On the edge of the Amazon in the 1960s, a sound emerged that united Peru’s indigenous melodies with Colombia’s highly-danceable cumbia rhythm, surf rock wah-wah pedals, and rock and roll’s organ-playing. These cumbias amazonicas migrated to Lima and became chicha, the soundtrack of empowerment for the era’s newly urbanized indigenous population. The Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru on Barbès Records features six of the most compelling bands from the scene, before the sound became watered down with pop aesthetics and cheesy synthesizers.
Chicha emerged around the time of Peru’s big oil boom and the associated rural-urban migration (and dislocation) of the time period. This happened to be the same period that guitar effects and compact electric organs became available, and worldwide local styles became electrified. Rural populations moved into the city, often living in poor conditions while adopting Western and urban musical elements to create new hybrids. As the music gained popularity, it became a great source of cultural (and even class) pride. In Peru this emerging style assumed the label chicha, the name of a fermented corn drink associated with pre-Columbian indigenous people in the region.
Chicha is further characterized by the rich guitar tradition of Peru (some say more virtuosic than any other Latin American nation) which was translated to electric guitars. While other styles of music – like Andean folkloric and Afro-Peruvian music – became accepted by the powers that be in Peru, chicha was looked down upon by many as only for the poor and working class.
Oliver Conan, owner of the Barbés nightclub and record label, discovered the music on a trip to Peru. He also discovered that the label that put out a lot of the music had gone bankrupt and many of the master recordings were lost. He finally tracked down six Chicha combos – los Mirlos, Juaneco y Su Combo, los Hijos del Sola, los Destellos, los Diablos Rojos and Eusebio y Su Banjo – and put together this 17-track compilation. The results were unique, recalling the cultural history of other regional working-class music like ska and bachata.