Rock En Espanol Vol. One

Los Straitjackets – Rock en Espanol
Reviewed by Sadie O., 4/16/07
Covers of Mexican covers of American/British rock from the 60’s, with guest vocals from Big Sandy (Fly-Rite Boys), Little Willie G, and Cesar Rosas (Los Lobos, duh!) There was a huge tradition of these Mexican cover bands, which featured greater or lesser polish, but lots and lots of passion for Rock ‘n’ Roll. One of the best was Los Apson, whose inexplicable reinterpretation of Dizzy Miss Lizzy as “El Microscopico Bikini” is lovingly recreated. Check the liner notes for the other songs’ backgrounds. As a tribute to a great and largely unappreciated (outside of stores like “Discolandia”) musical form, this is a highly enjoyable outing.
No FCCs - almost all in Spanish - the songs were clean to begin with…
I like 7 best, then 5, 8 and 11… All are lots of fun.
1. 2:20 **Just like the original, but with Big Sandy singing in Spanish.
2. 2:42 **sweet slightly downtempo cha cha with lovely vocals by Cesar Rodas, custom made for slow dancing. Awww!
3. 2:45 **rockin’ instrumental, just right for drag racing in East LA.
4. 3:03 **downtempo Beatles cover
5. 2:51 ***wildly rocking outing. Yippee yay!
6. 2:39 ** well, no one does Brenton Wood like Brenton Wood, after all… Still, fun enough. Slightly skewed guitar solo…
7. 3:12 ****nicely fuzzy guitar – reminds me of why I got into Rock ‘n’ Roll in the first place!
8. 2:52 ***twist a frug a gogo! Strait outa da garage…
9. 3:19 **same like the original – very nice vocals. whacked out guitar…
10. 2:49 **sweet, innocent… Much lighter and slow-dancey than Jackie Wilson’s original.
11. 3:08 ***oh yeah, we’re rockin’ now! Twistable, but with lots of growl in the instruments.
12. 3:37 **such a pretty cha cha! I’m sure Marty Robbins would love this cover. Great vocals and guitar – downtempo and lovely…
13. 2:43 **from “Wild Thing” to “Loco”… well, whatever works! Inspired vocals by Little Willie G, half in English.
14. 3:03 *slow dance time! Grab your sweetie…