Dig Deep: Arnie Barrera y Sus Galaxies – Arnie Barrera y Sus Galaxies – Musimex (197?)

Arnie Barrera – Mercy
Arnie Barrera – Libro Abierto
Arnie Barrera – Grande De Cadera

I don’t know anything about Arnie Barrera y Sus Galaxies, couldn’t turn much up via google either, but I’m fairly pleased that I picked up this LP, the final LP I bought in 2011 as a matter of fact. Amoeba Hollywood has a bunch of latin records, from time to time I take a bit of time to thumb through them and see if I run into anything worth picking up. Generally it’s full of 1970s latin pop, ranchera or mariachi music, but occassionally there’s a record that looks intriguing. Just based off of the cover this one seemed worth checking out. Taking a look at the back, the track lists included a description of the song styles, which included a bunch of boleros and rancheras, but also included a “Rock Ranchera” and a “Rock Instrumental,” called “Mercy.” A quick look at the LP itself confirmed that this was going to be a cover of “Mercy Mercy Mercy.”

I was pretty gassed to drop the needle on “Mercy” and discover that it starts off with a rather tasty drum break! Unfortunately the sound in the right channel is distorted (and only on THIS song!) but at least digitally I was able to make a mono mix of the left channel which is what I’m sharing with you. “Libro Abierto” is the “Rock Ranchera” track, while “Grande De Cadera” is the least cumbia sounding cumbia I’ve heard. Really it all boils down to a very solid cover of “Mercy Mercy Mercy” and a nice way to close off a year of digging.

Cheers,

Michael