Pros: Two dynamite hits and a pack of solid tejano tracks
Cons: Not always easy to find
The Bottom Line: Ramon Ayala took 40 years to record 100 CDs---it will only take you 40 minutes of listening to understand why he is one of tejano's biggest names.
mrkstvns's Full Review: El Numero Cien by Ramon Ayala Y Los Bravos Del Nor...
The title of Ramon Ayala's latest album, El Numero 100, means exactly what hardly anyone can believe is humanly possible. It is indeed his 100th album. Yep. The guy recorded one hundred albums! Sure, it took him 4 decades to do it, but with all the one-hit wonders in the musical world, that longevity is as impressive as 100 albums.
In a perfect world, the real heroes of the music industry would be the guys who love their music and who take it seriously. It would be guys who play clubs day-in and day-out and spend the rest of their time writing new music and recording new material. My ideal world would deify artists who treat music with dedication and workaday discipline. Guys like Ramon Ayala would be the biggest names in show biz...
One hundred albums! Sheesh! I wonder if they guy's wife and kids ever see him...
But enough grandstanding. Let's slide El Numero Cien into the changer and take it out for a test listen...
Biggest and Boldest...
This is one of those CDs where one track just jumps out at you as being head and shoulders above everything else on the album. On El Numero Cien, that one song is Del Otro Lado del Porton. This song cooks! It's faster than an indocumentado running from la pinche migra. It's hotter than the noonday sun baking the yellow-red rocks of the Chihuahua desert. It's loud. It's catchy.
What I love most about Del Otro Lado del Porton is its lightning-fast accordian opening riffs. But I also love the lyrics and the way they work on several different levels. In some ways, it's almost a morality commentary about the golden rule, yet it's not preachy or anything, it's just an everyman's look at reality. Some days you're the guy screwing someone (either literally or figuratively), and sometimes you're the one who gets screwed. "From the Other Side of the Fence" -- that's the literal translation of this song's title, and it fits with the song's tone. What goes around, comes around...
Okay, okay, I admit it. It is not completely true that Del Otro Lado del Porton is the only big hit on this CD. I also hear Senor Corazon pretty darn often, and there are even times that I think it sounds catchier and snappier than Del Otro Lado del Porton -- not all the time, but sometimes. Both are great tunes...
In some ways, Senor Corazon is really the song with the greater vocal depth and range. It's more passionate. It tugs the heart strings better. It also has as many hooks and gotchas to snare a listener as even the best Intocable tune. The more I hear it, the more I like it. Top notch!
Those two tunes are really the only tracks on this CD that I'd call genuine "hits", but at the same time, there's nothing at all on this disc that's dull or boring -- nothing that makes me hit the "Skip" button. I like almost everything on here, and it's the kind of CD that I can just put on and listen to straight through while I'm hanging around by the pool or just kicking back with the laptop writing a few epinion reviews...
I like the almost sing-song way that El Ultimo Billete sways back and forth. I also like the finger snapping rhythym of Con el Mismo Amor de Siempre, and I like its deeply passionate vocal depth. La Punalada al Corazon works the same way with its catchy beat and the way Mario Marichalar stretches out the chorus lines as he varies the pitch from high to low as he croons out "La punalada al corazon esta acabando con mi ser y aun asi yo no te dejo de querer..." Great stuff!
Most of the tunes on this CD stick with Ayala's time-proven reliance on the cumbia and the ranchera, but Ayala does throw in a couple curve balls to keep everyone on their toes. I like Ayala's rustic approach to doing corridos, when he does them, and there's one on this CD that I really like, El Corrido de Andres Hernandez, which tells the heart breaking tale of a man named Andres Hernandez -- a guy who was living the life of his dreams as a dedicated family man, at least up until August 6, 2000 when he died at the hands of a drunk driver in Mission, Texas, depriving his wife of her greatest love and his children of their devoted father. This corrido puts a modern spin on the time honored oral folk tale tradition of the border region, yet its focus on the perils of an ordinary everyman is more in keeping with tradition than the violent narcocorrido derivatives that are most commonly heard today. Frankly, I think I prefer Ayala's corridos to those of much bigger name norteno acts (namely the violent narcocorridos of Los Tigres del Norte or the gritty, urban, rap-tinged corridos by guys like Lupillo Rivera). I guess it's just a matter of taste...
Tale of the Tracks...
Fifteen tracks and 47-plus minutes of great tejano music -- here's what you'll hear:
1. Del Otro Lado del Porton 2. El Ultimo Billete 3. Quedo Triste el Jacal 4. Esos dos Amigos Brindaron por Ella 5. Con el Mismo Amor de Siempre 6. Carta en Blanco 7. Senor Corazon 8. No mi Amor 9. La Punalada al Corazon 10. El Corrido de Andres Hernandez 11. Esposa Querida 12. El Columpio del Mezquite 13. Pero ya no Puedo Mas 14. Las Mieles del Olvido 15. Me Han Robado el Corazon
About Ramon Ayala...
Nobody who knows border music will dispute that Ramon Ayala is one of the true greats -- a master of the accordian and a constantly innovative musician. Ayala got his start in the twin border cities of McAllen Texas and Reynosa Tamaulipas -- still home to his most die-hard fan base.
Ramon Ayala is an icon in the worlds of tejano and norteno music. He got his start in the Rio Grande Valley in the early 1960s, when he teamed up with bajo sexto master Cornelio Reyna to form the group Los Relampagos del Norte. Reyna and Ayala parted ways back in the early 1970s and Ayala went on to form his current group, Los Bravos del Norte (who have now been playing together for about 30 years). Ayala's attraction is his dedication to a traditional conjunto sound that features a big accordian sound front and center and lyrics that resonate deeply with the working class hispanic audience that loves and supports Ayala's music.
Los Bravos del Norte include Ramon Ayala's brothers, Fedencio Ayala on bass and Jose Ayala on drums. David Laure does percussions, Mario Marichalar is lead vocalist and plays bajo sexto, and Raul Rosales acts as master of ceremonies.
If you want to know more, see Ayala's web site: www.ramonayala.net
Bottom Line
Like Ayala himself, El Numero 100 is a CD that's not particularly flashy nor earth shattering. What this CD represents is good, solid tejano music with deep traditional roots. It is the kind of music that reflects the kinds of family values and traditions of conservative, working class latino people in the Rio Grande area. It doesn't try to be something it isn't. This is the kind of honest music that honest tejano fans honestly dig on. If you like tejano or norteno music, you'll love this CD as much as I do. That's my honest opinion...
Until next time, see you in the music store. Look for me in the Latin Music aisle -- I'll be browsing through the A section because I can't wait to hear what Ayala's next 100 CDs will sound like!
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