His
blend of American folk, Latin and rockabilly music captivated listeners
worldwide. His secret: arrangements that people could dance to. He died
of Covid-19.
By
Trini
Lopez, who had worldwide hit records in the early 1960s by creating a
unique mix of American folk, Latin and rockabilly music, died on Tuesday
at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 83.
His longtime friend and collaborator Joe Chavira said the cause was complications of Covid-19.
Mr.
Lopez’s two biggest records — “If I Had a Hammer” and “Lemon Tree” —
had both been hits as well for the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary
several years earlier. But Mr. Lopez’s versions soared even higher on
Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
His
“Hammer” reached No. 3 (Peter, Paul and Mary’s had gotten as high as No.
10), and his “Lemon Tree” got to No. 10 (theirs had peaked at No. 35).
They also had more international impact.
Mr.
Lopez’s version of “If I Had a Hammer” shot to No. 1 in 36 countries
and sold more than a million copies. His stylistic advantage?
Arrangements that listeners could dance to.
His
interpretations bridged two prominent trends of the day. At a
commercially rich time for folk music, Mr. Lopez drew on the beauty of
the genre’s tunes while souping them up with the sharp rockabilly beats
employed by hitmakers like Buddy Holly and Carl Perkins.
“Making songs danceable helped me a lot,” Mr. Lopez told The Classic Rock Music Reporter
in 2014, adding, “Discotheques back in those days were not only playing
my songs, they were playing my album all the way through.”
For
yet another draw, Mr. Lopez punctuated many of his songs with joyous
hoots and trills drawn from Mexican folk, emphasizing his ethnic
heritage at a time when many Latin performers kept theirs hidden. “I’m
proud to be a Mexicano,” he told The Seattle Times in 2017.
His groundbreaking mix of sounds connected with listeners right from the start, with his debut album, “Live at PJ’s,”
recorded at a popular Los Angeles nightclub and released in 1963. The
disc went gold, fueled by the success of “If I Had a Hammer.” The album
also featured a version of “La Bamba,” the traditional Mexican song that
another pioneering Latin rocker, Ritchie Valens, had turned into a Top
40 hit five years earlier.
He racked
up other Top 40 hits with “Kansas City” and “I’m Coming Home, Cindy.” He
made Billboard magazine’s adult contemporary Top 40 15 times.
Not
only a singer, Mr. Lopez was an accomplished guitar player, leading the
Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1964 to invite him to design two
instruments, both of which became collector’s items. Decades later, star
guitarists like Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Noel Gallagher of Oasis
employed vintage versions of those instruments.
Trinidad
Lopez III was born on May 13, 1937, in Dallas. His father, Trinidad II,
was a singer, dancer and musician in the ranchera style but made his
living as a manual laborer. As a teenager, the elder Mr. Lopez had
married Petra Gonzales in their hometown, Morolean, in central Mexico,
before moving to Dallas, where they had six children.
The
family lived in a poor area of the city known as Little Mexico, where
Trini attended elementary school. When he was 11, his father bought him a
$12 guitar from a pawnshop and taught him to play. “That was the
biggest reward of my life,” he said.
Trini
began performing for coins on street corners, playing traditional
Mexican songs, including “La Bamba.” At the same time, he took
inspiration from the hits of African-American blues artists like T-Bone
Walker and Jimmy Reed, as well as early rockers like Elvis Presley and
Buddy Holly.
To
help support his family, Mr. Lopez dropped out of N.R. Crozier Tech
High School (now Dallas High School) in his senior year to play music
full time. By then, his music had been increasingly influenced by
American-bred styles. His first band, the Big Beats, performed at the
upscale Cipango Club in Dallas.
Mr.
Lopez later attributed his drive to succeed in part to the prejudice he
had endured growing up. “My problem was always being a Mexican in
America,” he told the website For Elvis CD Collectors in 2008. “In
Texas, we were treated worse than the Blacks. But I had big dreams.”
Mr.
Lopez met Buddy Holly, a fellow Texan, in 1958 through local gigs.
Holly recommended him to his producer, Norman Petty. But Mr. Lopez’s
working relationship with the producer, as well as with his own band at
the time, was fraught. Both discouraged his singing. The only two songs
that he and his band recorded for Columbia Records were instrumentals.
Frustrated, Mr. Lopez quit the band.
He
made his solo debut on the Dallas-based Volk Records with a song he
wrote, “The Right to Rock.” The label tried to get Mr. Lopez to hide his
ethnicity by changing his last name, but he refused. The next year, he
signed with King Records, which issued a dozen singles over the next
three years, none of which cracked the charts.
Several
years later, after Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, better
known as the Big Bopper, died in a plane crash, a Liberty Records
producer, Snuff Garrett,
contacted Mr. Lopez about possibly replacing Holly as the new frontman
of the Crickets. But meetings and auditions never panned out.
Mr.
Lopez’s pivotal break came after he landed a steady gig with his trio
at P.J.’s, a hangout for stars like Frank Sinatra and Steve McQueen.
After catching his show several times, Sinatra sent Don Costa, the key
producer for his record label, Reprise, to sign him.
Inspired
by the energy of the shows, Mr. Costa had the notion to make Mr.
Lopez’s first album a live work, recorded at P.J.’s with just his trio.
To capture the full concert experience, Mr. Costa had a microphone on
the floor of the club, using as a motif the sound of the audience
clapping along to every song.
The
“Live at PJ’s” album kicked off with a cover of “America,” from the
musical “West Side Story,” emphasizing Mr. Lopez’s Latin heritage,
albeit from a Puerto Rican rather than a Mexican perspective. The album
included a cover of “Cielito Lindo,” a Mexican classic often performed
by Mariachi bands. (Mr. Lopez’s version was heard in 1989 on the
soundtrack of the Oliver Stone movie “Born on the Fourth of July,”
starring Tom Cruise.)
“Live at PJ’s”
proved so successful that it inspired a sequel that same year, “By
Popular Demand: More Trini Lopez at PJ’s.” One of its tracks was a cover
of the Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller song “Kansas City,” which went to No.
23 on Billboard’s pop chart.
He soon became a big draw on the Las Vegas circuit as well as in theaters and clubs around the world.
Mr.
Lopez found his way into television in 1969, starring in a variety show
special for NBC using the surf-rock group the Ventures as his backing
band. The show also produced a soundtrack, “The Trini Lopez Show.”
By then he had branched out into acting, with limited success. His first role, in the 1965 film “Marriage on the Rocks,”
a comedy with Sinatra and Deborah Kerr, was a cameo in a nightclub,
though a song he performed on the soundtrack, “Sinner Man,” reached No.
12 on Billboard’s adult contemporary chart.
He
also appeared in the hit 1967 movie “The Dirty Dozen,” in a role that
was meant to be large but that got cut down after Mr. Lopez left the
shoot before it ended, frustrated by production delays. He had the lead
role in “Antonio,” a 1973 movie about a poor Chilean potter who
befriends a rich American (Larry Hagman) passing through his village.
Mr.
Lopez continued to record albums through 2011, with the “Into the
Future” album, for which he paid back Sinatra for his early break by
covering songs associated with him.
Mr. Lopez never married and had no children. “I’ve always been a loner,” he told Classicbands.com. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.
For
all Mr. Lopez’s success as an international headliner, he would later
look back with pride at one particular gig in which he shared the bill,
with the Beatles, at the venerable Olympic Theater in Paris. It was just
before the Beatles’ American debut, in 1964.
“I
used to steal the show from them every night!” he told The Classic Rock
Music Report. “The French newspapers would say, ‘Bravo, Trini Lopez!
Who are the Beatles?’”
Julia Carmel contributed reporting.
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Betty MacDonald fan club - and Vita Magica fans,
very witty book ' Satire ist mein Lieblingstier ' ( Satire is my favourite animal ) by Heidelberg author, Betty MacDonald fan club - and Vita Magica founder Wolfgang Hampel is successful around the world.
This very funny book written in German got readers in the U.S. and many other countries.
Especially in these times we need golden laughter.
This wonderful book is the best medicine against bad mood.
Das sehr witzige Buch ' Satire ist mein Lieblingstier ' des
Heidelberger Autors und Vita Magica Gründers Wolfgang Hampel ist auf der ganzen Welt erfolgreich.
Das deutschsprachige Buch hat auch in den USA und vielen anderen Ländern seine Leser gefunden.
Gerade in diesen Zeiten dürfen wir das Lachen nicht verlernen.
Dieses wunderbare Buch ist die beste Medizin gegen schlechte Laune.
You can order Wolfgang Hampel 'Satire ist mein Lieblingstier' (Satire is my favourite animal)
Germany
Germany buecher.de
Germany Hugendobel.de
Germany - jpc
Germany - lehmanns media
Germany - Jokers
Germany - Weltbild
Betty MacDonald Memorial Award Winner Wolfgang Hampel's very popular golden satirical book Satire ist mein Lieblingstier ( Satire is my favourite animal ) is available in 5 continents and on Amazon U.S. Best Sellers Rank in Parody.
( see list below )
We have a golden Betty MacDonald fan club Egg for you.
Tell us your favourite satirical text of Wolfgang Hampel's book Satire ist mein Lieblingstier, please and you'll get several fascinating Betty MacDonald fan club items for free.
Wolfgang Hampel's very successful book is available in many countries around the world. ( see links below )
A wonderful Betty MacDonald fan club egg: You can win a first edition of one of Betty MacDonald's books with a dedication of Betty MacDonald. It's a golden treasure.
Don't miss this unique Betty MacDonald fan club offer, please.
Thank you so much for your interest and support.
Greetings,
Astrid
Betty MacDonald Memorial Award Winner Wolfgang Hampel's very popular golden satirical book Satire ist mein Lieblingstier ( Satire is my favourite animal ) is available in 5 continents and on Amazon U.S. Best Sellers Rank in Parody.
( see list below )
Angelika Jung and Wolfgang Hampel in Marc Marshalls SWR 3 TV Sendung HERZSCHLAG-MOMENTE am Samstag, den 3. August 2019 21.50
Angelika Jung and Wolfgang Hampel in Marc Marshall's SWR 3 TV Show HERZSCHLAG-MOMENTE on Saturday 3rd of August 2019 21.50
Angelika Jung and Wolfgang Hampel in Marc Marshall's SWR 3 TV Show HERZSCHLAG-MOMENTE on Saturday 3rd of August 2019 21.50
Marc Marshall in SWR 3 TV ' Talk am See ' - HERZSCHLAG - MOMENTE
Wolfgang Hampel's very witty book 'Satire ist mein Lieblingstier' ( Satire is my favourite animal ) is No 1 Buecher de TOP List.
Wolfgang
Hampels sehr witziges Buch ' Satire ist mein Lieblingstier' ( Satire is
my favourite animal ) ist No 1 Buecher de TOP Liste.
Many greetings - viele Grüße
Mats
Many greetings - viele Grüße
Mats
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You can order Wolfgang Hampel 'Satire ist mein Lieblingstier' (Satire is my favourite animal)
U.S.A.
United Kingdom
Australia
Austria
Brazil
Canada
Czechia
Denmark
Denmark saxo
Finland
France
Germany
Germany buecher.de
Germany Hugendobel.de
Germany - jpc
Germany - lehmanns media
Germany - Jokers
Germany - Weltbild
HungaryItaly
Japan
Mexico
Norway
Poland
Poland ceneo
Romania
Singapore
Slovak Republic
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
The Netherlands
The Netherlands - DODAX
Wolfgang Hampel - Satire ist mein Lieblingstier ( Satire is my favourite animal )
Informationen über die Kultveranstaltung "Vita Magica" der Akademie für Ältere in Heidelberg
Wolfgang Hampel - Satire ist mein Lieblingstier ( Satire is my favourite animal )
The best president ever
Roger Cicero - ESC winner 2007
Many ESC fans from all over the world are so very sad because we lost Joy Fleming - one of the best singers ever.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel sings 'Try to remember' especially for Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund at Vita Magica September
you can join
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Vita Magica
Eurovision Song Contest Fan Club
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Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( Polski)
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - LinkFang ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Academic ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - cyclopaedia.net ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - DBpedia ( English / German )
Wolfgang Hampel - people check ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Memim ( English )
Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )
Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)
Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
Betty MacDonald fan club items
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Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I
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Satire ist mein Lieblingstier
- Satirische Gedichte: Mit Informationen über die Kultveranstaltung
"Vita Magica" der Akademie für Ältere in Heidelberg | Wolfgang
Satire ist mein Lieblingstier
- Satirische Gedichte. Mit Informationen über die Kultveranstaltung
Vita Magica der Akademie für Ältere in Heidelberg. Satire ist mein ...
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