2
There are albums, and then again, there are albums. Some you
consume, grow out of, and get rid of. Others have a way of
staying with you for the rest of your life. You take care of them,
and you keep coming back to them, exactly as you would with
really good friends.
For me, ‘Rise’ by Louie & The Lovers is that kind of record. I
discovered it when it came out in 1970 after reading a review by,
I think, Ed Ward in ‘Rolling Stone’. That the album was produced
by Doug Sahm served only to enhance the good Ward’s
recommendation in my eyes. Still, the record surpassed all the
expectations I had when I first sent away for it. And now, almost
forty years later, it remains just as good, if not better.
‘Rise’ is a completely unencumbered, simple, matter-of-fact
mixture of Ritchie Valens’ sexy Chicano Swing, traditional Mexican
music, and artless American rock ‘n’ roll by way of Creedence
Clearwater Revival. The fact that no one in the band was over
twenty at the time of recording lends an air of innocence and
freshness to the album that is totally disarming. There seems to
be no clearly formulated idea, no plan behind the music.
Louis Ortega was the group’s leader and chief songwriter. And
like the other threemembers in the band, a Salinas Valley boy. He
tells the story behind the album:
