Mesilla Valley Music

Lo Boys: 1974 - '79 

The Lo Boys [originally the Mesilla Valley Low Boys] were basically a blues band and I enjoyed playing with them very much. 

Randy Russ was on guitar [originally] but was replaced by Jeff Littlejohn.

At the Bulldog Bar El Paso, Oct 1975

 

Jeff Littlejohn was a kind of Hendrix-type player and quite good. We only lacked a good bass player so Tom Leavey, the bass player from Geronimo Black, came to El Paso in 1976 to play with us. He arrived about an hour before we were due on stage so, with no rehearsal, Tom became the new bass player at a place called The Buckaroo in Ruidoso, New Mexico. We played with that line up for about a year and a half and released one single: ‘Play Your Music’ (written by Tom Leavey) c/w ‘Funny Music’ (written by Jeff Littlejohn). Eventually that band broke up.

 

Lo Boys

1976 Lo Boys

 

The Musicians: (included:) JCB on drums and vocals, Jeff Littlejohn on lead guitar, Bob “Hopper” Shannon on primary drums, Mike Collins on rhythm guitar, Chava Villegas on congas, Tom Leavey on bass, William Randolph Russ III on guitar.

Lo Boys at The Plaza El Paso 1976
  
[Reformed as] Big Sonny and The Lo Boys, the band was together for about three years. Big Sonny & The Lo Boys

We cut one album and one single in that time:

'In Heat' [LP] was released in 1979, along with a single, Love Me Two Times b/w Love Potion #9, featuring JCB (drums, vocals, tambourine), Sonny Farlow (lead & rhythm guitars, vocals), Richard J. Farlow (bass, vocals), "Chava" Salvador D. Villegas (congas, humor), William Randolph Russ III (lead, rhythm, electric guitar, vocals), J. Darrell Black (drums, percussion)

In Heat 1976

The Lo Boys were going strong but Big Sonny became fascinated with the Banditos who were like the Hell’s Angels, only worse. Sonny wanted to hang with them and be the Banditos’ band. As soon as club owners found out that we were playing a lot of gigs for the Banditos, none of them would hire us in their clubs anymore. So it was getting harder and harder to get gigs. Big Sonny lasted for about three years.

I finished up with them on New Year’s Eve 1979.

Big Sonny & The Lo Boys
Text adapted from Jimmy's Memoirs - 'For Mother's Sake'