Los Lobos

Dream in Blue

Chris Morris

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9780292705746
• eBook ISBN: 9781477308523
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Biographies

"An overview of the seminal California band's four-decade career . . . A useful cultural history that is sure to please fans and musicologists." — Kirkus Reviews
 
Los Lobos leaped into the national spotlight in 1987, when their cover of "La Bamba" became a No. 1 hit. But what looked like an overnight achievement to the band's new fans was actually a way station in a long musical journey that began in East Los Angeles in 1973 and is still going strong. Across four decades, Los Lobos (Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano, David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez, and Steve Berlin) have ranged through virtually the entire breadth of American vernacular music, from rockabilly to primal punk rock, R&B to country and folk, Mexican son jarocho to Tex-Mex conjunto and Latin American cumbia. Their sui generis sound has sold millions of albums and won acclaim from fans and critics alike, including three Grammy Awards.
 
Los Lobos, the first book on this unique band, traces the entire arc of the band's career. Music journalist Chris Morris draws on new interviews with Los Lobos members and their principal collaborators, as well as his own reporting since the early 1980s, to recount the evolution of Los Lobos's music. He describes the creation of every album, lingering over highlights such as How Will the Wolf Survive?, La Pistola y El Corazon, and Kiko, while following the band's trajectory from playing Mexican folk music at weddings and dances in East LA to international stardom and major-label success, as well as their independent work in the new millennium. Los Lobos gives one of the longest-lived and most-honored American rock bands its due.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Prologue. Cinco de Mayo
• 1. The Neighborhood: Life and Music in East L.A.
• 2. Homeboys: Growing Up and Garfield
• 3. A Beginning: The Founding of Los Lobos del Este de Los angeles
• 4. Recording por La Raza: The Making of Si Se Puede! and Just Another Band from East L.A.
• 5. Happy Hour: Going Electric at Las Lomas and a Baptism of Fire at the Olympic
• 6. Wolves of Hollywood: Los Lobos’ Arrival on the Punk Scene and at the Whisky
• 7. Arrivals: Steve Berlin, Slash Records, T Bone Burnett, and the Grammys
• 8. Quantum Leap: How Will the Wolf Survive?
• 9. Breakdowns: The Graceland Session and By the Light of the Moon
• 10. Numero Uno with a Bullet: La Bamba
• 11. Rooted and Rocked: La Pistola y El Corazón and The Neighborhood
• Photo Section
• 12. Let’s Try This: Kiko, Latin Playboys, and Colossal Head
• 13. Side Tracks: Papa’s Dream, Soul Disguise, Houndog, Dose
• 14. In the Mouse’s House: Disney, Hollywood Records, This Time, and Good Morning Aztlán
• 15. Homecomings: The Ride, The Town and The City, Tin Can Trust
• Epilogue. 40: Back at the Whisky
• Gracias Very Much
• Listening, Reading, and Viewing