Joe
"King" Carrasco
by Ed Ward
Born Joe Teusch in Dumas, Texas, Joe "King"
Carrasco renamed himself in honor of Fred Gomez Carrasco,
a Mexican dope dealer who was killed in a hail of
bullets during an escape attempt at the Huntsville
prison. A guitarist with a flair for putting together
excellent bands, Carrasco first surfaced with El Molino
in San Antonio, 1976, playing a mixture of west-side
soul and Farfisa organ-driven Tex-Mex pop that quickly
found a place in the burgeoning punk/New Wave scene.
The following year, the band entered S.A.'s legendary
Zaz Studios and cut an eponymous LP. Musicians included
such legends as Eracleo "Rocky" Morales
and Louie Bustos (tenor sax), Speedy Sparks (bass),
Ernie Durawa and Richard Elizondo (drums), Charlie
MacBurney (trumpet, horn arrangements), Ike Ritter
(lead guitar), and Arturo Gonzalez and Augie Meyers
(keyboards). Unfortunately, El Molino had way too
many wild cards in it to survive, and soon Carrasco
found himself in Austin putting together another band.
The
first of many editions of Joe "King" Carrasco
& the Crowns featured Kris Cummings on Farfisa
organ, Brad Kizer on bass, and Miguel "Mike"
Navarro on drums. A tape of their early material,
recorded in the basement of the KOKE-FM studios, got
to ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and he arranged for the
band to cut a single, "Party Weekend" b/w
"Houston El Mover," released in a sleeve
showing a caped, crowned Carrasco executing a leap
in front of the Alamo. In an inspired publicity move,
the single was sent out in a Baggie with a tortilla
that had the band's name emblazoned on it, mailed
to press and clubs across the U.S. and UK. Before
long, the trick hit paydirt: The band was playing
chic New York venues and generating lines around the
block. Then Stiff Records came calling from London,
and the band was signed to one of Britain's hippest
labels and appearing on the 1981 Son of Stiff tour
with Any Trouble, Tenpole Tudor, Dirty Looks, and
reggae band the Equators, whose rhythms were to influence
Carrasco's later work.
Back
in America, the album was picked up by Joe Boyd's
Hannibal label and released with a slightly different
track listing. The band toured incessantly, with audiences
going wild over Carrasco's revival of such tricks
as running into the audience while playing his guitar
and going outside into the street while a long-suffering
roadie made sure the long cord was still intact. This
was not the cerebral side of New Wave! In 1982, Navarro
was replaced by Dick Ross, who made his debut on the
band's next album, Synapse Gap, released on MCA. Although
the album contains few of Carrasco's classics (he
turned down Liam Sternberg's "Walk Like an Egyptian"),
it's notable for the fact that while the band was
recording it, Michael Jackson, who was using another
studio in the same complex, walked into the sessions,
liked what he heard, and asked if he could sing backup,
the only time this is known to have happened.
A
1983 album for MCA, Party Weekend, resurrected some
classics like the title tune and "Buena,"
but the album was hardly promoted, and the band was
let out of its contract. The next album, 1985's Bordertown,
was only released in Europe, where the band remained
popular, as they did on live engagements here in the
States. The LP also saw the debut of new bassist George
Reiff and departure of keyboardist Cummings. Carrasco
wisely decided that a change of sound was indicated
and replaced Cummings with accordionist Marcilo Gauna
and added Bobby Balderama as a lead guitarist. Subsequent
years have seen players come and go and a few independent
albums, but Carrasco's act remains a popular live
attraction, and he continues to maintain a busy international
touring schedule.
Ed
Ward