The Foote Files: Thee Midniters
FORT WORTH (CBS11) - While headed to lunch Tuesday for Mexican food, I heard a song on Sirius XM 21 The Underground Garage from 1967 by one of the top Chicano bands (as they were known then) in Los Angeles and the U.S.: Thee Midniters.
The group started in East Los Angeles in the early 1960's. They remain (I believe) the only one from East LA that ever released a greatest hits album.
Members included Ray Jimenez, Willie Garcia, George Dominguez, Cesar Rosas, and Roy Marquez. The instruments they used were trombone, sax, congas, keyboards, and electric guitars. And most of them went to the same high school. The band caught the attention of two Los Angeles disc jockeys: Huggy Boy (real name Dick Hugg) of station KTYM/Inglewood CA and another well-known personality: Casey Kasem, who was at KRLA/Los Angeles before he started American Top 40 which is what he is most remembered. While I am unsure as to whether the group's songs made the playlist at KRLA (or even cross-town rival Boss Radio 93/KHJ whose Drake-Chenault format was very tight-playlisted), both guys gave them a lot of promotion on-air at KRLA.
The song today is called "Jump Jive & Harmonize" from 1967, a blues style with a bit of unsophistication but hard driving with a big sound. Produced by Eddie Torres, written by Roy Marquez and Willie Garcia on the Whittier record label (as a "B" side song) and running 2:20, the lyrics go like this:
You got the soul baby
I got the faith
you got the soul baby
it's all it takes
to jump, jive, and harmonize
to jump, jive, and harmonize
come on
come on please
come on baby
baby please
all right
they get it up tight
oh yes they do
oh yes they do
You got the soul baby
I got the power
they way you groove it girl
would turn any sweet thing sour
you got to jump, jive, and harmonize
I said jump, jive, and harmonize
pick it up
pick it up girl
you make me feel all right
oh yeah
You got the soul baby
I got the faith
Rock on.
