chicano. I've performed on the bill
with El Chicano, and sometimes sat in with the band, many
times since over the years. I was pleased to be a part
of their show, but I knew it was going to
be tricky to get to the event on time because I was flying
in from Seattle that day, having just attended the opening
of the "American Sabor: Latinos In U.S. Popular Music"
exhibit at the Experience Music Project Museum, for which
I was a consultant and on the advisory board. El Chicano
was scheduled to perform second at 6 p.m. with my plane arriving
at Ontario airport around 3 p.m., which barely gave me enough
time to get my luggage, get to my car, and drive the hour
or so to Universal City. Upon arrival, I just had enough
time to park, change clothes, and go over the harmonies with
the band backstage in our dressing room. I had only
been at the venue for about 45 minutes when I found myself
on stage with the band in front of about 6,000 enthusiastic
people!
The lineup for El Chicano included founding members Fred Sanchez (bass) and
Bobby Espinoza (organ), Rudy Regalado (timbales), who joined
El Chicano on their third album, "Celebration,"
lead vocalist/guitarist Jerry Salas, a member since the fourth
album, "El Chicano," on which he sang the lead vocal
on their hit record "Tell Her She's Lovely," Ray Carreon (guitar), Sal Rodriguez (drums), who was a member
of Tierra in the late 80s before becoming drummer for War,
Marcos Reyes on congas, also currently a member of War, and
Bertha Oropeza, Dolores DeAngelo, and me on background
vocals. Bertha is a great vocalist who sings with the
popular East L.A. band, Chico. El Chicano's set began
with an uptempo instrumental, "Juntos," from
their 1972 "Celebration" album, which gave all the
players a chance to show their stuff and got the crowd going.
This was followed by El Chicano's break out instrumental hit,
"Viva Tirado," which got a tremendous ovation after
the audience recognized the first few notes. After "Viva
Tirado," Bertha, Dolores and I came out to our vocal
mikes on the right side of the stage to sing background vocals
on "Brown-Eyed Girl," on which Fred and Jerry
shared the lead vocal. Next Bertha was featured on lead
vocal on El Chicano's classic version of "Sabor a Mi,"
which received a thundering response. She sang it beautifully.
At this point, Fred Sanchez introduced the members of the
band. He introduced me by saying (I'm paraphrasing here),
"Mark Guerrero's a singer/songwriter, writer, historian,
man this guy does everything. He's also the son of Lalo
Guerrero and an alumni of Garfield High School."
Much cheering ensued, I'm sure helped along by the mention
of Garfield High School, but I appreciated Fred's kind and
thoughtful introduction. The closing song of the set
was El Chicano's 1974 hit "Tell Her She's Lovely,"
on which Jerry Salas sang lead with Bertha, Dolores, and I
on harmony vocals. Bobby Espinoza also sang harmony
with us on both "Brown-Eyed Girl" and "Tell
Her She's Lovely" so we had plenty of voices to fill
out the harmony parts in a strong and effective way.
Watching Jerry Salas from the stage gave me a unique perspective
to see that he's a dynamic performer as well as an excellent
singer, making him a excellent front man for the band.
El Chicano sounded great from the beginning to the end of
the set and we got a standing ovation after our performance.
I didn't get a chance to hear the other performances because
I was backstage hanging out and talking with many of the musicians
from the other bands, most of whom I've known since the 60s
and 70s. It was a great reunion backstage. I spoke
with Steve and Rudy Salas and Aaron Ballesteros of Tierra,
Sal Rodriguez of War, David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, and Conrad
Lozano of Los Lobos, Little Willie G, Larry Rendon of Thee
Midniters, and many others. There was a very good
feeling and camaraderie backstage. We've all been part
of the same musical community for decades and were all there
to support a worthy cause. There was a television
monitor in the lounge backstage so we could see and hear the bands who were
on stage at the time. I did get a chance however, to
go out to the audience to see the Los Lobos set, which closed
the show. They sounded great. They did of few
of their own songs, including one of my favorites from their
latest album, "Chucos Cumbia." Cesar Rosas
then introduced Little Willie G, who came out and sang several
songs with Los Lobos backing him, including some classics
he recorded with Thee Midniters in the 60s, such as "That's
All." Willie was in great voice and, as always, an
excellent performer. I made my way backstage in
time for the last song which was a medley of "La Bamba" and "Good Lovin'". Many of the
musicians from all the bands went on stage to join Los Lobos'
finale. I wound up center stage sharing a microphone
singing backgrounds with Rudy Salas of Tierra and Bertha Oropeza.
Musicians were singing and dancing around on stage, some getting
on various percussion instruments, while the audience stood
and clapped along with the lights in the amphitheater turned
on. There was a tremendous energy and good feeling in
the auditorium. After the song there were handshakes
and hugs going around on stage and I think everyone was feeling
pretty high about the whole experience.
After the show, a lot of us hung out some more backstage in
the outdoor area and lounge. Some of the people from
the audience were also backstage and I talked to a few with
whom I went to Garfield in the 60s. One guy remembered
seeing me perform with my band, the Men From S.O.U.N.D., in
the Garfield auditorium in 1966! As a matter of fact,
that assembly in the auditorium in 1966 also featured another
popular East L.A. band, the Exotics, and a band called Euphoria
with Conrad Lozano, Los Lobos' future bassist.
As I said, a lot of us go way back. The Garfield High
School auditorium was a classic, probably built in the 40s
or 50s, with a big balcony and a good-sized stage with a system
of curtains. My best memories of the auditorium were
the 1966 assembly, there were actually two assemblies that
day to accommodate the entire student body, and my senior
class play, "Batman." I played guitar with
the orchestra in the pit and performed one song on stage with
Roy Marquez of Thee Midniters. We played guitars and
sang harmony together on the Beatles' version of the Buck
Owens song "Act Naturally." I, like anyone else who
went to Garfield and knew the auditorium, were particularly
sad to hear about it burning down. It was very
personal. Many of the artists who performed for the
benefit, did not attend Garfield, but had great compassion
for what happened and were very happy to be able to
contribute their talents for the cause. It was a great
night for all of us, both musically and for the good
feelings that were pervasive among
the performers and the audience. It was a magical night
that I'm sure we'll all remember.
Garfield Benefit Concert
program cover
Garfield
Benefit Lineup
Mark Guerrero, Fred
Sanchez, and Aaron Ballesteros
