Brown on the inside!

Recently I have been thinking a lot about my Mexicaness or lack thereof, if I really want to be honest about it. I'm the product of a proud Chicano father and a beautiful whitey Mom. Genetically I ended up being white on the outside and brown on the inside, basically I'm a burrito. I spent big chunks of my early life hanging out in Griffith park in Los Angeles with my 10,000 cousins, aunts and uncles and as far as I was concerned I was just as Mexican as any of them. A small white spot in a sea of brown. To this day my Dad still calls me "Guero"!

Even though I have grown up in a pretty white world, I have never felt comfortable just saying "I'm white" because I'm not just white, I'm Mexican too! I can barely speak any Spanish but I can feel my Mexicaness in my bones! You can see it when I become completely overwhelmed with emotion when a mariachi band drops that first brass note with a high pitched yelp, it just kills me. I can feel it when I cant help but dance my butt off when El Chicano or Malo lay down some serious Chicano soul funk! It is my gospel music, it drives me nuts in the most powerful way!

What I wouldn't do to sit in a kitchen with my Nana while she makes a big pot of Fideo and whips up some home made tortillas! Man oh man, I need to find a substitute abuelita to cook some serious Mexican food for me. I Live in London now and there is nothing that resembles home cooked Mexican food anywhere near here, I will continue to cry into my non-existant albondigas until I get some.

So short story long, I have been appeasing myself by checking out some rare Chicano soul/funk that has been filling me with the desire to go to highland park and find the nearest taco truck! So here are a couple of recent finds that have been inspiring me to "keep on keeping on" in the name of La Raza!


Zapata - Viva La Raza. I heard this record by chance recently and decided it was a must have and lo and behold I found one! This is a pretty scarce record and worth all the time and effort. I tried to do some research on these guys but hit a big dead end. It's classic west coast Chicano power soul! The lyrics sum up the whole movement in the late 60's early 70's. I can see the UFW flags flying in the studio while they are recording this! Clear some space on your floor and get ready to start dancing! Viva La Raza baby!







Black Diamond - For the Love of You. Another chunk of west coast "Brown Power" soul/rock. Just like the last one I can't find any info on the band or the label? I've never seen another? Sit back and enjoy the Lo-ride!