Tito Larriva (2,595 views)

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Humberto "Tito" Larriva (1953 - )
Years active: 1977-present
Country of origin: Mexico / United States of America
Recorded vocal range: A1-B5 - 4⅙ octaves

Band history:

• 1977 - The Impalas (rhythm guitar)
• 1977 - The Flesh Eaters (rhythm guitar)
• 1977-1984 - The Plugz (lead vocals, guitar)
  
• 1984 - The Plugz (lead vocals, rhythm guitar)
• 1984-1990 - Cruzados (lead vocals, rhythm guitar)
  
• 1992-present - Tito & Tarantula (lead vocals, rhythm guitar)
• 1996-1999 - Psychotic Aztecs (lead vocals, rhythm guitar)

Recorded high notes:
B5: "Angry Cockroaches (Cucarachas Enojadas)", "Torquay"
A♯5/B♭5: "Anarchy in the USA", "Angry Cockroaches (Cucarachas Enojadas)", "Torquay"
A5: "Angry Cockroaches (Cucarachas Enojadas)"
G♯5/A♭5: "Anarchy in the USA", "Gimme Respect"
G5: "Anarchy in the USA", "Cry in the Night", "El Clavo Y La Cruz", "Motorcycle Girl", "My German Fraulein" live Ludwigsburg 2017, "Killing Just for Fun"
F♯5/G♭5: "Anarchy in the USA", "Angry Cockroaches (Cucarachas Enojadas)", "El Clavo Y La Cruz", "Motorcycle Girl", "Radio Head", "Rising Sun", "Torquay"
F5: "Going Down" live The Roxy 1987, "Last Ride", "Strange Face of Love" live The Roxy 1987
E5: "Don't Throw Stones", "My German Fraulein", "Strange Face of Love" live The Roxy 1987
D♯5/E♭5: "Going Down" live The Roxy 1987, "Slippin' and Slidin'"
D5: "Come Out Clean", "Crucified", "Gimme Respect", "Going Down" live The Roxy 1987, "Nadarè", "Radio Head"
C5: "Crack in the World", "Dead Person", "Don't Throw Stones", "El Patrullero", "Forever Forgotten & Unforgiven"
B4: "Bed of Lies" live The Roxy 1987, "Cryin' Eyes", "Don't Throw Stones", "Forever Forgotten & Unforgiven", "Gimme Respect", "Jupiter", "Killing Just for Fun", "Motorcycle Girl", "Radio Head", "Rising Sun", "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Small Town Love", "Strange Face of Love", "Torn to Pieces", "When to Let It Go"
A♯4/B♭4: "Come Out Clean", "Crime & Shame", "Don't Throw Stones", "El Clavo y La Cruz", "Everybody Needs", "Going Down" live The Roxy 1987, "Slippin' and Slidin'"
A4: "After Dark" live The Ritz 1986, "Agente Secreto", "Anarchy in the USA", "As Worlds Collide", "Back to the House (That Love Built)", "Bed of Lies" live The Roxy 1987, "Berserktown", "Betcha Can't Play", "Blue Sofa (Still a Fool)", "Crucified", "Cry in the Night", "Don't Throw Stones" live The Roxy 1987, "El Clavo y La Cruz", "Hombre Secreto (Secret Agent Man)", "In My Arms Tonight", "In My Car", "Joke's on Me", "Jupiter", "Lady Don't Leave", "La Primera", "Last Ride", "Missed Your Eyes", "Motorcycle Girl" live The Roxy 1987, "No Love", "Now That You're Gone", "Rising Sun", "See You on the Way Down", "Shifting Heart", "Small Town Love", "Strange Face of Love", "Torn to Pieces", "Torquay", "Wild Love", "Wordless", "You Don't Scare Me", "Young and on Fire" live The Roxy 1987
G♯4/A♭4: "American", "Angry Cockroaches (Cucarachas Enojadas)", "Braintime", "El Patrullero", "Everybody Needs", "Flor De Mal", "Gimme Respect", "Goodbye Sadie", "Mindless Contentment", "Ready Made", "Revolution", "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Some Day", "Summer's Come, Summer's Gone", "Sweet Cycle", "When to Let It Go", "Wild Love", "Wordless", "You Don't Scare Me", "You're the One I Love" acoustic version
G4: "Agente Secrete", "Anarchy in the USA", "Angry Cockroaches (Cucarachas Enojadas)", "Animal Dream", "Back to Mexico", "Berserktown", "Bleeding Roses", "Clavo de Cristo", "Cryin' Eyes", "Cry in the Night", "Damn Good Day to Die", "Devil's in Love", "Don't Throw Stones", "El Clavo Y La Cruz", "El Patrullero", "Flor de Mal", "Forever Forgotten & Unforgiven", "Gas Line", "Going Down" live The Roxy 1987, "Hanging Out in California", "He's a Liar", "I Want Your World to Turn", "It's Alright Now", "Joke's on Me", "La Primera", "Last Ride" live The Roxy 1987, "Levántate", "Love in My Blood", "Machete", "Mexico", "Mindless Content", "Motorcycle Girl" live The Ritz 1986, "Navajo in a UFO", "No Love", "1,000 Miles", "Police Milice" "Pretty Wasted", "Puro", "Radio Head", "Road of Truth", "Salmame", "See You on the Way Down", "Seven Summers", "She Chain", "Shifting Heart", "Slow Dream", "Small Town Love", "Smiling Karen", "Strange Face of Love", "Summer's Come, Summer's Gone", "The End of Everything" live Bonn 2008, "To Paradise", "Torn to Pieces", "Wasted Years", "When to Let It Go", "Woke up Blind", "Wordless", "You Don't Scare Me", "Young and on Fire"
F♯4/G♭4: "After Dark", "Alacran y Pistolero", "As Worlds Collide", "Back to the House (That Love Built)", "Bed of Lies", "Berserktown", "Bleeding Roses", "Blue Sofa",  "Blue Sofa (Still a Fool)", "Braintime", "Chains of Freedom", "Cryin' Eyes", "Effortless", "Flor de Mal", "Flying in My Sleep", "Gas Line", "Hanging Out in California", "Hungry Sally", "In My Arms Tonight", "It's My Mistake", "In the Wait", "Jupiter", "Just Like Roses", "Killing Just for Fun", "La Flor de Mal '02", "Last Ride", "Let Go", "Missed Your Eyes", "Monsters", "Not Enough", "Now That You're Gone", "Red Eye #9", "Revolution", "Rising Sun", "Seven Summers", "Shifting Heart", "Sin Calzones", "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Small Town Love", "Smiling Karen", "Sweet Cycle", "To Paradise", "Touch for Cash", "Wasted Years", "Wordless", "Young and on Fire"

Recorded low notes:
C♯3/D♭3: "Bullets from a Gun", "Cara de Picasso", "Effortless", "Goodbye Sadie", "Heart of Hearts", "If You Love Me", "In Between", "It's My Mistake", "Just Like Roses", "My German Fraulein", "Sweet Cycle", "You're the One I Love"
C3: "Animal Dream", "Crack in the World", "Goodbye Good Luck", "He's a Liar", "Hey Hey Hey Whaddya Say", "Lonely Sweet Marie", "Ready Made", "Salmame", "See You on the Way Down", "Sin Calzones", "Slow Dream", "The End of Everything", "When You Cry", "Woke Up Blind", "World at My Feet"
B2: "As Worlds Collide", "Clumsy Beautiful World", "Crucified", "Hungry Sally", "If You Love Me", "In Between", "It's My Mistake", "La Flor de Mal '02", "Missed Your Eyes", "Monsters", "My German Fraulein", "My Power Is in Your Hands", "Nadarè", "Super Vita Jane", "The End of Everything", "You're the One I Love"
A♯2/B♭2: "It's My Mistake", "Machete", "Slow Dream", "Woke Up Blind", "World at My Feet"
A2: "Bullets from a Gun", "Devil's in Love", "Effortless", "Goodbye Good Luck", "Heart of Hearts", "Hungry Sally", "If You Love Me", "In Between", "In My Car", "La Flor de Mal '02", "Like I Do", "Machete", "Monsters", "My German Fraulein", "Nadarè", "Now That You're Gone", "Sin Calzones", "You're the One I Love"
G♯2/A♭2: "My German Fraulein", "My Power Is in Your Hands", "Somewhere Between"
G2: "Bitch", "Clavo de Cristo", "Forever Forgotten & Unforgiven", "La Flor de Mal '02", "Lonely Sunset", "Machete", "Nadarè", "Radio Head", "Salmame", "Sin Calzones", "Slow Dream"
F♯2/G♭2: "Cara de Picasso", "Effortless", "Hungry Sally", "In Between" acoustic version, "Now That You're Gone", "Torn to Pieces", "You're the One I Love" acoustic version
F2: "Somewhere Between"
E2: "La Flor de Mal '02", "Torn to Pieces", "You're the One I Love" acoustic version
D♯2/E♭2: "Cara de Picasso", "Machete", "Sin Calzones"
D2: "Forever Forgotten & Unforgiven", "Hungry Sally", "You're the One I Love" acoustic version
C2: "Hungry Sally"
B1: "Hungry Sally", "Police Milice"
A1: "Police Milice"

.......................................................
*Blue marks soft falsetto notes.
*Green marks harsh distorted notes.
*Italics mark non-melodic notes.
*Underlines marks notes in backing vocals or otherwise muffled/obscured in the song mix.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Detailed bio}Best known as the singer/rhythm guitarist for Tito & Tarantula (recognized by many as the house band in the movie From Dusk Till Dawn), Tito Larriva is a musician that I've been a longtime fan of and has become a prominent figure in the world of Latin/Chicano rock through his various projects over the years. His career dates back as far as 1977, first starting out in various punk bands active in the Los Angeles scene at the time. Included among these were The Impalas and The Flesh Eaters, in each of which Larriva served as a rhythm guitarist for a brief stint, but I have been able to find very limited information about his time in either of these bands online. His first band of significant note was The Plugz - originally a three-piece formed later in 1977, featuring himself on guitar and vocals, bassist Barry McBride (later replaced by Tony Marsico in 1980), and drummer Chalo Quitana. The band recorded two albums, 1978's Electrify Me and 1981's Better Luck, and also scored the 1984 cult classic film Repo Man. In 1984, Marsico and Quintana appeared as the backing band for Bob Dylan during his appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, which helped the band gain some recognition, and also served as an introduction to Dylan that would result in future collaborations together.

In 1984, lead guitarist Steven Hufsteter joined The Plugz, and the band briefly became a four-piece before retiring the name and rebranding themselves as the Cruzados. With this name change, their musical style also shifted from a raw punk sound to a somewhat bluesy '80s rock sound, once again with some prominent Chicano influence mixed in. They released a self-titled album in 1985 under Arista Records, on which Larriva demonstrated a considerable amount of vocal growth since his time in The Plugz - with many songs featuring powerful, expressive vocal melodies up to B4, as well as some raw rock screams in the F♯5 range on "Motorcycle Girl" and "Rising Sun". Following the release of this album, Hufsteter left the band in 1986 and was replaced by Marshall Rohner. With this new lineup, the band recorded a live album in 1986, Live at the Roxy, though it remained shelved for over two decades until it was finally released in 2009. They also recorded their second album, 1987's After Dark, which featured a re-recording of the Plugz song "Blue Sofa" (retitled "Blue Sofa (Still a Fool)"). Towards the end of the 80s, however, the band began to fall apart, and eventually broke up in 1990. Their last prominent contribution to the world of music was appearing at the beginning of the 1989 movie Road House, performing a new song titled "Don't Throw Stones".

From the mid 1980s onward, Larriva also began to get more involved in acting, and appeared in other small roles in movies such as True Stories (1986), Born in East L.A. (1987), and Eyes of an Angel (1991). His work in film became something that he started to occupy himself with more in the early 90s, while also beginning to form his next band, Tito & Tarantula (originally called Tito & Friends) in 1992. In 1995, his music and film career prominently overlapped when he was cast in a side role for the Robert Rodriguez movie Desperado, and was able to feature several of his new songs with Tito & Tarantula in that movie as a result. The songs "Back to the House That Love Built", "Strange Face of Love", and "White Train" all appeared on the soundtrack for the film, and helped begin to create a public buzz about the band. This buzz further increased in 1996 when Rodriguez featured Larriva once again in his next film - 1996's From Dusk Till Dawn, this time alongside Tito & Tarantula guitarist Peter Atanasoff and drummer Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez as the house band for the bar where much of the film is set. This role served as an introduction for many to the band, and featured the songs "Angry Cockroaches" (Cucarachas Enojadas)" and "After Dark" as part of the set that they perform - the latter of which made for a particularly memorable inclusion in the film because of a seductive dance scene performed by Salma Hayek that it is played to.

Hot off the tails of their success with these Robert Rodriguez movies, Tito & Tarantula made their album debut in 1997 with a full length release called Tarantism, featuring all of the aforementioned songs except "White Train", which still remains unreleased elsewhere to this day. The song "Smiling Karen" would also later be featured in the third From Dusk Till Dawn movie, released in 1999. Though Tito & Tarantula maintained some of the rock stylings that Larriva had established with the Cruzados, they also took a turn in a more experimental direction - featuring some at times more atmospheric song arrangements that included some diverse instruments such as violin, mandolin, flute, and recorder. Larriva continued to demonstrate some great vocals on this album, with some very powerful, moving performances on songs like "Strange Face of Love", "Jupiter", and "Killing Just for Fun", as well as some pleasant softer singing on "After Dark" and "Flying in My Sleep". The band apparently recorded an entire second album's worth of material during the sessions for Tarantism, but this was allegedly lost and did not resurface for almost two decades - finally being released in 2015 under the title Lost Tarantism. In the meantime, they continued writing and recording more new material for their next album in 1999, entitled Hungry Sally and Other Killer Lullabies. This album continued in the stylistic direction that Tarantism had established and featured more strong vocals from Larriva, and also now demonstrated him beginning to sing in his low range for the first time to date. Though he had avoided any second octave singing up to this point, he proved himself very capable of doing so quite comfortably on this album, with melody singing down to G2 on "Slow Dream" and F♯2 in "Hungry Sally". The latter also featured a surprisingly strong spoken passage down to C2, even touching B1 at one point!

In the late '90s, Larriva also reunited with Steven Hufsteter to form a side project called Psychotic Aztecs, which also featured Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez on drums and former Oingo Boingo bassist John Avila (effectively making it half former members of Cruzados, half former members of Oingo Boingo). This project only ever released one album, entitled Santa Sangre, in 1999, but it demonstrated an interesting blend of rock and traditional Latin music, and showed off Larriva's range nicely - with the song "Nadarè" alone spanning a strong G2-D5. Though the Psychotic Aztecs disbanded after the release of this album, Larriva continued to utilize both ends of his range more on Tito & Tarantula's next album - 2000's Little Bitch. For this album, he really pushed the limits of his high singing on the song "Crack in the World", in which he sang chorus melodies around C5, albeit with very audible amounts of strain. The songs "Bitch" and "Forever Forgotten & Unforgiven" also demonstrated strong melody singing down to G2, with the latter also featuring a strong spoken passage down to D2 and some strained B4s on the chorus.

Since the early 2000s, Tito & Tarantula has gone through extensive lineup changes, with Larriva remaining the only consistent member who has stayed active throughout their tenure. One of these changes saw Steven Hufsteter joining the band as lead guitarist in 2002, and staying on to record two albums with them - 2002's Andalucia (which included a re-recording of the old Cruzados song "La Flor de Mal") and 2008's Back into Darkness. Following Hufsteter's departure in 2011, the band stopped putting out new music for several years (apart from releasing the old recordings from Lost Tarantism in 2015), but released their seventh album, 8 Arms to Hold You, in 2019. For these albums, Larriva's tessitura shifted again, now almost eliminating high notes entirely (only ever getting as high as A4 on a select few songs), and largely focusing on singing in his lower/mid range instead, which has gained considerable strength over the years. Aside from his work with Tito & Tarantula, Larriva has also continued his film career over the years, appearing in additional roles in the Robert Rodriguez films Once Upon a Time in Mexico (the sequel to Desperado, released in 2003) and Machete (2010), as well as a few other films that he has both acted in and contributed songs to the soundtrack for, such as as Just a Little Harmless Sex (1998) and The Million Dollar Hotel (2000). He is definitely quite a respectable musician and figure overall, so I hope my work notewatching him can help introduce him to some new fans!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album ranges}
The Plugz:

• Electrify Me (1979) - 
• Better Luck (1981) - -B♭4-G5

Cruzados:

• Cruzados (1985) - C♯3-G5
• Live at the Roxy (recorded 1986; released 2009) - E3-F♯5
• After Dark (1987) - D3-B4

Tito & Tarantula:

• Tarantism (1997) - C♯3-B4-G5
• Lost Tarantism (recorded 1997; released 2015) - C3-B4-G♯5
• Hungry Sally and Other Killer Lullabies (1999) - B1-F♯2-A4-E5
• Little Bitch (2000) - D2-G2-C5
• Andalucia (2002) - D2-A4
• Back into Darkness (2008) - E♭2-A4
• 8 Arms to Hold You (2019) - F2-A4

Psychotic Aztecs:

• Santa Sangre (1999) - E♭2-D5

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal range video}

Here's a vocal range video that I made for him in 2013. I would consider it a bit dated though - would definitely benefit from a lower starting point for highs/higher starting point for lows and better note selection overall.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Best displays of vocal range}
"Radio Head" (G2-F♯5)
"Forever Forgotten & Unforgiven" (D2-G2-C5)
"Police Milice" (A1-G4)
"My German Fraulein" (G♯2-E5)
"Nadarè" (G2-D5)
"Hungry Sally" (B1-F♯2-F♯4)
"Torn to Pieces" (E2-A4)
"You're the One I Love" acoustic version (D2-G♯4)
"Crucified" (B2-D5)
"Machete" (E♭2-G4)

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

falsetokaiba brought up the possibility of this guy's A1 (linked below) being a B1. Listening back to it now, I'm alternating between hearing it as a B1 and B♭1, but there's another note in the line that starts at 0:54 that I'm still hearing as an A1: