Episode 18: Richard Segovia [PURO BANDIDO]

“When you think of Motown, you think of Detroit,” explains timbale player RICHARD SEGOVIA, celebrating his 42nd year with his band PURO BANDIDO. “When you think of LATIN ROCK, it’s right there in the MISSION”—the Mission District that is, the legendary San Francisco neighborhood where the genre was born. And a very young Segovia—now affectionately known to the community as the “Mayor of the Mission”—was right there to see the birth of this new sound.

According to Richard, it all started with the Aliens, a five-piece formed at Mission High School in 1964 by Nicaraguan and El Salvadorian immigrants inspired by Ritchie Valens and the neighboring Haight Ashbury scene. “They were the first kinda Latin Rock band,” Segovia explains. One night, CARLOS SANTANA, then a promising young guitarist playing in a blues band, went to see the Aliens at a club called the Night Life. Santana was inspired—it occurred to him that he needed lots of percussion to give his music that special fire. That’s where his fellow future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer JOSE “CHEPITO” AREAS came in. “It was Chepito who brought percussion into Santana,” Segovia asserts. “Chepito brought the conga, the timbale, and added that to blues—changed the whole thing… Everybody wanted to play music after that.”

Suddenly the hood’s troubled youth—with the crime and violence always inevitable where there is lack of money and opportunity—found a new direction. “We went from the battle of the barrios to the battle of the bands,” confirms Segovia. For his part, he joined his first band, Dungeon Sounds, on timbales because the drummer and conga positions had already been taken. They played everywhere they could, doing songs by Santana, Malo, and Azteca. “That was our top 40,” he says.

The band broke up after a couple years, but Richard kept going, joining Por Vida and then Mbuhai, the latter band challenging his musical abilities considerably. “These guys were way over my head,” he confirms. “The conga player didn’t want to play with me because I didn’t know shit!” They practiced five days a week and, as always, it was sink or swim. “Nobody gave up any information back then,” he explains. “Either you had it, or you didn’t… Nobody’s gonna teach you. You got to learn it on your own… If you didn’t get it right away—‘Next!’”

Meanwhile, the Latin Rock scene wasn’t off on an island of its own. Everybody was paying attention and needed some for themselves, even super funk blasters like Larry Graham, who offered Mbuhai an opening slot with Graham Central Station in Redwood City. As it turned out, Clive Davis and many other record execs were in the crowd that night. The next day, Brent Dangerfield, who’d produced Santana, offered to produce Mbuhai for CBS Records.

If that weren’t enough, a gig opening for Graham Central Station at the Soul Train club on Broadway led to Don Cornelius asking Mbuhai to be his house band. Next thing they knew, they were supporting acts like Minnie Riperton, Stevie Wonder, Isaac Hayes, the Bar Kays, and Eddie Kendricks. Unfortunately, the Mbuhai album was recorded yet shelved due to circumstances outside the band’s control. But all of this experience had taught Richard how to be a leader himself. So from 1979 to today, he has presided over his badass band PURO BANDIDO—with guitarist Johnny Gunn as his “co-jefe” since ’85.

But music is just a portion of what Segovia brings to Latin Rock culture. He is also a major producer and promoter of its artistic aesthetic, a drive that culminates into his crowning achievement: turning his own home into an SF landmark. A few years ago, he was approached by the Precita Eyes Muralists Association, a local nonprofit that does all the murals in the Mission. Under a grant from the California Arts Commission and through the Urban Youth Arts Program, Segovia was asked if he wanted to have his house—the same one on the corner of York & 25th that his parents had bought in the early 60s—to be covered with a mural. He could choose the theme, anything he wanted.

Chewing on this opportunity, Segovia went to visit his buddy, Ishmael Versoza aka “Irish,” keyboardist and original member of the Fabulous Malibus, who later became Malo. Richard saw that Irish had some cool old band pictures on the wall. The conclusion was obvious. “I’ve been a Latin Rock player for 52 years,” says Richard, recalling his thought process. “Why don’t I dedicate the mural to Carlos Santana for bringing Latin Rock music to the Mission District?”

Soon, artists from age 5 to 45 were covering his house, dubbed CASA BANDIDO, with wonderful paintings of almost 100 Latin Rock Legends, including Carlos’ late brother Jorge Santana, great friend to Segovia and co-creator of the Mission anthem, Malo’s “Suavecito.” As Richard explains, “I decided to preserve what we have left—because all the techies are coming into the neighborhood buying up all our stuff and I wanted the neighborhood to know I aint’ goin nowhere, man. I’m sticking here. I’m gonna die here.”

Finally, Segovia is a true community leader, a man who knows how to organize with boundless energy when it comes to working with kids, teaching them how to be safe and play a little music. He has received numerous honors and countless thank-you letters over the years from citizens and politicians alike. In fact, before he passed, SF Mayor Ed Lee announced that September 17th is Richard Segovia Day. On October 16, 2021, Richard will hold a free concert at La Raza Park, where he will pay tribute to the too many greats who have left us recently, including Jorge Santana, Armando Parraza, Malo singer Arcelio Garcia, Raul Rico, and Rudy Salas. And before the show, he will unveil additions to his mural, including Pete, Sheila E., and the rest of the Escovedo family.

In this energetic, educational, and laughter-filled interview, the Mayor discusses the African roots of the clave, why he loved Bill Graham, and playing for Eddie Money from ‘85 until his passing. Richard also talks about how his uncle Michael V. Rios designed the cover for Santana’s Grammy-winning Supernatural album at Casa Bandido, what it’s like hanging out with Al Hendrix, father to Jimi, and what the lyrics to “La Cucaracha” are really about. If all of that weren’t enough, Jay and Ace had so much fun with Richard that, less than two weeks after this interview was recorded, they performed with him alongside members of Puro Bandido, and Irish (!) from Malo at an event at the house.

Bill Graham’s image is added, 4/4/21

Ishmael aka Irish, OG keys of Malo

Produced & Hosted by Ace Alan
Cohosted & Coproduced by Jay Stone
Website & Art by 3chards
In-studio Photos by Debbie Jue
Engineered by Dominic Brown at Soul Graffiti Studios in Oakland, CA with thanks to & Justin Ancheta, Andrew, & Alex Scammon

…but we couldn’t have done it without Scott Sheppard