Esquivel's Steel Guitar

Wade Medlock · Post by **Wade Medlock** » 22 Apr 2005 8:31 am

My daughter gave me recordings of more than 2 dozen of the quirky songs by popular Mexican composer, Esquivel, from, I believe, the 1950s and 1960s. He was called the King of Space Age Pop.

He was a genius at big band arrangements just as stereo was hitting the market.

Part of his genius was that he used steel guitar extensively.

What can you guys and gals tell me about the artists he used? What I've heard sounds an awful lot like Speedy West.
<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Wade Medlock on 22 April 2005 at 09:34 AM.]</p></FONT>

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 22 Apr 2005 8:46 am

That would be your Alvino Rey.

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 22 Apr 2005 8:46 am

Alvino Rey!!!

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 22 Apr 2005 9:17 am

Back when I was touring with Blueground Undergrass, we played Esquivel CDs almost exclusively for the warm up to the band's first set. Very inspiring to listen to, and so many new fans for Esquivel!

------------------
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 22 Apr 2005 10:01 am

He was a groovy musical guy if there ever was one.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 22 Apr 2005 10:38 am

"zoo zoo zoo zoo"

I love Esquivel's arrangements!

Kiyoshi Osawa · Post by **Kiyoshi Osawa** » 22 Apr 2005 2:59 pm

He used to live out in Cuernavaca, in an old house that belongs to his brother. He managed to stick around long enough to find his music back in vogue!

Esquivel was probably the first time I heard steel guitar and counciously noticed it.

Anyway, "viva Mexico!"

------------------
Kiyoshi
------

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 22 Apr 2005 3:19 pm

Groovy?

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 22 Apr 2005 4:00 pm

Big time! Go to a dictionary and look up "groovy"--Esquivel will be the definition.

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 22 Apr 2005 5:30 pm

Alvino Rey and the King Sisters, did a lot to popularize the steel guitar with his big band arrangements.

He opened the door for a lot of us and showed us that way.......al

------------------
My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Jerry Erickson · Post by **Jerry Erickson** » 22 Apr 2005 5:48 pm

Great stuff! My first exposure to Esquivel was on an NPR station in Champaign,IL. WEFT 90.1 Wed. evenings from midnight til 2AM, Jason Croft has a show called the Bachelor Pad," The only show with a 2 drink minimum". You might be able to listen to some of the archived shows.