Tejano And Nation Music: Six Key Figures

It’s onerous to not hear the similarities between nation and Tejano music, when you lock into them. Tejano is likely one of the hottest types of music in Texas, with roots in conventional Mexican, Spanish, German, and Czech music. In brief, its roots are nearly the identical as nation music. So it’s been no shock to see artists like George Strait sing odes to Vicente Fernandez. Or Johnny Rodriguez to suit so seamlessly into Nashville within the Seventies. Or for Emilio Navaira to carry out at a packed Astrodome in 1995, alongside co-headliner Selena. You get the concept.

Extra just lately, artists like Kacey Musgraves and Carrie Underwood have been reaching out to Spanish-speaking audiences with solo songs and collaborations. And Spanish language musicians like Chiquis Rivera, Joss Favela, Carin Leon, and Becky G have made their manner into nation music fan’s ears. However this cross-pollination of Tejano and nation music is hardly new. On this article, we’ve rounded up only a few of the oldsters that made a deep impression in each Spanish and English language music.

Take heed to our Latino Infused Nation playlist right here.

Emilio Navaira

The identify Emilio Navaira is synonymous with Tejano music. Generally known as “The Garth Brooks of Tejano,” “El Rey Del Rodeo,” and “The King Of Tejano,” Navaira garnered large publicity by way of corporations like Coca-Cola and Wrangler, which used his music for nationwide commercials. In brief, Navaira is accountable – alongside Selena – for bringing Tejano music to mainstream markets within the 90s.

Navaira even had a profitable crossover into nation music. That crossover started within the mid-90s with Emilio’s signing to Capitol Information Nashville. The lead single from his debut album, “It’s Not the Finish of the World” reached the Prime 30 of the nation charts in 1995. The album was a hit, too, reaching No. 13. Regardless of his surprising demise from a coronary heart assault in Might 2016, Navaira’s legacy is safe as somebody that opened doorways for a lot of others in Tejano and nation music.

Freddy Fender

Freddy Fender was a Mexican-American Tejano and nation music icon, maybe greatest recognized for his 1975 hits “Earlier than the Subsequent Teardrop Falls” and “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.” Fender labored solo and, in later years, alongside profitable teams like Los Tremendous Seven and the Texas Tornados. In all, he gained three GRAMMY Awards and his personal star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame, amongst many different accolades.

Fender’s music centered on Mexican-American struggles related to poverty and small-town dwelling. However that’s what made him so beloved. His last album was a group of traditional Mexican boleros titled La Música de Baldemar Huerta, a becoming finale for an artist that labored seamlessly between nation, rock and roll, and Tejano music all through his prolonged profession.

Lydia Mendoza

Lydia Mendoza had loads of nicknames all through her profession, however maybe a very powerful was “The Mom of Tejano Music.” Mendoza started her profession at a younger age, making music and touring together with her household within the Nineteen Twenties. Over the course of six many years of efficiency, she recorded for numerous document labels. (Some estimate she recorded round 200 Spanish language songs.) Her best-known tune, nonetheless, was “Mal Hombre” – a track she didn’t write, however rapidly made her personal. Amongst her many accolades, in 1999, she was awarded the Nationwide Medal of Arts by President Invoice Clinton. As a powerful, impartial lady, she continues to face as probably the most vital figures in all of Tejano music.

Flaco Jiménez

Born in 1939, and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Leonardo “Flaco” Jimenez grew up in a musical household. So it’s no shock he was studying the best way to play the bajo sexto and accordion by age 7. Jimenez rapidly turned an area fan favourite all through bars in San Antonio. His sound blended Tejano with nation and blues, the final word Tex-Mex. Jimenez has had some high-profile followers through the years, resulting in collaborations with Dwight Yoakam, Linda Ronstadt, and The Rolling Stones. Flaco’s greatest hit, although, is maybe as a part of The Texas Tornados (alongside Freddy Fender and others). Their track “(Hey Child) Que Paso” stays a touchstone. Jimenez has collected many accolades all through his profession: Six Grammys, a number of Lifetime Achievement Awards, and {a photograph} that’s displayed on the Nationwide Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Establishment in Washington, D.C.

Johnny Rodriguez

Johnny Rodriguez was born December 10, 1951, in Sabinal, Texas. As an adolescent in 1969, Rodriguez was arrested together with some pals for stealing and cooking a goat. It was a fortunate break. Throughout his time in jail, an officer heard Rodriguez sing. The officer was so impressed he instructed an area promotor about Rodriguez, and the remainder is historical past. All through the 70s, Rodriguez had nice nation chart success with songs like “You All the time Come Again Hurting Me” and “Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico.” What made Rodiguez so particular in Nashville, although, is his insistence on together with Spanish language materials on his releases. As music journalist Natalie Weiner wrote, Rodriguez’s Spanish insisted “with out stating it explicitly that nation music was not only for white individuals, and never only for English audio system.”

Rick Treviño

Rick Treviño was raised round musicians. His father performed in a Tejano band, and at a really younger age, Treviño started to play a couple of totally different devices. In 1993, he launched his first album, Dos Mundos. His label insisted he document the album in Spanish, though he wasn’t fluent within the language, however the album went gold. 1994 noticed the discharge of an English language album, which additionally turned gold licensed, and comprises certainly one of his biggest hits, “She Can’t Say I Didn’t Cry.” This transferring forwards and backwards between languages has continued all through his profession. Certainly, Treviño’s track “Simply Sufficient Rope” was the primary main label nation track to be launched in each Spanish and English. It cemented as Treviño probably the most common Hispanic singers in nation music.

On the lookout for extra on Tejano music? Learn our characteristic in regards to the King of Tejano music, Emilio Navaira.