The Beat Generation
The Beat Generation
In the late 1960s community spaces in San...more »
Credit: Courtesy Estate of Jerry Stoll
Santana at the Filmore Poster
Santana at the Filmore Poster
...more »
Credit: Unknown
Santana’s Mariachi
Santana’s Mariachi
José Santana (center, third from left)...more »
Credit: Courtesy of the Santana Family
Malo Album Cover
Malo Album Cover
Malo’s Latin rock anthem, Suavecito,...more »
Credit: Unknown
Shelia E. Album
Shelia E. Album
The cover of Sheila E's album. Her song The...more »
Credit: Unknown
Bill Graham at Woodstock
Bill Graham at Woodstock
Wolfgang Grajonca escaped Nazi persecution to...more »
Credit: Baron Wolman
Bill Graham
Bill Graham
Manager of Santana and credited for booking...more »
Credit: Michael Zagaris
Joan Baez
Joan Baez
When her family moved to northern California,...more »
Credit: Courtesy of the Library of Congress
1942: The Bracero Program
1942: The Bracero Program
During World War II, the U.S. suffered a labor...more »
Credit: Courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
1942-1944: Sleepy Lagoon Trial
1942-1944: Sleepy Lagoon Trial
The Sleepy Lagoon Trial was a Los Angeles...more »
Credit: Courtesy of Library of Congress
1962-1965: United Farm Workers
1962-1965: United Farm Workers
César Chávez and Dolores Huerta...more »
Credit: Courtesy of Library of Congress
Shelia E.
Shelia E.
Pop star and granddaughter of a musical Mexican...more »
Credit: Rob Shanahan
The Beat Generation
The Beat Generation
In the late 1960s community spaces in San...more »
Credit: Courtesy Estate of Jerry Stoll
Santana
Santana
The band Santana became famous in the late...more »
Credit: Chad Patka
1969: Woodstock Music & Art Fair held in Bethel, NY
1969: Woodstock Music & Art Fair held in Bethel, NY
Santana’s electrifying performance at the 1969...more »
Credit: Unknown
Los Tigres del Norte
Los Tigres del Norte
A family band who immigrated to San Jose in...more »
Credit: Courtesy of Carol Peterson
Michael Carabello
Michael Carabello
As a teenager, Mike Carabello played baseball...more »
Credit: Unknown
Escovedos
Escovedos
Brothers Pete and Coke Escovedo founded Azteca,...more »
Credit: Unknown
Los Tigres del Norte Coverpage
Los Tigres del Norte Coverpage
Los Tigres del Norte on the 2010 coverpage of...more »
Credit: Unknown
Los Tigres del Norte Concert Tickets
Los Tigres del Norte Concert Tickets
...more »
Credit: Unknown
Santana Young Bloods Poster
Santana Young Bloods Poster
...more »
Credit: Unknown
Butterfield Blues Band
Butterfield Blues Band
The Charles Lloyd Quartet. Brought to the...more »
Credit: www.wolfgangsvault.com
Cal Tjader
Cal Tjader
Cal Tjader Quintet, Featuring Armando Peraza,...more »
Credit: Courtesy of EMP
Tower of Power Poster
Tower of Power Poster
...more »
Credit: Unknown
Mongo Santamaría's Poster at the Fillmore
Mongo Santamaría's Poster at the Fillmore
...more »
Credit: Unknown
New Year's Eve at Fillmore West
New Year's Eve at Fillmore West
...more »
Credit: Unknown
Pérez Prado Poster
Pérez Prado Poster
International stars like Cuban bandleader P...more »
Credit: Courtesy of Horwinksi Printing Co., Oakland, CA
From England The Who
From England The Who
Brought to the Fillmore by Bill Graham...more »
Credit: www.wolfgangsvault.com
Sam the Sham Fillmore Poster
Sam the Sham Fillmore Poster
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs Little Red Riding...more »
Credit: Courtesy of EMP
Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tenor saxophonist Emilio Castillo put together...more »
Credit: Courtesy the Estate of Bruce Steinberg
Carter de Mongo Santamaría
Carter de Mongo Santamaría
...more »
Credit: Unknown

La Historia de San Francisco

“Latin rock” grew out of a diverse and innovative music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area, shaped by the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s.

Following World War II, San Francisco’s Mission District was home to Latinos from many countries. Latin music clubs in the Mission, North Beach and Broadway hosted both Mexican and Caribbean acts with Cal Tjader’s Latin jazz quintet gaining national attention in the 1950s.

In the mid-1960s, the United Farm Workers’ strike, led by César Chavez and Dolores Huerta, coincided with the founding of the Black Panthers in Oakland, the free speech movement in Berkeley and with a growing anger over the disproportionate sacrifices of Black, Chicano and Puerto Rican soldiers in the Vietnam War. This multi-racial political activism in the Bay Area had a musical counterpart in innovative and racially integrated bands like Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, Tower of Power, Malo and Azteca.