Editing Los Lobos (section)

===1973–79: Formation and early releases===
Vocalist and guitarist [[David Hidalgo]] and drummer [[Louie Pérez]] met at [[Garfield High School (Los Angeles County, California)|Garfield High School]] in [[East Los Angeles, California]], and bonded over their mutual affinity for musical acts such as [[Fairport Convention]], [[Randy Newman]] and [[Ry Cooder]].<ref name="Interviewlouis">{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-15/entertainment/chi-los-lobos-interview-louis-perez-on-songwriting-20111115_1_perez-and-hidalgo-cesar-rosas-los-lobos|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116211028/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-15/entertainment/chi-los-lobos-interview-louis-perez-on-songwriting-20111115_1_perez-and-hidalgo-cesar-rosas-los-lobos|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 16, 2011|title=Los Lobos interview; Louis Perez on songwriting|last=Kot|first=Greg|work=The Chicago Tribune|date=November 15, 2011|access-date=April 1, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Oldhaunts">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-11-ti-2696-story.html|title=Los Lobos Returns to Old Haunts on New LP|last=Hilburn|first=Robert|date=October 11, 1990|access-date=April 1, 2012|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> Pérez recalls, "We're looking at each other, 'You like this stuff? I thought I was the only weird one.' So I went over to his house one day for about a year, which we spent listening to records, playing guitars, and starting to write songs."<ref name="Interviewlouis"/> The two borrowed [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel recorders]] from a friend and created multitrack recordings of music spanning from [[Parody music|parody songs]] to [[Free jazz|free-form jazz]].<ref name="Interviewlouis"/> They later enlisted fellow students [[Frank González]], [[Cesar Rosas]] and [[Conrad Lozano]] to complete the group's lineup, in 1973.<ref name="Oldhaunts"/> Their first album, ''[[Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles]]'', was recorded at two studios in Hollywood in 1977 over a period of about four months. At that time, they all had regular jobs, and it was hard to get together for the sessions. To accommodate that situation, their producer Luis Torres would call the engineer, Mark Fleisher, who owned and operated a high-speed tape duplicating studio in Hollywood, to find a studio when he knew all the band members could get off work that night. Most of the songs were recorded at a studio on Melrose Avenue, located next to the Paramount studios at the time, and a low-priced studio on Sunset Boulevard.

The band members were unsatisfied with playing only American Top 40 songs and began experimenting with the traditional Mexican music they listened to as children.<ref name="Oldhaunts"/> This style of music received a positive reaction from audiences, leading the band to switch genres, performing at hundreds of weddings and dances between 1974 and 1980.<ref name="Oldhaunts"/> "If you were married between 1973 and 1980 in East L.A., we probably played your wedding," said Louie Perez. "They would pay us like $400 for the four of us, a case of beer, and all the mole we could eat..." said David Hidalgo.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022|reason=Direct quote requires a citation}} However, Los Lobos took notice of the popular groups on the Hollywood music scene and added influences of rock to its sound.<ref name="Oldhaunts"/>

Originally, they called themselves Los Lobos del Este (de Los Angeles), which translates to The Wolves of the East (of Los Angeles), a play on the name of the [[norteño music|norteño]] band [[Los Tigres del Norte]]. There was another conjunto band at the time named "Los Lobos Del Norte", which had released several albums already. The name was quickly shortened to Los Lobos.<ref>El Cancionero: Mas y Mas liner notes of CD box set.</ref>