“The Mexican” is a song that tries to empathise with the Mexican side at the Battle of Alamo. Alan Shacklock, who wrote it, was railing against Westerns that dehumanised Mexicans in quasi-historical movies.
The song was partly inspired by the film soundtrack by Ennio Morricone for A Few Dollars More, which is also the name of another song on the album.
In particular, some elements are copied from “Per Qualche Dollaro In Più”, which you can hear in the guitar especially.
The album this song is on is First Base, released in 1972. This is a baseball thing, as obviously is the band’s name. Strangely enough, the band were English, although they always had more success stateside.
The breakbeat at 4 minutes 20 seconds was used by DJ Kool Herc, a pioneer of hip hop sampling, and is therefore a foundational part of hip hop culture.
The song is carried along by the furious drumming, with the blistering guitar solos and powerful vocals adding to the energy and creating a supremely funky track.
An amazing song.