Flaco Jimenez – Un Mojado Sin Licencia / Arhoolie CD-396

Description

CD 396

Flaco Jiménez – accordion & vocals; Toby Torres – bajo sexto & vocals; José Morante – vocals; Frank Benitos – vocals; with unidentified bass & drums.

These are the sides that made Flaco’s reputation the ones that earned him his title as “El Rey de Texas.” Recorded in San Antonio between 1955 and 1967 and licensed from Norteño/Sombrero Records.

Includes all of ARH LP 3007 plus ten selections previously unreleased on CD.

1. El Guero Polkas
2. Tesoro De Mi Alma
3. Sin Fe
4. Hasta La Tumba
5. Mujer Fatal
6. Virgencita De Mi Vida
7. Un Mojado Sin Licencia
8. El Padre De Un Soldado
9. Victimas De Huracan Beulah
10. De Rodillas Quisiera Mirarte
11. La Primer Noche De Mayo
12. De Aqui Pa’l Real
13. El Troquero
14. Viajando En Polka
15. Cuando Mas Tranquila
16. Mi Borrachera
17. No Me Digas Que Te Vas
18. Desvelado
19. Bajo Sexto Y Accordeon
20. No Te Andes Apasionando
21. Pa’ Que Son Pasiones
22. Ella Me Dijo Que No
23. Alma Rendida
24. No Seas Tonta Mujer

REVIEWS

“`Aaaar-hoolie – Polka ’til you die’ could be the call here! Flaco Jiménez son of Santiago friend of Ry Cooder. A man who has crossed over without compromise. When he picks up an accordion dust flies as energy bounces into you. The fact is that outside of the U.K. most people have not given up couple dancing so huapangos cumbias boleros valses and polkas are the order of the day with Flaco’s irrepressible solos introducing extended solos whose tricky virtuoso runs are storming. In a classic set drawn from the 1960s lyrics are down to earth as in the rocking Mojado challenging the racial and cultural discrimination behind the green card license yet roaring with wit.”

(John Fairley — Folk Roots)

“`Un Mojado Sin Licensia’ by Flaco Jiménez is music from the barrios of San Antonio by a master of the genre.

This is a compilation of his juke box hitsthe singlesthat made his reputation and led to his receiving a Grammy in 1987. It is Tex-Mex Conjunto dance music ranging from polkas to boleros to valses to corridos. His accordion playing is spectacular but he is also a great storyteller whether he’s telling us about the devastation of a Gulf Coast storm (`Víctimas de Huracan Beulah’) or the tragicomic title cut (`A Wetback Without A License’) in which the Chicano hero loses both his car and his girl to the gringos. When was the last time someone told you stories you wanted to dance to?”

(Kirk Robertson — Lahontan Valley News)

“For the truly uninitiated let us just explain Flaco Jiménez as the guy with the accordion in the Texas Tornados. He is the one who makes the crowd jump out of their seats from the very first number and keeps them up `til the end of the set. No doubt about it he is the energy of that band. What people like about the Texas Tornados even if they don’t know what to call it is the accordion-driven dance music known as conjunto. Un Mojado is just that. Pure conjunto no tampering in the studio strictly accordion bajo sexto bass and drums with two-part harmonies on heartbreaking songs. These recordings date from the 1950s and ’60s but while the songs aren’t the same the sound is exactly what you’ll hear in dances all over San Antonio tonight. Toby Torres offers the harmonies and the bajo and is himself a longtime star of the San Antonio music scene (His stubborn aversion to touring limits his popularity to south Texas). He reminds us that to be popular you have to give the people what they want. Who is it that wants conjunto? The people drinking and dancing either trying to forget or trying to get something to forget. So in the wisdom of Toby Torres you always need a lot of heartbreak and recrimination leavened by a little unalloyed adoration. He’s right too that’s about all you hear on south Texas radio. But there is a parallel tradition one that includes topical song. The title song `Un Mojado Sin Licencia’ for example deals with the mojado (illegal) and all the different times he is stumped for not having the right piece of paper. Another offers the heartfelt prayers of a soldier’s father; another narrates the life of a truck driver. And in the Arhoolie tradition there are side by side Spanish transcriptions and English translations of the lyrics. Flaco fans of long standing will note that an LP of the same title was released about 15 years ago but with 10 additional cuts here everybody should want a copy of this repackaged release.”

(Mary Armstrong — Sing Out!)