The Romancers
| The Romancers | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1960s |
| Labels | Magic Circle, Del Fi, Linda, Dot, Prospect |
| Associated acts | Cannibal & the Headhunters, Thee Midnighters |
| Past members |
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The Romancers were a Chicano rock band from the Eastside of Los Angeles, California who were active in the 1960s. They were one of the first East L.A. bands to record and paved the way for acts such as the Premiers and Cannibal & the Headhunters. The Romancers made two albums on Del-Fi Records and a string of singles for Eddie Davis' Linda label. Max Uballez was the group's leader, chief songwriter, and rhythm guitarist. He was involved in songwriting and production the Romancers' records, as well as other top Eastside bands.
The Romancers were founded in the early 1961 by Max Uballez in the largely Hispanic Lincoln Heights section of Eastside Los Angeles, California and their members attended Lincoln High School. The Romancers' manager was Billy Cardenas, and their name was inspired by posters and flyers promoting dances in the East L.A. area, which often read "Dance and Romance...this Saturday night." Max Uballez thought that seeing "Dance and Romance to The Romancers" would sound appealing on their flyers. The Romancers was the brand name that Max Uballez worked under. He did this because he was not interested in being a single artist. For live shows Max would embellish the group as needed members were ever changing free to come and go. Max Uballez built his band from a group of musicians he worked with in Lincoln heights. In the beginning The Romancer’s were Max Uballez vocals and Rhythm Guitar, Richard Provincio Lead guitar and Sax, David Brill Drums and Manuel Rodriguez Bass. The Record companies had a different view and released “You’d Better” on Magic Circle Records as Max Uballez on Donna records they used Max Uballes dropping the “z” from his name. Max has always worked under this brand and claims by others leading the The Romancers are just not true. With this group of musicians Max Uballez recorded. "You’d Better”, "Rock Little Darlin’’, “I Found a New Love” with Robert and Rey, “I’m Leaving It All Up To You” with the Heartbreakers. “Rock Little Darlin” was recorded in Cucamonga at Frank Zappa’s and Paul Buffs studio. Max returned to Cucamonga to record “Cradle Rock” and “Everytime I See You” with the Heart Breakers. For this session Max used Frank Zappa on lead guitar. Max would change the Romancers band lineup depending on the project he was working on and who was available. In essence whoever played with Max was a Romancer. Frank Zappa was a Romancer for a day. For the "Slauson Shuffle" recording Max Changed the line up in search of a new sound. Max wanted a smooth almost jazz funk sax and a Freddy King telecaster sound and Cowbell to give it a Latin flavor. Max played Rhythm Guitar, Manuel Mosqueda Drums, Chris Pascual Bass, Armando Mora Sax and Andy Tesso on lead guitar. For live performances the band line up was ever changing. Max had a pool of musicians that he would pull from time to time. He used them as needed for gigs or recording. This rotation of musicians through the Romancers band became a boot camp for the East Side Sound. In 1961 Billy Cardenas and Max formed a partnership and created the name for the band.
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