Una grabación de misterio: Bob & Tony, "That's My Desire" c/w "Señorita," Peerless 10,002 (c. 1960-ish)

 

We've encountered obscurities hundreds, if not thousands of times here. Today's record has proved the stumper by which all stumpers are judged. Latin-American records flew under all radar of their day. In the US, Peerless Records was a provider of this culture's music; it operated out of Gardena, California, and exported records to Mexico. 
    While Latin music has been popular for many decades, via cover versions by non-Latino performers, the real deal is seldom-heard in the mainstream. That it might reflect musical trends outside its sphere of tradition is (a) logical and (b) something most listeners might never imagine. Teenagers in the late 1950s onward were attracted to rock 'n' roll and rhythm & blues and used its style in tandem with those they absorbed in their culture. 
    Lowrider music was a curation of American roots music by the Chicano culture of Southern California. Passionate, intense r&b, soul and rock recordings--Black vocal groups in particular--became the background music for a subculture of tricked-out cars, social events and a true sense of community. This culture has helped keep the music alive and well; as with the Northern Soul and popcorn communities, songs revered within this circle might be unknown to the world outside.
   Today's single, which straddles primitive, lively teen rock 'n' roll and Latino musical traditions, might have been an early outcropping of the lowrider culture. No information exists on the release date of this single or the identity and background of its performers. One can assume that Roberto Peña, the composer of "Señorita," the B-side of this single, is the Bob; since Tony didn't compose music, his surname is lost to the ages.
    This record might have appeared any time from 1959 to 1962. No dates exist for the releases in Peerless' 10,000 series; this is one of the few English-language releases. I picked this up as part of a six-record lot of novelty 45s and it's one of four or five known copies. 
    Bob and Tony sing in excellent, soulful vocal harmony with the boom and twang of Fender guitars and a bass. No drums are heard. The A-side dissects the pop standard "That's My Desire," a ballad common in early rock 'n' roll set-lists. Its closeness to r&b ballad structure made it a natural for slow-dance material.
    A gleeful third vocal explodes at moments, as if an audience member is beside themselves for reasons unknown and unknowable. Bob and Tony play and sing the song straight in a rendition that presages UK beat group The Hollies' version, heard on their third UK album, Hollies, released in 1965. The gutsy sound of the Fender Stratocaster, endowed with sublime studio reverb, creates The David Lynch Effect© and is mesmerizing. It's not a novelty record, per se, but it is unusual.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tsua73z2oqy7ncikr48sn/2170a.mp3?rlkey=v5o6dyjyi3x6pzr8fz0eun2u8&st=e3kxy1ot&dl=0

"Señorita," the duo's original, opens with an ominous minor-key guitar chord. It reflects the influence of Del Shannon's 1961 hit "Runaway" but turns into a performance reminiscent of 1963 UK beat groups. Drums join the sound-picture as the duo sings in English and Spanish on a melodic, pleasing li'l mover that is a delight. Rene Y Rene would break into the pop mainstream with similar material in the mid-1960s. A hint of forlorn and eerie pervades this side--typical of outlier music in this period and always a welcome contrast.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/56og3jy2s7g264kqs10lb/2170b.mp3?rlkey=ir1p6nkcdl29ro3epdprs982d&st=ulp7xlw7&dl=0

And that, mi amigos, is it. There are many Roberto Peñas out there, and none of them appear to have a past as a teen Chicano rock 'n' roller. Perhaps these two performers are still alive. This was their only record (that I know of) and they're talented singers and musicians; one hopes their career amounted to more than one mega-obscure and rare record on a fringe label. One never knows, do one?

Tomorrow: Billy Boss and The Boss-Tones give with a full-throttle piece of proto-soul, coupled with an eerie, tongue-in-cheek B-side that's a current fave around these parts. A Guyden Records release from 1963.