“I have to see the Home Boys,” said Gonzales with a note of finality.“This is really great,” said Anita Pulido. “This is the fourth band we’ve heard... we’ve been here all day!”So had many others in the crowd, who brought their own seating, ate and drank at the Ironhorse Restaurant, cheered the musicians and got up to dance. The concert also featured “Los Perros” and “The Morazas,” who were performing during the same time period as “The Homeboys,” often at the same events. “Remember to Forget,” a contemporary Reggae band mentored by Montes, also performed at Saturday’s concert.“This is just fabulous,” said Lorraine James of Ventura, who was out of breath after making all the right dance moves with her husband Howard to a “Home Boys” played Rolling Stones hit. “Santa Paula really seems to have great parties... and this was free,” other than the dinner and drinks at the Ironhorse restaurant the couple was planning on.
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This nine-member band was one of the hottest and most sought after dance bands in Ventura County from 1974 to 1978. In the 70s The Home Boys played college campuses, weddings, parties, baptisms and other fun social events, providing Latin Jazz, Top 10 and Mexican corridos, among other music. Members of The Home Boys include Xavier “X” Montes, Billy Ramirez, Tony Ontiveros, Georgie Castañeda, Maurilio Gonzales, Robert Torres, Teddy Hurtado, Art “Puggy” Porras, and David Tovar. Pictured above are the Home Boys as they played last weekend. (Photo provided) |
The Home Boys Band reunion, concerts bring hundreds to Glen Tavern
June 20, 2008
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesIt might have been 30 years ago, but it seemed like only yesterday for the hundreds of people who gathered Saturday at the Glen Tavern Inn for the reunion of “The Home Boys” who showed that some things - like dynamite bands - never change. One of the hottest and most sought after dance bands in Ventura County for four years in the 1970s, “The Home Boys,” then meaning simply from the same hometown, capped an almost all-day concert held outside the historic Inn.“The Home Boys” Lead singer Georgie Castaneda asked the crowd to give a salute “to the man who made this happen,” band mate Xavier “Big X” Montes, who organized the reunion and gathered the bands for an afternoon of diverse music.From 1974 to 1978 the “The Home Boys” were the band of choice for social events and college campus appearances, where their eclectic blend of Top 10 rock ‘n roll, Latin jazz and corridos were the most danceable music around. Montes has been bringing together area musicians of different eras to document the contributions of those from the Santa Clara River Valley to the music scene.“I’m really having a good time,” said Tony Gaitan, who noted that he was attending the concert to also “see the band member I know the most, David Tovar,” who graduated with Gaitan from Fillmore High School in 1970.“We came at 2 p.m.,” well in advance of the beginning of the concert, noted Angela Dominguez of her and her friend Helen Gonzales. “We’re really enjoying it... Helen won’t go home.”
