REAL DE CATORCE

 

"¿Dónde nos ha llevado nuestra forma de ser,

muestra callada locura nuestro mágico ayer?

 Baila conmigo en el patio al amanecer

bajo este pelo de lluvia y contraley."

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 "B"

Main Decade: 90’s

Main Eras:

80s Classic Rock en Ñ

90s Rock En Ñ: The Golden Age

2000s Rock En Ñ: The Dispersion

 

Key Members:

José Cruz, Vocals, Harmonica, and Guitar

Fernando Ábrego, Drums

José Iglesias, Lead Guitar

Severo Viñas, Bass

​

Key Songs:

Azul, Pago Mi Renta Con Un Poco De Blues, Devoto Amor, El Quinqué, La Medicina, Mujer Sucia, Contraley, El Lobo, Al Rojo de la Tarde, Patios de Cristal, Sostente de Pie, Beso de Ginebra, Dorina y Abel, Malo, Al Rojo de la Tarde, Niña Virgen María, Cicatrices, El Virrey, El Taxi de los Sueños, Toca un Rock & Roll, Esta Noche, Blues del Atajo, Jenny, Botellas de Mar, Un Mediodía Triste, Madre Blues, 

​

Real de Catorce is perhaps the best Mexican rock band that has ever existed. Better than Caifanes and Café Tacuba. Plain and simple. Chas, Corvan's gone mad, he gave a B+ to an unknown band. NOOOooooooooo! Before you close the window and go browse to see what other reviews are out there, let me introduce you to this band, unknown to most of our foreign visitors, and even to most of our Mexican followers.

​

I want to say first of all that this intro and the subsequent review are my birthday present to myself this year. This is music I listen to at least once a month to relax, enjoy, and marvel at top-notch blues—blues in Spanish that not only dared to be among the first in the genre to break the language barrier, but also stood shoulder to shoulder with the best exponents of Anglo-Saxon blues. They participated in international blues festivals alongside Ry Cooder, John Lee Hooker, Papa John Creach, Eric Clapton, Otis Rush, Son Seals, and other legends, not as opening acts, but shoulder to shoulder, earning their admiration and respect. This led to constant requests for these kinds of festivals abroad, even achieving acclaim in cities as far away as Moscow, Leningrad, and Riga.

​

Real de Catorce isn't a band that plays rock with blues influences; rather, they're a group that approaches the blues with tremendous respect and infuses it with a wide variety of genres. Their songs incorporate jazz, swing, ranchera, reggae, rumba, and even hip hop. Yes, you read that right, hip hop. And they don't just blend these styles with the blues; they do so with tremendous success, creating solid, fluid songs, full of virtuosity on each instrument, quite accessible, but without being easy or commercial. Quite the opposite; Real de Catorce is a band that navigated the underground. And although they always had a tremendous following who recognized them and packed their concerts, they were never a mainstream band with powerful record labels behind them, they didn't appear on TV, and their name is relatively unknown both inside and outside their country of origin.

​

The heart and soul of the group is undoubtedly José Cruz. He's the band's vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, one of the best harmonica players in all of Latin America, and he deserves immense credit for surrounding himself with tremendous musicians, all virtuosos on their respective instruments, who joined this great musical project throughout the band's various lineups.

​

José Cruz is a tremendous songwriter. While his bandmates certainly deserve much of the credit for the finished songs with their masterful instrumental performances, José knew how to create perfect frameworks upon which the rest of the band built. In Real de Catorce's ten albums, there are perhaps only about five songs that could be considered disposable… the rest are perfect works of form and content, where the songwriter strikes a perfect balance between poetic lyrics, rich in meaning, imagery, and emotion, and well-crafted, rich lyrics, while musically creating sublime harmonies for both the instrumentation and his own voice. But let's take it one step at a time: first, the lyrics. In this respect, Real's lyrics are tremendous. Cruz's poetry is dark, steeped in night, disappointment, and eroticism; it has the flavor of bars, blood in the mouth, and desolation. In a way, they bear a strong resemblance to Joaquín Sabina's lyrics, at least in that working-class feel, in that talk of love he doesn't believe in, of easy women and everyday things, but without as much cynicism as the Spaniard and without using the sonnet form as much as Sabina, which makes Cruz's verses sometimes sound more natural. On the other hand, his lyrics are heavily influenced by the cursed poets and the Beat Generation. It's impossible not to notice the tremendous weight of pessimism, and it's said that in his youth he was strongly influenced by Kerouac, Bukowski, Ginsberg, and others. I don't know when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, but the theme of death is also recurrent in Cruz's lyrics. I want to believe that many of the references he makes, especially on his later albums (the latest is called “Voy A Morir” – I'm Going to Die), stem from his awareness of his illness, which has been slowly paralyzing him, leading him to disband the band in 2005, and which Cruz knew would eventually kill him. However, there's very little information available, so these are just suppositions. Another point worth noting is that from the beginning, his lyrics were in Spanish, a genre where doing so was taboo. He not only dared to do it, but he succeeded remarkably well and can be considered one of Mexico's best lyricists.

​

On the other hand, musically, Real de Catorce is an impressive band. Their harmonies and arrangements are always fresh, never repetitive, avoiding the genre's tired clichés, and instead giving each song its own unique personality, perfectly complementing the lyrics. From furious blues rockers to melancholic atmospheres adorned with mournful harmonicas. Always based on the blues, and daring to experiment many times with other genres, but without ever losing that masterful foundation.

​

Furthermore, listening to them or seeing them live is a delight. That is to say, seeing them live in concert these days is impossible, but there's plenty of material on YouTube, and they also released two fantastic live albums (El Azul and El Rojo, perhaps the best live albums in Spanish) that demonstrate the tremendous power they possessed live. They're one of those bands that never play a song the same way twice, improving and extending them considerably with improvisations and enormous solos, or with poems that José Cruz would spontaneously insert in the middle of a song. In addition to festivals in the USA and Europe, Real liked to perform in small venues within Mexico; they even played at some universities or at a few editions of the Cervantino Festival, generally filling the place and receiving great displays of admiration and affection from their small but select and loyal audience.

​

The band members are as follows:

 

José Cruz – Vocals, harmonica, and rhythm guitar

​

Fernando Ábrego – Drums (along with Cruz, he is the only member who has been with the band throughout its entire history)

Julio Zea – Guitar on "Cicatrices," "Nueve," and "Voy a Morir"

​

Neftalí López – Bass on "Nueve"

​

Severo Viñas – Bass on "Real de Catorce," "Tiempos Oscuros," and "Mis Amigos Muertos"

 

José Iglesias – Lead guitar on "Real de Catorce," "Tiempos Oscuros," "Mis Amigos Muertos," "Voces Interiores," "Contraley," and "Azul/Rojo"

 

Juan Cristóbal Perez Grobet – Bass on "Voces Interiores," "Contraley," "Azul/Rojo," and "Cicatrices."

 

Carlos Torres – Violin and keyboards on Nueve and Voy a Morir

Jorge Velasco – Bass on Voy a Morir

 

As I mentioned, Real de Catorce disbanded in 2005 because Multiple Sclerosis slowly worsened and eventually took its toll on José, preventing him from playing and singing. The breakup remains a mystery, since in 2007, when the official Real de Catorce website was still active, José accused the other members of trying to steal his name and of betraying him. The others responded by saying that the disease made him see things that weren't there and that all the band's activities were aimed at helping him with his illness and raising funds. Amidst the back-and-forth, the band formally ceased to exist, and the official website disappeared along with the little information and photos that were available online. We'll never know the truth. The only certainty is that José reappeared at a university, playing solo with minimal accompaniment. Lucía was very ill, in a wheelchair, with an oxygen tank nearby, just in case. The image is truly heartbreaking, but he managed to put on a fantastic semi-acoustic performance, proving that the people who know Real adore José Cruz, no matter how frail he is and even though he's missing all the virtuosity of his former bandmates. Currently, the costs of his illness have overwhelmed José Cruz's resources, and every now and then, a notice appears announcing a concert featuring various musicians to raise funds. It's truly incredible, considering he's one of the best lyricists and musicians in the country.

​

Today, they're a cult band, and their legend spreads just like it did in the band's early days: through word of mouth. That's why I'm taking this opportunity to recommend them here at La Caverna. It's unfair that such a great band is so hidden away. It's unfair that the creator of such wonderful music is dying penniless and without the recognition he deserves. And not only Cruz, regardless of any problems that may have existed and although he is undoubtedly the heart and soul of the band, the rest of the members who made Real e Catorce a big name in blues and rock also deserve to be publicized and recognized.

​

As I mentioned, information about this band is scarce, and perhaps I have the honor of gathering here much of the available information and data I've read in newspapers or received from friends. I hope that those unfamiliar with this band will take the time to listen to the albums we'll be uploading with reviews, but above all, that if after listening you agree that these are works of art from a band whose albums almost all score 9 or 10 (except for the latest), you'll take the trouble to find these albums and buy them. Let's not give Real de Catorce a pittance, but let's pay a fair price for their work; they truly deserve it.

​

​

Por Corvan 

Apr/16/2009​​​

​

​