Thee Midniters: Пионеры Чикано-рока из Восточного Лос-Анджелеса

American rock group
the East Los Angeles based Chicano Rock band

Thee Midniters were an American rock group, among the first Chicano rock bands to have a major hit in the United States. They were one of the best known acts to come out of East Los Angeles in the 1960s, with a cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances" that charted in Canada in 1965, and an instrumental track "Whittier Boulevard" in 1965. Thee Midniters were among the first rock acts to openly sing about Chicano themes in songs such as "Chicano Power" and "The Ballad of César Chávez" in the late 1960s. The band was promoted by Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg on local radio station KTYM in Inglewood, California and also by his fill in Godfrey Kerr. Huggy Boy was also a popular DJ on KRLA.

Thee Midniters are a 1960s band from East Los Angeles influenced by "surf music to rhythm and blues to Mexican music," embodying a Chicano identity, a "mixture of Mexican heritage but living in America." The band was one of the first to integrate horns, an unusual combination of trombone and sax, congas, keyboards and electric guitars to produce a sound similar to better known bands popular in the late 1960s such as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Most band members attended Salesian High School located near the corner of Whittier Boulevard and Soto Street in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. George Salazar, the drummer on the first album, attended Garfield High School. Rhythm guitar player, Roy Marquez, also attended Garfield High School. Danny LaMont, the drummer on all subsequent recordings attended Montebello High School and sax player Larry Rendon attended Cantwell High School. Thee Midniters were largely school trained, highly professional and musically sophisticated in comparison to many of the surf bands of the day. Willie Garcia and Thee Midniters were regarded in the East LA of the 1960s as The Beatles on a smaller scale, though they sounded (and still sound) more like a big, soul gospel review group with a hefty dose of salsa. Casey Kasem, a well known disc jockey, said, "They were the best band I ever hired". Kasem filled a regular slot on KRLA top forty radio in the 1960s and promoted concerts and dances at the time. Thee Midniters continue with a combination of original and new members and appeared in Raven Productions' PBS pledge break special Trini Lopez presents the Legends of Latin Rock, along with El Chicano, Tierra and Gregg Rolie (of Santana and Journey fame) in the spring of 2009.

Thee Midniters were an East LA band. For a brief period of time the lead singer for the group was Little Ray aka Ray Jimenez. In 1964, Jimenez left the group. Willie Garcia, aka "Little Willie G.", then took over as the lead singer. Garcia took obscure soul ballads such as "The Town I Live In" or "Giving Up On Love" and gave them his own special delivery. Garcia, after years away from the band, returned in the 1990s. The lead guitarist was George Dominguez, whose forte was blues rock. Cesar Rosas, later to gain fame as one of the leaders of Los Lobos, would stare at George on stage to see how Thee Midniters' guitarist played leads and riffs that Rosas could not figure out on his own. Roy Marquez played rhythm guitar. In 1964 they released a cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances" which had been a hit by both Chris Kenner and Cannibal & the Headhunters and subsequently, by Wilson Pickett. In 1969, they released the single "Chicano Power".