Album of the Day — June 16
Los Lobos — How Will the Wolf Survive
Los Lobos — How Will the Wolf Survive
16.June.2020
Los Lobos
How Will the Wolf Survive
1984
In the mid-’80s a Latino rock band from East Los Angeles that blended country, blues, heartland rock, and R&B had little chance of commercial success, let alone survival.
The title for Los Lobos (the wolves) first full-length album How Will the Wolf Survive? admits as much.
Taken from a National Geographic article titled “Where Can the Wolf Survive”, the band equated this sentiment to their struggle to find a foothold in the American music scene without losing their Mexican roots.
In 1989 drummer Louie Perez said: “It was like our group, our story: What is this beast, this animal that the record companies can’t figure out? Will we be given the opportunity to make it or not?”
Both band and beast were given the opportunity … and they survived, even thrived.
Heavy Metal dominated the Los Angeles music scene in the ’80s. But as we’ve seen with other albums of the day like Lone Justice and Broken Homes, there were other less flashy styles of music taking root in the Los Angeles scene.
That’s where Los Lobos was.
After landing an opening gig for John Lydon’s Public Image, Ltd in 1983, the band began touring the United States. Along the way picking up fans and eventually getting the attention of Bob Biggs, the head of the growing independent label Slash Records.
After signing a deal with Slash, Los Lobos partnered with LA veteran Steve Berlin and T-Bone Burnett to produce their full-length debut album — a melting pot of genres that not only highlighted the band’s abilities but also their interests. The album that would come to be How Will the Wolf Survive?
In 1984, How Will the Wolf Survive had no contemporary.
The album opens with a traditional foot-stomper, “Don’t Worry Baby”, which must be strategically placed to pull the rock fan in. “A Matter of Time” is a more traditional mid-tempo song of angst and love, complete with saxophone — played by co-producer and band member Steve Berlin. “Corrido #1” is the third song. A more traditional Latino sound that is somewhere between Tex-Mex and Bakersfield country … on speed.
By “Our Last Night” How Will the Wolf Survive has found its groove and that groove is very distinctly its own.
The album carries on in its groove, with each song dipping its toe into various genres. Somehow the songs never lose their center which is very much the unique voice of Los Lobos.
The piece de’ la resistance is the title track. The song isn’t just as a metaphor for the band as Perez points out above, it’s about their culture and the ones who dare to cross to America in search of a better life:
Will the Wolf Survive?
Through the chill of winter
Running across a frozen lake
Hunters hard on his trail
All odds are against him
With a family to provide for
But one thing he must keep-alive
Will the wolf survive?
Drifting by the roadside
Climbs a strong and aging face
Wants to make some honest pay
Losing to the rainstorm
He’s got two strong legs to guide him
Two strong arms keep him alive
Will the wolf survive?
Standing in the pouring rain
All alone in a world that’s changed
Running scared now forced to hide
In a land where he once stood with pride
But he’ll find his way by the morning light
Sounds across the nation
Coming from your hearts and minds
Battered drums and old guitars
Singing songs of passion
It’s the truth that they all look for
Something they must keep-alive
Will the wolf survive?
Will the wolf survive?
The lyrics to “Will the Wolf Survive” were powerful in 1984 … and 36 years later, perhaps they’re even more powerful given current immigration policies.
The album highlights all of the band’s influences, which works to their advantage. In lesser musicians or producers hands it would come across as dysfunction. But here, it comes across as intended, genuine, original, and as a tribute.
Critics were universal in their praise for How Will the Wolf Survive? upon its release:
Debby Miller’s original review in Rolling Stone in 1985 said: “There isn’t a dud among these songs. It’s the kind of record that dances you around till you’re worn out.
Mark Deming in AllMusic said: “While rarely flashy, even a casual listen offers all the proof you might need that Los Lobos were a band of world-class musicians … Just as importantly, How Will the Wolf Survive? offered a moving and compassionate look at the lives of illegal aliens in America.”
Robert Christgau in The Village Voice gave it his coveted “Pick Hit” status and said: “ Who did the original of that one, you wonder, only to discover that you’re listening to the original. Listen a little more and you figure out that these slices of dance music have lyrics, lyrics rooted in an oppression the artists really know about — the love songs return incessantly to the separation that defines migrant laborers’ lives.”
In retrospect, combining genres as diverse as folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, country, rock and roll, Tex-Mex, and mixing in elements of cumbia, boleros, and norteños it’s easy to argue that, in 2020, Los Lobos is one of the most American bands.
In 1984, that shit was revolutionary.
What makes Los Lobos so distinctly American is that they embrace America but don’t shy away or ignore their history … and honestly, what’s more, American than that?
As an animal, will the wolf survive? According to National Geographic, it depends on who you ask.
As an immigration metaphor, Will the Wolf Survive? I hope so. I hope in that sense we see not just survival but thriving.
As a band, will Los Lobos survive? Indeed. Los Lobos continues to record and tour.
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Apropos of nothing, here’s an article on how Los Lobos worked with Paul Simon during the Graceland sessions … hilarity did not ensue.