November 1, 2017
Artist Royalty and Music Services
Thee Midniters were an American group, amongst the first Chicano rock bands to have a major hit in the United States. Also they were and one of the best known acts to come out of East Los Angeles in the 1960s, with a cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances", and the instrumental track, "Whittier Boulevard" in 1965. They were amongst the first rock acts to openly sing about Chicano themes in songs such as "Chicano Power" and "The Ballad of César Chávez" in the late 1960s. Thee Midniters are the only 1960s band from East Los Angeles that released a greatest hits album. The band was one of the first to integrate horns, timbales, congas, keyboards and electric guitars to produce a sound somewhat on the order of Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears, albeit a few years before those bands were "big". Most band members attended Salesian High School, off the corner of Whittier Blvd. and Soto St. during their times with the exception of drummer George Salazar who attended Garfield High School and Larry Rendon who attended Cantwell. Highly professional and musically sophisticated compared to the surf bands of the day (they were largely school-trained), Willie Garcia and Thee Midniters were regarded as The Beatles on a smaller scale, though they sounded (and still sound) more like a big, soul-gospel review group with a hefty dose of salsa. A well-known disc jockey, Casey Kasem, said, "They were the best band I ever hired". Kasem filled a regular slot on KRLA AM top forty radio in the 1960s and promoted concerts and dances at the time. Thee Midniters were akin to an East LA allstar band. No other group from the area, and not many from elsewhere for that matter, could boast such a collection of talent. At the top was Willie Garcia a.k.a. Little WIllie G., the lead singer. "Willie G. was one of the most soulful Latin persons I ever heard," said the singer Brenton Wood. "He could really deliver a sermon, and he had a lot of feeling in his vocals." Willie took obscure soul ballads such as "The Town I Live In", or "Giving Up On Love" and made them more beautiful by his own special delivery. Thee Midniters have continued to play through the decades under the leadership and management of Bassist Jimmy Espinoza and Saxophonist Larry Rendon.