Global Hit: Ersi Arvizu

If you grew up in Los Angeles in the 60s and 70s, chances are you know the band El Chicano.

El Chicano covered the popular love song “Sabor a Mi” and turned it into a hit.

Ersi Arvizu, the singer for el Chicano, put soul into the Mexican ballad.

She was in her teens at the time.

That song was her moment in the sun.

And then Arvizu kind of slipped out of the spotlight.

Until 2005 anyway, when she met Ry Cooder.

She sang three tracks on his 2005 record “Chavez Ravine.”

And Cooder encouraged Arvizu to start writing her own songs.

“Friend for Life” is the result of Arvizu’s songwriting.

Ry Cooder produced the CD for her, and it’s just been released.

Listen carefully to the song Arvizu wrote called “Windows of Dreams.”

This is a song about boxing.

Ersi Arvizu knows a lot about the sport.

Her dad was a trainer.

And when her singing days with El Chicano ended, Ersi even helped her dad train an 8 year-old Oscar de la Hoya.

So how did she learn so much about jabs and upper cuts?

Well, Ersi boxed as well.

Singing, and songwriting, however are another story.

They’ve given Ersi Arvizu a chance to process and revisit formative moments in her life.