Lalo Guerrero
Encyclopedia
Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero was a Mexican-American guitarist, singer and farm labor activist best known for his strong influence on today's Latin musical artists.
, Arizona
, one of 21 siblings (although only nine survived). His father worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad
. Guerrero left his hometown to pursue his dream in music. He says that he gives his mother all the credit for his musical talent, and Lalo even stated that she taught him to "embrace the spirit of being Chicano". Lalo, in time exceeded even his wildest dreams as a musician, writer and performer for more than six decades, gaining worldwide recognition as the father of "Chicano Music". His first group, Los Carlistas (the trio included Chole Salaz and Joe Salaz), represented Arizona at the 1939 New York World's Fair
, and performed on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour
on radio.
He moved to Los Angeles
in the 1940s, and had a few uncredited roles in movies, including Boots and Saddles
and His Kind of Woman
. He recorded for Imperial Records
and fronted the Trio Imperial. He also formed his own orchestra and toured throughout the Southwest. He performed at the La Bamba club in Hollywood, a place frequented by the biggest stars in the movie business. In the 1960s, he bought a night club in Los Angeles and renamed it Lalo's.
Guerrero in 1992 at a tribute in Palm Desert
, California
: "Lalo has chronicled the events of the Hispanic
in this country a lot better than anyone." He worked closely with Chavez for farmworkers' rights and lent voice to the movement with the song, "No Chicanos On TV."
In the 1940s he became a good friend of the Ronstadt family of Arizona
, in particular Gilbert Ronstadt, father of popular vocalist Linda Ronstadt
. Linda recalls childhood memories of Guerrero serenading her. At his funeral, Linda sang a traditional Mexican song in tribute.
Guerrero's earliest Pachuco
compositions were the basis of the Luis Valdez
stage musical, Zoot Suit
. He even wrote children's songs presented via his "Las Ardillitas," or "Three Little Squirrels", a Latin-American version of Ross Bagdasarian's "Alvin and the Chipmunks
".
His first American hit was "Pancho López", a parody of the popular 1950s hit "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett
". Guerrero used the Davy Crockett melody and wrote his own lyrics, telling the story of a legendary Mexican
character. The song was popular in both Spanish
and English
. However, due to criticism Guerrero received over this song, he never performed it publicly, not wanting to contribute to an inappropriate stereotype. Guerrero went on to record several more parody songs, including "Pancho Claus," "Elvis Perez," "Tacos For Two" (to the tune of "Cocktails For Two"), and "There's No Tortillas" (to the tune of "O Sole Mio"). In 2005, Guerrero was one of several Chicano musicians who collaborated with Ry Cooder on Cooder's "Chavez Ravine" album, for which he provided vocals on three songs ("Corrido de Boxeo", "Los Chucos Suaves", and "Barrio Viejo") which helped bring him, at the twilight of his life, to the attention of a wider Anglo audience. Guerrero recorded his last full CD on Break Records, a Los Angeles based record label, this at age 83. This would become his last music CD. The recording are a collection of Guerrero's best "Zoot Suit" compositions of Latin swing "Pachuco" music. The music CD was produced by music producer Benjamin Esparza who would became Guerrero's trusted friend during his last years. Guerrero was married for over 34 years to his wife Lidia Guerrero. They both lived in Cathedral City, California for over 28 years. The Musical CD contained new recordings of his 1940's "Pachuco" swing music which was used in the Broadway play and Universal Pictures movie "Zoot Suit". The play was written and directed by Luis Valdez. The CD "Vamos A Bailar-Otra Vez" http://www.amazon.com/Vamos-Bailar-Otra-Vez-Lalo-Guerrero/dp/B00004LMDK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1281366103&sr=1-3 was produced by Esparza and Justo Almario of Break Records.
Guerrero was officially declared a national folk treasure by the [Smithsonian Institution] in 1980 and was presented with the National Medal of Arts in 1996 by then United States President Bill Clinton
. In 1992 Guerrero received the National Heritage Award from the [National Endowment of the Arts]. In late 2005 Guerrero was posthumously inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. Along with that he was also inducted into the Tejano Hall of Fame and the Mariachi Hall of Fame.
Guerrero died on March 17, 2005 at the Vista Cove Assisted Living facility located in Rancho Mirage, California. After suffering a gradual decline in health. Guerrero died with Lidia his wife, his son Jose Guerrero, his daughter Patrica, and his granddaughter Alana at his side.
Guerrero's contributions have resulted in Las Glorias, a restaurant in central Phoenix, displaying a poster of him with his signature on it on the wall for everyone to see in loving memory of him. He also has a painting of him on a freeway wall in Tucson.
Life Summary
Guerrero was born in TucsonTucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, one of 21 siblings (although only nine survived). His father worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
. Guerrero left his hometown to pursue his dream in music. He says that he gives his mother all the credit for his musical talent, and Lalo even stated that she taught him to "embrace the spirit of being Chicano". Lalo, in time exceeded even his wildest dreams as a musician, writer and performer for more than six decades, gaining worldwide recognition as the father of "Chicano Music". His first group, Los Carlistas (the trio included Chole Salaz and Joe Salaz), represented Arizona at the 1939 New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
, and performed on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour
Major Bowes Amateur Hour
Major Bowes Amateur Hour, American radio's best-known talent show, was one of the most popular programs broadcast in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s...
on radio.
He moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in the 1940s, and had a few uncredited roles in movies, including Boots and Saddles
Boots and Saddles
For the 1957-1958 syndicated western television series starring Jack Pickard, Patrick McVey, and Gardner McKay, see Boots and Saddles .Boots and Saddles is a bugle call sounded for mounted troops to mount and take their place in line....
and His Kind of Woman
His Kind of Woman
His Kind of Woman is a black-and-white 1951 film noir starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. The film features supporting roles by Vincent Price, Raymond Burr, and Charles McGraw...
. He recorded for Imperial Records
Imperial Records
Imperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
and fronted the Trio Imperial. He also formed his own orchestra and toured throughout the Southwest. He performed at the La Bamba club in Hollywood, a place frequented by the biggest stars in the movie business. In the 1960s, he bought a night club in Los Angeles and renamed it Lalo's.
Guerrero in 1992 at a tribute in Palm Desert
Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
: "Lalo has chronicled the events of the Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
in this country a lot better than anyone." He worked closely with Chavez for farmworkers' rights and lent voice to the movement with the song, "No Chicanos On TV."
In the 1940s he became a good friend of the Ronstadt family of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, in particular Gilbert Ronstadt, father of popular vocalist Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
. Linda recalls childhood memories of Guerrero serenading her. At his funeral, Linda sang a traditional Mexican song in tribute.
Guerrero's earliest Pachuco
Pachuco
Pachucos are Chicano youths who developed their own subculture during the 1930s and 1940s in the Southwestern United States. They wore distinctive clothing and spoke their own dialect of Mexican Spanish, called Caló or Pachuco...
compositions were the basis of the Luis Valdez
Luis Valdez
Luis Valdez is an American playwright, writer and film director.He is regarded as the father of Chicano theater in the United States.-Education:...
stage musical, Zoot Suit
Zoot Suit (play)
Zoot Suit is a play written by Luis Valdez, featuring incidental music by Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero, the "father of Chicano music." Zoot Suit is a fictionalized version of the real-life Sleepy Lagoon murder trial – when a group of Chicano youths were charged with a murder that they did...
. He even wrote children's songs presented via his "Las Ardillitas," or "Three Little Squirrels", a Latin-American version of Ross Bagdasarian's "Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...
".
His first American hit was "Pancho López", a parody of the popular 1950s hit "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett
The Ballad of Davy Crockett
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Thomas W. Blackburn.The first recording of the song was made by Fess Parker, quickly followed by versions by Bill Hayes and Tennessee Ernie Ford...
". Guerrero used the Davy Crockett melody and wrote his own lyrics, telling the story of a legendary Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
character. The song was popular in both Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. However, due to criticism Guerrero received over this song, he never performed it publicly, not wanting to contribute to an inappropriate stereotype. Guerrero went on to record several more parody songs, including "Pancho Claus," "Elvis Perez," "Tacos For Two" (to the tune of "Cocktails For Two"), and "There's No Tortillas" (to the tune of "O Sole Mio"). In 2005, Guerrero was one of several Chicano musicians who collaborated with Ry Cooder on Cooder's "Chavez Ravine" album, for which he provided vocals on three songs ("Corrido de Boxeo", "Los Chucos Suaves", and "Barrio Viejo") which helped bring him, at the twilight of his life, to the attention of a wider Anglo audience. Guerrero recorded his last full CD on Break Records, a Los Angeles based record label, this at age 83. This would become his last music CD. The recording are a collection of Guerrero's best "Zoot Suit" compositions of Latin swing "Pachuco" music. The music CD was produced by music producer Benjamin Esparza who would became Guerrero's trusted friend during his last years. Guerrero was married for over 34 years to his wife Lidia Guerrero. They both lived in Cathedral City, California for over 28 years. The Musical CD contained new recordings of his 1940's "Pachuco" swing music which was used in the Broadway play and Universal Pictures movie "Zoot Suit". The play was written and directed by Luis Valdez. The CD "Vamos A Bailar-Otra Vez" http://www.amazon.com/Vamos-Bailar-Otra-Vez-Lalo-Guerrero/dp/B00004LMDK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1281366103&sr=1-3 was produced by Esparza and Justo Almario of Break Records.
Guerrero was officially declared a national folk treasure by the [Smithsonian Institution] in 1980 and was presented with the National Medal of Arts in 1996 by then United States President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. In 1992 Guerrero received the National Heritage Award from the [National Endowment of the Arts]. In late 2005 Guerrero was posthumously inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. Along with that he was also inducted into the Tejano Hall of Fame and the Mariachi Hall of Fame.
Guerrero died on March 17, 2005 at the Vista Cove Assisted Living facility located in Rancho Mirage, California. After suffering a gradual decline in health. Guerrero died with Lidia his wife, his son Jose Guerrero, his daughter Patrica, and his granddaughter Alana at his side.
Guerrero's contributions have resulted in Las Glorias, a restaurant in central Phoenix, displaying a poster of him with his signature on it on the wall for everyone to see in loving memory of him. He also has a painting of him on a freeway wall in Tucson.