 
Chester Rosson (July 1997) In the mid-sixties the sounds of Trini Lopez's pleasant, eclectic folk style permeated the pop radio airwaves; he had 13 hits between 1963 and 1968. A fine guitarist, Lopez added a fresh latin twist to established favorites. His relaxed, upbeat delivery of Pete Seeger's revolutionary "If I Had a Hammer" was typical of this approach, and it proved to have the widest possible appeal. Born Trinidad Lopez III in Dallas, Trini Lopez had a long apprenticeship in Texas before he headed off in 1962 to a brief period of fame and fortune in California. Lopez formed his first band at the age of 15 in Wichita Falls. In the late fifties Lopez was playing with the Big Beats when he made the acquaintance of another Texas musician on the way up, Buddy Holly. Holly recommended Lopez to his producer, Norman Petty of Clovis, New Mexico. Lopez had in mind recording an instrumental, however, and the producer wasn't interested. But the encounter led to recordings for Columbia, Volk, and King recording companies, none of which attracted much attention. In 1962 Lopez moved to Los Angeles, where he became a regular performer at a nightclub called PJ's. Frank Sinatra heard him there and promptly signed Lopez to his new label, Reprise Records. The resulting album, Trini Lopez at PJ's, was an immediate success and endured on the pop album charts from the summer of 1963 well into 1965. In the next few years Lopez produced album after album, many in the live nightclub atmosphere that showed his performing style to its best advantage. He also recorded for the Spanish and German language markets. Lopez's last Top 20 hit charted in 1965 ("Lemon Tree"), but his recording career continued at a slow pace into the seventies, and he performed in Las Vegas into the eighties. |
||||
|
||||
read about this period
