Los Lonely Boys heat up Higher Ground
The comparisons with Carlos Santana are more than apt, but the brothers Garza — Henry on guitar, JoJo on bass, the appropriately named Ringo on drums and all three on vocals — mix in a Tex-blues vibe that adds guitar-driven rock heft to their blues music and a heartfelt blues tone to their rock music.
The Boys’ latest disc, “Forgiven,” came out this summer on Epic Records. Their third studio album, “Forgiven” shows the trio’s versatility with the crunching opener “Heart Won’t Tell a Lie,” the pop smoothness of “Staying With Me,” the breezy Latin folk of “Loving You Always” and the psychedelic wah-wah of “I’m A Man,” a cover of the tune by the Spencer Davis Group.
Los Lonely Boys will play Sunday at Higher Ground with opening act Dave Barnes, a singer-songwriter and Nashville native who’s been on the road recently with the likes of Taylor Swift and Bonnie Raitt. He’s touring in support of his recent disc “Me and You and the World.”
Breakthrough Spanish song still going strong
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By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – “La Bamba” was the first Spanish-language song to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and its universal catchiness has led to big business for the hundreds-of-years-old Mexican folk tune.
Singer-songwriter Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” made it to No. 22 on the chart in 1959 — the year of his untimely death in a plane crash — but it wasn’t until 1987 that the song reached No. 1, in the form of Los Angeles band Los Lobos’ cover of the song from the Valens biopic “La Bamba.”
The soundtrack from the movie shipped more than 2 million copies, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. That success ushered in “La Bamba” covers by everyone from regional Mexican stars Selena and Valentin Elizalde to Wyclef Jean, Jose Feliciano and animation character Dora the Explorer (featuring Los Lonely Boys). Don Ho and Dusty Springfield also have recorded the song; Valens’ copyrighted arrangement has had 1,187 licenses for mechanical and digital use registered with the Harry Fox Agency (HFA) since it was added to the agency’s system in 1973.
“There’s so few songs that have over a thousand licenses,” HFA Latin licensing agent Eduardo Morales said. “It’s basically things like Christmas songs, ‘La Bamba’ and ‘Happy Birthday.'”
The song’s popularity has remained strong, with publisher EMI Longitud issuing licenses for everything from karaoke machines to fitness videos, children’s musical toys and “American Idol: World’s Worst Auditions.”
A recent license for “La Bamba” went to Sega for its rhythmic videogame “Samba de Amigo,” which is being released for the Wii after previous incarnations in arcades and on Dreamcast.
Reuters/Billboard
FORGIVEN REVIEW –
Forgiven
By Alan Sheckter
More stories by this author…
Success can be elusive in the music business, but some artists seemed destined for the top. In 2004, the success of Los Lonely Boys’ self-titled debut and hit single “Heaven” seemed to foreshadow superstardom for the brothers Garza, the pride of San Angelo, Texas. Unfortunately, the “Texican” rock ’n’ rollers’ sophomore effort, Sacred, disappeared from the charts after a few weeks in 2006 despite a big push from Sony/Epic. Which brings us to Forgiven. The new, crisply produced 12-tune disc delivers plenty of Henry’s scintillating, Steve Ray Vaughn-reminiscent guitar licks (even on the slow numbers), Jojo’s steady bass and smooth vocals, and Ringo’s—yes, Ringo’s—overachieving drum beats. Swamp rocker Dr. John lends keyboard support. Forgiven includes several fine romantic soft-rockers; the first single, “Staying With Me,” a love song sure to make the band’s large female fan-base swoon, is hovering near the Top 10 of Billboard’s Adult Album Alternative chart. While this album doesn’t offer anything as epic as the first album’s grand jam-fest, “Onda,” the Boys kick out a sizzling version of the Spencer Davis Group’s “I’m A Man” that leaves little doubt about the trio’s ability to flex its muscle. Good stuff!
Boys' day out – Boston.com
It’s a good day to be a Los Lonely Boys fan. This afternoon, the Grammy-winning Tejano-rock act will be at WGBH for a preview screening of the documentary “Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields and Crossroads,” which premieres on WGBH2 on Sept. 17. After taking questions from fans at the premiere, the Garza brothers will head over to play hits like “Heaven” and songs from the new album “Forgiven” at the Paradise. The show will also feature Nashville blues-rocker Dave Barnes. WGBH: 2:30 -4:30 p.m. Free. Yawkey Theater, 1 Guest St., Brighton. 617-300-5465. www.wgbh.org (Online RSVP required). Paradise Rock Club: 8 p.m. $30. 967 Commonwealth Ave., 617-562-8800. thedise.com[M.G.]
Singing siblings offer easy listening – Vermon Morning Star
Vernon Morning Star
By Dean Gordon-Smith – Vernon Morning Star
Published: September 04, 2008 6:00 PM
Updated: September 04, 2008 6:50 PM
Early on in their career, Los Lonely Boys (Henry, JoJo and Ringo Garza) was over-simply lumped with the tag of being a Tex-Mex mix of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Santana.
Although worse comparisons could be made, that one seems to be short-sighted as the Boys favour material and arrangements that stray a fair distance from the blues/rock standard of Vaughan clones and the wailing Latin rock percussion of Santana acolytes.
Muted traces of Santana can be heard in their work here on Staying With Me, a sweet melodic rock ballad, and rural folk sounds also appear. The same goes for Loving You Always.
A strong strain of melodic pop runs through Forgiven – a characteristic responsible for their earlier hit, Heaven. The band tempers this with jaunty and earthy ensemble grooving that’s blessed with tasteful chops in abundance. Producer Steve Jordan (John Mayer, Keith Richards) and the group use these wisely, which result in some subtly sophisticated arrangements.
The pop aspect of the Boys is due to their easy-sounding, three-part vocal harmonies. This is an interesting phenomenon sometimes seen in groups with singing siblings. This layered sound is all over Forgiven, as is the shifting lead vocal duty.
A telling sign of a solid recording can be its seemingly speedy play time and Forgiven definitely doesn’t linger over long in a disc player. An impression is left of a group that is listening for and exploring different textures and moods within their music.
The Boys take their sound far beyond the confines that are usually inhabited by blues/rock trios and you can hear different influences filtering through (jazz, folk, R&B) that are given a spirited jolt of fire from the group.
Los Lonely Boys bring Texican rock to the Keswick – Montgomery County News
And that’s what fans of Los Lonely Boys will see – that spirit of family – when the group comes to the Keswick Theatre for one show at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11.
“It’s always got a family feel because we’re three brothers doing the same thing,” said Henry Garza, who along with Jo Jo and Ringo forms Los Lonely Boys. They are the sons of Ringo Garza Sr., who also was in a band made up of his brothers called the Falcones, which played in southern Texas in the 1970s and ’80s.
“We see ourselves as brothers who are blessed from the good Lord above. We were never trying to be anything. We’re proud and happy to be where we are, playing music.”
Los Lonely Boys burst onto the scene in 2003 with a self-titled album that featured the mega-hit “Heaven,” which catapulted them into prime time and made the Texas trio one of the most acclaimed new acts in rock music.
The multi-platinum album, which was recorded at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales recording studio in Austin, Texas, produced a No. 1 song in “Heaven” and notched the group a Grammy Award for “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group” in 2005.
“The first album was really positive and felt very good and we had our whole lives to prepare for it,” said Henry Garza during a recent telephone interview from his bus on the way to kick off a three-month tour at the Harley Davidson 105th Celebration in Milwaukee, Wis.
“The second album (“Sacred” in 2006) was kind of rushed. We’re still proud of it, but it was nowhere near as successful as the first album,” said Garza.
The group’s third studio album, “Forgiven,” which was released July 1, “just shows a different side of our lives, the bumps in the road, so to speak,” said Garza.
“The name of the album, the artwork on the album, the songs on the album – it all just kind of unfolded naturally,” said Garza. “It’s a time in our careers where we’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re still here, we’re not going anywhere.’
“Music is what we do and we love doing it. At the same time, we try to make it feel positive and spread the message that we can do the music that we believe in our hearts,” he said.
And whatever happens with the successes and albums and touring, it always comes back around to family, according to Garza.
“Being brothers, it’s a beautiful thing, man,” he said. “It’s just something that we do naturally and the audience that sees us feels that when they’re around us. They feel that family essence, that strength of spirit.”
That’s why at the Keswick gig – even though Garza said to expect the unexpected – the family theme will be evident.
“What I can tell you, what you’ll see is Los Lonely Boys doing what they do best, and that’s playing music together and being in front of people,” said Garza. “Expect to have a good family time. Good heart, good feelings and good music.”
Garza said it’s not the first trip to the Philadelphia area for Los Lonely Boys.
“We love Philly,” he said. “But it’s a lot more city than where I grew up.”
at the Keswick Theatre,
Easton Rd. & Keswick Ave.,
Glenside, PA 19038,
Thursday, Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $38 & $29.50.
Info: 215-572-7650 or
www.keswicktheatre.com.
For Los Lonely Boys, playing live's the thing – Courier Post
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2008: The summer of musical fun in review – Grand Rapids Press
Posted by John Sinkevics | The Grand Rapids Press September 03, 2008 09:21AM
So now that August is behind us, it’s time to recap the chaotic — and mostly satisfying — summer of music that kept me hopping, covering more than two dozen concerts/shows from May through August.
Best show of the summer: The Aug. 7 Los Lonely Boys/Los Lobos show at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture (absolutely riveting performances by both bands; the best shows I’ve ever seen either of them give). A close second was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ tour-opening May 30 show at Van Andel Arena, with opening act Steve Winwood. The very definition of cool. I should have figured this would signal an astounding summer of music in West Michigan.