Thee Midniters - The Band Members

The Band Members

Thee Midniters were akin to an East LA allstar band. No other group from the area, and not many from elsewhere for that matter, could boast such a collection of talent. At the top was Willie Garcia a.k.a. Little WIllie G., the lead singer. "Willie G. was one of the most soulful Latin persons I ever heard," said the singer Brenton Wood. "He could really deliver a sermon, and he had a lot of feeling in his vocals." Willie took obscure soul ballads such as "The Town I Live In", or "Giving Up On Love" and made them more beautiful by his own special delivery.

After many years away from the band, Garcia returned in the '90s to front one of the most sophisticated bands of any genre from the Los Angeles area. They where one of the most cross racial bands. Then there was lead guitarist George Dominguez, whose forte was blues rock. Dominguez had a devoted following among younger players across East LA. For example, Cesar Rosas, later to gain fame as one of the leaders of Los Lobos, would stare at George on stage to see how Thee Midniters' guitarist played leads and riffs that Cesar could not figure out on his own. On several Midniters' songs, in particular the live version of "Land of a Thousand Dances", Drummer George Salazar is as ferocious as the best rock players of the time. Trombonist Romeo Prado, was known to be the band's music arranger and was a huge influence in the overall sound of Thee Midniters. Also Guitarist Paul C Saenz, was one of the members that played with Thee Midniters, in the late 1960s, after that went on to perform with singer Etta James.

Thee Midniters have continued to play through the decades under the leadership and management of Bassist Jimmy Espinoza and Saxophonist Larry Rendon, the two original players remaining in the line-up from the original 1960s group. Since 2006 they have featured Greg Esparza as the lead vocalist along with longtime Midniter mainstays through the years such as Bob Robles on lead guitar, Aaron Ballesteros playing drums, Bobby Navarrette on sax, Bobby Loya on trumpet and Bob Luna playing keyboard. In 2008 they were part of The Latin Legends concert at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and most recently were honored as a legendary garage rock band co-headlining with The Trashmen from Minneapolis, Minnesota known for their hit song "Surfin' Bird" at the 9th Annual Ponderosa Stomp in 2010 at the House of Blues in New Orleans.

Among the group's other songs to either achieve national or regional success are "Whittier Boulevard," "Love Special Delivery" and "That's All."