"A boxed set of 4 CDs for [so cheap]? We bought it figuring "It's bound to be terrible, but [it's inexpensive]" What we got was a rare gem. This wonderful collection includes recordings from as early as 1904 to as late as the '70's, but mostly from the '20's. A beautifully produced 178 page booklet includes historic photos, a capsule history of the Mexican revolution -- the earliest of the great social revolutions that characterized the last century -- as well as a history of the music and all the lyrics, in English & Spanish. If you are a serious fan of Mexican music, don't pass this one up. If you just kinda like Los Lobos or Linda Ronstadt's Mexican songs, get this set and discover where it all came from."
THE WAY MY PEOPLE WERE AWARE OF EVENTS
Rocky Ricewing | 03/31/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been looking for a cd of this category. I love to read about the Mexican Revolution. My grandfather and other relatives have filled our nights around the patio with stories and ballads such as the ones on this cd. Singing was not only a form of storytelling but a way of people finding out of what was going on in other parts of the Mexican territory in the times of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata."
!Excelente Joya!
Nacho Wong | Mexico | 12/18/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Soy un admirador de Pancho Villa y he tratado de leer todo lo referente a ese gran Revolucionario Mexicano. The Mexican Revolution, título de este magnífico álbum es realmente una joya en cuanto a la colección de canciones y corridos de la época de la revolución. Uno escucha de pronto a unos músicos auténticos de esa era, con el sabor incomparable de la gente de campo, de la gente que gusta de llevar por los pueblos los mensajes y hechos de los acontecimientos que extremecieron a todos los Mexicanos. Entre ellos los corridos de Pancho Villa, Felipe Angeles, Francisco I. Madero, Heracleo Bernal, etc. Realmente le damos 5 Estrellas y lo recomendamos ampliamente. Disfrutenlo escuchandolo y tomando una buena taza de café negro como se decía antes... pues."
Priceless history, and great music too!
Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 01/04/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the kind of collection that, really, only the folks at Arhoolie Records could put out. Drawing on label head Chris Strachwitz's vast library of Mexican music, this includes recordings that date back as far as 1904, and also collects post-revolution recordings over the decades. The style is the corrido, a form of folkloric/political ballad that can be propagandistic as well as historical. An entire CD's worth of songs are dedicated to the legend of the revolutionary leader, Francisco (Pancho) Villa, and others cover less prominent leaders and mythic figures. You might expect some of this stuff to be pretty dry, musically speaking, but actually it's quite nice -- Mexican and Mexican-American folk music at it's best. A 4-CD set may be more than the average listener can sit through, but then again... Arhoolie itself isn't necessarily for the average listener! Cool stuff."
The greatest ever
paul herrera | Puyallup, Wa. United States | 10/28/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"My granmother lived with luz Villa in Mexico during those days. As a child she would tell stories of those times and those men. Her father was also a General in the Divsion De Norte from the beginning to the end. She passed away in 1998 but the stories will live on. This box set is the stories all in one.When it was still fresh in there memories. If you have this you will not haver to buy any thing else."