Old Highway Notes: Border Curios Part 1

Classic Curio Shop

This is part of a multi-part post: Tijuana Day Trip

It Started At The Border-A Visit To Tijuana Mexico

Still in Tijuana and Enjoying the Music of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

Still in Tijuana With Artists Inspired By Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

Rock and Roll in Tijuana-Mexican Style!

Tijuana Remixed: Molotov, Nortec Collective, and Faca

Border Curios Part 1

Border Curios Part 2

Border Curios Part 3

Hello again my friends! Today we start to wrap up our musical visit to Tijuana with a musical visit to the curios shop. A curios shop is a fixture of the Tijuana tourist district. Basically a souvenir shop, curio shops carry everything from acoustic guitars to zebra striped paper mache animal figures, from ponchos, blankets, and sombreros to day of the dead masks and taxidermied frogs arranged as mariachi bands. You never know what you will find and that is part of the fun.

My collection of curios I offer you today as added to the set list are a random assortment of songs about Mexico, Tijuana, Baja and the border that didn't fit in neatly with my other posts. I tried to arrange them into a rough narrative of a Tijuana visit gone wrong, while maintaining as listenable flow as i could since the set cross a fair number of musical genres. Bartering is a traditional custom in a curios shop, so take what interests you and leave the rest.

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To start our set we have a mini-set from a bunch of singing cowboys and cowgirls. The first of these is one of my favorite old time singing cowboys, Gene Autry. He sang many songs about Mexico and he will both start and end the curios set.

Trail To Mexico The Gene Autry Show-The Complete 1950's Television Recordings Gene Autry 1:05

Across The Border Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris 6:19

Gringo Honeymoon No. 2 Live Dinner Robert Earl Keen, Jr. 5:04

This is a different live version of Gringo Honeymoon but a good one...

South Of The Border Under Western Skies Marty Robbins 2:15

The song "south Of The Border" allows us to turn a corner as I also have an easy listening version of the song from Werner Muller and his Orchestra. After that, Coplands El Salon Mexico seemed to fit.

South Of The Border Stereo Music Parade In Phase4 Werner Müller & his Orchestra 2:29

The link to "South of the Border" is from a different release of the song by the same artist.And the video is from a re release compilation.

El Salón México Copland: Billy The Kid, Organ Symphony, Etc, Leonard Slatkin: BBC Symphony Orchestra 12:03

The Copland album is not available on mp3. No video was available that I could find of this particular performance. I was however able to find a nice performance by the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra.

After that beautiful piece I didn't know where to go so I decided to turn on the Mexican Radio. I have two versions: the original Wall of Voodoo hit and a rewrite by El Vez, the Mexican Elvis.

Mexican Radio Call of the West Wall of Voodoo 4:11

Here is a vintage clip of Wall of Voodoo performing the song in the 80's.

Mexican Radio Graciasland El Vez 4:12

A little more about El Vez:

As promised, we get a little more Gene Autry as the fiesta begins.

Under Fiesta Stars The Gene Autry Show-The Complete 1950's Television Recordings Gene Autry 1:57
Under Fiesta Stars 2 The Gene Autry Show-The Complete 1950's Television Recordings Gene Autry 1:36

The party continues, strangely, with an Irish twist as the Pogues take the stage.

Fiesta If I Should Fall From Grace With God The Pogues 4:13

When you are in a border town, sometimes the characters at the party might be a little shady.

Banditos Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy Refreshments 4:17

I Felt Like A Gringo The Stone - San Francisco, CA 12-1-84 Minutemen 3:42

As far as I know this show is not an official release. You can download it HERE. And this clip is from a show one year later at the same venue.

Tijuana Must Fall [Catholic Discipline "Babylon Must Fall"] The Recline of Mexican Civilization Manic Hispanic 3:24

The original "Babylon Must Fall" by Catholic Discipline is covered in Manic Hispanics reworking of the song.

This trip has gotten a bit hectic. I think it might be a good time to settle down for a while and chill out until next Sunday when the curio assortment continues as we wind up our visit to Tijuana Mexico of old Highway 101. Meanwhile on Saturday we should be almost done with with Sufjan Stevens Illinois after which we will begin to explore Chicago. Join us for more music, stories and adventure won't you?

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