the Paladins | The Che Underground

Tuning in to the Trebels

February 8, 2021February 7, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

Trebels bassist Oscar Barajas provides a backgrounder, sounds and images for a band that took California by storm in the mid-’80s.

The first bass I bought was at Freedom Guitar in downtown San Diego, a Fender Precision copy. I couldn’t play a lick. Yet with time and a bit of practice, I became somewhat competent. What helped was some guitar chords and ditties I learned from my older brother Fernando.

Guitarist Xavier Anaya also picked up on the guitar and learned from his Tio Chato, an original Treble. The original Trebles were a popular outfit in Tijuana back in the ’60s and ’70s.

John Chilson was an instant pro at the drums the minute he picked up those sticks, a natural. Jay Wiseman fell in perfectly as singer and frontman.

The Trebels were born, a future of cops breaking up house parties because of our Maximum RnB; a wedding reception where we were bullied by the bride’s father (understandably so, looking back on it); a triumphant show at the White House in Imperial Beach; and thanks to our great friend Dan Holsenback, our most highly compensated gig — the graduation party for UC Davis Law School.

Fundraisers for Thomas Yearsley

February 2, 2011August 19, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Thomas Yearsley, founding bass player for the Paladins, suffered misfortune Monday night and faces the medical-insurance woes of far too many working musicians. Click here to go to a site set up to help him get on his feet financially — and catch some music at a number of benefit shows.

“Thomas Yearsley, longtime bass player of The Paladins, was hit by a train on the evening of August 16 while trying to save his dog from the same,” reports the Help Thomas Yearsley site. “He was Life-Flighted away to Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., although he should be discharged by now. He suffered a broken leg and other injuries; unfortunately his dog Swango didn’t survive.

Flyers from the Mendoza Collection

January 1, 2011July 9, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles contributes a selection of flyers from his capacious archives.)

1. One of my infamous paste-&-cut flyers, this one for Julie at 2581, when I helped promote a batch of shows in 1983 1988 — you can probably tell the numbers are from an old calendar.

I collected photos, and friends gave me old magazines to cannibalize into quick flyers, though this one is from my collection of vintage TV-show stills. That’s a pretty diverse calendar, from the Event to Claude Coma, with stops at the Nephews; Outriders (with Rick Wilkins); and Berkeley combo the Birminghams; as well as lots of others.