Skip to content
Hello Sorry Staters. Thank you for joining us again. I hope you had a great week. Leaving the news aside, as we all know what horrible stuff is going on around the world and especially here in the United States, where we are fighting off our version of the far right. Kudos to the French for voting for democracy and giving the fascists the middle finger. Same here please.
Personally, I’m happy this week, as the Mighty Reds continue to win football matches. We are now in our tenth European Cup final and still competing for an unprecedented quadruple – the first English side to play every possible game in one season. Win or lose, it’s a great time to be supporting Liverpool. With so many other not so good things going on in my life, at least there’s footie and music.
There were a few record release anniversaries this week – Stone Roses debut, New Order’s Power, Corruption & Lies, The Cure’s Disintegration and some holidays of note including Eid al-Fitr (ending of Ramadan) and Cinco De Mayo. The latter being one of the most misunderstood celebrations of the calendar year. Not Mexican Independence Day, but rather commemorating a famous battle and victory over the French. It’s a celebration of defeating colonizing imperialism but that part has been somewhat lost over the years and now the day is more an excuse to drink tequila and eat Mexican food and is far more celebrated in the U.S. than Mexico itself or anywhere else for that matter. Anyway, that aside, I would like to use the day as an excuse to recommend a record that was made by a Mexican artist and hopefully one that some of you will enjoy hearing.
Ernan Roch Con Las Voces Frescas: La Onda Pesada. 1971. Discos Rex / Shadoks Music / La Onda Records
Ernan Roch, born Herman Rocha was a music mad teenager from the Veracruz region in Mexico. Like all teens during the early and mid-1960s, he became obsessed by the pop, rock and folk sounds coming from the US and the UK. A talented musician, he entered a studio for the first time aged just thirteen. These early recordings were apparently not released but are said to anticipate the sounds that Carlos Santana was preparing to release on the world. Roch increasingly added more western psychedelic influences to his music. His parents not appreciating this side of their son, shipped him off to an American military academy, thinking that would put him straight. However, being in America during the late 1960s only encouraged him more and when he returned to Mexico, he took up with his early producer to begin work on the songs that make up his album.
Singing all the songs in English with backing from a group called El Amor who would go on to record several albums themselves, the album was recorded in late 1969 to early 1970 and saw release in 1971 on the Discos Rex label. It’s a fabulous mix of West Coast psych and pop with great fuzz guitar playing on several songs. There are several highlights, but lead track The Train is the one that usually shows up on compilations or DJ mixes, and rightfully so. People have compared the sound to that of Damon and his amazing Song Of A Gypsy album. That record is incredible and highly regarded and there are similarities. One being the price for an original copy. Either of these will set you back four figures if you find one for sale. The Damon LP goes for several thousand as an original. I’m happy with my reissue. Lol.
I first came across the Ernan Roch LP via a grey area reissue on the La Onda label a few years ago. For a fan club pressing it doesn’t sound too bad. I have recently upgraded to the Shadoks pressing now, as that comes with nicer packaging and sound. The OG copy will have to wait unless I get lucky and find one on my next Mexican vacation.
The album isn’t just a one-track wonder though. The remainder of the album has lots to offer. On the radio show I do, we played the track All Right / It’s Gonna Take Me Time, which is a good up-tempo number with another stinging guitar solo. There’s more heavy guitar riffing on Gonna Make It, a bluesy number. That song, along with most of the others, has strong acoustic guitar strumming going on and combined with his vocal style reminded me of the great Sixto Rodriguez and his Cold Fact LP. That album, as you probably know, is excellent and was recorded around the same time. If you enjoy Rodriguez, then you’ll be onboard with Ernan Roch.
Also, like Rodriguez who didn’t see his work get recognized at the time, Ernan Roch’s record wasn’t “discovered” until many years later and is still under the radar. He disappeared from the scene, although apparently returned with an album in the mid-80s titled Suenos, but I have not seen a copy or heard that record. There are also some tracks from an unspecified date that have a more polished and Bowie-esque glam sound, but I can’t give you any details on those I’m afraid as I haven’t heard them.
Mexico had a ton of great garage, psych and heavy rock groups during the 60s and 70s and you are encouraged to dig deeper. Groups like Dug Dug’s, La Revolucian De Emiliano Zapata, Kaleidoscope and the aforementioned El Amor all have great records in their discographies.
Have a great Cinco De Mayo everyone and if I have piqued your interest on this one, I noticed there were one or two dealers selling the Shadoks reissue for a decent price on Discogs should you want to take the plunge.
Cheers and see you next time.
-Dom