Los Lobos’ Conrad Lozano, the smiling assassin on bass
There’s something about Conrad Lozano. The next time you go to a Los Lobos show, stop leering at Cesar Rosas, the band’s totemic MC and guitar god at the far left, and check out the fellow next to him. That would be Conrad, the avuncular bass player who thinks everything is hilarious.
Not a song goes by where Conrad doesn’t grin broadly and laugh in the direction of no one in particular. His band mates are possibly wondering, “What’s up with this guy?” Or, more likely after a hundred years together, they know exactly what’s up: Can you believe our little band is still doing this night after night? Damn right we’re celebrating. Beyond that, Conrad’s just a stone bass player with dynamic digits and a gloriously fat, fluid tone. Did I mention his beautiful voice? Pavarotti’s got nothing on Conrad. Hearing him on “Guantanamera” is a rare treat. I just wish he’d play more guitarrón and do some work with the Stones. (By the way, that’s me in the top photo behind Conrad, white shirt.)
The Interwebs aren’t overflowing with tidbits on Conrad’s early life, so I’ll fill in a few gaps based on my own research with a little help from the sources listed below. He’s a third-generation American who was born in East L.A. (ca. the Belvedere neighborhood) on March 3, 1951. Both his mother and her parents hailed from El Paso, TX. His father and paternal grandmother were from Los Alamitos, CA., and grandfather from Chihuahua, Mexico. His maternal granny, by the way, was a Valenzuela, and I wondered for a second if there might be a connection to Ritchie Valens — but that would be too good to be true. His given names “Conrad” and “Russell” appear to be unusual Latino choices, but this was an English-speaking household (as was the case for four-fifths of the Lobos).
Conrad has recalled that his parents weren’t particularly musical, leaving it to older peers to turn him on to the likes of the Beatles, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. By the time he formed Los Lobos with his Garfield High schoolmates in 1973, Conrad was already a ubiquitous presence on the local scene, having played in such bands as the Royal Checkmates (soul/R&B), Euphoria (hard rock), and Tierra, one of the leading East L.A. bands in the mid-1970s. Tierra’s second album, Stranded, is a remarkably ambitious undertaking in the mold of their contemporaries Steely Dan. (Additional sources: Los Lobos: Dream in Blue, by Chris Morris, the best — and only? — book about the band; Barrio Rhythm: Mexican American Music in Los Angeles, by Steven Loza; and Rock the Nation: Latin/o Identities and the Latin Rock Diaspora, by Roberto Avant-Mier.)
Fun fact: Conrad is the first person quoted in the first Los Angeles Times feature on Los Lobos, “Lobos Take Tex-Mex to the Max,” by Don Snowden, dated Dec. 18, 1982. Conrad brilliantly describes their fresh neo-traditional sound thusly:
“It’s brand new to this part of the country in a sense, but it’s not a brand new thing. It’s really old stuff that came out of southern Texas and northern Mexico, and people like Doug Sahm and Ry Cooder have used the elements in their music. What we’re doing is energizing it, and the feel we get creates what seems like a new thing.”
Fast-forward to the present, and here’s a few video clips that show Conrad’s dexterous ingenuity up close. Hopefully they might inspire budding bassists and musicians in general. Most of them are taken from the second night of their stand at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, CA., on Dec. 23, 2023, where I was standing in front of Conrad and getting blasted by his unfiltered bass.
“Mexico Americano” — Whisky A Go Go, Los Angeles, Nov. 22, 2023
* * *
“Bertha” — Solana Beach #1, Dec. 22, 2023. I have the full “Bertha” from the following night, but the Skynyrd-esque three-guitar attack is a little too much (looking at you, Louie). I feel this snippet is better.
* * *
“Volver Volver” — Solana Beach #2, Dec. 23, 2023
* * *
“Volver Volver” — Ventura Music Hall, March 3, 2024. Cesar was ill, evidently, but we got Tex-Mex hero Max Baca instead.
* * *
She’s About a Mover” — Ventura Music Hall, March 3, 2024. Doug Sahm alert. A bit more of Max and Conrad.
* * *
“La Bamba” — Los Angeles State Historic Park, Nov. 13, 2022. More of a Cesar showcase, but Conrad’s holding it all together.
* * *
“Let’s Say Goodnight” — Solana Beach #2
* * *
“La Bamba” vs. “Like a Rolling Stone” — Solana Beach #2
* * *
“Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio” — Solana Beach #2
* * *
“Love Special Delivery” — Solana Beach #2
* * *
“Wicked Rain” — Solana Beach #2
* * *
And that’s a wrap from Conrad — World Records, Bakersfield, April 17, 2025
NOTE: If you liked this fascinating analytical piece, try my gossipy rock bio Strange Days: The Adventures of a Grumpy Rock ‘n’ Roll Journalist in Los Angeles, available here
Copyright © 2025 by Dean Goodman. PLEASE DO NOT CUT AND PASTE THE WHOLE THING