EASTSIDE PRODUCERS - EDDIE TORRES

Arguably, the best band to come out of the East Los Angeles area was Thee Midniters. The complex story of Thee Midniters can not be told without first touching upon the life and contributions of their producer, promoter & manager, Eddie Torres.

Eddie Torres was born and raised in Texas and after a stint in the Marine Corp he relocated to California.

Eddie attended East Los Angeles College and majored in sociology. Upon graduation Eddie took on a job working with gang members and potential gang members to keep them out of trouble.

As part of his plan in helping gang members, Eddie began promoting dances with local bands. At a dance held at St Alonsos Church in East Los Angeles, Eddie met a band called The Fabulous Gentiles. Impressed by the band Eddie urged them to change their name. They became Thee Midniters (taken from one of their favorite groups Hank Ballard & The Midnighters).

Eddie became the groups manager and arranged concerts for the band while giving them discipline and direction. The band would do as many as four shows a night traveling great distances between performances and their popularity grew.

To promote the band, Torres contacted Mike Carcano, owner of The Record Inn on Whittier Boulevard who showcased the band's record releases by holding in-store appearances. While the rest of the world was caught up in Beatlemania, Eddie Torres in East Los Angeles, California was giving rise to Midnitersmania.

In December, 1965 Eddie booked Thee Midniters to a major concert held at the Hollywood Bowl and hosted by Casey Kasem and radio station KRLA. The band also got exposure on local television shows Shebang and 9th Street West.

In 1966, Torres started his own record label, Whittier Records to further promote the band and their music. Thee Midniters were now the hottest band in town but Eddie wanted them to get them to the next level. He urged them to start writing their own songs which under major presuure they did.

The only thing missing was a record deal with a major record label and national exposure. Eddie contended that his Whittier label would become as big as another local record label, A&M Records but try as he might Eddie could never achieve that success.

RCA Records became interested in signing the band but a deal was never made. The band has their side of the story and Eddie has his. Whether Torres didn't want to lose control of the band and sabotoged any deal or the fact that RCA didn't want to give Torres or the band any upfront money for their album "Love Special Delivery" is up for discussion.

The RCA debacle marked the beginning of the end of the relationship between Eddie and the band. Eddie officially departed in late 1968.

Eddie did not leave the music business. He would go on to promote other Chicano musicians including Mark Guerrero. The importance and impact of Eddie Torres on the East Los Angeles music scene can not be over emphasized. He gave us the best band to ever come out of East L.A...... 

Thee Midniters.

THEE MIDNITERS REHEARSE AT THE HOME OF EDDIE TORRES

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EASTSIDE PRODUCER AND MANAGER - BILLY CARDENAS

                 
Billy Cardenas managed and/or produced many of the East L.A. bands from the early 1960's onward. By his own admission he was just a street kid but found his niche in life through his desire to see Chicano performers make it in America.With the help of his partner, Eddie Davis, he would do just that.

Billy was born in 1938 in Boyle Heights, California. He started playing trumpet at an early age. His first major influence was Bobby Rey (see my post under Eastside Legends) who lived around the corner. He was also influenced by the music of Lionel Hampton and rhythm and blues stars Big Joe Turner and Fats Domino. He was impressed by how well they were groomed and their fancy clothes. He would instill these qualities in the artists he managed.

After high school, Billy entered the army & also became an accomplished boxer winning the 1959 Gold Gloves championship in Chicago. Billy met Bob Keane and sat in on a Ritchie Valens recording session. He began working in the recording industry producing Chicano and mariachi records for Cadet Records in West Los Angeles where he worked with engineer Bill Lazereth. During spare session time he produced a record for Robert & Rey (see my post under Eastside Rarities). He also co-produced with Bumps Blackwell a record for Yolanda Lea, a South L.A teenager.

Billy would make his first major splash with a group who played at one of his parties, The Romancers. Billy knew they has something special and began booking his own dance shows with the Romancers and a vocal duo, The Heartbreakers (see my post under Eastside Legends).

Billy was now a successful manager, promoter and producer but he wanted to take it to the next level. In 1963 he was watching Eddie Davis' "Parade Of Hits" television show and called Eddie to see if he could get the Romancers on the show. Eddie said no but invited the Romancers to perform at his Rainbow Gardens in Pomona. The Romancers were an instant hit, Billy & Eddie connected and the West Coast Eastside Sound was about to reach new audiences and new heights.

Whereas Bob Keane had Ritchie Valens fall into his lap, Billy Cardenas went out & actively pursued acts to promote and record. A multitude of artists and bands would follow. The list includes, The Premiers, The Salas Brothers and The Jaguars, The Royal Jesters (who became The Rhythm Playboys), Sal & Marge (Sal Murillo would later join The Blendells), The Blendells, Cannibal & The Headhunters, Ronnie & The Pomona Casuals. The Sisters, The Blue Notes, The Four Queens and Mark & The Escorts.

Billy credits disc jockeys Huggy Boy & Godfrey Kerr for helping him promote his dances & getting his groups records onto the radio. Eddie Torres, best known as the manager of the East L.A. group, Thee Midniters helped Billy with bookings and promotions.

Despite any differences Billy Cardenas and Eddie Davis had, they made the perfect partners when they put  their abilities together. Eddie from the business end with his negotiations, record companies & venues and Billy with his managing, promoting and producing. Together they accomplished alot but both had successes on their own. They brought artists who would otherwise never get a chance to a national audience.

We will hear more about Billy Cardenas and Eddie Davis as we get into the individual artists.

To Learn More About Billy Cardenas Please Read The Article Written By Mark Guerrero On His Web Site Here:

http://markguerrero.net/misc_48.php

Also Of Major Interest Please Read The Article Published By LA Weekly:

Naa Na Na Na Naa

How the West Coast Eastside sound changed rock & roll

Ben Quiñones

published: December 29, 2005

http://www.laweekly.com/content/printVersion/41473/



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Solely for historical & educational purposes.

EASTSIDE PRODUCERS - EDDIE DAVIS

Eddie Davis along with his partner, Billy Cardenas are probably the two most important figures in the history of the Eastside Sound. Their work as producers of Latino bands had a major impact on the music scene in the Los Angeles area from the mid 1960's through the early 1970's. It is through their efforts that Latin/Chicano Rock reached a more national audience.

Edward Louis Davis was born in 1926 in Boyle Heights, California. He was a child actor. He appeared in "Going My Way", "The Major And The Minor" and "Pork Chop Hill" After attending Faifax High School Ediie joined the navy. When he got out of the navy, Eddie wanted to be a restaurant owner. In 1953, He opened The Eddie Davis Parkway Grill in Hollywood. He would later open another restaurant called the Eddie Davis Steakhouse Supper Club.

Eddie had sung in a Catholic choir and was influenced by pop vocalists. He wanted to to be a singer. His first record "Heart Of Ice" and "To Be Or Not To Be" was released on the Vita label in 1957 (Vita 170).

You May Listen To Eddie L. Davis "Heart Of Ice" Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb8yYUMIA18

His next single "Teenage Brain Surgeon" and "Tick Tock Rock" was released in 1958 on the Fable label (Fable 637) as Eddie L Davis & The Bureaucats. Eddie co-wrote both sides of the record with arranger Wayne Corps.

His third and last single was "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea" and "Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow" released on the Faro label in 1959 (Faro 596). "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea" was a duet with Eddie and Connie Stevens. Connie would become a succesful singer & television star in her own right and would duet with Edd "Kookie" Byrnes on "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb"

In 1958, Eddie Davis would sell his restaurants and start his first record label, Faro.He would later own Linda Records. established in 1960; Rampart Records in 1961; Boomerang Records in 1962; Prospect and Valhalla Records in 1966 and Gordo Records in 1968. Many Eastside artists would record for these labels.

In 1962, Davis bought and began operating the Rainbow Gardens in Pomona and later the Rhythm Room in Fullerton. These two venues served as launching pads for many artists as the houses were packed with music lovers and dance enthusiasts. Eddie also started a local television show, "Parade Of Hits" but was unable to get any national play. It was shortly thereafter that Eddie met Billy Cardenas and the West Coast Eastside Sound was about to really "take off".

Eddie Davis and Billy Cardenas would go through many good times and bad times together. They would introduce many new artists to the Los Angeles and national music scene. I will just name a few, The Romancers, The Premiers, Little Ray Jimenez, the Salas Brothers, The Blendells, Cannibal & The Headhunters and Thee Midniters. We will look at all of these artists and many more.

Davis would later work with Little Willie G, El Chicano and Six Pac. Eddie's mother passed away and Eddie left the music industry. In 1977 Hector Gonzalez brought Eddie out of retirement to record the Latin funk band, Eastside Connection.

In 1994, Eddie Davis died of cancer. He left all of the master tapes, archives, contracts and publishing catalogs of the Rampart Records group to Hector Gonzalez.

Eddie Davis was called "The Godfather Of The Eastside Sound" and "The Berry Gordy Of Los Angeles". His greatness in risk taking, musical innovations, promoting and producing can not be overemphasized. He is truly a giant in the history of rock and roll.

To Learn More About Eddie Davis And The West Coast Eastside Sound Please Visit The UC Santa Barbara Library By Following This Link:

http://www.library.ucsb.edu/special-collections/cema/WCESS

To Learn More About Eddie Davis And Rampart Records Please Check Out This Interview With Rampart Records Owner Hector Gonzalez On The LAOPIA Web Site By Following This Link:

http://latinopia.com/latino-music/the-rampart-records-story/

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EASTSIDE PRODUCERS - BOB KEANE

We have briefly touched on some on the early producers of the Eastside Sound. DJ's Huggy Boy and Art Laboe and R&B star Johnny Otis dabbled in producing records. We now look the legendary, Bob Keane.

Bob Keane was born Robert Kuhn in Manhattan Beach, California in 1922. He was a clarinet player, and his ambition was to front a big band like his idol, Benny Goodman. He did so, and in 1938, at age 17, he was setting up to play his first show, at Glendale Junior College and was approached by an employee of KFWB, a Los Angeles radio station, who wanted to broadcast the concert on air to replace a canceled scheduled show. The next day Keane received a phone call from an agent at MCA who had heard the broadcast on KFWB, and who wanted to sign Keane to the label. MCA billed him as "The World's Youngest Bandleader".
MCA dropped Keane from the label in 1941 as they felt he was likely to be drafted. Keane decided to enlist in the Army Air Force, and was retired from active service due to a lung infection. He returned to Los Angeles and continued to play clarinet in several bands. In 1950, he was offered a job as a conductor on The Hank McCune Show, a new radio show. After the first episode, the producer approached Bob and told him that he would have to change his name, as the announcer was pronouncing Kuhn as "Coon". A band colleague suggested Keen, after a popular Woody Herman song, "Peachy Keen", to which Bob decided to add an 'e'. Later on in life he changed this to Keane.
  By 1955 Keane was playing clarinet in several bars and clubs around Los Angeles, and one evening met businessman John Siamas, who persuaded Bob to set up a record label with him. The label would be known as Keen Records, with Bob working as an A&R man. He was given an acetate of two songs by Sam Cooke, who at the time using his original surname, Cook, and singing in a gospel group called The Soul Stirrers. On the acetate was "Summertime" and "You Send Me". Sam Cook was signed to a three-year contract with Keen, his surname changed just as Bob's had been, and the songs were subsequently pressed and released as the first single on Keen Records. Originally "Summertime" was intended to be the A-side, and sold moderately. It was only when a DJ played the B-side that the record took off, and by November 25 1957, it reached #1 on the Billboard chart.

At this point, despite Keen Records having earned over $1,000,000 from sales of "You Send Me", Bob only had an oral contract with Siamas. Upon asking when the corporation was to be formed and when he was likely to receive stock certificates for the company, he received a letter asking for him to invest $5000 (which, of course, he did not have) into his own company should he wish to remain a partner. He realized that he had been tricked into finding a hit record and then pushed out of the company.
   While waiting for legal proceedings against Siamas to begin, Bob's wife suggested that he set up another label, and approach someone else who had also been duped by Siamas to put up the money to do so. Taking its name from Delphi, the Greek god of music and inspiration, the new label was named Del-Fi Records. The first release was "Caravan" by Henri Rose, which sold well, and led to Warner Brothers Records offering Keane $8000 for Henri Rose's contract, which he accepted, and which enabled him to buy out his business partner.
   In May 1958, Keane discovered Ritchie Valens performing a Saturday matinee show in a movie theatre in Pacoima, California and invited Valens to audition in the basement of his home, where he had set up a small recording studio. A formal contract was signed, and Valens and Keane spent hours in the basement working on songs together. Among the songs was "Come On Let's Go", which was recorded in Gold Star Studios in July 1958, and released as Valens' first single soon after. This single, and the follow-up, "Donna" b/w "La Bamba", were smash hits. Keane served as Valens' manager as well as producer, booking shows for him across America and several TV performances.
 After Valens' death in February 1959, Del-Fi records continued, and unlike the rest of the major labels in Hollywood, Del-Fi had an "open door" policy - anybody with music they wanted to be released could approach the Del-Fi offices and get it played to Bob Keane. In an interview, he remarked "I'll listen to anyone, even if they bring 'em in on a stretcher."
Other notable artists on Del-Fi over the next few years included Chan Romero, Little Caesar & The Romans, Ron Holden, the Carlos Brothers, the Gallahads and the Sisters.
  In September 2003, Keane sold the Del-Fi catalog to the Warner Music Group.
  Keane was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma when he was 80, and died of renal failure on November 28, 2009.

Many rare tracks from the Del-Fi archives can be found on various CD compilations which are still available. I highly recommend you seek them out.

A discography of Keen singles can be found here:

http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/keen.htm

A discography of Del-Fi singles can be found here:

http://www.globaldogproductions.info/d/del-fi.html

To learn more about the life and times of Bob Keane and the artists he produced I recommend his autobiography "The Oracle Of Del-Fi"

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Soley for hisorical, educational & listening pleasure.