The King of the Narco-Corridos.
His voice kinda grates, but he is, for lack of a better comparison, the Bob Dylan of the modern corrido. The thing to know about Chalino is that he took the traditional corrido of the Mexican Revolution, which was at the time of the Revolution a rather subversive music form but which later became institutionalized and fused with the modern Mexican national identity, and reclaimed it and recast it again as a subversive music form - a music of the marginalized and of the modern lawlessness of the Mexican narco subculture. His corridos glorify not the traditional folk anti-heroes of the Mexican Revolution, but the new folk anti-heroes of the modern narco-trafficking world.
I once had a manager who grew up in Columbia who used to tell me about the narco-folk music. I believe it is very popular there.
ReplyDeleteThis might be the guy he was always talking about.
Speaking of traditional Latin American folk music, the foreign exchange student who is staying with my aunt recently taught me to play and sing an old Chilean folk song on guitar, "Mi Caballo Blanco". I've been having a blast with it, great song and easy to play. It is my first attempt at singing in a foreign tounge. Fabio (the exchange student) gets quite a laugh out of it.
In return, I've been teaching him "Tillamook County Jail" by Todd Snider:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QYnvpKv-kRQ
Have a great Thanksgiving, Huck.
Thanks, P_F. Have fun with the Chilean tune! The Todd Snider tune is lots of fun, too. Thanks for sharing and a great Turkey bird day to you and yours, too. Peace.
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