This page feature scans of band cards from the East
L.A. bands of the 1960s. I've removed any address or
phone number information for the privacy of current residents
who may have the phone number now. In some cases where
the card was shiny or a bright color, I had to lessen the
color in order to make the printing readable. Some cards
have comments below them. Below is a list of the bands
represented on the band cards.
Bands
Represented on the Band Cards Below (Three manager's cards are included.)
The Blue Tones / The
Escorts / Mark & the Escorts / The Men from S.O.U.N.D.
/ Los Lobos / Thee Midniters
/ Lil Ray & the Progressions / The Blue Satins / Thee Ambertones
/ The Romancers / The Blendells
/ The Premiers / The Jaguars with the Salas Brothers
/ Ronnie & the Casuals
/ The Sisters / The Rhythm Playboys / The Royal Jesters / The Heartbreakers
/ The Emeralds / The Exotics
/ Thee Counts / The Enchantments
/ The Desires / The Four
Queens / Thee Impalas with The SlausonBrothers / Velvetones
/ The Vesuvians / Art & the Fabulons /
Art & the Nite Liters
/ The V.I.P.s / Mello-Tones / Bobby & the Esquires / The Artistics / The Apollos / Shaggy & the Superiors
/ The
Blue Notes / The Imperials / Mickey & the Invaders /
The Leisures
/ Village Callers / 2/3 Majority / Ray & the Idols
/ Thee Essents /
The Medallions Band / Connection The Band / Thee In Crowd / Faro Productions /
Ego Productions/ Brown Bag Productions
The first band I was ever in. I was 12 years
old and played alto sax!
My first band (1963)
We evolved to six members with a slight change
of name (1964)
We grew to seven members (1965) (Note the old English type that was in vogue.)
Our band card with Billy Cardenas as our manager
(1965)
Mark & the Escorts changed its name (1966)
Our new
name came from the popular television show at
the time, the Man from U.N.C.L.E. The image above is
a silhouette of John Lennon on the outside of the card, which folded
over. The
Man From U.N.C.L.E. show used a silhouetted image
of a man with a gun as a logo.
We used a silhouette
of Lennon with a guitar.
This rare card is from the early-70s. It features
Los Lobos' original longer name.
Thee Midniters' early 60s card, when George Salazar
was their drummer.
(Thee
Midniters were the most popular band on the Eastside
in the mid-60s)
The Progressions was Little Ray's excellent band
in the mid-60s.
The Blue Satins were one of the best East L.A. bands
in the mid-60s.
They were a big band with
a horn section.
One of the more popular bands on the Eastside in
the mid-60s.
One of the pioneer 60s East L.A. bands
Mid-60s Blendells card with an incorrect spelling
of the name.
It has an apostrophe after the
second "e."
(The
Blendells reached #62 on the national charts in
1965
with their record, "La La La La La.")
Rare early Premiers card with the old spelling of
the name, Premieres.
(The
Premiers reached #19 on the national charts in 1964
with their record "Farmer John.")
Mid-60s Premiers card also with the old spelling
of the name, Premieres
The Jaguars' vocalists were Rudy and Steve Salas,
who later founded Tierra.
East L.A.'s female vocal group.
Sister, Ersi
Arvisu would later become lead vocalist with El
Chicano
The Royal Jesters later changed their name to the
Rhythm Playboys (card above).
The
Royal Jester's lead singer was Frankie Garcia,
later
Cannibal of Cannibal & the Headhunters.
Frankie also sang with the Rhythm Playboys
before joining Cannibal & the Headhunters.
One of the best bands in East L.A. in the 60s.
They
were also one of the few Eastside bands, Mark &
the Escorts included, to do Beatle covers.
A later Emeralds card
The yellow
top image was the front of the card, which folded
at the center.
The lower image was inside the
folding card.
My mid-60s band, Mark & the Escorts, had a great
rivalry with the Exotics.
They were an excellent
band, particularly strong with blues-based covers
such as songs by the Rolling Stones, Kinks, etc.
Bobby
Delgado, formerly of the Exotics, is still playing
with the Delgado Brothers, which also features his
younger brothers Steve and Joey.
A very good band who was popular on the
Eastside circuit in the mid-60s.
The band at this
time featured Richard Morin on lead vocals,
Bobby Espinoza, later of El Chicano, on
keyboard, and the great Bobby Rodriguez on
trumpet.
This incarnation of the Enchantments made a record, "I'm In Love With
Your Daughter,"
which was popular and was included on the West Coast
Eastside Revue album in 1967.
Lead
singer on the record was the late Eddie Serrano,
who later sang with
Cannibal & the Headhunters, Olde Tyme Religion, and Yaqui.
Excellent band featuring guitarist Spider Velasquez.
My band played several gigs on the bill with them at Rainbow
Gardens in Pomona.
The only all female band I can recall from the 60s
on the Eastside circuit.
Popular and very active band on the 60s East L.A.
circuit.
Ronnie
Reyes of the Impalas went on to play guitar with Olde Tyme Religion, Yaqui, and my band,
Radio Aztlán.
George Ochoa of the Slauson
Brothers went on to sing with my band, the Men from S.O.U.N.D., Cannibal & the Headhunters, Olde
Tyme Religion, and Redbone.
A good band that had a surfer-type image.
Bob
Hernandez had been a member of the Romancers
and
Danny Lamont would later play drums with Thee Midniters.
The V.I.P.s later became El Chicano
This
card is shiny and gold, which could not be reproduced
true to its original appearance.
Pre- El Chicano and
Pre- VIPS
Chris Pasqual, later bass player for the Romancers,
was a member of the Blue Notes.
Chris
played on the Romancers' classic
"Do the Slauson"
album on DelFi Records.
The Imperials were also known as Marcy & the Imperials.
Members
of Marcy & the Imperials included Joe Espinosa
and Adolfo "Fuzzy" Martinez,
who later were
members of the popular Eastside band, the Village
Callers.
Manager Hector Rivera went on to manage
the Village Callers
and was the subject of their hit
instrumental, "Hector."
Mickey & the Invaders
were a popular Eastside band,
led by Mike "Mickey"
Aversa.
Mickey
& the Invaders keyboardist was Bobby Espinoza,
later to gain fame with El Chicano.
The Leisures later in the 60s made a record as the
Cassinos called "Cabazon,"
which appeared
on "Eastside Sound, Vol. 2" on the Dionysus
Records (2002).
Leon
Becken now owns a recording studio in the Rancho
Mirage, CA.
John Valenzuela later was a guitarist
in my 70s band, Tango.
The Village Callers
were a great band, who had a hit with an instrumental
called "Hector." As you can see above,
the song was named after their manager.
The 2/3 Majority was the first band name of Evergreen
Blues,
who became Elijah
in the early 70s.
Ray & the Idols was the band of Little Ray Jimenez
after the 60s.
Business card of Eddie Davis,
who owned the record
labels on which many East L.A. bands recorded.
In the late 60s, Ellis Gold managed and recorded
the Vaqueros,
who had several members formerly of
the Blendells.
Ellis
also recorded the Cassinos, who were formerly Leon
& the Leisures. My band of the period,
the Men from S.O.U.N.D., also worked with him for
a time, but did not cut a record.
Business card of Art Brambila's Brown Bag
Productions in the early 70s.
Art managed Tierra, Yaqui, and me as a solo artist.
