LOS FABULOCOS FEATURING KID RAMOS Source: Blues & Rhythm Magazine Date: 08/2008 Writer: Phil Write

Educated Fool/ If You Know/ Crazy Baby/ Lonesome Tears In My Eyes/ Un Mojado Sin Licencia/ Day After Day/ Como Un Perro/ You Ain’t Nothin’ But Fine/ You Keep Drinkin’/ Just Because/ All Night Long/ Burnin’ The Chicken/ Mexico Americano

Los Fabulocos comprise Jesus Cuevas on vocals and button accordion, James Barrios plays bass, Kid Ramos, guitar; and Mike Molina is the drummer, with Richard Innes sitting in on drums for several numbers. Ramos is of course well known as a blues guitarist, one time member of James Harman’s band, and of course a member the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Cuevas was formerly with the East Los Angeles group The Blazers. Their debut release is a tasty mixture of Mexican music, blues, r&b and rockabilly.

Huey ‘Piano’ Smith’s ‘Educated Fool’ is the opening cut, blend Ramos’s fiery blues guitar with Cuevas’s chugging accordion and you get a new take on an old classic! The spirit of Guitar Slim is resurrected, courtesy of Ramos’s guitar on ‘Crazy Baby’, Cuevas sings beautifully on this Gene Maltais composition (now there’s a name you don’t often see in these pages). ‘Lonesome Tears In My Eyes’ was penned by Johnny Burnette, Cuevas steps down and Ramos sings lead and plays a sparklingly toned bajo sexto.

‘Un Mojado Sin Licencia’ reminds this writer of the recordings Ry Cooder did with Flaco Jimenez, unsurprisingly Santiago Jimenez penned the song. ‘Day After Day’ is a hard-hitting blues number, substituting accordion for blues harp, you get the idea? Semien and Soileau’s ‘You Ain’t Nothin’ But Fine’ mixes up Zydeco with Latino, is there such a thing as Zydino?? ‘Just Because’ deserves to be a dance hall hit, with its groovy accordion lick and Ramos’s greasy guitar riffs. ‘Burnin’ The Chicken’ is an instrumental feature for guitar, combing elements of r&b, surf, r’n’r, the whole nine yards in fact, take a bow Kid Ramos! ‘Mexico Americano’ brings things to a conclusion, its at times like this that that I wish I was not monolingual, I really wish I knew what the words of this lovely sounding song were!

If you enjoy Tex Mex and Zydeco along with your daily dose of blues and r&b then this recommended recording should appeal to you, it will certainly keep your toes tapping, it’s a good ‘un!