Book Review: "Mexican and Chicano Music"
by Mark Guerrero
On a visit
to a bookstore called Latino Books y Más in Palm Springs, California in January
2006, I came
across a book called "Mexican and Chicano Music" by José "Pepe" Villarino.
It's published by McGraw Hill/ Primus Custom Publishing and was originally
published in 1996, with a second edition in 1999. After browsing around
the web for information about the author, I found he has a PhD in ethnomusicology
and has some serious academic credentials. He also teaches at San Diego
State University. Dr. Villarino writes most of the essays in
the book, but there are a few written by others. The book has a lot of
good and useful information about the history and evolution of Mexican and
Chicano music, beginning with a chapter on Pre-Cortesian music and its
instruments. Pre-Cortesian refers to the time before the invasion of
Mexico by Hernán Cortez. There are also illustrations of what the
instruments looked like. The second section is on the romance corrido.
It describes the subject matter covered by such corridos and the structure and
form, with many examples with translations. The third section covers the
subject of Mexican music. This section has chapters on the evolution of
the mariachi, el son Jarocho, nineteenth and twentieth century opera, la
rondalla, drug smuggling ballads, and much more. The fourth and final
section covers Chicano music. The two chapters in the book that are most
germane to my website are chapters 13 and 14. Chapter 13 is about my dad,
Lalo Guerrero. The title is: "Lalo Guerrero: The Father of
Chicano Music" and its written by Robert Rivera Ojeda. Chapter 14 is
entitled "Chicano Rock and Roll" and its author is Al Carlos Hernandez.
First I would like to say I'm pleased and grateful my dad was deservedly
included in this book, however there were many inaccuracies I would like to
correct here. I think it's important because books such as this are used
as a text book or a research tool and therefore taken as history. Chapter
14 also had a few inaccuracies I would like to address for the record. I
would like to say here that inaccuracies or incorrect facts can occur in many
ways. Sometimes the source material that is used is not correct.
Sometimes there are typographical errors or mistakes made later by editors.
In the case of my dad's chapter, it says the writer interviewed my dad for it.
In his eighties, my dad was getting very forgetful and sometimes gave incorrect
information himself. Therefore, I'm not criticizing these writers, but
trying to set the historical record straight. My corrections and
clarifications can be read below this article. Overall, "Mexican and
Chicano Music" is a valuable resource full of information that I found useful
and interesting. Chapter 15 includes lyrics of many children's songs in
English and Spanish. The book is available on the web at
amazon.com,
campusi.com, and other sites.
For the Record
The
following entries are corrections and clarifications of information given in the
chapter entitled "Lalo Guerrero: The Father of Chicano Music" by Robert Rivera
Ojeda. Below those entries are a few items on the chapter entitled
"Chicano Rock & Roll" by Al Carlos Hernandez.
Page 97- My dad is first
mentioned on this page in chapter 10, also written by Robert Rivera Ojeda.
In paragraph three, my dad's 1940s band is referred to as Lalo Guerrero y Los
Siete Lobos. The correct name of the band was Lalo Guerrero y Sus Cinco
Lobos.
Page 105- On this page in
chapter 11, written by Jose "Pepe" Villarino, by dad's song "Pancho Claus" is
referred to as "The Night Before Christmas." "Pancho Claus" was a parody
of the poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." The music was written by
my dad.
Page 149- This is the first
page of the chapter on my dad, Lalo Guerrero by Robert Rivera Ojeda. In
the first paragraph there is a list of record companies for which my dad
recorded. Last on the list is Barrio Libre. Barrio Libre was not and
is not a record company, but my dad's song publishing company.
In the
second paragraph it says that my dad's song "Canción Mexicana" was recorded in
1941 by Lucha Reyes and Lola Beltrán. It makes it sound as if both singers
recorded the song in 1941. Lucha Reyes did in fact record the song in
1941, but Lola Beltran recorded some 20 years later. In the same paragraph
there is a list of "parodies" written by my dad. Many of the songs listed
here are not parodies, but comic songs. Parodies are when an existing
song's melody is used with a new comic or satiric lyric. Many of the songs
listed here are indeed parodies, but the following are not. "La Minifalda
de Reynalda" is a comic song with original words and music about a girl named
Reynalda who had a mini skirt. The song has norteño and rock sections and
is very funny. "No Way Jose" is a comic song with a message about
immigration and the pitfalls an undocumented worker my encounter north of the
border. The words and music are both original so it is also not a parody.
"No Chicanos On TV" is another comic song with a message about discrimination of
Chicanos in the television industry. It also has original words and music
and is not a parody. "There's No Tortillas" is a parody, but it is
incorrectly called "No Tortillas." "La Tamalada" is also not a parody, but
a Spanish version of "Saturday Night Fish Fry" by Louis Jordan. My dad
wrote the Spanish lyric. "El Bolerito de la Main" is also not a parody, but a
Spanish language version of "Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy." My dad wrote that
lyric as well. "Elvis Perez" is part parody in that the song contains
within it parodies of "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel," and "Heartbreak Hotel."
However, the melody of the song itself is original. "Pancho Claus" is part
parody because it is based on the poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas,
however, the music is all original.
In the
third paragraph, regarding my dad's song "Pancho Lopez" is says "he admits that
his intentionof this recording was to poke fun at the role models of the
main stream." The word should be stereotypes, not the phrase
role models. The song sings about Mexican stereotypes such as the lazy
Mexican, etc.
Page 150- In the first
paragraph, regarding Walt Disney and "Pancho Lopez" it says "representatives of
Walt Disney contacted him and claimed that the Pancho Lopez melody was stolen
from Disney. They settled out of court and to give an idea of the
settlement, it must be noted that after this, Lalo went into business and opened
Lalo's Place in Los Angeles." First of all, it was obvious that the melody
to "Pancho Lopez" was the melody of "Davy Crockett," which was extremely popular
at the time. So it wasn't suggested that my dad was trying to steal the
melody. It's just that since my dad and his producer, Manuel Acuña,
thought that the record would sell only a couple of thousand copies, they didn't
bother to contact Disney and get the licensing, etc. When "Pancho Lopez"
became a huge mainstream hit, Walt Disney's representatives contacted my dad and
his producer and asked them to come to the newly opened Disneyland for a
meeting. When they arrived, they were ushered into a room with Walt Disney
himself, who was very nice to them. Mr. Disney told my dad that he had
written a very clever parody, but that they owned the music to the song.
He handed them contracts with the proper licensing and giving Disney his
rightful percentage of the song. My dad and Mr. Acuña with a sigh of
relief signed the contracts and that was the end of it. There was no
settlement of any kind. However, the money my dad made from the record
royalties did buy him his night club, which was called "Lalo's," not "Lalo's
Place" as the book called it. The incorrect name of the night club may
have been taken from Steve Loza's book "Barrio Rhythms," which is listed as a
source. "Barrio Rhythms" also referred to the night club as "Lalo's
Place." It's a minor point, but it is incorrect. I think "Lalo's
Place" makes it sound like a corner dive, rather that the big and very nice
nightclub where men showed up in suits and ties and the women dressed elegantly.
The heading
of paragraph two says my dad's parents were "bi-cultural." This is not
true. They were born and raised in Mexico. When they came to the
United States they lived in Tucson's Barrio Libre, a place where English was not
a necessity. They lived out their entire lives, which extended to their
late eighties, in Tucson and never learned or spoke English, nor did they really
assimilate to any noticeable degree. In the second paragraph, it says that
my dad's father was a boilermaker in the Mexican Navy and later worked in Tucson
for Southern Pacific Railroad. This is true, but I would like to clarify
and add that he was also a boilermaker for the railroad. He used his same
trade, which is how he got the job with the railroad. He was an excellent
boilermaker, which is something that is a skill needed by the railroad industry.
In paragraph four, it refers to my dad's song about his barrio as "Viejo
Barrio." The correct title is "Barrio Viejo." In paragraph five, it
says that my dad graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles. My
dad did not graduate from high school. He dropped out in the eleventh
grade to earn more money because of the effects of the Great Depression.
It also states that my dad wrote and recorded "Canción Mexicana" in 1938.
He wrote it in 1937 and never officially recorded the song himself. It was
first recorded by Lucha Reyes, who was introduced to the song by a friend of my
dad's. The book also states in the same paragraph that he married my mom
in 1939 and "during his first years of marriage he tried Mexico City again."
Yes, they were married in 1939, but didn't try moving to Mexico City again until
1958, 19 years later.
Page 151- In paragraph three,
it says that my dad was signed by an Imperial Records talent scout as a soloist.
In fact, he was first signed as a member of his trio, which was to be renamed
the Trio Imperial after they were signed. He recorded some 75 songs with
the trio before he became a soloist for Imperial Records.
In
paragraph four, my dad's night club is once again referred to as "Lalo's Place,"
instead of the correct "Lalo's." In the same paragraph it states that my
dad married his second wife Lidia and had two children, Joe and Patricia.
Joe and Patricia were children that Lidia had from a previous marriage. My
dad adopted them and raised them to adulthood. The book also mentions in
this paragraph that my dad had planned to open a night club in Tucson, but on
the way there stopped to visit a booking agent friend in Rancho Mirage, who was
looking for a singer for a new restaurant. What actually happened was my
dad had already put $10,000 dollars down on a night club in Tucson.
However, when he tried to buy a liquor license, he found out the owners of the
building he was in were Mormons and wouldn't allow alcohol in their building.
The deal fell through and he was heading back to Los Angeles when he stopped in
the Palm Springs area and called his friend, who happened to be an agent.
She had been looking for him because a new beautiful Mexican restaurant called
Las Casuelas Nuevas in Rancho MIrage was looking for a singer/guitarist.
She knew he would be great for the job. He wound up working there as a
home gig for 24 years.
In
paragraph five, it says that my dad's squirrel characters, Las Ardillitas, were
recorded 1962-69. He actually recorded Las Ardillitas from 1962 into the
early 1990s. The book says he recorded 40 LPs. It was more like 25
LPs. It also says that they were known as Lalo Guerrero y Las Ardillitas.
They were actually called either Lalo Guerrero y Sus Ardillitas or Las
Ardillitas de Lalo Guerrero. Another clarification is that my dad first
recorded Las Ardillitas on Manuel Acuña's small label called Colonial.
They were released on that label from around 1962 through 1968. Sometime
in the late 60s, Manuel made a deal with EMI- Mexico to release Lalo Guerrero y
Sus Ardillitas in Mexico. For the first few years, EMI- Mexico released
compilations of existing recordings from the Colonial Records catalogue.
Around the mid-seventies, my dad started to record new albums for EMI with Las
Ardillitas and continued to do so into the 1990s. I wrote the music to
around a dozen of the Ardillita songs, played on many of the tracks, and
sometimes sang as one of the Ardillitas during this period.
Page 152- In paragraph three,
it says my dad "began his acting involvement in Boots and Saddle (1935) with
Gene Autry. The correct title of the film was "Boots and Saddles" and my
dad did not act in that movie, nor most of the others mentioned in this
paragraph. He appeared with his group Las Carlistas, singing in the
background and then walking into the foreground. In all the early movies
mentioned, it was with a musical group or as a solo singer that he appeared.
He didn't do any acting until he had a small part in Luis Valdez' "La Pastorela"
in 1991. He also had one line in "The Good Girl" with Jennifer Aniston in
2002.
In
paragraph five, it says "In September 1998 Lalo Guerrero Avenue was created in
Palm Springs, California." It was actually called Avenida Lalo Guerrero
and it is in Cathedral City, California, a city next to and east of Palm
Springs. It also says that "His elementary school will be changed to Lalo
Guerrero School in 1999." What happened was they took the facade of his
elementary school and built an elderly housing project on the property, which
was named "Lalo Guerrero Barrio Viejo Elderly Housing." It opened in 2003
and is a fully occupied and beautiful place.
The entries
below are regarding the chapter entitled "Chicano Rock & Roll" by Al Carlos
Hernandez.
Page 156- In the first
paragraph, it says "The most notable band was a band fronted by Carlo's younger
brother Jorge called Malo, which has success in 1972." Jorge Santana was
one of two guitarists in the original Malo. He never fronted the band, nor
was he the leader. The band was first fronted by Richard Bean, who was the
chief songwriter and the lead singer on Malo's biggest hit, "Suavecito."
Arcelio Garcia, who was also a founding member, has been fronting the band for
decades, except for a brief time in the mid-seventies when East L.A.'s Little
Willie G. fronted the band as its lead singer. In paragraph two, it refers
to Malo's other founding lead guitarist as Abel Zurate. On the next page
his name is spelled Zuarte. It could've simply been two misprints, but his
name is Abel Zarate.
In
paragraph four of the same page, it refers to El Chicano's lead guitarist as
Mickey Leperson. His name is Mickey Lespron. In the same paragraph
it states that "El Chicano had a minor record deal and toured the country
several times but never achieved superstar status." The fact is El Chicano
were signed to a major record deal with MCA Records and released seven albums
with the label in the seventies.
Contact me at:
info@markguerrero.net
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