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Tejano Roots:
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Buy It Now!
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Juanita and Maria Mendoza were raised in a musical family, that honed their talents and experience in a vaudevillean environment in south Texas. Singing in bars and clubs, accompanied by their mother on guitar and performing in the company of their sister, Lydia, Juanita and Maria sang beautiful Spanish duets of corridos, traditional ballads and popular love songs. Shortly after the end of World War II, the Mendoza sisters launched their recording career on the newly established Azteca label in Los Angeles.
The selections on this CD represent the finest of these Azteca recordings from 1946 -1952.
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Listen to some of the tracks!! (uses RealAudio®) 1. Mis Pensamientos 2. Sone Que Me Jurabas 3. Algun Dia 4. Vale Mas Que Te Alejes 5. Los Pachucos 6. Cada Vez Que Me Acuerdo 7. Dos Seres Que Se Aman 8. Por Ultima Vez 9. Las Isabeles 10. Delgadina 11. Corrido De Arnulfo Gonzalez 12. Valentin De La Sierra 13. Que Chula Prieta 14. No Llores Pancha 15. Linda Morenita 16. Los Picones 17. El Contrabando Del Paso 18. Los Versos Del Casamiento 19. La Rancherita 20. Manuelita 21. Yo Vivo En La Parranda 22. Pero Lupita 23. El Resbaloso 24. Por Ahi Se Dice 25. El Desquite 26. Tu Sentencia |
REVIEWS “Down and out in a Mexican cantina in 1930s San Antonio, you may have heard the Mendoza sisters sing these grief-ridden love ballads. This was a time when traveling variety tent shows called carpas took entertainment to farm and barrio communities, and when the words pachuco and Chicano were still derogatory.Juanita and Maria Mendoza follow the traditions of Mexican ranchera music with a prominent 12-string guitar and gutsy vo-cals. The music does not vary a great deal through the 26 songs on this album, so it's the Spanish Iyrics that carry the listener through the emotion-packed ride. These are songs of love, betrayal, of prominent figures Gf the time, and of cultural affirmation. A bilingual songbook includes most of the Iyrics. "Los Pachucos" is surprising and fascinating for its use of the colloquial Spanglish of the time and for its contempt of extravagantly-dressed youths. Also, listen to "El Resbaloso" for an "I've had enough, I'm getting rid of you" stand against male chauvinism.” (Adolfo Guzman Lopez — Option) |
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“When Lydia Mendoza quit the road to raise her children it left La familia Mendoza in something of a fix as their success touring around the Southwest US was firmly based on the popularity of Lydia's recordings. Francisco Mendoza had never been much use to his family anyway but by this time he was dead and his widow Leonor was unchallenged in her role of matriarch. In her photographs her high-arched, painted-on, eyebrows and lopsided lipstick give the impression of a helpless, put-upon, long-suffering saint crucified on the cross of matrimony. In fact, from reading Strachwitz and Nicolopulos' family history, I get the impression that she was as tough as old boots, completely bullet-proof and a holy terror when it came to keeping her family organized for survival. She regrouped and refocused the family's financial centre around Lydia's younger sisters, the beautiful and bubbly Juanita and the equally good-looking but more sedate Maria. They started to work as a duo during the war in bars frequented by soldiers where two such attractive senoritas could hardly fail to make an impression even if they were chaperoned by Leonor and couldn't sing a note. Leonor might have deputized well for the dragon but her daughters certainly could sing and followed the feted Hermanas Padilla in forging a tradition of female duets that enjoyed immense popularity. When Lydia returned to entertaining and landed a contract with Azteca Records of Los Angeles in 1946 her sisters were sufficiently professional and well-known to be included. The twenty-six recordings on this terrific CD were all recorded between that year and 1952 when the indomitable Leonor died bringing about yet another crisis for a family who had seemed to be lurching from one to another, with odd periods of stability, since the early twenties.
When appearing live Las Hermanas Mendoza relied upon Maria's guitar for support but on record Lydia would back them using her monster twelve-string. The results are here for you to enjoy on a CD which, conforming to Chris Strachwitz' usual value-for-money style, you can load on Sunday and play all the week (well, 76 minutes if you want to be literal about it). Chris supplies the notes and the booklet also contains lyrics for nine of the songs presented in dual Spanish/ English texts.” (Keith Briggs — Blues & Rhythm) |
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“Las Hermanas Mendoza; Juanita Y Maria presents the "duetos" of Lydia's younger sisters, recorded between 1946-52, and even without knowing all the lyrics there is something to be said for these evocative ballads of heartbreak, love and betrayalyou know the stuff of music worldwide. From an assessment of "Pachucos," through a tale of "El Resbaloso" (The Slippery Guy) who is surely one who has it coming, to the resolution suggested in "El Desquite" (The Tables Will Turn), where they tell us: "And as everything gets paid back/This life is but illusion/Soon you will find the knife/That will rip open your heart," Las Hermanas Mendoza's vocal harmonics beautifully convey both how it is and what, inevitably, will be.”
(Kirk Robertson — Soundings) |
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“Breathtaking vocal duets by Juanita and Maria, with 12-string accompaniment by big sister Lydia and unnamed bass player. It gets no better than these 26 (!) songs, recorded in Los Angeles between 1946 and 1952. The sheer feeling and effortless harmonies of these two women and their minimalist string section show the payoff for the years the Mendoza Family, masterminded by mother Leonor, toured the USA as a family variedad: a show with jokes, skits, vaudeville and the elegant music for which we remember and salute them. Notes by Chris Strachwitz include texts and translations for nine of the songs.”
(Hank Bradley — Victory Review) |
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“Long overshadowed by their superstar older sister Lydia, La Gloria de' Tejas, the other offshoot of the Mendoza family variety show had a long and successful career as one of the leading female dueto acts in Tex-Mex music, Juanita singing the high leads, Maria the low second voice. When gas rationing curtailed the Mendozas' touring and Lydia decided to concentrate on raising her family, the sisters spent the war years playing in San Antonio bars, starting at $10 a night plus tips at Club Bohemia, moving up to $15 plus tips at the Pullman Bar, cutting a couple of singles for RCA Victor of Mexico. After the war, a new Los Angeles label, Azteca, signed Lydia as a solo act and also the by now well established Hermanas Mendoza, releasing 63 singles by them between 1947 and 1953 (they also cut hundreds of sides for other labels, mainly Columbia of Mexico, Colonial, Imperial, Ideal and Falcon). Maria's marriage in 1951 effectively ended the partnership, Juanita continuing to perform as a popular soloist into the 195Os, occasionally recording with Lydia as Las Hermanas Mendoza. From their 126 Azteca sides, Chris Strachwitz has culled 26 (77 minutes, Philo please note), on which Lydia plays lead guitar, with an unknown string bass player, including three credited to the formidable Mendoza matriarch Leonora, and their biggest successes, Luis Moreno's "Mis Pensamientos" and "Por Ultima Vez." Chris Strachwitz remarks in his liner notes, to my ears, there was no other female duet which had the soulful, sincere and earthy quality of the Mendoza.” (JC — Music City Texas) |
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“Though Lydia Mendoza deservedly garners much attention as one of the popular pioneers of contemporary Mexican-American music known as Tejano, her sisters enjoyed broad fan support, as well, in the '40s and early '50s. A generous, 26-song package containing the pair's recordings made for Azteca Records from 1946-52, this retrospective spotlights sisters' tight, emotive harmonies hovering over Lydia's lyrical guitar lines. An added plus is overall solid sound quality.”
(Billboard) |
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“LAS HERMANAS MENDOZA, Juanita & Maria, (Arhoolie 430). More music from the legendary musical Mendoza family of South Texas, circa 1946- 52. The most famed singing sister, I.ydia, is heard only on guitar, supporting her younger siblings flawless harmonies. Two voices, guitar and bass combine for some of the purest rancheras and corridos available on CD.”
(Mary Armstrong — Sing Out!) |
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