The first time I saw Joe "King" Carrasco was through the smoky haze of a cool little roadhouse outside of Austin called Soap Creek Saloon way too many years ago.

He was onstage leading his band El Molino, who were opening the show for Doug Sahm. I was sitting at a table across the tiny dancefloor.

He sure didn't look like a Carrasco, much less a Chicano. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. And he talked with a West Texas twang, not with a Spanish accent.

Joe introduced a song called "Please Mr. Sandman" he saying it was written by the great music producer Huey P. Meaux, the Crazy Cajun.

"He didn't write it," I blurted out from my chair. "Jimmy Donley did", which was true. Huey P. bought the song for $50. and put his name on it.

It turned out Joe and I shared a love for trashy 45 rpm records made in San Antonio, as well as Sir Doug. That led to my peripheral involvement as executive producer of his first album Tex-Mex Rock-Roll with his big band El Molino and his stripped-down punked-up combo Joe "King" Carrasco & the Crowns and a friendship to this very day.

Of all the years I ran with Joe "King" the best of times was the making of the album "Bordertown" which captured him at his creative peak bouncing off
the barrio walls. A few months earlier I'd walked into the coolest record shop on the Left Bank of Paris and made a handshake deal with Patrick Mathe for Joe "King" to make albums for New Rose Records.

The title of his first album for New Rose was inspired by the old Bordertown Drive-In movie theater in Laredo, Texas, a mile from the Mexican border. Shortly after the band had finished recording the tracks in Austin, the band drove down to Laredo to have their pictures taken in front of the old exterior of the drive-in. That night, they crossed the border into Nuevo Laredo to hear real
Mexican music in a very dark nightclub. Before the evening was over, the Crowns had commandeered the bandstand and were cranking out polkitas that left the audience and house band open-mouthed. How did these gringos know this music so well? They were further taken aback when Joe "King" jumped on a table while twanging his Telecaster, then ran out into the street as the Crowns played on.

The crowd in Laredo didn't realize any better than the trendy fashionistas at Les Bains Douches in Paris did who this guy really was. But by the end of the night, everyone in Mexico and France could agree no one does Tex-Mex better.

These tracks revisit those glory days, when Joe "King"'s relationship when Tex-Mex met France, and good rocking music was spiced with jalapen~os.

As for me, I'm not complaining. I got to marry the organ player.

JOE NICK PATOSKI

In 1980 Joe and his new band, The Crowns, released their first single, Party Weekend, and the label chase began.The band became one of the first American groups signed to England's legendary Stiff Records. During this time Joe toured extensively throughout Europe, Central America, Bolivia and Columbia as well as across the USA and Canada, consistently delivering high energy performances where dancing was numero uno priority.

Rounding out his assault on the International music scene with an in-depth interview in Rolling Stone Magazine and an appearance performing his music on Saturday Night Live. His song Party Weekend which is still known as the quintessential party anthem, was re-released by MTV as Party Christmas, making Joe King Carrasco a household name to MTV viewers across the country.

Even with all this going on Joe knew he was ready to take his music to a new level. It was on the Stiff Records, Sons of Stiff Tour, while traveling with a British-born Jamaican band called The Equators, that Joe picked up much of his reggae influence. After returning from a very successfull year on the road, he put this experience to work and recorded the reggae flavored song "Don't Let a Woman (Make a Fool Out of You)" on his album Synapse Gap for MCA Records where he had the King of pop, Michael Jackson, singing background harmonies.

Joe's music is enhanced with an even greater Latin influence after living and studying in Nicaragua in the mid 1980's. His songs dealt with the unjust political situation of that period in Central America, and the resulting albums were; "Bordertown", "Bandido Rock" (off of which the song "Pachucco Hop" was recorded by the French group Mano Negra on thier first platinum selling CD), "Royal Loyal & Live" (with the only live recording of Party Weekend), and his latest "Dia De Los Muertos".

Several years ago, His Majesty took a few left turns at Nogales and wound up playing with his band at a bar called Pancho y Lefty's in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. There, the Tex-Mex fell into a slow cool cumbia/reggae groove. This style seemed to be the musical answer to what Joe had been searching for from the Mayan pyramids to the shores of Lake Titicaca. This mystical conbination of Latino and Caribbean, with a little bit of Sam The Sham thrown in for a spicy flavor, has evolved into a style Joe has termed "tequila reggae".

In 1995 MCA Records released a compilation CD set of Joe's music, though this set merely scratches the surface of this seasoned songwriter's catalogue. In early 1996 joes' song Tell Me was recorded by The Texas Tornados, and sung by Freddy Fender, on their latest CD. He also plays guitar on the song A Little Bit is Better than Nada in Kevin Costners new movie The Tin Cup.

In 1999 Joe released his album Hot Sun which has receieved lots of air play and promises to be a must have for cellectors of Joe King's music. Four of the thirteen songs on this CD were placed in the soundtrack for the movie Borderland . Several more from this recording session are being looked at and are expected to be placed in other movie soundtracks in the year 2000. Hot Sun also marks the first project co-produced by Joe and his long time live audio engineer and office manager Bruce Warren.

For many years, Joe has donated his time and music to make P.S.A.'s for the Tx. Parks & Wildlife Dept., helping to spread the word about keeping our beaches clean. In 1978 Joe's father was killed by a drunk driver. So he welcomed the opportunity to work with and support Tx.'s S.O.B.E.R. program, educating people about the pitfalls of driving while intoxicated.

With thousands of live performances under his belt, a dozen albums to his credit, and fans circling the globe, it's little wonder Joe King Carrasco is still the #1 party act in music circles around the country.
| Home | What's