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Heard It on the X
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - Songs Tex- X
I agree one should listen to each Los Super Seven as a separate project. I truly enjoy this cd and listen to it fairly often. I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and vividly remember sitting on the porch with a transister radio stuck to my ear listening to music I had never even imagined existed. (at least till my mom dragged me into the house and made me go to bed/or usually took the radio away cause I would listen under the covers)
Border radio was a seminal influence on my musical upbringing and I believe many others of my generation. As the late 60's progressed we were listening to a wide range of genres of music. Check our album collection and you'd find Buddy Holley, Hank Williams, Beatles, Stones, Muddy Waters, Santana, Bob Wills, Ravi Shankar, Miles, Zappa, Coltrane, and plenty of others that never made it big but were great in a variety of styles. We didn't care what type of music as long as it was good.
I'd like to share a review of this cd I stole from iTunes (don't worry, I give credit at the bottom):
Los Super Seven isn't a band, per se-- it's a collective, organized by manager Dan Goodman, who comes up with a concept for each of the group's albums and assembles a band to fit. For their third album, Goodman turned to music journalist/record producer Rick Clark, whose giveaway CD's for the Oxford American journal ar3 highly regarded in certain quarters. Inspired by ZZ Top's classic boogie rock tribute to border radio, "Heard It on the X," Clark came up with a sharp idea: a salute to the heyday of AM radio on the Texas/Mexico border, when rock & roll, blues, country, jazz, Western swing, and mariachi mixed freely. Clark and Goodman drew up a list of songs and musicians to play them, recruited two different core bands- indie rockers Calexico and a group featuring Charlie Sexton, who also served as the third producer on this album (along with Clark and Goodman), with drummer Hunt Sales- and then brought in a bunch of Texas-identified singers. Some-like Raul Malo, Joe Ely, Rick Trevino, Ruben Ramos and Freddy Fender- were Los Super Seven veterans, while others- John Hiatt, Lyle Lovett, Rodney Crowell and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown- were new to the game. That list of musicians signals that Heard It on the X is not nearly as Latin-centric as its predecessor, Canto, which theoretically means it may play to a wider audience, but in 2005, with all this roots music and versions of songs that are 30-40 years old, it's unlikely that this will get much play outside of roots fanatics and those who long for the heyday of Musician magazine. That said, Heard It on the X is executed about as well as it could be. The song selection is expert, touching on lesser known tunes by such Texas giants as Doug Sahm and Buddy Holly and standards by Blind Lemon Jefferson, ZZ Top and Bob Wills, adding a few cult favorites and a new tune or two along the way. While this certainly reads like an eclectic listen on paper, in practice it flows easily, thanks to both the house bands, the professional (albeit a bit too clean) production, and the fact that the borders separating these genres are virtually nonexistent these days. There's no real cross-pollination within the grooves themselves (having Ramos sing the title track doesn't quite qualify, since it till comes across as bloozy boogie rock), the styles merely rub shoulders with each other, and since all the musicians already travel in these circles, there are no real surprises (well, apart from Hiatt's mannered vocal on "I'm Not That Kat (Anymore)," but on second thought, that's not much of a surpise, either). But surprises are overrated, particularly with so many similar albums shooting too high and missing the mark. Here, the songs are excellent, performed by the right musicians, and the result is a highly enjoyable record for anybody into any of the featured artists or songwriters. If this doesn't pack the thrill or sense of discovery that the original recordings have, mark that down to the ultimate triumph of border radio - its influence has been so strong and so far-reaching that listeners take its innovations for granted, so an album as nonchalantly diverse as this seems like a welcome everday occurrence.
Album Review provided by All Music Guide /2008 All Media Guide LLC
Rating:  - Hard to classify
If you have the first Los Super 7 CD you will realize that there can't be
anything better today nor in the future. I classified that album as one
of the best of the past 45 years. The next CD "Canto" was alright but
this third one was a deception somehow because it isn't a genuine LS7
gathering. Of course I understand that it's more an educational record
on how the border radio stations were like in those days and the music
you could listen to. I love blues and country and if it had been done
by Los Super Seven I would probably classify this better but first of
all there are only very few recordings by the original S7 and secondly
I just don't like most of the selected songs. The first song "El Burro
Song" is great but ridiculous at the same time. This great typical
jarocho sound song sung in English??? It's like if a nice blues song
were recorded in Hungarian! Who could figure that out? The LS7 spirit
can only be found on song 2 and 9 both interpreted by Rick Treviño.
The rest can be forgotten at least on a Los Super Seven record!
Rating:  - Texas Border Radio Remembered
What it means to be Texan, musically speaking, just cannot be described to sons or daughters of the other lower 47. It can only be experienced. (Typical Texan Braggadoccio I know. But I mean no disrespect) "Heard It On The X" is a good listen, and that unique mix of Country, Blues, Traditional Mexican, Conjunto, Swing and Pop, that is pure Texana, is well represented here. It is a bright and fun listen, as well as a slightly glossy nod to the old days of Border Radio, in the 60's particularly. I'm not a true fan of all the individual artists performing here, but the artistry and song selection is the main measuring stick for me. Great songs! Great musicians! Great engineering! all make for a terrific CD. It is an invitation to dance and smile and have a good time, South Texas style, to anyone listening. "Heard It On The X" is well worth the money. You won't be disappointed if you know what you are getting.
Rating: - This Is Not Really A Review
Just three observations:
1) Delbert McClinton has become the American Van Morrison
2) Given the music that this album pays tribute to, it could have used a little more spit and a little less polish. That is to say that the proceedings are a bit too tasteful in an NPR kind of way.
3) Observation #2 won't matter that much if you play this CD loud enough, and with the right beer. (I recommend Bohemia.)
Rating: - unbelievable!
In this day and age of lip syncing and homogonized, packed for the masses music it is pretty refreshing to listen to this disc. Great musicians and great songs makes for one terrific disc. I could go on and on, but believe me, this is the best disc so far this year. Guaranteed you'll NEVER hear music this good on the radio!
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