Los Speakers

Colombia did not offer especially fertile conditions for rock bands during the 1960s, yet los Speakers rank among the rare exceptions from that nation—and indeed from South America at large—whose recordings later attracted the attention of dedicated ’60s collectors. Performing primarily in Spanish, the group issued a respectable album in 1966 whose production and arrangements stood out for their peculiar yet engagingly rough, echo-heavy character. Scattered among renditions of material by the Byrds and the Beatles are stronger original numbers marked by mournful, emotional melodies and unexpected accents of lachrymose brass.