It was mid 1964, when a group of young
high school students,. Diego Garcia Sayan, brothers Freddy and Jose Rizo
Patron, Ramon Orbegoso and Felipe Larrabure, formed the group Los Hang Ten's.
The band had several additions, among them a promising vocalist, Manuel
Sanguinetti.
In 1967, Jose and Freddy Rizo-Patron (lead and rhythm
guitar), left Los Hang Ten's to join Manuel Sanguinetti, a lead singer and a
former classmate, who wanted to form a more professional, tighter outfit. That
group, with several key additions eventually became Traffic Sound, one of the
most influential and creative groups that emerged from the rock 'n' roll
scene in Peru in the 60's.
The new band had high hopes and the dream that one day they
could play their music to larger audiences, perhaps even give rock concerts in
the United States.
After several months playing together and giving presentations to friends, they
realized the only way to achieve their goals was to bring into the band other
experienced rock musicians who shared their own particular high hopes.
The elected group of new musicians, among others, were the
ex-members of Los Mads, perhaps the first super-group in Peruvian psychedelic
rock history. Manuel Sanguinetti (lead vocals) called Jean Pierre Magnet (sax
and wind instruments) and Willy Thorne (keyboards); Willy got in touch with two
other friends, Willy Barclay (bass) and Lucho Nevares (drums), who accepted to
join the group and Traffic Sound was born.
The origin of the group’ s name was the traffic light, a souvenir from a wild
night in town, they found in the attic that was used for rehearsals, at the
Rizo-Patron's state.
After months of intense practice and presentations for
friends, Traffic Sound started giving concerts at the Tiffany Club, the temple of Peruvian psychedelia. Because of their
musicianship and popularity, a Peruvian label, MAG Records, gave them a
recording contract in the last quarter of 1968. Their first single
came out on the MAG label with the songs” Sky Pilot” and “Fire”, and it was
followed by two others under the same label. The singles were cover songs by
The Doors, Cream, Jimmy Hendrix and other groups that were Traffic Sound’ s
main influences at the time. The covers were well executed, with an added Latin
flavor, and with Manuel Sanguinetti singing in English. The singles sold out
quickly and MAG decided to reissue all three of them as a compilation that
became their first long-play : A Bailar Go Go (MAG LPN-2354) .
n 1969 they recorded their second LP, Virgin (MAG
LPN-2382), perhaps one of the finest rock albums made in South America in the
seventies, and regarded by many collectors among the best psychedelic LPs of
all times. This time all songs were original compositions, all group efforts,
and played with finesse, finally Traffic Sound had developed its own style.
Still some small influence from British rock is evident in some compositions :
“Virgin” (The Bee Gees) , “Tell the World I am Alive” (Led Zeppelin) , “Yellow
Sea Days” (Pink Floyd) and a touch of The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever”
and “Sky Pilot” on their song “A Place in Time Called You and Me ”
(purposely presented backwards on the LP). Virgin made
Traffic Sound the most popular group in Peru and the most requested in
concerts. Later on became the number one priority among serious collectors of
psychedelic recordings. The first edition of the LP came out on the regular MAG
package (front and back covers joined by a rivet), the second edition was a
fold out cover with pictures of the group (this version of the cover is the
most popular among collectors), the third and last edition had a single cover,
with the front and back glued together, and the record had an orange label,
instead of the original MAG black label.
In 1970 they recorded their third LP titled
Traffic Sound (MAG LPN-2395); in my opinion their finest album. This recording
features eight tracks of highly original material, full of “all out” improvised
solos. At this point they had a strong, mature sound; unique in the right
mixture of psychedelic rock with Andean and Latin music. The hit songs ”Chicama
Way” and “Tibet’
s Suzettes” revealed the group’ s inner thoughts and the atmosphere that
surrounded Peruvian youths in the early seventies.
The group got very active
internationally in 1971. Not only they were playing at the Tiffany
and Galaxy Clubs, and all kind of private parties, but also went on a tour paid
by Braniff Airlines. The South American tour, the first one by a Peruvian rock
group, took them to Chile, Argentina and Brazil. They were welcomed
everywhere as pioneers of the new rock sound that was under formation in South America.
Right after the
tour, the group decided to change to a different label, Sono Radio. During the
transition from MAG to their new label, Traffic Sound recorded 5 tracks, four
of them were released on two singles by both labels. The songs “La Camita” and “Suavecito”
were released by Sono Radio on an single with a picture cover.
At the end of 1971 the
group recorded their last album : Lux (Sono Radio SE-9362).
This time the music was different from all the previous recordings. The Latin
and Andean influences were stronger, the songs picture a dim image of a country
going through difficult political and economic times. Songs like “White
Deal” , “Inca Snow”, “The Revolution” , etc...
tell us of a Traffic Sound very much concerned with the future reality of Peru. The flute
and tenor sax of Jean Pierre Magnet are widely featured on this LP, as well as
the new member, Zulu, who replaced Willy Thorne on the electric bass and
keyboards. The release of this recording was troubled by labor union problems
at Sono Radio that caused the disappearance of the original master tapes until 1996,
when this writer found them labeled as “Andean folkloric music. “
Also in 1971, Traffic Sound gave its most
memorable concert at the Teatro Segura. They were accompanied by Jaime Delgado
Aparicio, who also wrote the arrangements, and the Contemporary Orchestra. The
climax was the last song, “Mr. Skin”, that lasted thirty minutes,
with a delirious audience that did not want the music to stop.
By early 1972,
most of the members of the group decided to follow non musical careers, ending
the activities of Traffic Sound. The only member that continued a professional
musical career was Jean Pierre Magnet. Today, Jean Pierre is an accomplished
musician, group leader and one of the best musical arrangers in Peru.
Traffic Sound got together one more time in 1993.
The group gave a full house, moving concert, at the Club “El Muelle Uno,” in Lima. Their purpose was
to expose the new generation of Peruvians to their music as well as a personal
challenge to their abilities as musicians. This reunion produced a studio
session where three of their original songs were recorded with new arrengements
: “Meshkalina 2", “Chicama Way” and “Simple”.
The last two songs are still unfinished. The concert was a success, but life
had definitely changed for the members of Traffic Sound, they returned to their
professional duties with sadness but with the satisfaction that they could
still make good music. After all, they were Traffic Sound, one of the best if
not the finest group ever to emerged from the South American rock scene in the
seventies.
Artículo tomado del sitio http://www.incarock.com
