Malo Guerrero Essay

Lalo Guerrero was born on Christmas Eve in 1916 in Tucson, Arizona from a humble home.Guerrero’s mother was Concepcion Guerrero who was a traditional singer and as well a guitarist. Guerrero’s mother then taught his son how to play the guitar and taught him Mexican songs. He later learned to play the families piano and was strongly encouraged to write songs from his relatives in Mexico. As a child he went to participate in a competition that took place in his town. All schools in his town were participation in this competition, but Guerrero won 1st place even against high schoolers. When the depression hit Guerrero dropped out of High School in 1933 to help support his family because his father was only working three days a week not enough to maintain his family. Guerrero started playing and singing at bars with two …show more content…
Mexican border. ”(americansabor.org/musicians/lalo-guerrero)” The reason he is considered the “Father of Chicano Music” is because no other chicano artist have come close to play as many different genres as Guerrero in history. He produced songs about Cesar Chavez, the braceros, the farm workers, Ruben Salazar and illegal aliens that motivated and inspired his people and made chicano history. He is one of the rare chicano artist that has written songs that have become standards for Mexico. His “Cancion Mexicana” was covered by legendary singers such as, Lucha Reyes and Lola Beltran, while “Nunca Jamas” was recorded by the equally legendary Trio Los Panchos, Javier Solís, and Jose Feliciano. His Pachuco music that he produced in the late 40s was used as a soundtrack for the movie that Luis Valdes produced in the late 70s for the film “Zoot