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60s Eastside Band Cards

     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.

 

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