"[2] Baker went on to describe how, after graduating from Marshall High, Ayala "played in some undistinguished bands and spent most of his 20s living at home, writing songs and practicing.
"[2] The narrative continued, "In 1980, at age 30, he got a job as a doorman at the downtown Hong Kong Café, working with his guitar strapped around his neck."
In a chapter that he contributed to the L.A. punk history More Fun in the New World, Morris described the pair as "imposing, loud, heavy-drinking, and talented.
"[3] During their heyday in the early 1980s, Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs attracted many famous guest stars to their gigs.
[3] No Depression magazine described how "as a street musician, Guitarlos used to display a sign that read 'Will Play for Fame or Fortune.
'"[5] Yet his talent was still visible: Bob Baker noted that the San Francisco Bay Guardian named Ayala "Best Street Musician" in a 1994 survey.
It described how Ayala, then living in a $35-a-day residence hotel room, was playing at a BART plaza in the Mission District with "unmistakably sophisticated" technique and "an old gravelly blues voice, perfectly cracked."
It was recorded with friends and fellow members of the L.A. punk scene: John Doe, Mike Watt, and Dave Alvin.
[9] The feature's author, Nathan Solis, spoke with Ayala's former bandmate with The Rhythm Pigs, Richard Aeilts (a.k.a.
Aeilts noted that Ayala had mellowed to a degree and offered a succinct description: "a sensitive soul buried within a hardscrabble Highland Park Chicano who doesn't speak Spanish.