Amid Ranchera

The following tracks are all taken from Latin records that are full of cowboy hat wearing ranchera tunes. First off, is a track called "Frijole con Puerco" or as they shout out at the beginning, "Pork and Beans." I picked this record up at the same Goodwill I mentioned in my previous posts. With the name "Los Socios Del Ritmos" and a Perez Prado cover I had to pick it up and was totally blown away when this song came up. Once again the keyboards kick ass, but the horns and guitar almost give the song a reggae feel.

Next is a track taken from the album pictured above. I've noticed that a lot of these records will have one huge track with a medley of songs. So, after two or three fast paced polka type tunes punctuated by "gritas" Orquesta Casino decided to throw in a wicked fast cover of War's "Cisco Kid". I left a little bit of the next song so you can hear the transition.


Thirdly, is a track by Little Joe and the Latinaires from Texas. I believe Little Joe is a legend in TexMex music and even plays today. I totally picked this record up on the strength of the album cover. Once again, amid plenty of very latin type tunes we are given a nice version of the Shocking Blue's "Venus". Interestingly, they cite the writing credits as "unknown". I suppose they did that for copyright reasons. Wait, are the Shocking Blue even the writers of the track?

My final track is a 45 that I found on top of a garbage can on Bryant and 24th street here in San Francisco. There were a bunch of Latin tunes and some oldies records but this is the only thing I ended up keeping. The 45 looked like it had never been played. The song is called "Abuelita Rock" and is credited to the group Andalucia. I have no information on them except for they rock and sound like a bunch of kids.


Frijol Con Puerco by Los Socios Del Ritmo from Chilito piquin Vamos A Platicar
Cisco Kid by Orquesta Casino from Sabor!
Venus by Little Joe and the Latinaires from Mas Arriba
Abuelita Rock by Andalucia from 45 single