Music like Almendra

Almendra was one of the most important rock groups from Buenos Aires, Argentina in the late 1960s.

Led by guitarist and lyricist Luis Alberto Spinetta, Almendra released between 1968 and 1971 a few singles and two albums – Almendra and Almendra II – that revolutionized the sound of Argentine rock for the remainder of the 20th century and almost single-handedly changed the way local rock music was perceived by critics and audiences. Widely compared to The Beatles by their local contemporaries, Almendra did not survive the 1960s and the making of a planned rock opera, though all individual members went on to form the backbone of Argentine rock in the 1970s.

Almendra was formed in 1968 after the breakup of three teenage school groups, Los Sbirros, Los Mods and Los Larkins. The initial rehearsals were held at Spinetta's house in Belgrano, an upper-middle-class neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. By mid-1968, they met producer Ricardo Kleiman, who signed them for a single. Kleiman was the owner of the clothing shop Modart and ran a radio show, Modart en la Noche ("Modart at Night"), that aired the latest international releases of beat and rock music.