[left to right] David Hidalgo, Steve Berlin, Louie Pérez, Conrad Lozano & Cesar Rosas
Steve Berlin is the sax player and keyboardist for Los Lobos and in his spare time, he is one of the most requested record producers in the music industry. Besides appearing on every Los Lobos record since he joined the band in 1983, Berlin has played on Bonnie Raitt's "Silver Lining," the Beat Farmers' "Tales on the New West," the Go-Go's "Vacation," Joan Osborne's "Righteous Love," Sheryl Crow's self-titled CD, R.E.M.'s "Document," and Paul Simon's classic "Graceland" record. His production projects include Crash Test Dummies' hit tune "Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm," Faith No More's "Introduce Yourself," Ozomatli's "Embrace the Chaos," Tragically Hip's "Phantom Power," and Quetzal's "Worksongs," to name only a few.
Los Lobos is an American rock band that was founded in 1974 by David Hidalgo (vocals, guitar, accordion, lap steel, violin); Cesar Rosas (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Conrad Lorenzo (bass), and Louie Pérez (drums) who were all born and raised in Chicano East Los Angeles; spending about a decade developing their style of playing at bars, weddings and anyplace else before actually recording an album. By the late '70s Los Lobos had evolved into an electric rock band playing roots rock 'n' roll and Tex-Mex music.
Berlin, who had been playing in numerous groups in and around Philadelphia, arrived in Los Angeles in 1975 to work with the Beckmeier brothers. He had become friendly with them when the Philadelphians were part of the Soul Survivors (of "Expressway to Your Heart" fame). Berlin worked with the brothers for three years and one album before they broke up.
Berlin became friendly with many of the musicians with the L.A. scene and played for a couple of years in the Plugz and then with the legendary L.A. rockers, The Blasters. When Los Lobos met up with Berlin, they first became friends and then they saw him as another vocalist and a sax player that fit any Mexican and norteno (Mexican folk music) sound that the group wanted to incorporate.
A few years after their debut album, Los Lobos hit the big time by covering Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" for the movie starring Lou Diamond Phillips. They contributed eight songs to the soundtrack, made the Top 40, and so owned the song with their rendition that many people have come to associate "La Bamba" with Los Lobos, instead of with Valens. But that's not what they became after receiving that attention. Since that time, they purposely created music that evolved them from bluesy roots-rock and Latin origins to incorporate funky R&B grooves, folk and experimental electronica into its their sound.
Los Lobos has never been a band to ride on its reputation, which includes almost yearly Grammy nominations, countless sold-out concerts and many well-received soundtracks. In 2004, Los Lobos celebrated 30 years together by releasing "The Ride, Ride This: The Covers EP" and Los Lobos Live at the Fillmore in CD and DVD.
The Ride featured many of their legendary friends in the music scene, with appearances by Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, salsa great Rubén Blades, R&B legends Mavis Staples and Bobby Womack, former folk-rock legend Richard Thompson and others. The result was a critically acclaimed album that many said was a career-high for the three-time Grammy Award winning band.
The DVD and CD were recorded and filmed at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco during two sold-out dates of The Ride/30th Anniversary Tour. The band picked their favorite tunes and had fans vote for songs they would like to hear live, many of them not usually played during normal tours, including "Viking," rarely performed because of its unusual guitar tunings. Los Lobos chose to record the Fillmore shows because the venue is one of their favorite places to play. The album is the band's first live release.
www.loslobos.org
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