"I recently caught his show
at Kiko's one Thursday, took some photos, and was summarily blown away. the
hottest gun in town is in his 50's and can still plow them down with his axe"
- JIM AYSON (head honcho of
Philmusic.com)
Who
hasn’t heard of the Juan de la
Cruz Band? Remember the song
Himig Natin?
Perhaps the most influential local rock group ever, the JDLC
became the
progenitor of the Pinoy Rock revolution during the ’70s,
blazing the
trail for a generation of rock legends like Sampaguita,
Resty Fabunan
(of Maria Cafra fame) and the late great progressive
drummer Edmund
"Bosyo" Fortuno (of Anakbayan).
If there’s any
one question that’s been bugging a lot of devout Juan de
la Cruz Band
fans all these years, it could very well be: "Where the
hell is Wally
Gonzales?"
After all,
former lead singer and drummer Joey "Pepe" Smith – a rock and
roll legend in
more ways than one – and former bass player Mike Hanopol
(of ‘jeproks’
fame) have all had their share of the spotlight at one
time or
another.
Among the three,
Wally has always been tagged as "the quiet Juan de la
Cruz" devoid of
the typically flamboyant lifestyle, manic fits and
eccentric quirks
of his bandmates. With the band’s breakup during the
mid-’80s, Pepe
eventually became the iconic godfather of Pinoy Rock,
while Mike
switched to guitar and became a household name himself via
his hit Laki sa
Layaw, Jeproks.
Not to be
outdone, long, tall Wally further refined his bluesy wailings
in a predominantly
instrumental album which spawned his classic anthem,
Wally’s Blues –
a dark, brooding ballad oozing with Marshallesque
distortion and
Echoplex-laden riffs.
But that was
about the last that the public heard of him.
From 1986 to
1998, a Wally Gonzales gig became as rare as an Elvis
sighting –
spawning a host of rumors and speculations.
It was only in
1998 when a short-haired and beefier Wally resurfaced –
this time for
the much-heralded JDLC reunion concert at the World Trade
Center. But just
when his fans thought they’d hear more of their
long-lost
brother, he just as quickly faded out of the music scene.
The good news
is, Wally Gonzales is back – and boy, is he in fighting
form! When news
of his first public performance at Kiko’s Bar spread
through the
grapevine late last month, throngs of his fans quickly
stormed the
place to pay allegiance to their guitar god.
Cradling a
customized Carvin acoustic, Wally plucked the same searing,
spine-tingling
blues leads – leading his cohorts through the same
nostalgic route
he took over three decades ago. Even without the
inherent sustain
of his vintage Les Pauls and Marshalls, Wally’s playing
was no less
staggering.
Every so often,
the maestro would rise up from his stool and go through
the same "rock
star contortions" of long ago – an occasional scowl
matching every
bend, raking his pick across the strings and flailing his
guitar like a
lethal weapon.
"Wally’s
Blues!," shouted a rabid fan.
"Wally’s Blues!
Sige na, pauwi na kami!," the same guy begged in jest,
amid a roar of
approval from the crowd.
With much
aplomb, Wally obliged. But here’s the dilemma. Could a song –
whose very
essence relied on the violin-like sustain of his favored
Gibson Melody
Maker and the analog decay of an Echoplex – sound the
same on a stock
steel-string acoustic?
Surprisingly,
Wally’s Blues – the acoustic version – presented a novel
contrast with
its more organic and bare-naked timbres. Towards the
much-anticipated
climax, Wally stood up once more as he wrung his
strings with
fury and abandon.
Now here’s the
catch. Can you believe the guy when he says he didn’t
touch his guitar
for 10 years?
"From 1986 to
89, the rock bands vanished. Disco became the fad," he
laments. "I just
arrived from Singapore then. We had a gig there for two
months. So, when
I came back, nothing was happening. I was totally
disappointed –
with the record royalties, the industry, everything. I
didn’t touch my
guitar for 10 years. Wala talaga."
And what did he
do during this hiatus? "My brother Dodie got me into his
shipping company
as treasurer. That was my bread and butter for 10
years. Times
were hard, and I had a family to
support," he
continues.
All that time,
there was very little communication between his JDC
bandmates. "The
only time Pepe or Mike would call me was when I had to
sign some papers
– legal stuff, rights ... when
someone would
use our songs."
Fortunately,
common sense kept him from selling off his cherished gear:
a vintage Gibson
SG and Melody Maker which were his main axes before. "I
knew that there
would come a time
when I’d play
again," he muses.
"It was in 1995
when Dodie tried to convince me to play professionally
again. We even
went to Hong Kong to buy a lot of instruments and
recording gear,"
the bluesman recalls. "And
although we had
our usual Sunday jams with my good friend Buddy Zamora,
we never went
beyond that – until last Sept. 26."
With the
prodding of friends Jojo Villalba and Kiko’s Bar owner Chito
Aseneta, Wally
assembled a small group of formidable players: bass
wunderkind Dondi
Ledesma, jazz keyboardist Wowie Posadas on drums,
Joonie Centeno
on vocals and Armand Quimpo on second guitar.
The group,
christened "Wally and Friends," has been attracting a lot of
mainstream
rockers and kids eager to reacquaint themselves with Pinoy
Rock history. On
a typical Thursday night, the band dishes out
loosely-arranged
renditions of ’70s rock classics – Clapton’s
Crossroads,
Sunshine of Your Love; the Allman Brothers’ In Memory of
Elizabeth Reed;
Hendrix’s Purple Haze; the Doors’ Light My Fire; Lynrd
Skynrd’s Sweet
Home Alabama; and of course, good ole vintage Juan dela
Cruz staples
like Balong Malalim, Kagatan, Mamasyal sa Pilipinas and
Himig
Natin.
With his
comeback, are the prospects of a JDLC reunion greater than ever?
"Why not? I’m
open to it," he winks. "In fact, we are planning to do it
as soon as Mike
comes back home."
Looking back,
Wally cherishes his fondest memories of his JDLC days. "We
weren’t really
after the money then," he confesses. "Sina Sampy, Resty,
Bosyo... we just
wanted to play. Wala nang ganung tugtugan ngayon."
by Tinnie P. Esguerra
© 2002
© BlueRock Union
