Cruzados

The Cruzados, an '80s rock outfit featuring Tito Larriva on lead vocals and guitar, Tony Marsico handling bass and vocals, Steven Hufsteter on guitar, and Chalo Quintana at the drums, earned frequent predictions of imminent stardom from fellow musicians and reviewers alike yet lasted through just two albums. Across a short four-year period the quartet served as opening act for Fleetwood Mac, INXS, and Stevie Ray Vaughan while also performing at Farm Aid, where they delivered “This Land is Your Land” alongside Neil Young and Arlo Guthrie. Their pair of Arista releases—the self-titled 1985 debut and 1987’s After Dark—attracted admiration from Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, David Byrne, Brian Setzer, and Billy Joel, but commercial breakthrough never materialized and the band dissolved before completing a third album. In 2001 the group’s website offered the compilation Unreleased Early Recordings, which contained the track “Rising Sun” showcasing Bob Dylan on harmonica.