The Knightsmen, Las Cruces

Not thrilled with condition, but still happy to have added a record that has sat atop my regional want list longer than any other. I first became aware of the Knightsmen on Bocaldun pver 10 years back and the hunt has been on ever since.

This goes out to the DJ duo Cult Heroes, aka Danny Salas and Reuben Salazar, of El Paso (read a piece on them HERE).

THE KNIGHTSMEN - Pistol Packin' Mama (feat. Sue Black) b/w Darling Why? (feat. Johnny Trujillo) (Bocaldun 1006/1005)

When talking El Paso, Tx ca. 1960 people tend to hang up on just a couple of combos - the Rock Kings and Bobby Taylor's Counts come to mind, as does Bobby Fuller a few years later- while forgetting there were dozens of other groups hitting on the popular sounds of the time. And most popular among the teen scene of El Paso and Las Cruces/Mesilla were the R&B sounds. A look at releases spread across area labels such as Yucca, Gum, F-G, and Bocaldun bears out this trend.

The origins and endings of the Bocaldun itself are a mystery. The imprint began with the re-release of the Gatorvettes's OUTSTANDING "Midnight" from the Thunder label as Bocaldun 1001/1002 ('Stomped HERE). The second 45 on Bocaldun is an unknown assuming it follows the pattern with numbers 1003/1004. In 1961 the label reappeared with an Odessa Texas address for its last release.

Las Cruces area native Johnny Trujillo got his feet wet in the El Paso/Las Cruces scene of the late 1950s and the Knightsmen were founded soon after. Johnny was a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and a fine, fine vocalist as can be heard on the excellent "Darlin' Why?". The Chicanos- in this case the Knightsmen- prove once again that there was not some arbitrary 1950-something cutoff date for doo wop. Throughout the 1960s the 'oldies' remained popular in Knights of Columbus halls, gyms, and armories all across the southwest and "Darlin' Why?" is a nice teaser for the style that remained popular for so long.

On the uptempo flip the Knightsmen backed a Miss Sue Black on a raucous gal'd up remake of the standard "Pistol Packin' Mama" which seems to have gotten its legs from Gene Vincent's 1960 version rather than the Al Dexter original. A few liberties are taken with the song, but all seem to set well with the sassy and confident Sue. Ol' Westex is particularly fond of the final verse wherein our gal raps "... I'm a real live Texas chick, I know what love's about...". Hispanic combos were more about the brass than strings so rather than some guitar slingin' at the break the listener is treated to a bit of wailing sax.

Perhaps due to the label being located a world away from El Paso in Odessa neither side seems to have done any real damage chartwise, though promotional copies were issued on red vinyl.

The Knightsmen would continue on through the 1960s from their base in Las Cruces with at least one other release on El Paso's Coronado label near the close of the decade. Johnny Trujillo would go on to front a few traditional groups before passing away.

No idea at all about Sue Black.
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What little info I have on Johnny was pulled from a blog on his nephew's MySpace page HERE. Would be grateful for any/all info about Johnny, Sue, and/or the Knightsmen.