El Tri

El Tri is a Mexican blues/hard rock band from Mexico City fronted by Alex Lora. Previously known as "Three Souls in my Mind", the band has existed in some form since 1968. They play Rock and roll, acoustic rock, Blues-rock, and Blues.

Band History

Three Souls in My Mind was originally composed of Alejandro Lora on bass and lead vocals, Ernesto de Leon on lead guitar, and Carlos Hauptvogel on the drums. On some albums they are accompanied by Arturo Labastida on saxophone and Carlos Martinez on trumpet. Sergio Mancera also played guitar on some albums. They released 15 albums on the RAFF record label before officially changing their name and lineup in 1985.

Three Souls was part of a burgeoning Mexican rock movement that had ties to rock's African American roots, the U.S. counterculture, and the then-globalizing recording industry. As rock in Mexico was originally seen as "inauthentic" when sung in Spanish, Three Souls mostly sang covers of American rock and blues songs in English. However, at the Festival de Av?ndaro, often called "Mexico's Woodstock", they crossed over, singing first in English, then in Spanish. From then on they recorded primarily in Spanish, writing most of their own songs. When asked why they switched to Spanish, Lora replied that it was important for the audience to understand the messages of the songs. While Three Souls had a popular following among the younger generation while singing in English, changing attitudes toward rock pushed the band to perform in the "hoyos fonquis", where the lower classes held semi-chaotic rock shows. Singing in his original language and for a new, energetic, young, and discontented audience, Lora's songs began reflecting more of the reality of the daily lives of average Mexicans, while simultaneously allowing concertgoers to forget those same troubles. Lora gave his own identity to Mexican rock & roll, becoming its emblem.

In 1985 they became the first Mexican rock band to have a Gold certified record with their album "Simplemente", which contains their first single: "Triste Canci?n". In 1986 their song "Vicioso" became a hit in Peru, topping radio charts, which opened the way to 2 concerts in Plaza de Toros Acho, where they returned one year later for a tour in 7 cities. In the same year the band was invited by Miguel R?os to participate in the First Iberoamerican Rock Encounter at the Sports Palace of Madrid, Spain; alongside the most representative bands of countries like Chile, Venezuela, Argentina and Spain.

The United States have also been an important part of their career, since they have had many presentations in New York, Chicago, Houston, and all around the state of California, for example at Fillmore in San Francisco, and mainly in the city of Los Angeles, having presentations in places such as Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, The Olympic Auditorium, Pico Rivera, The Palace, The Hollywood Palladium, The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, and more. In New York their presentations were a success in the "Roseland", with 2 consecutive sold-outs. There is a statue of Alex Lora at the Plaza Mexico in Lynwood, California.Where he appeared for a Mexican Independence celebration and he was a great success.

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El Tri