Chicano rock? - ForumBiodiversity Anthropology Biodiversity .

Chicano rock is rock music performed by Mexican American (Chicano) groups or medicine with themes derived from Chicano culture. Chicano Rock, to a large extent, does not pertain to any single style or approach. Some of these groups do not talk in Spanish at all, or use many specifically Latin instruments or sounds. The main unifying factor, whether or not any explicitly Latin American music is heard, is a strong R&

influence, and a rather independent and rebellious approach to making music that comes from outside the music industry. Chicano Rock also consisted of different instruments such as the Saxophone, or Trumpet and other wood and brass instruments.

There are two undercurrents in Chicano rock. One is a devotion to the original rhythm and blues and country roots of Rock and roll. Ritchie Valens, Sunny and the Sunglows, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Thee Midniters, Los Lobos, Malo, War, Tierra, and El Chicano all have made music that is heavily based on 1950's R&B, even when general trends moved forth from the original voice of stone as time went by.

Another feature is the receptivity to Latin American sounds and influences. Trini Lopez, Santana, Malo, and other Chicano 'Latin Rock' groups follow this attack with their fusions of R&B, Jazz, and Caribbean sounds; but all of the groups and performers have some of these influences. Los Lobos in particular alternates between R&B roots rock and the Latin rock style.

The 1958 hit song "Tequila!" was written and sung by the saxophone player Danny Flores (not to be broken with Danny David Flores, a late member of Renegade) and performed by The Champs. Flores, who died in September 2006, was known as the "Godfather of Latino Rock."[1] One of the most famous rock pioneers was the short-lived Ritchie Valens, whose end is pronounced as the Day the Music Died. Songs by Chicano led bands like Sam the False and the Pharaohs' "Wooly Bully" and Question Mark & the Mysterians' "96 Tears", while not by definition "Latin Music", may take a Tejano influence in their whirling keyboard runs and beats.

In the mid 1980's Chicano teen rock band Renegade landed on the international music scene, sporting a combination of hard metal instrumentation with more pop oriented melodies, resulting in a new sub-genre, termed "commercial metal." The four teensKenny Marquez on lead guitar and vocals, Luis Cardenas on drums and vocals, Tony De La Rosa on rhythm guitar and vocals and Danny David Flores on bass guitar and vocalshave been referred to as Chicano rock gods, amongst Mexican-Americans. Renegade or Los Renegados as they are called in Latin-America, went on to deal more than 30 millions units worldwide,with a serial of hits in Mexico, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, the United States.

Groups like Ozomatli and Quetzal had led the new wave of Latin Rock groups that fuse multiple musical genres.