These ‘wolves’ have not only survived, but flourished | Entertainment

KEENE, N.H. — In a career that spans a mind-boggling 50-plus years, Los Lobos has created an unprecedented body of work, a legacy of greatness.

The numbers are staggering: 100-plus gigs a year for five decades running, crossing millions of miles to rock millions of fans. And that’s just at the live shows. In between they’ve recorded 17 studio albums, seven live LPs, three compilations, two EPs, two DVDs, and contributed 40-plus guest appearances — all while garnering four Grammys, NEA and Hispanic Heritage Foundation honors, Congressional recognitions, plus countless “Keys to the City” and “Los Lobos Day” celebrations.

Los Lobos, which plays the Colonial Theatre on Friday night, blends rock, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, and traditional Latin styles such as cumbia, boleros and norteños. The band consists of David Hidalgo on guitars and vocals, Louie Perez on drums, Cesar Rosas on guitar and drums, Conrad Lozano on bass, and Steve Berlin on keyboards, alto sax and percussion.

To paraphrase, and answer, the question of one of their most recognizable songs, 1984’s “Will the Wolf Survive?” — Los Lobos (“The Wolves”) have survived and much more.

Berlin, reached by phone at his home near Los Angeles earlier this week, said the band has achieved its “staying power” through a combination of luck, early struggles and musical versatility.

“The seven years or so (in the ’70s) that the band played before anybody knew who Los Lobos was were invaluable to setting us up for what would happen later, because you kind of got a lot of the growing up out of the way early,” he said. “They got to learn how to be together as a band. So when success came and people were paying attention, we had already kind of worked out a lot of our (crap). So that was one thing that sort of allowed us to grow and not become Oasis or some other band that breaks up as soon as the money goes up.

“And then we’ve always had this somewhat bipolar situation with Cesar (Rosas) and David (Hidalgo), two different singers, two different song writers, two different points of view about everything. We have that ability to get to turn on a dime, on any given night, which is a nice tool to have in your toolbox.”

The wildly successful soundtrack of “La Bamba” (1985) catapulted Los Lobos into international stardom. A “musician’s band,” Los Lobos’ lyricism and unique poetic prose, mostly manifested by lyricist Louie Perez, expresses the environment and consciousness of the barrio in relation to the world around it.

Berlin grew up outside of Philadelphia and said he still “bleeds Eagles green.” He and his best friend were both drummers and when they tried out for the one rock band in high school, the band chose his buddy. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, Berlin picked up the flute and mimicked the chops of Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull.

While still in high school, Berlin picked up the soprano sax and played it through a pick up and an amplifier which gave it a psychedelic sound. After high school, he played with members of other bands in Philadelphia, including an outfit called the Soul Survivors, which had a hit record called “Expressway to Your Heart.” The band was fronted by brothers Charlie and Richie Ingui. “They were my buddies in Philly, and then they, as a band, moved to L.A. and within weeks of arriving, they were backing up Gregg Allman and Billy Preston. That’s how good they were. But then I showed up and they lost both gigs. Good timing on my part, I guess.”

Berlin joined Los Lobos in 1982 after a stint with the Blasters and said he brought some of his Philly “persistence” to the band’s sound. “You never say no, you’re always ready to play, no matter what the style of music is. You’re just ready. That was my training and I think it did serve me well when I started playing, certainly when I played Latin music, which I knew literally nothing about when I started. I was all ears and open and ready. I’d like to think I still approach music that way. I’m always ready to hit something with a full heart.”

That also rings true with the many collaborations the band has done — working with everybody from John Lee Hooker, Faith No More and R.E.M., to Sheryl Crow, the Replacements, Leftover Salmon and the Grateful Dead.

Berlin fondly recalls an impromptu performance of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” with Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir of the Dead on July 4, 1987 in Foxborough, Mass.

“We loved those guys,” Berlin said of Garcia, who died in 1995, and Weir, who passed away earlier this month. “They were always very, very, incredibly kind and generous, and very supportive in a moment when having their validation meant the world to us.”

They had a much less pleasant experience working with Paul Simon on his landmark “Graceland” album, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this summer. Berlin said Simon never even left the control booth while the band jammed on a song they wrote, “All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints,” then later put his vocal track over it and took full credit for both the songwriting and lyrics.

“You can’t be in the music business as long as we have and not have stuff like that happen,” Berlin said. “There’s just too many people that are either evil or greedy or, in Paul’s case, both. And this is the other thing that’s kind of lost now, is that we were doing him a favor. Like, at that moment we were riding high with the success of ‘La Bamba’ and his career was kind of on the downturn.

“We were told we were gonna hang out and do a song with him, and his idea was to just watch us play. Paul didn’t make anything easy. He was just very weird and uncommunicative, and it was not what we had in mind at all. He did not deserve songwriting credit, and he took it and then threatened to sue us. If he had paid us, even, like, normal union dues, it wouldn’t be as painful. But he didn’t. I don’t remember getting a penny for doing it. And, you know, the record sold, like, 20 million copies.”

On a personal note, I had the good fortune of meeting Berlin and the rest of the band at a show in New Haven, Conn. in the summer of 2010. They even signed a copy of their then-new CD, “Tin Can Trust,” and posed for “selfies” in a meet-and-greet session after the show. Berlin said that’s more rare these days.

“Once upon a time, we had physical products, we had CDs and LPs and all that stuff,” he said. “We don’t actually do the meet and greet stuff anymore, or very infrequently. But yeah, we still do it. I mean, we’re definitely not elitist. You know, we’re meat and potatoes kind of guys, so it’s always nice to meet fans and hang out.”

I asked Steve how the band has navigated the shifting tides of streaming music and digital sales. “I feel like we’re kind of behind the times in a lot of respects,” he said, “especially when some of our contemporaries have really figured it out. We were lucky enough to start in an era where I think our fans … predate a lot of this stuff. We’re not subject to the whims of shifting tastes. I guess once you’ve been doing it for 50 whatever years, you sort of become a perennial. I like to think that that’s one of the perks of surviving. You don’t have to fight as hard. I don’t even know what would happen if we had to sort of fight the Instagram, TikTok battle.”

Los Lobos has always been very outspoken with lyrics about immigrant rights and the experience of people of color in this country. Right now, their music seems more relevant than ever.

“It’s a five alarm fire,” Berlin said of the Trump administration’s policies and behavior. “The country’s on fire. They’re murdering people and getting away with it. They want to create violence, they want to create pain. We’re being led by the worst people in the world and it’s an international embarrassment. I don’t think anybody’s really meeting the moment with the appropriate amount of force. I’m not sure what the response should be, but I think Gestapo marching in the streets with impunity and killing people should be a wake up call for everybody.”

All the band can do is to keep on performing, as they’ve done for more than five decades. A documentary film about Los Lobos has been in the works for several years and will debut at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas in March. The band starts its swing through the Northeast today in Maine before hitting the Colonial Theatre on Friday night. Berlin said he still enjoys life on the road, especially performing before a live audience.

“We’re still cracking, so on a good night, we’re right there with anybody you might want to name. And I still enjoy playing music. I’m gonna do it all the time. I mean, I’m blessed. This is a job I would pay to do, and the idea that some way or another I get paid to do it is still mind boggling to me.”

Los Lobos will perform Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre, 95 Main St. in Keene. For tickets and more information, go to https://www.thecolonial.org/event/los-lobos.