THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,422) Los Shain’s– “Ella No Está Allí”/“She’s Not There”
Straight outta Lima and as cool as the Peruvian Andes, here is a hypnotic surfy instrumental version of the Zombies’ (see #1,138) big hit “She’s Not There” (which had reached #2 in the U.S. and #12 in the UK).
“Los Shain’s were one of the most popular garage rock bands [in Peru], possibly because they mainly produced Spanish translations of some of the best American rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues songs from that era. . . . [and] became Peru’s [band] most representative of hippie counterculture.” (Adriaan Alsema, https://www.perureports.com/perus-hottest-rock-n-roll-bands-50-years-ago-today/3934/) “[They] were, along with pioneers Los Saicos [see #746, 868] and Los Yorks, the most crude bands in Peruvian garage. . . . [Their] debut album . . . [has] a genuine adolescent spirit and surfer guitars that remains one of the most addictive artifacts of 1960s Latin American rocknroll.” (Villeadomat, https://villeadomat.wordpress.com/2022/01/10/best-covers-the-shains-los-chicos-no-lloran/)
Andrés Tapia tells us about Los Shain’s (courtesy of Google Translate):
In mid-1964, some teenagers got together to make music, without thinking that they would be beginning the story of one of the most important rock bands in Peru: Los Shain’s. With less than 15 years of age, Enrique “Pico” Ego Aguirre, Juan Luis Pereira and Raúl Pereira, try out some drummers until Carlos Manuel Barreda, a 12-year-old boy, joins the group. Shortly after, Miguel Arista joined the band on vocals. During 1965, the Pereira brothers left the band and “Pico” switched from . . . bass to . . . guitar. Hernán Chocano, a neighborhood friend of “Pico”, joins the band . . . on the rhythm guitar. Alexei Kostrisky – cousin of the Pereira brothers – enters the band with a . . . bass . . . . At the end of 1965, Miguel Arista left the band, leaving it as an instrumental[ group], then Carlos Manuel Barreda joined with his brother and they formed the group Los Vip’s. Pico calls his cousin Pedro Pajuelo to take the position with his drummer Roxy. Until that moment they had already recorded three 45rpm albums. Dante Bernuy momentarily enters, with a . . . keyboard. Dante was a . . . neighbor of Gerardo Manuel Rojas, and invited him to do a test with the group. Gerardo, a young man with a good vocal range, stage presence and musical knowledge, joins the group. Shortly after, Dante would leave the band. With Gerardo on vocals, they recorded their fourth 45rpm album. At the beginning of March 1966, Pedro Pajuelo left the group, leaving some songs recorded for what would be the first album. Pico tells Julio Chávez Cabello – a friend of the Pereira brothers – that he brings a . . . drum kit; He in turn comes with his school friend Lynn Stricklin, who plays a Farfisa . . . . This new formation would culminate the first album called: El rhythm de Los Shain’s, being . . . one of the first [rock albums] recorded in the country.
liner notes to the CD reissue of El rhythm de Los Shain’s
Here are excerpts from a 2001 interview with Pico Ego Aguirre and Gerardo Manuel in Sótano Beat #2 conducted by Arturo Vigil, Diego Garcia and Ricardo Garcia (courtesy of Google Translate):
In the 60s, in Lima, Peru, a group of teenagers founded one of the most energetic and fun bands under the influence of Surf music, The Yardbirds, Los Saicos and what we now call Garage Punk.
How did the Shain’s come together?
Pico Ego Aguirre: We started from scratch, if the group had a month we also had a month playing our instruments. . . .
Where did the name come from?
Pico Ego Aguirre: Sharp came out of a list, but it was a commercial brand, also Shape, but in the end we were convinced by Shain’s for its musicality and we added the apostrophe because it was fashionable at that time.
What was the first line-up?
Pico Ego Aguirre: We joined in mid-64, we were formed by the Pereyra brothers, first and second guitar; me on bass because the previous bassist, Alexei Kostrinsky, was kicked out of school and his father didn’t let him continue playing, but he returned after finishing school; Quique Rossel on drums; and Nito Muente Saco-Vertiz was the first singer. He was the oldest at 18 years old, the rest of us were between 15 and 17. Then he left and was replaced by Miguel Arista. Things took shape and Juan Carlos Barreda came on drums, at about 15 years old, and he was very good.
Were there any foreigners in the first formations of the group?
Gerardo Manuel Rojas: Yes, the keyboard player Lynn Stricklin was American, the bass player Alexei Kostrinsky was Peruvian of Russian descent.
What were you listening to around the time of the first album?
Gerardo Manuel Rojas: The Trashmen, Dave Clark Five, The Zombies, basically the Ventures, the Shadows…
Pico Ego Aguirre: Instrumental groups from Astronauts, an English instrumental group that was not the Shadows . . . to a French instrumental group. But basically the Ventures. Surf or go-go as they called it here.…
How did Gerardo Rojas join the Shain’s?
Pico Ego Aguirre: On the artistic side, Arista’s vocal range was very limited, so through Bernuy we met Gerardo, who had performed at the Escalera del Triunfo . . . . We auditioned him and we liked him a lot. He was also a fan of the Ventures, something that connected us immediately. He knew a lot about music and there was good chemistry between us all. So we talked to Arista and he accepted.
Gerardo Manuel Rojas: I joined them at the end of 64. I was still singing with the Dolton’s, and Cesar Ichikawa was the manager and also a friend of Tito Andia, who by the way was going to play guitar in our instrumental group . . . .Well, then problems arose at Tito’s university, and his father, who had subsidized our instruments, decided to withdraw them. During that time I appeared as a guest on the television program La Escalera del Triunfo. There I was seen by Don Enrique Ego Aguirre, Pico’s father, and manager of the Shain’s, and the keyboard player at that time Dante Bernuy . . . he was my neighbor when I lived on Iquitos Avenue, at my aunt’s house, in La Victoria. He invited me, I auditioned, I sang a couple of songs and they loved it, I liked the atmosphere, plus there was money and at that time I had to pay for my studies, so I decided to join the band.
Here is an interview with guitarist Enrique “Pico” Ego Aguirre: https://www.esquinarock.com/streaming/esquinarock-31-leyendas-del-rock-peruano-pico-ego-aguirre-10032022
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