Paulino Bernal
Encyclopedia
Paulino Bernal is an accordion
player and Christian
evangelist
. He was a member of the Tejano Tex-Mex group Conjunto Bernal.http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/chh/bio/bernal.htm
In 1972, Paulino converted from the apostolic
Christian denomination of Catholicism
to Evangelical Protestantism and founded Bernal Christian Records in order to evangelize his Protestant Christian beliefs. Through his La Nuevo Cristiana ministry, Bernal currently owns and operates more than a dozen Spanish Language
religious radio stations located in Texas
carrying a satellite-fed programming schedule. In 2008 Paulino Bernal released a new CD of polkas produced by Grammy-winning producer Armando Lichtenberger Jr.
, "EL Maestro Del Acordeon Y Sus Polkas" on Urbana Records and received his first Grammy Nomination for Best Polka Album for the upcoming 51st Annual Grammys. http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/music/directory/radio/radio.south.htm
Chicanos (Mexican-Americans) have always been prolific music makers. They have been the music trendsetters among Mexicans
in the Southwest throughout most of the 20th century. In fact, beginning in the 1930s, the Texas-Mexicans created
the two most powerful regional styles ever to emerge among Mexicans anywhere – orquesta and conjunto.
The best of the conjunto
s is, beyond a doubt, El Conjunto Bernal. Described by connoisseurs of conjunto music as
"the only one of its kind" and "twenty years ahead of its time" El Conjunto Bernal is well known for its tremendous
range of innovations. Its musical experiments spanned the gamut of conjunto, from the traditional polka to Latin
music such as the bolero, cha cha cha, and even American rock and roll. El Conjunto Bernal owed much of its
originality and meteoric rise to fame to the genius of its founder, Paulino Bernal.
Paulino Bernal was born June 22, 1939, in Raymondville
, Texas. Reared in the grinding poverty that
was experienced by most Chicanos of his generation, Paulino was forced to give up schooling when he was in the
seventh grade
. An accomplished accordion
ist by that time, he left school "to try and earn money and get us
out of the poverty in which we found ourselves."
Bernal’s mother was a divorcee
, and early on she moved to Kingsville
, Texas, where Paulino, his older brother Eloy, the
younger Luis, and three sisters were all forced to pick cotton
, cucumber
s, and other crops to help support the
family
. One day a man came by the house selling a guitar
, and Mrs. Bernal "with great sacrifice
," bought it for the
boys. Paulino soon learned enough to play the cantinas
with an elderly accordionist, where he picked up tips to
help buy food for the Bernal family.
But Paulino’s future lay with the accordion. He remembers hearing the best accordionists of the late 40’s and early
50's on the radio – Narciso Martinez, Valerio Longoria, Tony de la Rosa – all of whom were recording for the largest Mexican-American company at the time, Ideal Records. Paulino dreamed of joining their ranks, and when a friend of his was given an accordion as a gift, it was Paulino who spent the most time practising on it. Shortly afterwards, during a trip to visit his father
in Rio Grande Valley, Eloy was given a bajo sexto
by him and the Bernal’s were soon on
track toward their future.
Los Hermanitos Bernal launched their musical career in 1952. They were hired to play a dance in nearby Premont
– Paulino on accordion, Eloy on bajo sexto, and a friend, Adan Lomas, on drums. According to Bernal, "a lot of
people attended, and they liked the Bernal Brothers so much, they kept calling us back." They began playing in
Falfurrias
and in Alice
nearby, the home of Ideal Records. Soon the Bernal Brothers came to the
attention of Armando Marroquin, the man who recorded all the artists for Ideal Records.
The Bernal Brothers were first recorded as the backup conjunto
for some of the duets then popular among Texas-
Mexicans, such as Carmen y Laura. In March 1955, Marroquin gave the Bernals their chance as headliner
s, and a
78 rpm record was released with the cancion ranchera Mujer Paseada on one side and the romantic bolero
Desprecio on the other. With the release of their first record, the Bernal Brothers quickly put their cotton picking
days behind them forever and soon joined Valerio Longoria and Tony De La Rosa
as the top conjuntos in th Texas.
El Conjunto Bernal recorded prolifically for Ideal between 1955 and 1960 and some of the best sides including the
monster hits: Mi Unico Camino and Sentimiento Y Rencor, both from late 1958, are on this CD and cassette.
Marroquin began taking them on tours throughout the southwest and beyond where they always played for packed
houses. They were especially popular in Arizona
where local bandleader Pedro Bugarin was fond of featuring them
with his orchestra
. In fact, according to Paulino, he and Eloy used to sit in with Bugarin’s band, and some of the
band musicians would in turn sit in with El Conjunto Bernal. This exposure to band music inspired Paulino to
branch out of the normally simple ancherausic of the conjunto into the more sophisticated style of the orquesta.
When Armando Marroquin ended his relationship with Ideal Records around 1960, El Conjunto Bernal stayed with
him and recorded for his new label, Nopal Records. Shortly thereafter, Conjunto Bernal relocated to McAllen, Texas, across the border from Mexico in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Bernal began working with Victor Gonzales and the
two men founded Bego Records (the company name a combination of their two last names). The Bego years
represent some of Conjunto Bernal’s most innovative work. It was at his time that Paulino attracted the most
talented musicians in the conjunto traditions to his group.manuel solis and juan sifentes
In the late 1960s, Gonzales bought out Paulino’s interest in Bego Records and Paulino went on to found Bernal
Records, which also produced many outstanding hits by El Conjunto Bernal. By this time however, Paulino had
given up performing in favor of the administrative aspects of show business. He ran the recording company,
hosted a regional TV music show, and generally concentrated on the promotional aspects of the business.
Meanwhile, Oscar Hernandez and other very able accordionists picked up the slack and carried on the tradition of
excellence begun by Paulino. During this same time, success in the music field took its toll on Paulino and he
succumbed to the allure of alcohol
and drugs
.
In 1972, however, a cook Paulino had hired to work in a restaurant he owned changed his life by converting him to
the teachings of born-again Christianity. From that day on Paulino gave up the life of alcohol and drugs to devote
himself to preaching. He also resumed his career as accordionist, only this time he did so in the service of
Christianity. He started a new recording company, Bernal Christian Records, under whose banner he has
continued to develop his inimitable style. As he once commented in an interview, "People who knew me before
lament that I’m not playing anymore. They don’t seem to realize that I play more now than I ever did before!"
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
player and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
evangelist
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
. He was a member of the Tejano Tex-Mex group Conjunto Bernal.http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/chh/bio/bernal.htm
In 1972, Paulino converted from the apostolic
Apostolic
Apostolic may refer to:An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission*The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles...
Christian denomination of Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
to Evangelical Protestantism and founded Bernal Christian Records in order to evangelize his Protestant Christian beliefs. Through his La Nuevo Cristiana ministry, Bernal currently owns and operates more than a dozen Spanish Language
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...
religious radio stations located in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
carrying a satellite-fed programming schedule. In 2008 Paulino Bernal released a new CD of polkas produced by Grammy-winning producer Armando Lichtenberger Jr.
Armando Lichtenberger Jr.
Armando Liechtenberger Jr. is a member of Tejano musical band La Mafia, where he is the keyboardist and accordionist.- References :...
, "EL Maestro Del Acordeon Y Sus Polkas" on Urbana Records and received his first Grammy Nomination for Best Polka Album for the upcoming 51st Annual Grammys. http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/music/directory/radio/radio.south.htm
External links
Chicanos (Mexican-Americans) have always been prolific music makers. They have been the music trendsetters among Mexicans
in the Southwest throughout most of the 20th century. In fact, beginning in the 1930s, the Texas-Mexicans created
the two most powerful regional styles ever to emerge among Mexicans anywhere – orquesta and conjunto.
The best of the conjunto
Conjunto
Conjunto literally translates as "group," and is regionally accepted in Texas as defining a genre of music that was born out of south Texas at the end of the 19th Century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is...
s is, beyond a doubt, El Conjunto Bernal. Described by connoisseurs of conjunto music as
"the only one of its kind" and "twenty years ahead of its time" El Conjunto Bernal is well known for its tremendous
range of innovations. Its musical experiments spanned the gamut of conjunto, from the traditional polka to Latin
music such as the bolero, cha cha cha, and even American rock and roll. El Conjunto Bernal owed much of its
originality and meteoric rise to fame to the genius of its founder, Paulino Bernal.
Paulino Bernal was born June 22, 1939, in Raymondville
Raymondville, Texas
Raymondville is a city in and the county seat of Willacy County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,733 at the 2000 census. It may be included as part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville and the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan areas....
, Texas. Reared in the grinding poverty that
was experienced by most Chicanos of his generation, Paulino was forced to give up schooling when he was in the
seventh grade
Seventh grade
Seventh grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The seventh grade is the seventh school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 12–13 years old. Traditionally, seventh grade was the next-to-last year of elementary school...
. An accomplished accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
ist by that time, he left school "to try and earn money and get us
out of the poverty in which we found ourselves."
Bernal’s mother was a divorcee
Divorcee
Divorcee, refers to a person whose marriage has ended in divorce, a legal dissolution of marriage before death by either spouse. The feminine form is "divorcée", and the masculine "divorcé". At one time the term had negative cultural and religious associations...
, and early on she moved to Kingsville
Kingsville, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 25,575 people, 8,943 households, and 6,134 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,848.8 people per square mile . There were 10,427 housing units at an average density of 753.8 per square mile...
, Texas, where Paulino, his older brother Eloy, the
younger Luis, and three sisters were all forced to pick cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, cucumber
Cucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
s, and other crops to help support the
family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
. One day a man came by the house selling a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and Mrs. Bernal "with great sacrifice
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship.While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts...
," bought it for the
boys. Paulino soon learned enough to play the cantinas
Cantiñas
The Cantiñas is a group of flamenco palos , originated in the area of Cádiz in Andalusia . They share the same compás or rhythmic pattern with the soleá and are usually sung in a lively rhythm...
with an elderly accordionist, where he picked up tips to
help buy food for the Bernal family.
But Paulino’s future lay with the accordion. He remembers hearing the best accordionists of the late 40’s and early
50's on the radio – Narciso Martinez, Valerio Longoria, Tony de la Rosa – all of whom were recording for the largest Mexican-American company at the time, Ideal Records. Paulino dreamed of joining their ranks, and when a friend of his was given an accordion as a gift, it was Paulino who spent the most time practising on it. Shortly afterwards, during a trip to visit his father
Father
A father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...
in Rio Grande Valley, Eloy was given a bajo sexto
Bajo sexto
A bajo sexto is a musical instrument with 12 strings in 6 double courses, used in Mexican music. It is used primarily in norteño music of northern Mexico and across the border in the music of south Texas known as "Tex-Mex", "conjunto, or "música mexicana-tejana".A similar instrument with five...
by him and the Bernal’s were soon on
track toward their future.
Los Hermanitos Bernal launched their musical career in 1952. They were hired to play a dance in nearby Premont
Premont, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,772 people, 926 households, and 695 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,622.6 people per square mile . There were 1,072 housing units at an average density of 627.5 per square mile...
– Paulino on accordion, Eloy on bajo sexto, and a friend, Adan Lomas, on drums. According to Bernal, "a lot of
people attended, and they liked the Bernal Brothers so much, they kept calling us back." They began playing in
Falfurrias
Falfurrias, Texas
Falfurrias is a city in and the county seat of Brooks County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,297 at the 2000 census. The town is named for founder Edward Cunningham Lasater's ranch, La Mota de Falfurrias. In 1893, the Falfurrias ranch was one of the largest in Texas at some 350,000...
and in Alice
Alice, Texas
At the 2000 census, there were 19,010 people, 6,400 households and 4,915 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,597.4 per square mile . There were 6,998 housing units at an average density of 588.0 per square mile...
nearby, the home of Ideal Records. Soon the Bernal Brothers came to the
attention of Armando Marroquin, the man who recorded all the artists for Ideal Records.
The Bernal Brothers were first recorded as the backup conjunto
Conjunto
Conjunto literally translates as "group," and is regionally accepted in Texas as defining a genre of music that was born out of south Texas at the end of the 19th Century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is...
for some of the duets then popular among Texas-
Mexicans, such as Carmen y Laura. In March 1955, Marroquin gave the Bernals their chance as headliner
Headliner
A headliner is a composite material that is adhered to the inside roof of automobiles or yachts. It typically consists of a face fabric with nonwoven or foam backing. Headliners consist of multilayered composite materials that bring together multiple functionalities, including the requested look,...
s, and a
78 rpm record was released with the cancion ranchera Mujer Paseada on one side and the romantic bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
Desprecio on the other. With the release of their first record, the Bernal Brothers quickly put their cotton picking
days behind them forever and soon joined Valerio Longoria and Tony De La Rosa
Tony De La Rosa
Tony De La Rosa is a noted bass player and guitarist, who gained fame in the 1980s as a member of the rock band Renegade.As one of the members of the multi-million selling rocker quartet, Renegade, Tony De La Rosa's solid and prolific bass playing and songwriting skills helped propel the band into...
as the top conjuntos in th Texas.
El Conjunto Bernal recorded prolifically for Ideal between 1955 and 1960 and some of the best sides including the
monster hits: Mi Unico Camino and Sentimiento Y Rencor, both from late 1958, are on this CD and cassette.
Marroquin began taking them on tours throughout the southwest and beyond where they always played for packed
houses. They were especially popular in 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...
where local bandleader Pedro Bugarin was fond of featuring them
with his orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
. In fact, according to Paulino, he and Eloy used to sit in with Bugarin’s band, and some of the
band musicians would in turn sit in with El Conjunto Bernal. This exposure to band music inspired Paulino to
branch out of the normally simple ancherausic of the conjunto into the more sophisticated style of the orquesta.
When Armando Marroquin ended his relationship with Ideal Records around 1960, El Conjunto Bernal stayed with
him and recorded for his new label, Nopal Records. Shortly thereafter, Conjunto Bernal relocated to McAllen, Texas, across the border from Mexico in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Bernal began working with Victor Gonzales and the
two men founded Bego Records (the company name a combination of their two last names). The Bego years
represent some of Conjunto Bernal’s most innovative work. It was at his time that Paulino attracted the most
talented musicians in the conjunto traditions to his group.manuel solis and juan sifentes
In the late 1960s, Gonzales bought out Paulino’s interest in Bego Records and Paulino went on to found Bernal
Records, which also produced many outstanding hits by El Conjunto Bernal. By this time however, Paulino had
given up performing in favor of the administrative aspects of show business. He ran the recording company,
hosted a regional TV music show, and generally concentrated on the promotional aspects of the business.
Meanwhile, Oscar Hernandez and other very able accordionists picked up the slack and carried on the tradition of
excellence begun by Paulino. During this same time, success in the music field took its toll on Paulino and he
succumbed to the allure of alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
.
In 1972, however, a cook Paulino had hired to work in a restaurant he owned changed his life by converting him to
the teachings of born-again Christianity. From that day on Paulino gave up the life of alcohol and drugs to devote
himself to preaching. He also resumed his career as accordionist, only this time he did so in the service of
Christianity. He started a new recording company, Bernal Christian Records, under whose banner he has
continued to develop his inimitable style. As he once commented in an interview, "People who knew me before
lament that I’m not playing anymore. They don’t seem to realize that I play more now than I ever did before!"