Masters of Chicha, Vol. 1

An Amazonian garage band might seem like an odd concept, but that's exactly what Juaneco y Su Combo were (and maybe still are, as a new version is touring). They replaced the traditional accordion with a Farfisa organ, electrified the guitar and bass, and imported ideas from the Yankees along with rhythms from Brazil and Colombia. The results are actually surprisingly sophisticated, mostly thanks to guitarist Noé Fachin (nicknamed "the Witch Doctor" for his use of local psychedelics). It's very much a synthesis of styles, but the result is new and quite fresh, and very successful on instrumentals like "El Brujo." This compilation pulls together most of the tracks from their 1970 debut, El Gran Cacique, including "Mujer Hilandera," which was a hit for them. They toured extensively and successfully until 1977, when a plane crash killed five members. The others carried on with new personnel, but as "Ya Se a Muerto Mi Abuelo" shows, they couldn't recapture the spirit. Although they never go as over the top as some American garage bands (except for Fachin's brief solo on "Recordando a Fachin"), there's still a gleeful wildness to cuts like "Dale Juaneco." It's definitely the happy side of Latin psychedelia.