Trini
Lopez: From the Barrio To International Stardom
by Mark Guerrero
The Trini Lopez story is more than a “rags to riches”
story. It’s so fantastic that it reads like fiction.
Trinidad Lopez III was born and grew up in a barrio in Dallas,
Texas. He had four sisters and a brother and remembers
sometimes having barely enough food for the family.
His parents sometimes plowed fields together and his mother
would often wash the clothes of neighbors to help make ends
meet. His father had been a singer and musician in
Mexico, where he married Petra Gonzalez and moved to Dallas
to better their lives. From these humble beginnings, Trini would achieve international fame, perform on the same
bill with the Beatles, become friends with Elvis Presley,
and be mentored by Frank Sinatra.
As a kid, Trini was running around
with the wrong crowd and started getting into trouble.
When he was around 11 years old, his father grew tired
of this behavior and spanked him severely. Trinidad
Lopez, Sr. felt so bad about the spanking he had given his
son, he purchased a black Gibson guitar for him, at a cost
of $12. The experience changed his life. His father
taught him a few chords and Trini took it from there.
He formed his own group and by the time he was in high school,
started to play around town. At a gig in Wichita Falls
he met Snuff Garrett, who was a disk jockey at the time.
(Snuff Garrett later became a legendary record producer).
Snuff liked Trini’s show and one day brought Buddy Holly
in to see him perform. Buddy also liked what he heard
and offered to introduce Trini to his record producer, Norman
Petty. At the time, Buddy Holly already had several
hits and was riding high. Trini and his band traveled
to Clovis, New Mexico, where Petty had his recording studio.
After meeting Norman Petty, Trini felt that the producer was
racially prejudiced against him. Although Trini was
lead singer of the band, they wound up recording instrumentals
for ten days. One morning the guys in the band woke
Trini up and told him from then on they were all going
to sing lead and make equal money. Trini felt like leaving
town that day, but at age 18 he didn’t want to drive
back to Texas alone. When they did return to Dallas,
Trini left the band and formed a new one.
One night while performing with his
new group at the Millionaire’s club in Lubbock, Texas
(Buddy’s home town), Snuff Garrett called and asked
him if he wanted to join Buddy’s band, the Crickets.
(Buddy Holly had recently died in the infamous plane crash
that also killed Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper).
They offered him a plane ticket to Los Angeles, but Trini
said he’d take the cash and drive instead. The
Crickets were living in a nice house in the Hollywood Hills
and being young men with record royalties coming in, were
more interested in partying than working. When Trini’s
money ran out, he auditioned as a solo performer at Ye Little
Club in Beverly Hills. The owner hired him before he
finished his first song. He was hired for two weeks
and wound up staying a year. His next club gig was at PJ’s in Hollywood. Hired for three months, he stayed
a year and a half. Frank Sinatra, who was Trini’s
idol, used to frequent PJ’s. Sinatra liked Trini’s
act and signed him to his label, Reprise Records for a term
of eight years. Mr. Sinatra assigned his own producer,
Don Costa, to produce Trini’s first album. Don
decided to record the album live at PJ’s to capture
the excitement that Trini was generating. The album
was an immediate hit. The first single, “If I Had a
Hammer,” became number one in 25 countries and the album
spent 48 weeks in the national Top 40. Trini picked
his own material and says he recorded folk songs like
“If I Had a Hammer,” “This Land Is Your
Land,” and “Lemon Tree,” because folk music
was what was happening in the early 60s, with groups
like the Kingston Trio and the Limeliters enjoying great success.
This was also the era that spawned Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and
Peter, Paul and Mary. Trini took folk songs he liked,
electrified them and added a Latin flavor. The public ate
it up.
One day word got to Trini that Frank
Sinatra wanted to meet him. He was taken to Warner Brothers
Studios, where Frank was filming a movie called “Four
for Texas.” From then on Trini considered Sinatra
a mentor and “like a father to me.” Trini
hung out with Frank and the rest of the “rat pack”
(Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop,
etc.), traveled with Sinatra on his Lear jet, and was a frequent
guest at his house. Sinatra put Trini in a movie,
“Marriage On the Rocks,” which starred Sinatra
and Dean Martin, for which Trini wrote a song. Later,
Trini landed a major role in what would turn out to be a classic
movie, “The Dirty Dozen.” Filming was supposed
to last four months, but took much longer. After seven
months, Sinatra advised Trini to leave the movie because Frank
feared Trini’s recording career would suffer.
Trini took the advice and left the movie. It is for
this reason that his character was killed off in the film.
After the success of “Trini
Lopez, Live at PJ’s,” he was booked to work a
month in Paris at the Olympia Theater. He was told he
would be sharing the bill with a group called the Beatles. Trini had never heard of them. The year was 1963 and
the Beatles had not yet come to America. The gig was
for six nights a week, two shows a night and three on Saturday.
He got to know the young Beatles and when asked by the British
press if he thought they would be a hit in America, Trini
said he didn’t think so because there was a better group
in the United States called the Beach Boys. Trini first
met Elvis Presley when the latter was filming “G.I.
Blues.” Two years later they met again when Elvis
would catch Trini’s shows in Las Vegas. They would
party together in Vegas, and when in Los Angeles, Trini would
play football with Elvis and his friends, Ricky Nelson, and
Johnny Rivers.
Trini Lopez to date has recorded
more than 40 albums. Aside from his biggest hit album,
“Live at PJ’s,” some of his other albums
that hit the Top 40 include: “More Trini Lopez, Live
at PJ’s,” “The Latin Album,” “The
Folk Album,” “On the Move,” Trini Lopez,
Live at Basin Street East,” and “The Love Album.”
Top 40 singles include, "If I Had a Hammer," “Kansas City,” “Lemon
Tree,” and “I’m Coming Home Cindy.”
Trini also has many television shows to his credit, such as,
“Adam 12” and a TV Movie of the Week,
“The Reluctant Heroes” for Aaron Spelling Productions.
He has also performed in storied venues such as the Waldorf
Astoria and the Copa Cabana in New York, as well as major
Las Vegas hotels. Trini was honored on the floor of
Congress by Congressman Thomas Rees of California “in
recognition of his work on behalf of international relations,”
and he has the honor of sharing prestigious company with Louis
Armstrong and Frank Sinatra in being named Goodwill Ambassador
for the United States. Coming full circle from his first
$12 Gibson guitar, the Gibson guitar company honored Trini
in the mid-60s by issuing a Trini Lopez signature model
line of guitars.
I first met Trini Lopez in late 1964
when I was about 14 years old. I had gone with my dad,
Lalo Guerrero, to a recording session at Western Recorders
in Hollywood, where Trini was recording an album. My
dad was invited because he had written a lyric for a song, “Chamaka,” that Trini was recording that
night. (Trini also once recorded my dad’s song
“Pancho Lopez”). It was a memorable experience
for me to meet Trini and later that night, the Beach
Boys, who were recording down the hall. When I moved
to Palm Springs in 1990, Trini was already living here.
We met again and he invited me to lunch, where he told me
a lot of these stories for the first time. A few years
ago, my band played at one of the events for a Golf Tournament
he hosted. These days I see him quite often. He
comes in to see my band play at Las Casuelas Terraza and I’ve
gotten to know him better.
Trini Lopez retired in 1981, however,
it was not a complete retirement. He merely stopped
the grind of regular touring. Between 1963 and 1981
he traveled all over the world almost continually. Since
his “retirement,” he has recorded three albums,
including “Trini Lopez 25th Anniversary Album,”
and occasionally does concerts around the world. In
1987, he started to get a lot of offers because of the success
of the movie “La Bamba,” since he also had a well-known version of the song. These days he relaxes and plays
golf in Palm Springs, where he still resides. He’s a
long way from hanging it up though. He’s got a
brand new album out on Sony International and is scheduled
to do some more concerts.
This article
is based on an audio taped interview by Mark Guerrero with
Trini Lopez on June 14, 2000 in Palm Springs, California.
Update
On March 21, 2003, Trini Lopez was honored by the City of
Los Angeles for his four decades of performing, music, acting,
and his generous humanitarian work. On that day the
city proclaimed "Trini Lopez Day." The mayor
and city council members were present for the award ceremony
at city hall. In addition, Trini Lopez was inducted
into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame on April 2,
2003. The 5th Annual Induction Award Ceremony and Concert
took place at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture in the
Bronx, New York. I had lunch with Trini on
March,26, 2003 and he gave me his two new CDs which are now available.
"Trini Lopez Legacy: My Texas Roots," which
features Trini with his Texas Roots Combo, Art Greenhaw and
Trini's brother, Jesse Lopez. The CD also has the legendary
Jordanaires and steel guitarist, Tom Brumley, formerly of
Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band, as guest artists. Also, "Trini Lopez 36 All-Time Greatest Hits" (Warner
Special Markets OPCD-3610), a three CD boxed set. It
has all his hits including, "If I Had a Hammer,"
"Lemon Tree," "La Bamba," and "Kansas
City."
On June 20 and 27, 2004, Trini Lopez recorded my song "Oh
Maria" for his latest album called "Romantic &
Sexy Guitars," released in May 2005. It was the
first song recorded for the project. I also played bass,
12-string acoustic guitar, and electric rhythm and lead guitar
on the session. It was recorded at a studio in Rancho
Mirage, CA owned by a friend of mine, Leon Becken, who was
also the engineer on the recording.
In January of 2006, I interviewed Trini Lopez for my internet
radio show, "Chicano Music Chronicles." I
played twelve of my favorite Trini Lopez tracks and we talked
about them. The interview gives insight into Trini's
music and career. It aired multiple times in the month
of January 2006 on crnlive.com.
You can hear it at the link at the bottom of the page.
On November 11, 2008, I performed on the bill with Trini Lopez
on a taping of a PBS television special he hosted called "Trini
Lopez Presents Latin Music Legends," which will air in March
of 2009. Also on the bill are Tierra, El Chicano,
Little WIllie G & Thee Midniters, and the Greg Rolie
Band.
Trini Lopez "La Bamba" (2008) (Finale "Trini Lopez
Presents Latin Music Legends" TV show)
(with Mark Guerrero, Jerry Salas, Rudy
Salas, Little Willie G, and others)
Hear Mark's
Interview with Trini Lopez
on his "Chicano Music Chronicles" podcast
by clicking the play button on the photo link below
Trini Lopez
Recordings Featured on Show
1. If I Had a Hammer
2. La Bamba 3. Kansas City 4. Lemon Tree
5. Chamaka 6. Laura 7. Pancho Lopez
8. Made In Paris 9. Dance the Night Away 10.
I Know You Know You Do 11. Una Paloma Blanca 12.
Oh Maria
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