Description
If I Was a Latin King is the third full-length album by the American singer and songwriter John Austin, independently released on Weathervane Music in 1998 (a newly established label which also housed folk-oriented artists like Robert Deeble and Harrod & Funck). The album was produced by Bill Campbell of The Throes, former labelmates from Glasshouse Records. Musically, Austin has combined a Latin-street flavour with catchy folk-pop melodies. Featuring musicians like Campbell, Erin Echo, Harry Evans, Dave Byrd, Bernie Bernard, Prince William String Quartet and Spanish Rice.
On the eve of an international tour, John Austin was jumped in Chicago by a street gang. His elbow was smashed, and the tour canceled. His label, Glasshouse, dissolved soon after, and Austin was left without a contract, without insurance, and with a large medical bill. The If I Was a Latin King album lyrically chronicles the times surrounding his attack. Austin is a gifted lyricist, and the word play first demonstrated on his debut album Embarrassing Young (“I would have been a legend if I died in my prime/ I could have been a poet if I knew how to make the words sound alike”) finds itself wrapped in a context that gives each song depth. In fact, each song is a story in itself, and at the same time part of a larger theme. A common theme on the album is that of hope and forgiveness, as Austin sings from the perspective of someone who has had time to come to peace with past trials. In “Cool Cool Morning,” he sings: “All our lies lay crumpled on the floor/ we have shed them with our skin/ in the cool cool morning/ born again.”
Way back when Herb Alpert was building A&M Records, the legendary singer Sam Cooke told the Tijuana Brassling this: “People don’t care if you’re black or white, what you look like, where you come from. You’re listening to a cold piece of wax in the record business, and it either makes it or it doesn’t.”
There’s some truth to that observation if the umpteen times I’ve replayed If I Was a Latin King are any indication. John Austin doesn’t rely on bravado or posturing to hawk his songs. He doesn’t need to. Latin King is the sort of record most artists only dream of making, a sometimes rollicking, sometimes lilting joyride, a singer/songwriter’s tour de force, a mesmerizing mosaic of insidious melody, stylized lyrics, and eclectic instrumentals that’s as infectious as an Aztec virus.
Vocally, Austin is reimiscent of U2‘s Bono, minus the bombast. But what he lacks in horsepower he more than makes up for in style. He doesn’t given any sign of wanting to join the lovefest in pop’s increasingly crowded – and prurient – boudoir. Instead there’s a clear-eyed romanticism to numbers like the title cut and «Cool Cool Morning» that hangs with you long after the music is gone. And while he’s adept at mapping out his heart, he’s also not afraid of injecting some levity into the affair. You can almost catch a wink as he rips through «Shatta Dat Pinata» or effortlessly shrugs off a mock-sinister «Gypsy Moth» (“Don’t drift off/ With the gypsy moth/ he will eat you out of house and home”).
Producer Bill Campbell and a group of ace players supply an extra injection of Groove. The stellar package is another plus, and a surprise considering what’s typical of independent labels. The upstarts at WeatherVane Music don’t enjoy wide distribution (try), so you may not find Austin at local outlets. Don’t let that deter you. If I were a Latin King is easily one of the year’s best. [Generation Quarterly, December 1998]
After three albums in the “earnest, mostly acoustic singer/songwriter” vein, John Austin decided it was time for a change. Okay, it was probably a lot less calculated than that, but this album will definitely keep him from being pigeon-holed. This time out the songs form a colorful collage of Latin styles, and the result is a thoroughly convincing transformation.
From the opening lines of the title track, a listener unfamiliar with Austin’s previous work might well wonder, “What do you mean, if he was a Latin king?” as he croons over a foundation of Spanish guitar, strings, and waves of cymbal crashes. Similar musical themes appear throughout the album as he pays a musical tribute to the Hispanic community of his native Chicago. With production help from Bill Campbell of Poole, these styles are given a wide range of treatments. «Gypsy Moth» is built around a catchy, straightforward flamenco guitar lick, while the instrumental «(In the Doghouse)» sounds like Beck’s mariachi band. «In Your Mama’s Dreamz» brings it all together: propelled by programmed beats and accented with lush keyboard tones and vocals from Austin’s wife, Erin Echo, all without losing sight of his expressive guitar playing.
The subject matter of the songs doesn’t stray far from the music. Austin has painted a picture of these neighborhoods that celebrates the good but doesn’t shy away from reality. There is innocence in the children who just want to «Shatta Dat Pinata» (a Latin “The Kids are All Right”?). But in «Be True to Your School», a menacing variation on the Beach Boys’s classic, they’re warned, “Everybody come to the stadium/ It’s safer than a classroom after school.” Knowing that the Latin Kings are one of the largest gangs in Chicago puts the romantic mood of the title track in a whole new light, as Austin sings of love cut short in a world where “the violent and beautiful go running hand in hand” (“On down below the transit tracks/ I lost you there in a wicked flash”). But it’s the teenage mother of «In Your Mama’s Dreamz» who brings us closest to the struggle to love while surrounded by brutality:
Didn’t I see your Mama
walking home from school?
She was dreaming about you…
But sooner or later
boys get bigger.
They finger their guns
pull the trigger and fire.Austin knows firsthand about the darkness in these songs, having been brutally assaulted by members of the Latin Kings several years ago. The songs are directly related to that event, and are, in his words, “about violence and the other side of violence, forgiveness.” It’s no surprise, then, that these stories have an edge of authenticity reminiscent of the cast of misfits in Michael Knott’s Hollywood apartment building on Rocket and a Bomb. There are no “Stay in school” or “Gangs are bad” sermons here. Just unflinching, candid lyrical photographs set against a rich musical tapestry that is not just the backdrop, but an equal partner in setting the scene and drawing in the listener. [Brett MacAlpine, The Phantom Tollbooth, 2/3/99]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/if-i-was-a-latin-king/709662555)
CD tracklist:
01. If I Was a Latin King – 4:24
02. In Your Mama’s Dreams – 4:05
03. Fuzzy Dice – 4:09
04. Cool Cool Morning – 4:13
05. Be True To Your School – 2:13
06. Shatta Dat Piñata – 3:26
07. Every Single Day – 3:18
08. Gypsy Moth – 3:15
09. Down 4 U – 3:49
10. No Joke – 1:55
11. (In the Dog House) – 1:20
12. Jesus Wept – 3:19
13. Another Hit – 3:26
Note: Available at Bandcamp: https://johnaustin.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-was-a-latin-king
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