on 12/10/02 6:39 AM, William W. Schonbein at wwschonb@artsci.wustl.edu wrote:
(i'm also curious about 'paocho boogie' - so if anyone has any info...)
"Pachuco Boogie" was probably the first rhythm'n'blues record to come out of the barrio. It was cut in early 1948 by Don Tosti, a big band bassist fr East LA (real last name: Tostada). It's basically a Louis Jordan styled shuffle with guys jiving in Calo (Mexican Spanglish to you non-Californians). There is a bit of debate over whether Tosti was first or if Lalo Guerrero was first. Technically, Tosti was first, although a record by Trio Imperial (of which lalo was part) called "El Pachuco" came out in 46, with a little boogie break in there. Tosti was the first Chicano to do a full-on boogie. Of course, by mid 1948, Lalo had overtaken everybody on that stuff, with a killing band (his Cinco Lobos, from whom Los Lobos took their name) and one amazing song after the other. Tosti is about 80 now, and looks 60. Very suave, charming guy. He lives in Palm Springs and still plays, although he doesn't play bass anymore and sticks to piano. skip h