El Chicano - The Best Of
Series: 20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection
Label: Geffen Records
Released September 28, 2004
Genre: R&B, Pop/Rock
Style: Latin Rock, Soul


Tracklist:

1 Viva Tirado
2 Brown-Eyed Girl
3 El Cayuco
4 Tell Her She's Lovely
5 The Latin One
6 Sabor A Mi
7 Juntos
8 (Se Fue Mi) Cha Chita
9 Cubano Chant
10 Cantaloupe Island
11 Ahora Si
12 Gringo En Mexico


Review by Al Campbell, allmusic.com

As part of Universal's 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection, the 12-track Best of El Chicano disc highlights the group's best-known material released in the early to mid-'70s. While the group has often been compared to Santana, they were a much tighter outfit, bypassing extended jams and sticking closely to their combined roots of soul, salsa, and Latin jazz. Beyond their two genre-defining hit singles, "Brown-Eyed Girl" (1972) and "Tell Her She's Lovely" (1973), the collection includes such album tracks as "Viva Tirado," "The Latin One," and "Juntos," mixed with boogaloo-tinged Latin jazz written by Tito Puente, Herbie Hancock, and Ray Barretto. Along with Cannibal & the Headhunters and the Premiers, el Chicano were among the first generation of Hispanic rockers to gain national attention and break out of the local East Los Angeles scene of the '60s and '70s. It's encouraging that their music is finally being given the proper attention it deserves.