00:00:01.269 - 00:00:21.000

Yes, because Mr Cortez apparently uh sort of rediscovered her after the war wasn't and brought her back to, I think even, even before that, because he, he spent uh a certain amount of time in San Antonio uh during her, early, her early years, I think, um

00:00:21.879 - 00:00:40.020

I, I remember I will, I will, I will get him to, to talk to said, why don't let me just announce this? This is uh July 24th. I'm in Los Angeles speaking with Mr Frank Fau Fau and your father's name was Frank Faus. Also Frank, my

00:00:40.029 - 00:00:57.680

problem is I'm not a junior. I have a middle name, I'm Frank Lewis and my father was just Frank. Um When, when did you kind of start going around with your father or sort of? Well, I actually, I grew up uh in the business. Uh I

00:00:57.689 - 00:01:16.879

remember uh the, the Mendoza family uh I think is as early as about uh it was either 1936 or 1937 working in one of our theaters. It was the California theater which still exists on Eighth and main streets. How old were you then? Roughly? Oh, I

00:01:16.889 - 00:01:35.379

guess I must have been about 10 years old or something like that, do you remember? Oh, yeah. Sure. What sort of impressed you about them? How, how come you remember? Well, first of all, because even then she was within our medium, a huge star. Ok. Uh,

00:01:38.089 - 00:02:04.690

um, the music that they played was very different than what I had grown up with around here. And it was kind of strange because, uh, the music was, uh, very Texas, very border in flavor, Tex Mex or Norteno, whatever you want. But we didn't have many

00:02:04.699 - 00:02:24.309

of those people out here in California. Hey, our, our people primarily came from the west coast of Mexico on other. And, uh, it, it, it hit nonetheless. I think, of course, my lore had to be a success because it, it was, uh, a tango and it

00:02:24.320 - 00:02:44.720

was a, a Mexican organization of, of, of a tango. Uh, the instruments that they played were, were, were very unique. Uh, uh, I think, uh, Lydia and one of the others played 12 string guitars. And I'm, I'm trying to remember, I think, I think, I think

00:02:44.729 - 00:02:59.050

her mother played a mandolin. II, I seem to recall her mother playing a mandolin. Perhaps the, actually the mother played guitar too. Did she also one of the daughters that played the mandolin, I think Maria? Or, or, well, according to this picture, it was Maria, but

00:02:59.059 - 00:03:16.919

I, uh, you don't think that of course, in this shot, we, we have the mother with a six string guitar, uh, Maria with a mandolin. Uh, this is on the back. Well, I'm not really sure whether I identified them correctly, whether this is actually Maria. And

00:03:16.929 - 00:03:34.589

because I think that is Lydia with a, with, with a mad man and I think that was Maria there on the side. Anyway, that's the picture on the back of 9023 which I think I mislabeled as to who they are, but it's the brother as a,

00:03:34.600 - 00:03:51.399

as a, as a young boy. Can you recall any of your sort of emotions about hearing this sort of music that was, did you consider it very country sort of hick like, or? Oh, definitely. Oh, no question. And, uh, uh, unlike some of the things we

00:03:51.410 - 00:04:16.029

get today, quite authentic, you know, now, uh, everything is doctored up, uh, people sort of, uh, well, even, even in, in, in the American country and western scene, it's, it's, it's pretty manufactured much of it. Not all of it, obviously. Um, I was just amazed because

00:04:16.040 - 00:04:33.649

they, unlike today with everyone moving around on stage and so forth, they would be seated. It was a very static number. They would sit down, uh, they, they wouldn't look like that when they were working most of the time. They'd be seat. Well, here they're not

00:04:33.660 - 00:04:49.049

in costume. This is probably a recording session, but they'd actually be in costume that seated before microphones and they just said, and that, and that was it. I mean, you, you'd see four or five of them seated out there and singing. Uh, of course, obviously it's

00:04:49.059 - 00:05:09.739

always much more pleasant and more convenient to play guitar or any of those sorts of instruments, uh, uh, requiring two hands, uh, to play them sitting down. Do you, can you recall anything that your father said about them? Especially, or that he kind of, why did

00:05:09.750 - 00:05:26.489

he hire them or, or? Well, they were, they were a big, uh, big star act. I mean, they were, it was one of our, our first stars. Is, could you possibly think of how the show went? Can you remember that? Did they, did they did it

00:05:26.500 - 00:05:47.630

all? Well, I was more talking about the, the, yeah, how the actual program proceeded. Well, I think we saw the whole family out there singing together and then what would happen? Uh The sisters would come on and the brother would come on and, and then I

00:05:47.640 - 00:06:02.470

think, uh Lydia would close the show now, that's as best as I can remember perhaps Mr Cortez, uh, since he was an adult uh already and at the time and have a better memory than I, how did you advertise these shows at that time? Was there

00:06:02.480 - 00:06:26.100

a radio or press or we had the Chorus Spanish Daily Paper, which still exists. Opinion. And we had uh uh some radio programs on KMTR uh for instance, uh there was, uh, or Tony S and there was, uh, David Orozco. There was, uh, Ramon are nice.

00:06:26.269 - 00:06:48.540

These were probably, oh, there was Rodolfo Salinas, uh, whose wife succeeded him when he passed away, Elena Salinas. Uh, these are probably the four most popular programs. There was not one station, however, other than perhaps one that reached up from Tijuana. Uh, they, uh, they were

00:06:48.549 - 00:07:06.489

really at KMTR which is now KL AC. Uh, And in fact, we had a booth on stage and we had an early morning radio show from the stage of the California theater every morning at, at, I don't know, I think it went from 6 to 8

00:07:06.500 - 00:07:30.320

o'clock. Would that sometimes include the stars who would give the night shows. And not only that, it was usually live and, and the stars who grew up here locally and then went on to Mexico uh started here uh Delina Garcia, the Padilla sisters uh uh who

00:07:30.329 - 00:07:51.399

were not only the pa the ancestors, uh Margaret Margarita went on to become a soloist of some renown and her sister Maria who lives here married Memo Quintero, went on to become el due to Azteca Maria in memo. Um But one of them, they were a

00:07:51.410 - 00:08:07.190

huge act. This was in the late thirties. That's sort of roughly uh period late th until about 1940. And what sort of audience would come, would, would it be different than your usual or? Yes, because first of all it was free. I mean, anyone could just

00:08:07.200 - 00:08:25.209

walk in off the street. And, uh, uh, unfortunately most of the people were, were working. It wasn't really an hour when you drew huge crowds. You didn't. But, uh, there are always, uh, you know, a few dozen people around watching the show. And in those days,

00:08:25.220 - 00:08:45.349

um, they, the radio programs not only sold advertising but they also, uh, sold requests and I think somebody would pay 25 cents for a request. Well, this is a request by, by Juanito for Maria or something like that. And uh they, they pay a quarter or

00:08:45.359 - 00:09:06.489

whatever it was at the time. I remember that very well uh incident. You might want to call uh uh Maria from Maria memo, you might wanna call her. Uh because she also has, I'm sure very vivid memories of those times of this period you're at, on

00:09:06.500 - 00:09:21.409

the nights when the Mendoza family was here. Would they be the only performers or would they have other? No, no, there would be other acts on the bill. Uh They would probably take up an hour. You probably had another couple of acts on there to go

00:09:21.419 - 00:09:36.830

to say an hour and a half. We, we usually shot for an hour and a half. And after that, Lydia worked at, at uh some of our other theaters, she worked at the old Mason Opera House which we owned up here on Broadway. Uh The Mayon

00:09:36.840 - 00:09:56.270

theater on, on South Hill. Um, and of course, here at the million dollar. Um, and then during the war they didn't really come here. It was after the, no, they, uh, I don't remember specifically. Uh, I was away from part of the time myself. Um, I'm

00:09:56.280 - 00:10:14.270

trying to remember. It seems to me. Yes. We, uh, my dad had stage shows during the war. He had them primarily at the Mason Opera House. Which one was bigger than no, no, the million dollar is bigger. The Mason Opera House was not as big as

00:10:14.280 - 00:10:33.359

California, except that the Mason Opera House was much better equipped and California was built as a cinema. So it, it didn't have the stage facilities or the dressing room facilities, the Mason Opera. But why did they bring the Mendoza show to the million dollar afterward? Well,

00:10:33.369 - 00:10:50.330

it came to the million dollar because that's where we ran our stage shows for a while. We ran them in, in the, in the mayon. Uh uh We acquired the Mayon in 49. The million dollar and 50 we tore down or the state of California tore

00:10:50.340 - 00:11:10.500

down the Mason Opera House in, I think it was 51 and built the state building up here between 1st and 2nd on Broadway. Um Yeah, capacity has to be a, a consideration when you're, when you're doing stage shows. And, and how did the Mendoza family draw

00:11:10.510 - 00:11:27.469

when you, when you had them, did they they did know. Well, they didn't draw badly. Now, by that time we didn't bring the family out too much. This was after the second war. It was mostly Lydia. I'm, I'm trying to think back. We may have brought

00:11:27.479 - 00:11:45.640

the sisters out but I think the mother had either retired or passed away by that time and I don't really remember the brother afterward. He may have been there but I, I don't place him. See, I used to run uh oh, as many as uh 15

00:11:45.650 - 00:12:11.400

stage shows a year, you know. Well, after a number of years, everything starts to, to jumble together, unfortunately. But can you recall any uh specific instances that you remember of how people reacted or how you reacted to them by any chance? Well, they reacted very well.

00:12:11.409 - 00:12:32.739

She always had a public. Uh uh the only thing is she wasn't any longer to use today's vernacular, a superstar. She hi come down, I would say she had dropped two notches in stature to the point where she was, oh, a co star or featured player

00:12:32.750 - 00:12:59.059

as they would say in motion pictures. Uh Because of course, uh tastes change, the public that came into the area changed. Uh We've had some Norteno migration but even Norteno music has changed tremendously uh from the, the true thing that, that uh that Lydia used to,

00:12:59.070 - 00:13:14.900

to sing. Uh I think it's been adulterated to some extent. In fact, I can't stand it anymore. That's, but back, but back in the late thirties, you, you feel she was a real superstar? She question. Ok, without a doubt, at least in this city I can't

00:13:14.909 - 00:13:28.140

speak for every, every situation. Can you give me any figures by any chance as to how much it costs to go to the theater, for example, at that time? And what sort of a gross would, would they make or anything? Because I, it seems to me

00:13:28.150 - 00:13:54.559

that in those days we were probably charging, well, I'm talking about night or weekend price now, we were probably charging 25 cents, uh, maybe, maybe as much as 50 cents on certain attractions. No more than that. Uh, when I was running the theater, I always tried

00:13:54.570 - 00:14:10.229

to charge the least that I could charge rather than the most today. The impresarios in Spanish, uh, um, the dances and the, the big shows and so forth. They, you know, $10 is nothing. That's a rule of thumb. Well, I never believed in that. I wanted

00:14:10.239 - 00:14:26.219

as many people as possible to be able to come. I, I wanted to keep my, my theater hot for during the weeks when I didn't have a stage show. So our goals were quite different. Of course, I've been out of it now for nine years. You

00:14:26.229 - 00:14:42.559

don't do stage shows? Well, I have the theater leased out to Metro about theaters they still do to the stage shows, but I don't even know, I don't blame you. I must have been. Uh, yeah. Well, can you give me any of the changes that have

00:14:42.570 - 00:15:00.270

happened in the, in this business? You know, I know that there's very little sum when to, when from, let's say, when you were a boy in the late thirties. Well, uh, I would say that, um, the market was very limited in those days. There probably weren't

00:15:00.280 - 00:15:25.599

more than, um, seven right theaters in the entire area running Spanish today. There must be 3040. Um, we didn't have first there, there were two problems. First of all, there wasn't product available. Uh There weren't huge stables of recording stars available on records. Um There were

00:15:25.609 - 00:15:49.909

only part time radio stations. Um, we, we simply didn't have the people here then either. Now you're, you're looking at, uh, 3 million Hispanics, I would say of which 2 million principally have Spanish as, as their main language. Uh, in those days, we probably had three

00:15:49.919 - 00:16:08.619

quarters of a million of which two thirds spoke as much English or more English. You probably had, uh, we were drawing from really a limited public of 250,000. So, uh, it's, the markets increased in geometry, aren't you? And you said that there weren't really very many,

00:16:08.630 - 00:16:30.890

uh, big names as far as there weren't because Mexican movies I recall distinctly, uh, I think they're only producing about 15 a year and during World War two, they kicked up the schedule to approximately 100 a year and it was mainly movies who publicized. Well, we,

00:16:30.900 - 00:16:46.909

we did both you see, but the recording industry in Mexico as it was up here was very limited. I think there was something like three major labels or four major labels. There were no independence. And you'll recall up here in English, we had no independence. Uh

00:16:46.919 - 00:17:10.459

I remember about the time of the war capital became suddenly an additional label. Beside what? Uh RC A OK. Uh Columbia uh Brunswick, but two of them were captive labels of the others, you know, and uh then suddenly capital started, then Mercury and, but there nobody

00:17:10.800 - 00:17:27.280

released a record uh independently, they couldn't get the airplay, they couldn't get the distribution of the stores didn't exist. And also the were there really any to as far as I can tell they weren't except for the Hermanas Patilla when they came to no really home

00:17:27.290 - 00:17:50.880

grown Spanish language stars Garcia was the other one was a Garcia. She came here from, from Los Angeles. She's from Los Angeles. She went to Mexico. Uh um We had, we had another local act called the Chico I Chencho Los Desperadoes. Uh but they didn't do

00:17:50.890 - 00:18:10.540

anything in Mexico really. They, they were strictly local but they did well, yeah, they were, they known as Los Los Maduros. I think so because they were on, on one of the radio shows. It was uh General Arnas. Show. But Mr Orozco was the disc jockey

00:18:10.550 - 00:18:35.900

of the MC. If you will, why do you think that is that there's so little of music from here that has made an impact in Spanish language. Starving. Probably again because the recording companies see if you record it up here, you probably still recorded for RC

00:18:35.910 - 00:18:54.569

A or somebody. Uh uh the, the markets were all limited. Good grief. I remember going to Mexico. Uh I think around 1940 years old, the first time uh Mexico City was a city of what, 2.5 million people and uh the country and 20 million people look

00:18:54.579 - 00:19:14.469

at it today. Uh 15 million and 80 million. It's just uh you know, there's, there's much more material, there's more market, there's more creative talent. And I think in part it was that um there was a Cuba in those days also exporting music. Now there isn't

00:19:14.479 - 00:19:36.199

Cuba stayed in 1959 I think uh the only artist had not to come out of Cuba since Castro Ira. Um Other than that, there's nobody, everyone else was created prior that time. And uh you listen to radio Havana on any short wave and uh it's, it's

00:19:36.209 - 00:19:56.839

time warp. So uh in those days, um uh one of the principal industries for export in Cuba was music records was a huge supplier of music. So the, the the centers really believe it or not were New York, Havana, Mexico City that was about it. Uh

00:19:56.849 - 00:20:14.920

Spain, of course, had already been in the throes of the Civil War that was out Argentina. Their music was so different and so strange and the places like Panama and, and, uh, and Caracas uh were, were very much in the, in the Havana orbit. And, uh

00:20:14.969 - 00:20:33.540

San Juan really didn't pick up too much until after Havana declined. Did, did you ever know Mr Calderon or, or whoever it was who ran that record shop? Yes, of course. Yes, Mauricio Calderon. Yes. Do you know by any chance what became of him since they

00:20:33.550 - 00:20:53.310

closed the show? No, he, he passed away, of course. So I think, uh I think even his, uh his sons have passed away. You might want to speak with his, uh his nephew, Gustavo Acosta. However, Svo Gustavo Gustavo Costa Costa Costa. Yes. Um, he worked for

00:20:53.319 - 00:21:12.239

his uncle and his father Dionisio Acosta, I think was head of A and R for, for Columbia Records in New York. So you might want to speak with him. Uh, he runs uh Mex Inma, one of the Mexican motion picture distributing companies on West Third Street.

00:21:13.339 - 00:21:30.349

And uh uh he worked uh for his uncle and he's quite knowledgeable because I was wondering what the, uh did you ever have any sort of ties in promotion with them? Because they seem to be the main outlet for phonograph records of Spanish language at the

00:21:30.359 - 00:21:59.109

time. They were, they were uh um, but, but that they, uh, you know, they, they faded away. My b he became the distributor for, uh, it's either Me or Mayer Burger, which became the distributor for RC A. And, um, it just, um, well, other people started

00:21:59.119 - 00:22:17.660

opening record shops also. I think that had something to do with it. The plaza area sort of broke up because now Broadway and uh, um Whittier Boulevard or the equivalent of the plaza was in those days, main street in the plaza area. That was the heavy

00:22:17.670 - 00:22:31.069

retail for, for Spanish speaking. Although your father started this business, but you obviously must have liked the music otherwise you probably wouldn't have stayed in this or, or, or was it mainly business for you or did you? No, no, no, I liked it very much. I,

00:22:31.079 - 00:22:49.199

I, in fact, at one time was in the record business. Uh I distributed Peerless Records, which is one of the Mexican major labels. Oh, I guess about, uh, for a period of about three or four years I think from about, uh perhaps uh 57 to 62

00:22:49.209 - 00:23:14.869

right in through there. Um So I'm quite familiar with it. So who are some of your favorite artists if I may ask you if you think back over the, how far back as far back as you were gonna remember? So, gee, that's, that's so hard to

00:23:14.880 - 00:23:29.729

say. Yeah, that's really hard to say. I, I, no, I, I did say I wouldn't want to, to leave anyone out. I wouldn't want to leave anyone out. You didn't have any particular favorites when you were? I did. I did. But II, I wouldn't want to

00:23:29.739 - 00:23:46.280

be the one that, you know, I, I hate to say we had another local girl, by the way. Uh, I think she's still around her. Uh, she was called La La Prieta Caldera. Uh, I think you can probably find her someplace. I'm not sure where, but,

00:23:46.290 - 00:24:02.800

uh, she was one of our early stars here locally. There were others. Uh There were early groups up from Mexico. You may have heard of the famous uh trio Garnica Cenci. Uh They worked up here. I'm talking about the twenties. This was even before my time,

00:24:02.810 - 00:24:20.369

but I'm sure that, did you hear your father talk about? Yes. And Gus Gus Acoa can certainly, uh fill you in on those. Gus is, uh probably, oh, I don't know. I'm, I'm 56. I'm, I'm, I'm sure Gus is probably more around 68. He can certainly

00:24:20.380 - 00:24:37.050

tell you. Uh And do you think he still, he lives here in, well, he lives in Sun City down but he, he comes in two or three days a week to the office in, out here in West Third. And if not, you can certainly, uh in

00:24:37.060 - 00:24:51.829

fact, usually he's here midweek. You don't have any kind of panic about the Mendoza in particular. I don't, I really don't uh, have you, have you ever seen any photos that your father had in his files of any of them, or, or of Libby or the

00:24:51.839 - 00:25:17.739

sisters by any chance? Let's go. Oh, that would be wonderful. That's all gone. Can I just ask what is your background? So that ethnically Spaniards? Yes. You, yes, we, uh, um, my dad, um, although born in Honolulu, uh, was raised here, my mother, born in Chicago,

00:25:17.750 - 00:25:39.069

was raised here. Uh her mother died. And so, um, you know, she was passed around from aunt to cousin and so forth. Then uh finally her father decided to bring her out here. And um I think she must have been somewhere around eight years old when

00:25:39.079 - 00:25:56.630

she came out. My father came over from Hawaii when he was about three. So they were both essentially raised here old. They weren't born in, they were raised. But you, you grew up in a Spanish speaking? Oh, yes. And, oh, absolutely. Uh In fact, uh uh

00:25:56.640 - 00:26:13.979

as an example, I spent a great deal of time with my father's mother and she, um never really learned English. I mean, uh you spoke Spanish or you didn't eat and, and that was it. My name is Fin in Spanish. OK. Uh It's from the region

00:26:13.989 - 00:26:33.300

above Portugal and in the Gallego language as well as in Portuguese. And essentially, it's a dialect of Portuguese rather than being a dialect of Castilian. Uh Folse. It would be the same as in Castilian Sickle. So it's, it's a Spanish name but it doesn't sound like

00:26:33.310 - 00:26:48.219

there was one aspect of, of Hispanic music at that time that I was doing that, like somebody like Pilar Arcos, for example, do you, do you remember that sort of genre of the people that sort of operatic type voice? Yeah. But, uh, she was a bigger

00:26:48.229 - 00:27:06.609

star internationally than she was locally, I think. Ok. I mean, she, she worked occasionally for, for my dad and so forth. But, uh, but could this, could this have been before your time? You know, because in fact, I mean, she was considerably older than Lydia and

00:27:06.619 - 00:27:22.000

so forth. Uh type of, in fact, she, much of her career was spent as an actress and much of her career was spent traveling and so forth. I mean, uh, because she obviously was big in Spain and in Latin America. But this, this was a more

00:27:22.010 - 00:27:40.520

international type of, of, uh, a Spanish song. Uh, her brother Guillermo was a, a guitarist used to work for us. Uh, on occasion also Guillermo Arcos, was there any feeling here or did you sense it of the sort of distinction between rural type music like to

00:27:40.530 - 00:28:04.130

Mendoza, you know, sort of country type music and the more city or what shall we say, upper class type of music. Would you make such a distinction? Yes, definitely. Because uh first of all, uh uh you, you had dances and nightclubs working here constantly. Well, they

00:28:04.140 - 00:28:28.750

all basically worked in, in the so called tropical music. Ok. And romantic. The Agustin Lara, the, uh, you know, all the, all the, the Mexican modern composers, uh, because frankly what Lydia did, uh, didn't, didn't really survive the bars and, and, uh, uh, the shows out

00:28:28.760 - 00:28:50.550

in the countryside. I mean, it's like, you know, like, um, Mickey Gillie's in Dallas today or, or I'm sorry, in Houston, outside of Houston today. Uh, it, it just, uh, it, it, it's a different, it's a different thing. Um, well, Spanish entertainment business certainly had been

00:28:50.699 - 00:29:08.469

around for a good while, but as far as the rural element in it, do you think that was something almost started with the Mendoza or something, or? Well, I think in, in, in a large sense it did because, uh, you had the Mendoza and certain other

00:29:08.479 - 00:29:28.619

groups like, uh, uh, GNI Aso and others prior to the time that you had Mariachis. Ok. You really didn't have Mariachis until Lua Reyes. Ok. Lua Reyes, I think, started about the late thirties, but it really didn't catch on until about the time of her death.

00:29:29.489 - 00:29:51.750

Ok. You had no mariachi bands. Ok. Everything was a trio or self accompanied and so forth. So, uh, the next big scoop, uh, step up, excuse me was probably Jorge negrete. It was part of that where you had the trio Calaveras. You had the trio, Tauri.

00:29:53.000 - 00:30:11.459

Uh, you had all of these other trios and they either played Veracruz style or it was three guitars that played romantic and some Ranchero and so forth. But you didn't have Mariachis we have today. That was first, there was a Mariachi, then there was the modernization

00:30:11.469 - 00:30:36.430

of the mariachi as exemplified by the Vargas around 1940 7, 1948 when Ruven Fuentes took over as musical director of the Mariachi Vargas. And then you had the second modernization about uh five or six years ago when Jose Martinez took over as musical director of the

00:30:36.439 - 00:30:58.160

Vargas. Um but they were, but we had no mariachis in those. There was no such thing as a Mariachi. I never saw Mariachi until uh you know, you'd hear them occasionally squeakily playing uh a background for, for Lucia's record on RC. A terrible, they could, they

00:30:58.170 - 00:31:18.589

couldn't compete with the trios music. They could, they, they were self taught and they were awful. So Truven Fuentes changed that around my question. Which group had the most influence Mar Chapala or uh uh the uh the, the breakout group from Margas, the uh uh the

00:31:18.599 - 00:31:40.000

Toto No, uh The Memo Quintero, wasn't it? Um Oh, that was a Mexico. No, no, not Mexico. I am I saying it, right? Uh Charo E I don't remember that one because I remember memo when he was with uh Mariachi Mexico de Pepe Villa. That was,

00:31:40.280 - 00:32:06.430

that was the next big break off. But, but see it existed. Mariachi Mexico existed in the late forties. OK? But Pepe Villa broke off and formed it about the same time that Drew men went into the virus. Now, uh I would have to, I would have

00:32:06.439 - 00:32:31.349

to give him the credit because be everyone else was beneath them. Way beneath way beneath. I, I would say those two Mariachis from about 1947 and certainly they were uh there, there was progress between say uh uh 41 when, when Jorge Negrete recorded a Jis Cono

00:32:31.599 - 00:32:55.050

Terra, but he didn't record it with a Mariachi. He recorded it with a studio orchestra with, with um uh uh uh Maestro uh um what was his name? Esperon Manuel Esperon directing the studio orchestra. Well, that was really, that's what turned the mariachi around. He did,

00:32:55.689 - 00:33:19.530

OK. But people said, oh, no, Esperon because Esperon was doing studio arrangements which were later downplayed to 8, 10 or 12 pieces by the Mariachis, particularly 12 in the case of the Barris in New Mexico. OK. And that, and that was it. I mean, all the

00:33:19.540 - 00:33:39.959

rest, I mean, these others that you mentioned. Yeah, good Mariachis. They came, they went, but they didn't last, you know, uh uh For instance, when Bonica Yaso, who was the arranger for the Mexico, he broke off and formed his own Mariachi, which was uh I think

00:33:39.969 - 00:34:00.469

Mariachi is Tre yet, but he did mostly studio work. In fact, I don't remember him going out and accompanying any woman. Um Some of these mariachis were strictly uh figments of someone's imagination. They, they weren't anything but studio groups that, that were, were assembled. I would

00:34:00.479 - 00:34:15.089

like to just hark back once more to li because it seems like most of the entertainers, like you were speaking about the, the, the development of the commercial ma and so that was all part of the film industry, wasn't it that publicized these things or the

00:34:15.099 - 00:34:33.339

big somebody had money behind it, wasn't it? It was RCARC A with Lucia Reyes during the late thirties. There was also the record because wasn't it with Lydia who was not in any movies? How did she get publicized? How did records? But she had the major

00:34:33.349 - 00:34:52.560

labels. No question. Practically, the only one that, that, that was uh boosted by the Mariachi as bad as they were was Nucha Reyes. In fact, she was in a class by herself. She had no male counterpart. I mean, she was here and that was it. I

00:34:52.570 - 00:35:08.500

mean, these other little girls in Manas Padilla and so forth, but they'd have some sort of group background. They, they played guitars themselves but, but Lucia Reyes appeared here just without Lucia. Lucia appeared here. I think we had her, uh we had, we brought a Mariachi.

00:35:08.820 - 00:35:22.679

I think the first time the Vargas came, came with her. But the, but it wasn't the Vargas at 47 or 48. This was before Ren Fuentes. Uh, besides, I think in those days we probably had a new shot once. I mean, she had a terrible drinking

00:35:22.689 - 00:35:36.620

problem. You couldn't, you, you know, you, you, you, you either put a keeper with him or you stay away from him. You don't, you don't hire him, they leave you flat once and you, you just avoid them, like play. It's unfortunate. Do you have, do you

00:35:36.629 - 00:35:56.479

have any anecdotes about the video or, or? I, I really, I really don't because they're fairly normal people, you know, and, and as a matter of, of course, you, you just, uh, yeah. Yeah. Pros good musicians. They would show up, they mind their own business. They're

00:35:56.489 - 00:36:13.250

nice people. And it's, you know, it's, it's the old adage of course, of, of, uh, the squeaky wheel getting the oil, isn't it? It is. Were you in, in connection with any of the other theaters that did shows like you was here like in Fresno or

00:36:13.260 - 00:36:31.032

up in northern California? Not really in those days. The, the only time that we were is when Mr Cortez or others would bring a road show through. Ok. We'd book it then he'd go on and, and, uh sell it to, to Tony Bo uh up in

00:36:31.042 - 00:36:47.895

Fresno or to Art Diago and San Bernardino or to Blanco and Martin Circuit. Uh And of course they do a lot of, and a lot of dances which, which weren't done around here. Really not not in the Los Angeles area but I mean, did you depend

00:36:47.906 - 00:37:03.956

on some promoter like Mr Cor, how did you get in touch with your artists? No, we get in touch with them directly or through agents in Mexico? Because we, we would do both. We would buy both from a promoter uh going through with a road show

00:37:03.966 - 00:37:24.689

or we would, we would arrange our, our shows directly. But remember really, uh we subsisted until about 1940 mostly with local talent, local talent. What do you mean by local from here or from the United States? From here? From Los Angeles, the Bria Calderas and the,

00:37:24.699 - 00:37:43.110

and the, the uh Elena Garcia and the uh Hermanas Padilla. And uh in fact, we even the Hermanas Padilla, I even had two other sisters who formed in a duet, two of their other sisters and they, they were known as La Tapatia. So there were really

00:37:43.120 - 00:38:02.290

two sets of Hermanas Padilla or only one were known as the Hermanas Pala. Sure. Uh and others, there are lots of local artists. There were local singers. There were people who migrated from Mexico. There were, there was uh uh Manuel My Torena from Sonora. Uh and

00:38:02.300 - 00:38:18.909

he built his career here. There, there, there were, there were others, there were others that uh you know, there, there, there was a local, a local, a group of artists and singers and so forth that we use constantly. Now they don't, they don't do that at

00:38:18.919 - 00:38:31.040

all. I mean, uh I, I think now if you wanna be known, you have to go to Mexico. If you're from here, you go to Mexico to become known, kind of doing things backwards though. We, we used to be the farm system in those days. We,

00:38:31.250 - 00:38:49.379

our best act we sent to Mexico. That's very interesting. Gives me a but even so you had from San Antonio, you, I mean, you, you, of course, had, had, uh, Eva Garza who went on to be a big star in Mexico. Um, and she was a

00:38:49.389 - 00:39:02.399

poor, but she wasn't considered as such. I don't think that most of the people in, in Mexico realized that she was, uh, from here, did, did, did cello Silva ever come out here to play cello Silva often? In fact, she was here two weeks ago. Oh,

00:39:02.810 - 00:39:18.784

sure. She was working one of the nightclubs around town. Yeah. She's really doing an amazing a, over a radio show in San Antonio. She, she's an amazing way with the audience. She's, she's incredible. Her voice is shot but it's, but it always was, I mean, you

00:39:18.875 - 00:39:38.050

know, when you have no voice to start with, there's not much to lose. It's all delivery. It, it reminds me somewhat of, of the, uh, some of the, the, uh, French blues singers of two generations back. Uh, I don't even remember some of their names but

00:39:38.060 - 00:39:51.060

you'd listen to them and, uh, they they just, well, even, even them, even some of the men, I don't know if you remember Jean Sablan. Do you remember him? He, he'd talk a record, he never did sing. Well, this, this is sort of the equivalent in

00:39:51.070 - 00:40:08.750

Mexican, but an example of another Texas artist is so it's three that we've mentioned. Now, Lydia and Jlo and, and, and uh Eva Garza and there have been others, there have been others, of course, in the North Daniel Field, I mean, the, the whole valley, they're,

00:40:08.760 - 00:40:24.639

they're interchangeable one side of the, the border from the other. Plenty of them. You know, there's stars on the Mexican side and stars over here and vice versa. Go back and forth. Yeah. When did you first have Los Ale de te, you remember how God, uh

00:40:25.379 - 00:40:46.929

I don't, it's been, must be 30 years I don't think has to be 30 years or practically in the early fifties. Yeah. Sure. It must be. And, and did, did they draw well here too? Yes. Yes. But you see, suddenly, well, it became respectable after a

00:40:46.939 - 00:41:04.370

while. But did it have to do with migration patterns? Because when you first started in a sense, that's true. That's true. But also the music got a little, a little better. And strangely, I think one of the people responsible for that was Porro who popularized it

00:41:04.379 - 00:41:20.669

in comedy. He's such a great comedian and he wrote much of his own material. He did some of these songs with the Norteno background. But it, it, he had much to do with the popularization of uh the Norteno School. One more thing Lydia mentioned that she

00:41:20.679 - 00:41:40.790

worked with a well known comedian here at your theater. Kin. Do you, do you remember anything about that particular show? You know, that's probably, I'm thinking, I don't, but, but he was a big, big, big star movies. Stage made some phonograph records. Unfortunately, he never recorded

00:41:40.800 - 00:42:01.260

enough. Um, I thought in fact, I tried to sign him and it just, for whatever reason it, it never worked. Uh, we just never got together. Did, did, did he sing as well as make jokes, comedy. He sang some songs. He had, uh AAA big version

00:42:01.270 - 00:42:26.750

of El Burrito going back to about 1946 47 which was a novelty song at that time. It was very number one, a huge version of it for those times. We started off with a janitor at Hard Radio Fish Morning. Hm. Your guitar. Like nobody. Oh, no,

00:42:26.760 - 00:42:43.570

I mean, it's, it's, it's very difficult, it's very difficult. You, you, you, you think, well, all you have to do is double Fred. Oh, no, there's nothing like it. It's amazing. She told me that some, uh, shows some theaters in Mexico City try to have her,

00:42:43.750 - 00:43:06.250

you know, be accompanied by an orchestra and all that. But then did you ever try anything like that or did you just let let her be able to play her guitar. Never. It wouldn't work. Exactly. And the sisters too. Oh, yeah. Oh, I remember. Oh, my

00:43:06.260 - 00:43:11.310

God. I must be getting old. It's a long time ago.