Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals (Charlie Lett, center)

Listen/Download – Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals – Out of Sight MP3

Listen/Download – Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals – I Wanna Do the Jerk MP3

Greetings all.

Ever since digging into the history of ‘land of 1,000 Dances’ back in the day I have had an interest in the East LA/Chicano music scene of the 1960s.

Southern California was a hotbed of Chicano bands that specialized in a a very groovy mixture of R&B, rock and soul. Groups like Thee Midniters, Cannibal and the Headhunters, the Atlantics and the Blendells laid down some of the hottest 45s (and a couple of excellent LPs) of the day.

Among their ranks was a multi-racial powerhouse by the name of Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals.

Led by guitarist Ronnie Duran, the band included his brother Jimmy on sax, lead singer Charlie Lett, drummer Philip Duran (not a brother), organist Robert Arroyo, bassist Ryan O’Brien and baritone saxophonist Bob Foley, the Casuals met and formed in high school.

They were managed by Billy Cardenas (who also produced their LP) who also handled a lot of the bigger area bands.

They recorded their album for Bob Keane’s Donna records in 1965, with none other than Arthur Lee (pre-Love) assisting on songwriting and backing vocals.

The album is a great example of the kind of blend that the East LA bands were so good at, with mostly R&B/soul material played with an exuberant, rocking feel.

The tunes I bring you today are the group’s ‘I Wanna Do The Jerk’ (rumored to have been written by Arthur Lee), and their cover of James Brown’s ‘Out of Sight’.

‘I Wanna Do the Jerk’ is one of those records where you can just picture a gym full of sweaty kids getting down while the band works it out on stage.

Their take on ‘Out of Sight’ (also covered by Cannibal and the Headhunters) has the same ragged but right feel of the rest of the record (I have no doubt that these guys played their own instruments in the studio) and the vocal by Lett is excellent.

The liner notes on the LP were written by DJ Gene Weed, who was also the host of Shivaree, one of the coolest 60s ‘dance party’ shows, which featured a lot of interesting pop, soul and R&B acts.

In addition to their LP, the Pomona Casuals recorded a handful of 45s for Donna and Mustang, and continued playing into the 1970s.

I hope you dig the tracks, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 

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