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Mark
Guerrero Bio
Mark
Guerrero grew up in East Los Angeles graduating from James
A. Garfield High School, East L.A. College, and Cal State L.A.,
where he earned a B.A. in Chicano Studies. The son of
the late legendary singer/songwriter Lalo Guerrero began performing
at age 13 with his rock band Mark & the Escorts, who often
shared the bill with storied eastside groups such as Cannibal
& the Headhunters, The Premiers, The Blendells, and Thee Midniters.
His band was included on the album "West Coast Eastside Revue"
along with the aforementioned groups and others. Mark &
the Escorts also recorded two 45 rpm singles in 1965 on GNP
Crescendo Records, "Get Your Baby" and "Dance With Me."
(Mark & the Escorts live on since they've been included on five compilation CDs, featured
or mentioned in seven books, and done reunion shows at garage rock/exotica and
"Eastside Sound" events.) Mark then
led the East L.A. group The Men From S.O.U.N.D., who
were very popular but never made a record. In the late
60s, Mark led a band called Nineteen Eighty Four who recorded
two singles, "Three's a Crowd" and "No Matter How Long It Takes"
on Kapp Records, an MCA label. At the age of 21 Mark wrote and recorded his first
solo single
called "Lila, Love Me Tonight" for legendary producer Lou Adler of the Mamas and the Papas and Carole
King fame. His recording career continued with two singles
on Capitol Records as a solo artist in 1972, "Rock &
Roll Queen" and "I'm Brown," and an album and
single for
A&M Records in 1973-74 with his group Tango, which was re-released
on CD in Japan in 1990.
Mark's "Pre-Columbian
Dream" was recorded by Herb Alpert on the 1983 album
"Noche de Amor" and his "Fernando, El Toro,"
a tribute to Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, was recorded
by his father. The latter song was used twenty years
later on an ESPN documentary on Fernando called "Fernandomania."
The two Guerrero's collaborated on numerous songs recorded
by the elder songwriter and Mark has written and performed
songs featured in the television productions, "Murals
of Aztlán," about L.A.'s Chicano muralists, and "L.A.:
An Artist's View," which profiled L.A.'s artists for
the city's bicentennial. Both programs included segments
on legendary Chicano artist, Carlos Almaraz. In 1989,
Mark recorded and co-produced an E.P. entitled "On The
Boulevard," which was released on the Eastside Landmark
label and contained four Mark Guerrero original songs.
In 1992, Mark wrote and performed tribute songs for the aforementioned
Carlos Almaraz at the Bing Theater at the L.A. County Museum,
and for his father, Lalo Guerrero, at his tribute concert
at the McCallum Theater in Palm Desert, California.
Other guests at the Guerrero event included Edward James Olmos,
Cheech Marin, Paul Rodriguez, and Cesar Chavez.
In 1994, Mark
co-produced an album entitled "Fifties Flashback"
with pioneer Chicano rocker Chan Romero, whose song "The
Hippy Hippy Shake" can be heard on the Beatles' "Live
at the BBC" album. Mark has recorded with Harry
Nilsson, backed rock & roll hall of famer Eric Burdon
in a live concert, and participated on Los Lobos' 1994 Grammy
nominated "Papa's Dream" L.P. In 1998, he
performed with his father and Tex Mex legend Flaco Jimenez
at the Cite de la Musique in Paris, France, which was followed
by a series of about a dozen concerts with Lalo between 1998
and 2000. Highlights in this series of concerts included
performances at the Getty Center in Los Angeles and in Lalo's
hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Two of Mark's recordings
were included on the "Chicano Alliance" CD in 1998,
which also includes tracks by Tierra, El Chicano, Malo, Little
Joe, and others. In 2002, Mark started a new band as
a vehicle for his original material called Mark Guerrero &
Radio Aztlán. They performed at the Galaxy Theater in
Santa Ana, CA and The Hop in Puente Hills, CA on the bill
with Malo and Tierra, as well as a concert at La Placita
Village in Tucson, AZ. In 2003, they performed again
in Tucson and at the Gene Autry Museum in Los Angeles with
Thee Midniters. The latter concert was to publicize
the then then upcoming documentary "Chicano Rock: The Sounds
of East Los Angeles,"
in which Mark appears. Since then Mark Guerrero &
Radio Aztlán performed at venues such as the John Anson
Ford Amphitheater, the Latin Oldies Festival at Arrowhead
Stadium in San Bernardino, the Grand Ballroom of the Kodak
Theater in Hollywood, the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, AZ, the
Fox Theater in Tucson, AZ, and the L.A. County Museum of Art.
In 2003
and again in 2009 and 2010,
Mark Guerrero performed as a member of the legendary Native
American/Chicano band, Redbone of "Come and Get Your Love"
fame. In 2004, two of Mark's
songs were recorded by legendary Chicano singers: "Oh
Maria" by Trini Lopez and "Rockin' Like There's
No Tomorrow" by Chan Romero. Mark played lead guitar
on the recordings of both songs. In 2004 and 2006, Mark
visited Liverpool, England and performed at several venues,
including the legendary Cavern Club, with Liverpool musicians
from the Beatle era, including Kingsize Taylor & the Dominoes
and members of Faron's Flamingos and the Undertakers.
In 2007, Mark performed with El Chicano at the Gibson Amphitheater
in Studio City, CA on the bill with War, Tierra, Little Joe
y La Familia, and Los Lobos for a benefit to help rebuild
the auditorium for his alma mater Garfield High School in
East Los Angeles. In 2010 he played the same venue with El
Chicano and at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
Mark Guerrero
is mentioned in "The Folk Music Sourcebook," published
by Alfred A. Knopf (1976); "Barrio Rhythm" by Steven Loza, University of Illinois Press (1993);
"Riot On the Sunset Strip" by Dominic Priore, Jawbone Press
(2007), and featured in "Land of a Thousand Dances," by
Tom Waldman and David Reyes, University of New Mexico Press
(1998). He's also featured in and wrote and compiled
the discography for "Lalo, My Life and Music," by
Lalo Guerrero and Sherilyn Meece Mentes, University of Arizona
Press (2002). Mark also hosts a popular website, www.markguerrero.com,
which gives information on his music, as well as Chicano music
in general. The articles he's written on Chicano music
artists have also appeared in various websites, newspapers,
and magazines, including "Traditional Music Maker"
in England. Mark has spoken at colleges, museums, and
other venues on Chicano music
and wrote an entry on the same subject for the two volume
"Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture," published
by Greenwood Publishing Group (2004). In 2006, Mark
Guerrero hosted his own internet radio show called "Chicano
Music Chronicles" on www.crnlive.com.
He did shows on Trini Lopez,
Chan Romero, El Chicano, Tierra, and many others, with the
artists in studio. Mark
was music supervisor and provided his song "The Ballad
of Lalo Guerrero" for a documentary on his father called
"Lalo Guerrero, the Original Chicano." The
documentary, produced by his brother Dan, aired on PBS in
the fall of 2006.
In 2007,
Mark Guerrero was a consultant and served on the advisory
board for the Experience Music Project, a major museum in
Seattle, Washington. Mark provided artifacts and interviewed
a dozen Chicano musical artists for an exhibit at the museum
called "American Sabor: Latinos is U.S. Popular
Music," which opened in October of 2007 and ran for
several years on a tour of museums culminating at the
Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. The
interviews are now a part of a permanent oral history
archive at the Experience Music Project. Mark was also interviewed for
the archive. In 2008-09, Mark's Capitol record "I'm
Brown," along with his original lyric manuscript, were
featured in the Grammy Museum in an exhibit called "Songs of Conscience, Sounds
of Freedom." Mark appeared in the documentary "Chicano Rock: The Sounds
of East Los Angeles," which premiered on PBS nationally in
December of 2008. He also performed and was a talent
coordinator on a PBS special "Trini Lopez Presents Latin
Music Legends," which aired in June of 2009. Mark
sang his dad's "Los Chucos Suaves" backed by Tierra on the
show. In
February of 2009, Mark reunited his teenage band Mark & the
Escorts to perform at "Blowout 2009" on a bill with 13
bands. In April of 2009, Mark reunited his 70s band
Tango to perform at East Los Angeles College for an event
celebrating the new edition of the book "Land of a Thousand
Dances" by David Reyes and Tom Waldman.
In 2010, Mark performed concerts with the Cannibal
& the Headhunters Band, Redbone, and his own Mark Guerrero band.
With the Cannibal & the Headhunters Band, Mark performed on a PBS special
taped in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the bill with ? & the Mysterians,
Paul Revere & the Raiders, Davey Jones of The Monkees, and
others. Also with the Headhunters he backed Denny Laine (Wings, Moody Blues), Joey
Molland (Badfinger), Terry Sylvester (Hollies), Dennis Tufano (Buckinghams),
and Sonny Geraci (Outsiders, Climax) on a tour called Retrorock. In
2009 Mark performed with Redbone in Sacramento, CA and in 2010
in El Paso, Texas. Also,
in 2010, Mark performed with his own band at Fiesta Days in Palm
Springs, California on the bill with Malo, El Chicano, Tierra,
and The Blazers. He also performed solo in Santa Fe, New
Mexico, where he did a concert consisting of Mark and Lalo
Guerrero songs in tribute to his father. In 2011, Mark &
the Escorts reunited twice more to perform at the legendary
Paramount Ballroom in East Los Angeles on the bill with The
Premiers, Chan Romero, The Salas Brothers, and The
Heartbreakers, and at Tiki Oasis, a garage rock/exotica event in
San Diego, California. The same year Mark performed his
song "Whitewash," a song about the whitewashing of a mural by
Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros in 1932, at an exhibit
of the artists work at the Autry Center in Los Angeles.
In 2012,
Mark performed as a special guest at a concert following the
last night of the musical play "Evangeline, The Queen of Make
Believe," which was co-written by Louie Perez of Los Lobos.
Mark also performed on the bill with Salvador Santana, the son
of Carlos Santana, in East Los Angeles and performed his song
"The Ballad of Carlos Almaraz" at an exhibit of the late
artist's work at the Vincent Price Museum at East Los Angeles
College. Mark also did three videos of his songs directed
by Chicano filmmaker/activist Jesus Trevińo. In 2013, Mark
did two more reunion shows with Mark & the Escorts, one at
"Blowout 2013" in Burbank, CA and at a benefit for Norton
Records at the Echo in Los Angeles. Mark also did
lecture/performances in tribute to his father at Arte Americas
in Fresno, CA and at the Nile in Bakersfield, CA. He also
performed at a tribute to Ritchie Valens in Santa Fe Springs. Mark's
currently performing solo and with the Mark Guerrero Band and
continuing to do lecture/performances at universities and
other venues.

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