July/August 2004 Issue

The Ride

Los Lobos. Hollywood.

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After three decades of blending rock, blues, and Tex-Mex, this East L.A. quintet throws itself
a party, inviting a slew of A-list guests. R&B legend Bobby Womack provides a gripping
version of his hit “Across 110th Street,” and Mavis Staples wails on the gospel rave-up “Someday.”
The seafaring yarn, “Wreck of the Carlos Rey,” co-stars guitar hero Richard Thompson, while salsa
god Rubén Blades and durable oddball Tom Waits leave their stamp elsewhere on the album.
Despite the variety-show strategy, The Ride always sounds like a Los Lobos record, and a great one
at that.

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At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

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So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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