Larry Lange and his Lonely Knights: Press

CHICANO SOUL DELUXE Hot music and cool threads were the order of Saturday evening (3/28/09) at the Josephine Theatre when the Chicano Soul Revue took over the place. With bassist/singer Larry Lange & His Lonely Knights fronting, and backing, the proceedings, 300-plus people turned back the clock to listen to the real-deal San Antonio sounds of the Sequence, Lange and his Knights with Joanna Ramirez, Little Henry Lee of Henry & the Laveers, Johnny Hernandez of Little Joe and the Latinaires and Little Joe y la Familia and Rudy T. Gonzales of Rudy Tee & the Reno Bops. Wild Bill Riley did master of ceremonies duties.

THE SOUND & THE FURY
One of the stories rarely told by rock historians involves the way Chicano culture in the 1950s and ’60s intersected with early rock ’n’ roll and R&B to create a classic hybrid.

Los Angeles historian Ruben Molina documented this movement last year with his book, Chicano Soul: Recordings & History of an American Culture, acknowledging the key role that San Antonio played in the brown-eyed soul story.

Sam’s Burger Joint promoter Jerry Clayworth has taken inspiration not only from Molina’s book but also the spirited Third Coast roots music of Austin’s Larry Lange & His Lonely Knights, and decided to put together The Legends of Chicano Soul show, featuring four of the all-time Chicano soul greats: Dimas Garza, Rudy T. Gonzalez, Charlie Alvarado, and Sonny Ace. All of these legends but Ace continue to perform regularly, and they’ll be ably backed up by Lange and his band (except for Garza, who’ll be supported by The Sequence).

“This is better history to me than looking at the Battle of the Bulge in a textbook,” Clayworth says, and S&F agrees.

Dimas Garza: Singer for Legendary Royal Jesters Dead at 68
Written by Ramiro Burr
Wednesday, 12 November 2008

San Antonio, Texas - Tex-Mex pioneer Dimas Garza, who was one of the early singers for the famed Royal Jesters, died of a heart attack Wednesday. He was 68. According to family friends, Garza had just had surgery for a hernia on Tuesday but was already home recovering. Funeral details are pending.

Henry Hernandez, a co-founder of the Royal Jesters was a Lanier High School classmate of Dimas Garza.

“I always admired him, for his voice, he had a raspy, soulful style,” said Hernandez. “In that respect, I kind of looked up to him. Before he even joined the Jesters I liked his group, the Lyrics.”

Almost a half century ago, the Royal Jesters were the kings of the American Southwest. They became a seminal force in Tejano history and pop music in Texas.

The Royal Jesters came together in 1956 at Lanier High School where Oscar Lawson and his group the Dukes, were serious fans of the Mexican trios like Los Panchos. Another school mate Henry Hernandez and his band the 5 Angels, were also hardcore music fans but their heroes were doo wop groups like the Moonglows. The two groups merged as the Five Young Ones. Two years later, the group renamed itself the Royal Jesters.

The Jesters first hits were in English pop including “We Go Together,” “My Angel of Love” and “That Girl” that entered the Billboard Pop charts. Then by the 1970s, the group ventured into Chicano (now Tejano) music with the hits “Soy Chicano” and “Chicanita.”

Jaime Martínez, founder of the Cesar Chavez March for Justice and a trumpet player with the Sunglows, said he had fond memories of Dimas Garza.

“About two weeks ago I was with him. He took me back to the 1963-66 era when we received an award at the Avenida Guadalupe for being Chicano Legends,” said Martinez. “The awards honored oldies Chicanos who made an impact not only in SA but throughout the country. Dimas Garza and music and original wrote his music. I played with him and later I got him into DelTones.

“He comes out of Lanier High School, a lot of good talent there. He was a good spirit, a good songwriter and singer. He is an original.”

“Dimas Garza was a liked by everyone because he was a positive person,” said singer George Rivas, who was shocked when he heard the news. “He was the one that always encouraged us, always making sure that we did good.”

Rivas was a part of the Royal Jesters in 1972. Dimas “Dino” Garza was born Feb. 24, 1940 in San Antonio and he attended Lanier High School.

According to his son, Dimas Garza Jr., throughout his career Dimas Garza had recorded with several bands including Dino & the Deltones and the Sunglows. He also had his own group the Lyrics but he is mostly known for his tenure with the Royal Jesters in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Mike Pedraza was the group’s first lead singer but he was replaced by Dimas Garza. Through the years a host of Central Texas talent joined the group including such names as Joe Posada, Joe Jama Perales, George Rivas, and David Marez.

Dimas Garza was also part of the late ‘90s CD, “The Royal Jesters Tribute,” on the BMG US Latin label that included their hits such as “Yo Soy Chicano,” “Me Voy Pa Houston,” “We Go Together,” and “Carino Nuevo.” The CD also included renditions of other hits such as Rene y Rene’s “Angelito,” Sunny Ozuna’s “Reina de Mi Amor,” Joe Bravos’ “Que Casualidad,” Lisa Lopez’s “Si Quieres Verme Llorar,” and Isidro Lopez’s “Besame y Olvidame.”

Royal Jesters trivia: Few people know the Royal Jesters had a hand in the birth of the Tejano Music Awards. After the Royal Jesters split, Lawson stayed in the music business, creating the Texas Talent Musicians Association with the late booking agent Albert Esquivel. In 1979, Lawson sold the enterprise to Latin Breed saxophone player Gilbert Escobedo. Escobedo then recruited Lanier High School art teacher Rudy Trevino and the men organized what became the first Tejano Music Awards in 1980.

(Ramiro Burr covers the Latin music scene www.ramiroburr.com. Burr is also the author of “The Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music,” on Billboard Books.)

Larry Lange & the Lonely Knights carry on Highway 90 sound In the blues and R&B world, bassist Larry Lange has a résumé that just won't quit. The man has provided the low-end foundation for Delbert McClinton, Junior Medlow, Wes McGhee, Paul Ray & the Cobras, Lou Ann Barton and many others.
A few months ago, Lange put together a band called Larry Lange & the Lonely Knights, an outfit that features several other well-traveled players: sax men Ed Vizard and Brad Andrew, guitarist Hector Watt, drummer Michael Christian and pianist Jack Paine. The Lonely Knights concentrate on the Highway 90 sound, the irresistible, triplet-driven music that has ruled bandstands from New Orleans to San Antonio.
Fats Domino led the way and helped influence Texas and Louisiana artists such as Doug Sahm, Johnny Nicholas, Augie Meyers, Joe Barry, Cookie & the Cupcakes, Little Bob & the Lollipops and many others. Lange and the band are keeping that tradition, and that sound, alive and thriving.
Thursday night, Lange and the Lonely Knights will be the guests of the S.A. Blue Cats during the weekly Thursday showcase/jam session at Sam's Burger Joint. Showtime is 8 p.m. Don't forget your dancing shoes.

LARRY LANGE and his LONELY KNIGHTS – Crazy, Crazy Baby

I wasn’t around to enjoy them, but the years in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s seem to have been absolutely killer times to live in America. The cars were the coolest and the gas was cheap. The Twilight Zone was on prime time, Sandy Koufax and Hank Aaron dominated a steroid-free era of baseball, and the country was being introduced to the new craze of rock n roll. Over time all that turned into bulky SUV’s, Barry Bonds, and people in suits that call music “product.”

The records of that period make you want to shout, kick your heels up, and feel all right, with several exclamation points at the end. Mr. Lange and his Lonely Knights bring you back to that era, when music was about making sure that everybody at the party had a good time, sharing that moment with your special someone, and doing the boogie woogie until the band really had to go home.

Those old records were recorded as live events, having all the musicians in the same room with each other, and captured raw emotion and energy. Crazy, Crazy Baby was made in this fashion, done live in the studio over three days, with no worries of the bass bleeding into the guitar track, or doing fifty vocal takes to patch together one good one. This was all about gassing up that ’60 Thunderbird and cutting it loose, creating a CD that is almost as much fun as the dance party that their performances are known for.

Growing up on the Gulf Coast at a time when regional hits were being spun on the local radio, Mr. Lange is an authority on the type of music he plays and does it with such fervor, you can’t help but get into it. His love for it is infectious, making it hard to sit still, and brings a smile to this girl’s face every time.

As I was waiting in line at the grocery store on my way home from this album’s release party, Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” was playing on the Muzak system. I turned to the customers next to me and commented, “Rock n roll never got better than this, did it?” Everyone happily agreed. Here’s to this band “playing that sound baby, that sound!”

9 Daisy Stars.

Daisy’s favorite lyric: “Everybody’s doing that Corpus Christi rock!!!!”

Live, Music — Chris on November 7, 2007 at 5:19 pm
I received an email from David Beebe about a Doug Sahm show at Casbeers which was last night. David Beebe doing Doug Sahm songs, that is something to see.The lineup for the tribute was The Swindles, Larry Lange and his Lonely Nights, True Stories, The Krayolas, and The Conrads.
I got there as Larry Lange was setting up and realized that I missed The Swindles, sorry Mitch. The Larry Lange set was really good. Take your standard 4 piece band and add two saxaphones and you get some great gulf coast rock and blues.