LOS FABULOCOS FEATURING KID RAMOS Source: Blindman’s Blues Forum Date: 04/2009 Writer: Craig Ruskey

13 tracks. 44 minutes. Highly recommended. Pardon the cliched expression, but this disc is more fun than a barrel full of monkeys. Blues fans might ponder its inclusion among the more straight-ahead blues material, however, with Kid Ramos playing a big part of the good times, these guys flat-out belong here. This writer won't claim being well-versed with the style, but for comparison's sake, listeners might liken Los Fabulocos to Tex-Mex or Tejano music, while the author of Chicano Soul, Ruben Molina, calls it Cali-Mex. If that doesn't help, think of Southwestern cowboys and Mexican mariachi musicians blending recipes and ideas for a spicy and delicious chili. Whatever the correct terminology is isn't as important as the party it might well start once it's spinning in your CD player. Jesus - that's pronounced hey-Suess - Cuevas tackles the vocal duties and contributes the dandy button accordian sounds throughout. Kid Ramos stuns his fans, offering searing electric guitar, baritone guitar (a completely different tuning from standard), bajo sexto (a big-bodied, acoustic, six string bass guitar) and Spanish guitar. James Barrios holds down the electric bass chores while the drumming is split between Mike Molina (four cuts) and Richard "El Paton" Innes (six tracks) and Lorenzo Martinez (a pair). Cuevas has a pleasing, effective voice, and his accordian work weaves tandem lines with the guitar of Ramos and bounces above the grooves. Of particular note to blues fans will be Kid blazing a six-string trail of mayhem and madness. Whether it's the gritty distortion on the slow waltz of Crazy Baby or the drilling shuffles present in the form of Day After Day and All Night Long, Ramos leaves an indelible mark. His standout here, among a dizzying array of high-mark recordings, has to be the three-minute insanity of Burnin' The Chicken. It's got a definitive Lightnin' Hopkins stamp on it, and the listener can picture a poor, flight-challenged bird running roughshod around the barnyard in an effort to save itself from the Ramos barbecue pit. Los Fabulocos is a forty-four minute party from beginning to end, and if you ain't got this gem, you ain't havin' fun - it's as simple as that. Hat's off to the entire cast and crew at Delta Groove. They've been around a short five years and have set marks more established labels can only hope to attain.