Voices of Latin Rock: People and Events That Created This Sound

* LATIN * ROCK * MASTERPIECE *, June 27, 2005 Reviewer: derjenrogers from WILTHIRE l found long ago, a very special sound,but no one was around totell me about it, no one knew anything, only that the music was so powerful it WOULD change your life. My soul has been searching for 30 years untill Jim McCarthy came and spent four years of his life, writting, hundred of interviews, to bring to life an utter MASTERPIECE, documenting the raw,uncensored passion to the roots of LATIN ROCK. Authenticity and powerful emotion drips off every page,forcing the reader to collect it and greedily drinkdown this strong, pungent,wonderful nectar to fill your unknowing soul with THE KNOWLEDGE!All the peoples names (which i only use to just read on the back of album covers) all come to life and i feel that they are closefriends,as so many are backed-up with the huge amount of photographs in this wonderful book.l now, no longer feel left outside, without The Knowledge, but part of global commune, full of love, warmth and unashamed greed for LATIN ROCK.Jim McCarthy has pulled off a monumental task with getting to grips with the truth behind the roots of the music to some of the greastest latin rock bands of all time.Their music will be here forever, as indeed this book will be.THIS BOOK IS A TOTAL MUST FOR ALL LATIN ROCK LOVERSDISCOVERING IT'S ROOTS,HISTORY,IT'S MUSICIANS. THISMASTERPIECE WILL FOREVER HAUNT EVERY BOOK SHELF ALL OVER THE WORLD, AS THE ONLY TRUE AUTHORITIVE VOICE IN LATIN ROCK

Reviewer: derjenrogers from UK l found long ago, a very special sound,but no one was around totell me about it, no one knew anything, only that the music was so powerful it WOULD change your life. My soul has been searching for 30 years untill Jim McCarthy came and spent four years of his life, writting, hundredS of interviews, to bring to life an utter MASTERPIECE, documenting the raw,uncensored passion to the roots of LATIN ROCK. Authenticity and powerful emotion drips off every page,forcing the reader to collect it and greedily drink down this strong, pungent,wonderful nectar to fill your unknowing soul with THE KNOWLEDGE! All the peoples names (which i only use to just read on the back of album covers) all come to life and i feel that they are close friends,as so many are backed-up with the huge amount of photographs in this wonderful book.l now, no longer feel left outside, without The Knowledge, but part of global commune, full of love, warmth and unashamed greed for LATIN ROCK. Jim McCarthy has pulled off a monumental task with getting to grips with the truth behind the roots of the music to some of the greastest latin rock bands of all time. Their music will be here forever, as indeed this book will be. THIS BOOK IS A TOTAL MUST FOR ALL LATIN ROCK LOVERS DISCOVERING IT'S ROOTS,HISTORY,IT'S MUSICIANS. THIS MASTERPIECE WILL FOREVER HAUNT EVERY BOOK SHELF ALL OVER THE WORLD, AS THE ONLY TRUE AUTHORITIVE VOICE IN LATIN ROCK

i love this book it,s about time a book like this came out i love all the old pics of the bands and of the mission district now people will know the history of san franciscos latin rock and salsa sceen all the bands they mentioned on here like malo santana and sapo azteca tower of power el chicano i grew up listening to them

Quite a book,an amazing trip down the "memories lane". Fotos beyond expectation, SO many nice documents of Latin Rock, from its jazzy moments (Caravanserai -era Santana and Malo) to the Latin Funk/Bugalú end of the spectrum (Mandrill in particular). Finally , words about not only the "stars" like Carlos Santana , in particular, but nice words about músicos as the unbelievable innovative (and completely ignored) bassist Douglas Rauch and pianista beyond compare Richard Kermode. Abel Zarate was as great a guitarrista as Carlos Santana, this book can set the record straight! What more to say, a great period in sounds , I made many friends in that period when fellow afficionados mutually "hacer buenas migas" when we discovered our common denominator, this new sound mixing genres in the tradition so well associated with Brasil! (cultural cannibalism is the "famous" term!) Also included, some words on Afro-American and Chicano activisim of the time, and , for me, a wonderful surprise that the late Alberto Gianquinto, the mad composer/pianista was mentioned in more than passing detail(He cowrote "Incident at Neshabur" with Carlos Santana, among other accomplishments) . He was a severe combination of Thelonius Monk meet Otis Spann, Che Guevara meet 21st century schizoid puertoriqueño! I knew him in Chicago, and was quite influenced by his unique brand of madness, a madness that unfortunately led to his demise. the book is written in the tone of a fan, not in the scholarly fashion, but no matter , I am not an "elitista"! Very easy to read, almost 50/50 text/pictoral. A must purchase!

The book release party last night at Bimbo's 365 in San Francisco was nothing short of amazing- The house was packed with stars and music lovers from every culture. The book was the center piece and deservedly so. It is PACKED with story, photos, I mean a TON of photos that teleport you back to the early days in the Mission and such giving the viewer a real sense of having been there. Props to Jim and Ron- and to Dr. Bernie Gonzalez- Proceeds from the book are supporting the Alex Speaks,Awareness for Autism Foundation- A video shown at the release party about the foundation can be viewed at http://www.RockVideos.US along with clips of performances from that memorable night in the City.- Rocky-