H, 1951: I pretty much love everything about this album. It's a testament to the power of authenticity. English producer Joe Boyd reported that a member of Los Lobos had told a friend of his that they had been “just another rock band from East LA until the Fairport Convention recording of ‘A Sailor's Life’ had challenged them to find in their own Mexican traditions something as rich as Fairport had found in their English ones.” Fairport was produced by Boyd, and included Richard Thompson (see #471) among its members. Los Lobos called upon the rich set of musical traditions passed down to them — rock, blues, country, R&B, Mexican, Tex-Mex — to make this album, while making it all uniquely their own. Great stuff. And good to see that this set of wolves is still going strong in 2019.
Los Lobos, How Will the Wolf Survive?
Slash/Warner Bros., 1984, rock
B, 1966: Enjoyed this record, though I am not sure I will find myself going back to it. I appreciate Los Lobos as a cross-cultural, very American band, though I would not say their music really stands out for me in the end. Best track, the rockabilly “Evangeline”
C, 2002: A little too much blues vibe but the second half of the album takes off and is really good. I like los lobos a lot so I was looking forward to this one. Again, wasn’t expecting as much bluesy vibe but I persevered and dig the rest of the record. “The Breakdown” and “Lil King of Everything” are great as well as “Evangeline”.
Published 16 Nov 2019
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