Los Angeles

From East L.A. to La Bamba

Before Los Lobos became known internationally, they played family parties, weddings and Mexican restaurants around East Los Angeles. Their early repertoire drew on music they had grown up with: boleros, rancheras, norteño and son, alongside the blues and rock that were also part of their surroundings.

Their first album, Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles, appeared in 1978. The group later encountered the city’s punk and roots-rock scenes; Steve Berlin joined after playing with the Blasters. In 1987 they recorded “La Bamba” for the film about Ritchie Valens. The traditional song comes from Veracruz, where it is associated with weddings; its lyric says that dancing requires a little grace. Valens’s earlier rock-and-roll version and the film gave it a Californian history.

Success did not end the band’s interest in older Mexican forms. Its next album, La Pistola y El Corazón, returned to Mexican and Tex-Mex music. Decades later, Native Sons paid tribute to Los Angeles songs and musicians.