Nuggets II: Break It All by Los Shakers

The success of Rhino’s 1998 Nuggets boxset justified a follow-up. The sequel covers the rest of the world since the first volume only chronicled the USA.

Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 emerged in 2001. It features music from countries such as Iceland, Uruguay, and Japan. I’m profiling and rating each of the 109 tracks, working backwards.

Track 89 – Break it All by Los Shakers

From: Uruguay

9

Credits

4/8. BREAK IT ALL (U.S. Single Version) – Los Shakers (Uruguay)
(Hugo Fattoruso/Osvaldo Fattoruso)

PERSONNEL/HUGO FATTORUSO: vocals, guitar * OSVALDO FATTORUSO: vocals, guitar * ROBERTO “PELIN” CAPOBIANCO: bass, vocals * CARLOS “CAIO” VILA: drums, vocals
Produced by YANOS KOLMOS for FERMATA PRODUCTIONS
Recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Audio Fidelity single #119 (1966) [U.S.]

Los Shakers

The Beatles inspired many bands to pick up guitars. Uruguay’s Los Shakers did a better job than most – I’ll let Mike Stax explain:

With The Beatles’ unexpected rise to global domination in 1964, the public’s appetite for Beatles-style music was at a fever pitch, and musicians were quick to step in to fill the demand. Such was the case in South America with Los Shakers. Formed in 1963 in Montevideo, the group originally specialized in jazz, with a residency at the Hot Club, a popular tourist spot in the city. Hearing the call, in 1964 they donned collarless Beatle suits, grew mop-top haircuts, and–looking not unlike four Ringo Starrs–began to peddle the new Mersey Sound–Montevideo-style.

This was a potentially embarrassing recipe, to be sure–other bands around the world certainly made fools of themselves trying–but The Shakers proved to be an entirely more convincing proposition. Not only did they have the musical smarts to pull off the sound, but in the Fattoruso brothers they also possessed a strong songwriting team who could dash off Beatle-flavored original material with disarming ease.

Mike Stax, Nuggets II liner notes

Break It All

Break It All was Los Shakers’ only US album. It’s essentially a rerecorded version of their debut album, along with a Spanish-language version of The Beatles’ ‘Ticket to Ride’. Osvaldo Fattoruso sang lead on most of the reworkings, as his brother Hugo was suffering from a hoarse voice.

Hugo, Osvaldo, Pelin and Caio are the Realest Fake Beatles to ever record — and, like their role models (but unlike practically every other Moptops manqué), they were as uncannily accomplished at bringing forth the psychedelic Pepperisms as the Merseybeat.

Gaylord Fields

Los Shakers never toured the US, and Break It All wasn’t initially successful, although it later became a collector’s item.

But it’s a very strong Beatles pastiche, energetic and tuneful. The pinched, accented vocals are charming.

The Aftermath

Hugo Fattoruso has enjoyed a lengthy career, working with other Latin music legends like Chico Buarque and Milton Nascimento.

Read More

4 Comments

    • Yeah, I was really impressed by this one – good Beatles-inspired song, while bringing their own identity too.

Leave a Reply

Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:

More review pages

The Blue Nile Album Reviews

The three members of The Blue Nile all attended Glasgow...

HAIM Album Reviews

A trio of sisters from California, HAIM take their name...

The Jimi Hendrix Experience Album Reviews

Given his blatant talents, it’s amazing how long it took...

Soccer Mommy Album Reviews

Sophie Allison was born in Switzerland and grew up in...

2020s Album Reviews

Less than two years into the new decade, it’s already...

Kacey Musgraves Album Reviews

Born in Texas, a year before fellow country star Taylor...

I add new blog posts to this website every week. Browse the archives or enjoy these random selections:

More blog posts

Great B-Sides: Rain by The Beatles

For this b-side series, I’m only counting material that wasn’t...
The Beatles Past Masters Volume Two

Murder By Numbers by The Police: Great B-Sides

The Police were arguably the greatest singles band of their...

10 Best Talking Heads Songs

Talking Heads emerged from the mid-1970s CBGB scene, along with...

Randy Meisner’s Eagles Songs: Ranked from Worst to Best

Original Eagles bassist and vocalist Randy Meisner passed away last...

The 1975: Albums Ranked from Worst to Best

The members of The 1975 met at Wilmslow High School...
Van Morrison Veedon Fleece

Subscribe

Subscribe to receive new posts from Aphoristic Album Reviews.