Thee Midniters were an American rock group, among the first Chicano rock bands to have a major hit in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. They were one of the best known acts to come out of

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...

in the 1960s, with a cover of " Land of a Thousand Dances" that charted in Canada in 1965, and an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

track "Whittier Boulevard" in 1965. Thee Midniters were among the first rock acts to openly sing about

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

themes in songs such as "Chicano Power" and "The Ballad of

César Chávez Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...

" in the late 1960s. The band was promoted by Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg on local radio station

KTYM KTYM (1460 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station broadcasting on-air and via the internet. Licensed to Inglewood, California, United States, the station serves the Los Angeles area and an international internet audience. KTYM is owned by El Sem ...

in Inglewood, California and also by his fill-in Godfrey Kerr. Huggy Boy was also a popular DJ on

KRLA KRLA (870 AM) "AM 870 The Answer" is a commercial radio station broadcasting a conservative talk radio format. Licensed to Glendale, California, it serves Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. The station is owned by Salem Media Group, ...

Achievements

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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and ...

. Most band members attended Salesian High School located near the corner of Whittier Boulevard and Soto Street in the

Boyle Heights Boyle may refer to: Places United States * Boyle, Kansas, an unincorporated community * Boyle, Mississippi, a town *Boyle County, Kentucky *Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, a neighborhood Elsewhere * Boyle (crater), a lunar crater * 11967 Boyle, ...

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 Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary High School (CSHM) is a private Roman Catholic high school located in Montebello, California, United States, precisely on the border of East Los Angeles and Montebello. It is owned and operated by the Roman Catholic ...

. 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 The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

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 Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

, 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 The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

pledge break special '' Trini Lopez presents the Legends of Latin Rock'', along with El Chicano, Tierra and Gregg Rolie (of

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

and Journey fame) in the spring of 2009.

Band members

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 Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") is a Mexican American rock group, rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional ...

, 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. Trombonist Romeo Prado was the band's music arranger and was a huge influence on the overall sound of Thee Midniters. Thee Midniters have continued to play through the decades under the leadership and management of bassist Jimmy Espinoza and saxophonist Larry Rendon, the two original players remaining in the line-up from the original 1960s group. Since 2006, they have featured Gregory Esparza as lead vocalist along with longtime Midniter mainstays through the years such as Bob Robles on lead guitar, Aaron Ballesteros playing drums, Bobby Navarrete on sax, Bobby Loya on trumpet, Samuel Trujillo on trumpet and valve trombone and Bob Luna playing keyboards.

Eddie Torres Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also kn ...

was the Producer of every original album that was recorded in the 1960s; he also designed their album covers. Moreover, Eddie Torres was Thee Midniters Manager for many years.

The name

Thee Midniters adopted the unusual "Thee" to avoid the possibility of a legal challenge from the established R&B group of a somewhat earlier era,

Hank Ballard Hank Ballard (born John Henry Kendricks; November 18, 1927 – March 2, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of the Midnighters and one of the first rock and roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He played an inte ...

's "

The Midnighters The Midnighters were an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan. They were an influential group in the 1950s and early 1960s, with many R&B hit records. They were also notable for launching the career of lead singer Hank Ballard and the w ...

Recordings

In 1962 Lil' Ray & The Midniters recorded "Loretta" and "My Girl" for Tony Hilder's

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a large force or mechanical shock over a short period of time * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...

label. The song was actually a title change of the

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

composition " My Guy" which was a hit for

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...

. 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 Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the '' ...

. In 1969, they released the single "Chicano Power".

Discography

Studio albums

* Thee Midniters – Chattahoochee Records C-1001 (Mono) – 1965 * Love Special Delivery – Whittier W-5000 (Mono), WS-5000 (Stereo) – 1966 * Unlimited – Whittier W-5001 (Mono), WS-5001 (Stereo) – 1967 * Giants – WS-5002 (Stereo) – 1969

Lil' Ray and The Midnighters singles

* "Loretta" / "My Girl" –

30 – 1962

Thee Midniters singles

* " Land of a 1000 Dances" (Parts 1 & 2) / "Ball of Twine" – Chattahoochee 666 – 1965 (#67 US Billboard) (#42

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

) * "

Heat Wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

" / "Sad Girl" – Chattahoochee 674 – 1965 * "Heat Wave" / "Sad Girl" – Chattahoochee 675 – 1965 * "Whittier Blvd." /" Evil Love" – Chattahoochee 684 – 1965 (#127 US Billboard) * "I Need Someone" / "Empty Heart" – Chattahoochee 693 – 1965 * "

It's Not Unusual "It's Not Unusual" is a song written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones, after it had first been offered to Sandie Shaw. He intended it as a demo for her, but when she heard it she was so impressed with ...

" / "That's All" – Chattahoochee 694 – 1965 * "Brother, Where Are You?" / "Heat Wave" – Chattahoochee 695 – 1965 * "Are You Angry?" / "I Found a Peanut" – Chattahoochee 706 – 1966 * "Love Special Delivery" / "Don't Go Away" – Whittier 500 – 1966 * "It'll Never Be Over for Me" / "The Midnite Feeling" – Whittier 501 – 1966 * "Dragon-Fly" / "The Big Ranch" – Whittier 503 – 1966 * "Never Knew I Had It So Bad" / "The Walking Song" – Whittier 504 – 1967 * "Jump Five and Harmonize" / "Looking Out a Window" – Whittier 507 – 1967 * "Chile Con Soul" / "Tu Despedida" – Whittier 508 – 1967 * "Breakfast on the Grass" / "Dreaming Casually" – Whittier 509 – 1967 * "Make Ends Meet" / "You're Gonna Make Me Cry" – Whittier 511 – 1967 * "The Ballad of Cesar Chavez" (Part 1) / "The Ballad of Cesar Chavez" (Part 2) – Whittier 512 – 1967 * "Chicano Power" / " Never Goin' to Give You Up" – Whittier 513 – 1967

References

External links

* * *
Little Willie G. Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2019) {{DEFAULTSORT:Midniters, Thee Musical groups from Los Angeles American artists of Mexican descent Whittier, California American musicians of Mexican descent Chicano rock musicians Garage rock groups from California Hispanic and Latino American musicians