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Mark Guerrero Enshrined in the Grammy
Museum
Mark Guerrero
may not be a household name but he follows
a legacy established by his late father,
Lalo Guerrero.
In this report, our correspondent
Ramon Hernandez outlines Guerrero's musical
contributions.
The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles was officially
opened on December 6th and among those honored
with an exhibit is Mark Guerrero.
Not only is this an honor, but a great
accomplishment for the singer-songwriter-musician,
who is the youngest son of the legendary Lalo
Guerrero, the acknowledged “Father of
Chicano Music.”
The display features the 59-year-old’s
controversial 45 rpm single “I’m
Brown,” a photo of his band at that
time, and the original manuscript of his lyric
in “Songs of Conscience, Songs of Freedom,”
the first major museum exhibit to explore
the full 200-year history of music and politics
in America. Guerrero’s artifacts can
be seen on the second floor of the four-floor
facility where his peers are Woody Guthrie,
Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne plus many other
musical innovators.
“I wrote ‘I’m Brown’
when I was 21 and in 1972, I recorded it as
a solo artist,” Guerrero said during
an interview at his home in Cathedral City,
California.
“It was sort of a protest
song, but the chorus says, ‘Don’t
you know I’m brown, Can’t you
see my face, but I’m first a member
of the human race.’ I’m proud
of that song because it expresses Chicano
pride, but also says, ‘hey, I’m
first a human being.’ I also love the
music and the magical atmosphere of the recording.
“It came out on Capitol Records,
but they didn’t promote it for probably
a lot of reasons. One reason is that it was
almost five minutes long at a time when records
were normally three minutes. But who knows,
there might have been some other things behind
the scenes, like, ‘Oh, it’s kind
of radical and who’s going to buy that.
So they may have just buried it.
“The next year, when I had a sort
of country-rock group call Tango, I was signed
to A&M Records, ‘I’m Brown’
was included on our album as well, so it came
out twice. However, we didn’t get to
tour, so the album sort of died on the vine.
Nobody knows about that record because it
kind of got buried in these two situations,”
the 59-year-old composer revealed.
In spite of the lack of exposure, airplay
or touring to promote the record, the single
which was practically shelved did not go unnoticed
since it was selected by the Grammy Museum
as an important part of musical history.
For Texans not familiar with Guerrero,
he grew up in East Los Angeles. At 13, he
formed Mark & the Escorts, who often shared
the bill with hit bands such as Cannibal and
the Headhunters, The Premiers, and Thee Midniters.
Mark & the Escorts were also included
on the 1965 album “West Coast Eastside
Revue,” which featured all the top East
L.A. bands of the era.
He was a student at Garfield High School
when at 15, he recorded his first two singles,
“Dance With Me” and “Get
Your Baby.” Many of the popular
musicians who were part of the East L.A. music
scene at the time went to Garfield, including
The Blendells and a couple of future members
of Los Lobos. This is also the high
school that a decade later had on its faculty
the phenomenal math teacher, Jaimé Escalane
on whom the movie “Stand and Deliver”
was based.
Next he led “The Men
from S.O.U.N.D.” and at 21, he wrote
and recorded the Chicano equivalent of James
Brown’s “I’m Black and I’m
Proud” and Helen Reddy’s “I
Am Woman,” and which became his most
famous opus.
Guerrero is a musician because he plays
guitar, bass and keyboards, but along the
way, he also became a radio personality as
the host of “Chicano Music Chronicles,”
on crnlive.com based out of Phoenix, Arizona.
“The idea of the show is that I would
pick about a dozen of my favorite songs by
the guest artist and we’d talk about
them, each song and about their career,”
Guerrero explained. “Some of my guests
were Trini Lopez, Chan Romero, Tierra, and
El Chicano.” “Each show
ranged from about an hour to two hours and
you can still hear them on my website.”
That brings us to the living legend’s
latest feather in his cap, that of being webmaster
of his own website. At
www.markguerrero.net, he chronicles
the history of Chicano music. And without
realizing it, he also became a musicologist
and writer since his site features in-depth
interviews with a ‘who’s who in
Chicano music. It is also here that La Prensa’s
readers can receive a detailed crash course
on Guerrero’s illustrious musical career.
Fast forwarding all the way to the present,
the singer-songwriter-musician is also featured
in “Chicano Rock: The Sounds of East
Los Angeles,” a PBS documentary that
aired on December 14, 2008 and will continue
to be intermittently aired throughout the
remainder of this year. Check
www.pbs.org or your local TV Guide
for future airings.
“It’s a great one-hour documentary
that tells the story of particularly the Chicano
rock & rollers out of East L.A. and I’m
in a couple of interview spots and a performance
spot.
“The graphics, the way it’s
put together, the way the story is told –
it touches on the discrimination that we’ve
gone through and it talks about the Chicano
Movement and the radicalization of the music,
the riots in East L.A., the Viet Nam War,
etc.,” Guerrero raved. “It touches
on not just the music, but the sociology and
the history around it. It’s really inspiring.
“I also want to tell you about the
Trini López television special that we just
taped on November 11 at the Orpheum Theater
in downtown Los Angeles. It was a seven high-definition
camera shoot for PBS and it is called ‘Trini
López Presents Latin Music Legends.’
Tierra backed me up on my dad’s ‘Los
Chucos Suaves,’ then Trini came out
and did a few songs with a big band.”
As we were talking, his cell phone rang
and it was Trini López, who almost lives next-door
to Guerrero in Palm Springs. Excusing his
self, without losing his excited state and
without skipping a beat he continued, adding
the other performers on the special; Little
Willie G. & Thee Midniters, El Chicano,
Tierra, and the Gregg Rolie Band. Also, Los
Lobos, Julio Iglesias, and José José provided
videos which will be inserted into the show.
While Guerrero’s noteworthy achievements
have brought him national recognition and
high prestige, he still has to make a living.
So as he says, “I perform five nights
a week at Las Casuelas Terraza, an outdoor
nightclub in Palm Springs. (Not to be mistaken
with Las Casuelas Nuevas in Rancho Mirage
where his father performed for many years.)
“This is my ‘meat and potatoes,’
‘pay the bills’ gig and we (Hot
Rox) are a great cover band. So I don’t
do any original material because it’s
really a ‘top 40’ kind of gig.
As for the future, Guerrero said, “Chan
Romero and I are planning to go Liverpool
(England) this summer and perform together.
“On February 21st, I’m doing
a re-union concert with Mark and the Escorts.
We haven’t played together since 1966.
I got five of the original members and we’re
going to perform in Van Nuys at a garage rock
’n’ roll blow out kind of concert.
There’s going to be 13 bands and out
of the thirteen, there are two Chicano sixties
bands from East L.A., that’s us and
Thee Ambertones. I’m pretty excited
about the show and am going to video tape
our performance and put it up on ‘you
tube.’
This is a ‘don’t miss’
event and as long as you’re in Los Angeles,
go check out his exhibit in the Grammy Museum.
For its hours and exact location, go to
www.grammymuseum.org.
If this article has sparked your interest
in Guerrero’s repertoire, his recordings
are available at
www.markguerrero.net. In addition,
you may view seventy videos of the Grammy
Museum honoree in action at
www.youtube.com/markguerrero49,
about twenty of those are with his father
Lalo.
Fans can also meet Mark when he comes to
San Antonio for the “American Sabor”
exhibit that will run at Museo Alameda from
June 17 to September 20. |
