Trini Lopez - Trini Lopez at PJ's - 1963

This album is one of the earliest records I digitized when I first started digitizing records some years back. I love it for several reasons. Part of my love of the record is the experience that goes with it. This was one of those records that I picked up for like 50 cents not really knowing Trini's work before that. I mean I knew the name and I had some preconceptions of a cheesy Vegas act kind of artist, but that is not what I discovered when I listened to this record. Now I'm not saying Trini is the greatest rock and roll start ever, but given the song selection the last thing I expected was for the album to sort of rock. The songs are folk songs mostly and Trini takes them and makes them swing. Part of the energy comes from the fact that the record is recorded live at PJ's. You can hear the crowd throughout the record and you can just feel the energy they are giving him. The results are great.

The other reason I like it is because every single song is good. They are all standards that you probably have heard before. If not, you will some time in your life. Trust me they are standards. So the songs are all proven great songs and then on top of that Trini gives them his young energetic slightly Latin rock twist to them and makes them jump.

The other reason I like it is that it is a live recording. It seems that in the 50's 60's and a little into the 70's there were a lot of recordings of artists in little clubs. This was before the whole stadium rock tours were the standard. I have discovered that there are artists who I never really got in their studio recordings had great live performances. On these records you start to understand why this person was famous. I also love hearing the interactions with audience. You get the feel for what all the hype was about. I'll share some of my other favorite live records in the future as well.

Speaking of the audience, a particular favorite in my family is track 4 "Cielito Lindo" a Mexican song everyone should recognize. It's basically the cliche drunk Mexican song, the "Aye yi yi yi" song. Anyways I credit my family for picking up on the drunk lady in the audience singing along with the chorus. She sings in this horrible operatic voice and cracks us up every time. The story goes that I had burned the album to CD and that CD got heavy rotation in the family car. So it was during that time that either my wife or son picked up on the drunk lady. I had never really noticed her before, but once they pointed her out to me that was all I could hear. Have a listen and hopefully a chuckle or two.

If you want a little history about the record you can read the liner notes on the back of the record. In my opinion this is Trini's hi point. After this record he went into the studio and producers got a hold of him and stripped out all the energy and fun of his live performance.

Enjoy!

Tracks

01 A-Me-Ri-Ca.m4a

02 If I Had A Hammer.m4a

03 Bye Bye Blackbird.m4a

04 Cielito Lindo.m4a

05 This Land Is Your Land.m4a

06 What'D I Say.m4a

07 La Bamba.m4a

08 Granada.m4a

09 Medley_ Gotta Travel On_ Down By The Riverside_Marianne_When The Saints Go March.m4a

10 Unchain My Heart.m4a

Or download the whole thing as a zip file here.