YORK'S, LOS
68 (MUNSTER)
Los York's became the epitome of Peruvian garage sound and the kings of the multi-group concerts which teenagers flocked to on Saturday and Sunday mornings in Lima's main movie theaters.
Their second LP was released featuring their classic beat-influenced go-go twang guitar garage psych tone throughout.
It includes some stunning covers of Don Covay, Cream, The Monkees or The Kinks' songs, as well as a bunch of originals and a new, longer and fuzzier version of their hit 'Abrázame, Baby'.
- At the beginning of 1968, Los York's was the most popular group in Peru at morning shows, parties and on tours, and had a legion of fans who found the answers to their youthful concerns in the band's songs.
The bulk of the quintet's repertoire were Spanish versions of their favorite rock songs in English, where they took advantage of free translation to speak openly about freedom, drugs and hippy love...
Their supportive fans would follow them to every gig. That same year Los York's would announce the new album was in the makings and would comprise two of their own songs and eight cover versions ranging from well-known hits to vinyl rarities.
In a world without the internet and global communications, it would be interesting to know how South American bands found about little-known groups like The Downbeat, The Music Machine, Flavor or Kim Fowley, achieving equal or even greater impact with their cover versions than the original songs did.
How did those vinyl singles travel so far south? "68" was finally released in October of that year, with cover art based on the album by the American band The Other Half, recreated by designer Estanislao "Zanahoria" Ruiz.