By ‘Rebel’ Rod Ames
Back in 1969 I was sixteen years old and about to venture out to see my then favorite band perform at Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, Texas. The band was none other than Three Dog Night who had been shaking things up in the world of Rock ‘N Roll. They were being hailed as “the next Beatles” and were making believers out of fans all over the world.
In reality, they were probably one of the greatest cover bands ever formed. Not one member of the band wrote music so they only did covers. However, these covers were extremely special covers. Incredible songs such as Harry Nilsson’s “One”, Hoyt Axton’s “Joy to the World”, Elton John’s “Your Song”, Laura Nero’s “Celebrate”, Randy Newman’s “Mama Told Me to Come”, and Neil Young’s “The Loner”.
From 1968-1973 the band sold something like forty-million records. How could they fail with the caliber of songwriters such as the ones assembled for their records? True, they were not yet famous, and in fact, Elton John credits the band for propelling him to fame after releasing “Your Song”.
On Thursday evening, June 24, 2010 at the world famous Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas the band will be performing. Amazingly enough, the band has remained together for the most part with the current lineup featuring founding members Cory Wells and Danny Hutton, Jimmy Greenspoon, and Michael Allsup, along with longtime members Paul Kingery and Pat Bautz.
Opening for Three Dog Night are San Antonio’s favorite, The Krayolas. They released a new record in May called “Americano”. The record was received with much critical acclaim and is the follow-up to last year’s release, the incredible “Long Leaf Pine (no smack gum)”.
“Americano” is a great record as well with fifteen new songs. “Fruiteria” was made into a video that was featured at No Depression’s social networking site for Americana enthusiasts, and “Piso Diez” are two of my favorite tracks on the album, but the entire record is quite impressive. The Texas Tornado’s Flaco Jimenez and Augie Meyers also lend a hand on the record.
Last month after The San Antonio Spurs knocked the Dallas Mavericks out of the NBA playoffs in the first round, The Krayolas created quite a stir and garnered some much deserved National attention with their single “1070-I’m Your Dirty Mexican”. The idea for the song came to be in retaliation to the notorious Arizona anti-illegal immigrant bill and a comment made by a Dallas sportscaster, referring to San Antonio Spurs fans as “dirty little Mexicans”.
The Krayolas have been very busy themselves, just completing a mini-Northeastern tour and are back to open for Three Dog Night. I don’t really intend any disrespect, but in my opinion, it should be the other way around. The Krayolas are an extremely talented band who write and record some truly amazing material.
Do yourselves a favor. If you happen to be in the area tomorrow night, stop in to see what promises to be a fantastic show featuring Three Dog Night who will be preceded by the very talented and unjustly underrated The Krayolas. If you can’t make it, then do yourself a favor by picking up a copy of “Americano”. You will not be disappointed.
‘Rebel’ Rod says check ‘em out!
