I Remember My World: The Journey To 'La Conferencia Secreta Del Toto's Bar' - Part Two (July 1967)

July proved to be a much more productive period for the group, being the first full month of work the band had on the project with five documented recording sessions taking place between the 3rd and the 21st.

This month also saw the release of the Hallelujah song in numerous territories such as the United States, a held over track from the group’s recording session at Venezuela on the 19th of February 1967 which also produced the single’s B-side (although several European countries would end up using Let Me Tell You off the Shakers For You album as its B-side instead). It appears at this point in time that Hallelujah would be an intended part of Toto’s Bar tracklisting, being inserted into an early work-in-progress reel dated the 2nd of September 1967 but ultimately not being included on the rough mono mix of the album created later on the 30th of November 1967.

The group’s first appearance into the studio this month was on the 3rd of July to record a composition entitled Candombe, a song based on a traditional Uruguayan form of song and dance often played at Carnival although appropriately recontextualised to incorporate further jazz and rock elements.

“Since it was a real time type of music we thought it was only appropriate to do it live, the way it is. Very little overdubbing in contrast to what we were doing. I was running halfway across the studio to reach the guitar, you can hear it on the final recording it’s embarrassing. It’s even clearer on CD.” - Osvaldo Fattoruso, 2008

This rushed sound was at one point circumvented as evident by an alternate mix on the Rhino Handmade release Everybody Shake: The Odeon Recordings 1965-1971. In this mix, the guitar is faded up on its arrival, thereby burying the sloppy approach across the song. It is unknown why this mix was not used on the final release, with the group returning to an older mono mix done in November 1967 with the guitar also untampered on its one and only stereo mix that same month.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Candombe (information on session dates and instrumentation is an educated guess)

Date: Monday, the 3rd of July 1967 (2:00pm-4:00pm)
Producer: José Soler
Studio: EMI Studios, Argentina

Hugo Fattoruso: Lead vocal, piano, cello
Osvaldo Fattoruso: Lead vocal, electric guitar (rhythm), electric guitar (lead), bongos
Pelin Capobianco: Bass guitar, backing vocal, cello
Caio Vila: Drums, cowbell

Track 1: Drums (Caio Vila), bongos (Osvaldo Fattoruso)
Track 2: Piano (Hugo Fattoruso)
Track 3: Lead vocals (Hugo Fattoruso & Osvaldo Fattoruso), backing vocal (Pelin Capobianco), cowbell (Caio Vila), lead guitar (Osvaldo Fattoruso)
Track 4: Electric guitar (rhythm) (Osvaldo Fattoruso), bass guitar (Pelin Capobianco), cellos (Hugo Fattoruso & Pelin Capobianco)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An alternate mix from an unknown date was used on the withdrawn one disc edition of the album released in the United States. This mix bizarrely incorporates part of Toto Prelude/Epilogue (this is also present at the end of On A Tuesday I Watch Channel 36). Up until the early 1990s, the session documentation for this session had mysteriously vanished, most likely misfiled despite all the tapes for the session being known to survive and located.

This date however would become cemented into the history of South American rock, not because of Los Shakers’ contributions in the studio however by the release of the debut single by Los Gatos; La balsa backed with Ayer nomás.

Los Gatos were a rock band from Argentina resurrected out of the ashes of a previous band named Los Gatos Salvajes, a band Los Shakers themselves frequently came into contact with famously through both bands’ frequent appearances on the Argentinian music television show Escala Musical. Ultimately unlike Los Shakers, Los Gatos Salvajes struggled to find any commercial footing held in large part by their record company Music Hall failing to widely distribute and promote their material as well as the unsure musical direction within the band itself such as the push of the relatively controversial decision to sing in their home language of Spanish strongly favoured by vocalist Litto Nebbia. All these factors resulted in the group’s demise by 1966 but determined to make it in South America’s slowly growing music scene former vocalist Litto Nebbia and keyboardist Ciro Fogliatta formed a new band with new recruits Kay Galiffi, Alfredo Toth and Oscar Moro named Los Gatos symbolising a clear continuing of Los Gatos Salvajes’ lineage striving to resurrect the previous band’s ambitions emphasising exclusive use of the Spanish language throughout a repertoire built up around their own original compositions.

Before the release of La balsa, the use of the Spanish language in popular music was considered a novelty or something not to be taken seriously, perhaps demonstrating a sense of ‘cultural cringe’ in comparison to the popular music of the United States and England where somehow the English language had been deemed superior. This is the reason why many artists such as Los Mockers and Los Shakers chose to sing and write material with English in mind even if the members grasp on the language wasn’t strong. La balsa in this context may have seemed like a miracle was bestowed upon it to make it such a commercial success, believed to have sold over 250,000 copies across Latin America it’s unique incorporation of bossa nova, beat music with instrumentation reminiscent of The Doors’ self-titled album from earlier that year proved unstoppable and almost single handedly reversed the language trend. Although the single was a runaway success naturally didn’t cause an immediate impact on its first day of release although the implications of this single would prove a large factor in Los Shakers’ commercial downfall in Argentina and Uruguay by the end of the decade as well as the band’s eventual decision to drop the use of English in their records either singing in Spanish or more commonly focusing on instrumental playing. The eventual overwhelming success of the single would eventually push Los Gatos’ own stature above that of virtually all of the groups who preceded them, belittling the efforts of previous Latin American popular music particularly those of the Uruguayan Invasion who seeked to hide their natural identities to heavily market and imitate themselves like their British contemporaries.

In some ways Los Shakers were progressive in this embrace of South American culture and identity as shown through Candombe, the group still continued to drown itself in international influence such as in On A Tuesday I Watch Channel 36 a song clearly inspired by the compositions of Ray Davies with The Kinks although not directly acknowledged by the members recorded on the

“Channel 36 was a nonsense song, it was about something I captured on television. They were a bit of a novelty since many couldn’t afford one. If you were lucky you might see one in the window of a department store nearby that’s if they were on” - Osvaldo Fattoruso, 2008

Fortunately the market of songs about watching television and channel surfing had by 1967 remained largely untapped although it’s fascination on consumeristic themes (also seen in the band’s song Got Any Money from the previous year’s Shakers For You) was odd in comparison to the rest of the album many of which drew parallels with the outside world through nature such as rainbows, pinecones and roses and clovers. The song’s signature bouncy feeling held no real challenge with the basic track being accomplished in a mere three takes, all of which can be heard on the La Conferencia Secreta Del Toto’s Bar/Super Deluxe Edition (2018).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acostumbro a ver TV los martes 36 (On A Tuesday I Watch Channel 36)

Date: Wednesday, the 5th of July 1967
Producer: José Soler
Studio: EMI Studios, Argentina

Hugo Fattoruso: Lead vocal, piano, electric guitar (overdub)
Osvaldo Fattoruso: Backing vocal, electric guitar (rhythm), drums (secondary), background noise
Pelin Capobianco: Bass guitar, backing vocals, background noise
Caio Vila: Drums, tambourine

Track 1: Drums (Caio Vila), drums overdub (Osvaldo Fattoruso)
Track 2: Bass guitar (Pelin Capobianco), electric guitar (rhythm) (Osvaldo Fattoruso), lead vocal (Hugo Fattoruso), backing vocals (Osvaldo Fattoruso & Pelin Capobianco)
Track 3: Piano (Hugo Fattoruso)
Track 4: Electric guitar overdub (Hugo Fattoruso), tambourine (Caio Vila), background noise overdub (Pelin Capobianco & Osvaldo Fattoruso)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interestingly, this single was chosen and ultimately approved to be released as an A-side in the UK backed with the later recorded My Aunt Clementine, peaking at number 38 in the NME.

The band would persist with touring obligations up until their return in the studio the following week on the 11th of July, touching down briefly in Brazil for a short promotional visit between the 7th to 9th. This week would also prove to introduce the public to Shakers’ look, with the band’s first public appearance in what would be known as the ‘Toto’s Bar’ uniforms on a mimed performance of Hallelujah and Never, Never on the Escala Musical television program in Argentina on Sunday, the 9th of July 1967. Either in response or in parody of the marching band like uniforms worn by The Beatles on their landmark Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, the band adopted a new unified look that according to one journalist proved “more reminiscent to the Salvation Army than [of] Sgt. Pepper’s.” This dress would remain the group’s “official” uniform up until its last appearance in January 1969, over six months past the album’s eventual release date on the 17th of July 1968 in Argentina.

Pictured: Los Shakers during their brief promotional visit to Brazil in July 1967. (L-R): Osvaldo Fattoruso, Pelin Capobianco, Caio Vila & Hugo Fattoruso.