Or are panchos of Mexican or South American origin? What do I know? I didn’t find any photos of Los Lobos members wearing a pancho. I could imagine one of those blues-rockers Townsman Hrrundivbakshi digs wearing a pancho: Steve Ray Vaughn or Johnny Winter, maybe? I’m drawing blanks on actual proof, though.
With all his pirate get-ups, I’m surprised Keith Richards hasn’t once crossed over and tried rocking The Pancho. I bet he’d look great in one. What about those renegade, late-’60s Beach Boys? I hear Panchos can be flattering on big, white guys with a flubba-dub build.
Have you ever worn a Stills-style Poncho on stage? It’s draining, and although I never had further opportunities to wear the thing, I’ve kept it tucked away in our cedar closet, hopeful for the day when I can once more Rock The Poncho.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVqArOogY-c
Dig Jerry Gacia working the pancho Look while chatting with Hugh Hefner and then sitting down to play a very nice acoustic version of Mountains of the Moon. He’s still wearing it when he stands up to play St. Stephen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49gY_qC_OjY
The Hopi Look is definitely the way to go, if you’re going to get a pancho. When I was in grad school in soggy baton Rouge with only a bicycle to get around, i got an orange plastic rain pancho, which was significantly less cool.
I gotta say, I think this is one of those fashion trends that did not survive the end of the hippie era, and for a reason!
I don’t know where exactly I stand on the poncho, and I bet the Eagles have worn them at some point, but I do really like Stephen Stills’ younger Look – back when he had a neck and hadn’t yet turned into Jim Belushi. Either in his poncho or coat-and-hat gear, he had a sort of ‘70s movie Texas ranger vibe. Maybe Stills was the Scott Glenn of rock.
I think it was important for him to have that role in CSN. His Look seems to have established him as the leader of the band, which helped balance out Crosby’s shaky hippie persona and Nash’s reedy, polite British guy vibe. Somebody had to be their Moe Howard, and Stills was the perfect guy for the job.
How about David Crosby’s cape that he wore the first couple of years of the Byrds?
The cape was pretty cool, but was it technically a pancho? I don’t think so. Very close, I’ll grant you. It had the same “slimming” properties, didn’t it?
I don’t think you can ever go wrong with a cape.
Hey, Mod — you can bust me for my Johnny Winter/Peter Green lovin’ ways, but *don’t* lump me in with the Stevie Ray crowd. He’s proof positive that too much of a good thing is bad for you.
Hrrundi, that’s the best news I’ve heard from you since you launched your studio. No joke! I’m much relieved.
When I was in grad school in soggy baton Rouge with only a bicycle to get around, i got an orange plastic rain pancho, which was significantly less cool.
Less cool, yeah. Significantly so? No way.
I’m glad I’ve never seen Keith Richards in a poncho. Mick has worn enough silly things for the whole band. The poncho just doesn’t do it for me.
the only time I’ve ever thought it would be cool to wear a poncho is watching Clint Eastwood.