I may be dating myself a bit here, but back in the day when cotton was the king of agriculture in South Texas, our parents used to send us kids with a local truck driver (contratista) to pick cotton in fields around Brownsville.
The work was hot, low-paying and tiring. But it was also a kind of adventure. The money we made during the week (between $10 to $15 ) would be used to buy clothes for school. A dollar went a long way back then.
A lot of the neighborhood kids of the Las Prietas and Southmost areas would be out in the fields and to pass the time, we'd sing the favorites songs of the day.
Inevitably, the songs made popular by Freddie Gomez would reverberate across the fields, the sound of youthful voices losing themselves over the mirages of heat across the green and white expanse of the endless cotton rows.
One particular favorite at the time (the Vietnam War was on) was "El Soldado Raso," that dealt with a soldier (a private) leaving for the war and leaving behind his family and friends. It was a somewhat melodramatic tune but it conveyed the feelings of many young soldiers and the families they left behind.
Me voy de soldado raso
voy a ingresar a las filas
con los valientes muchachos
que dejan madres queridas
que dejan novias llorando
llorando su despedida.
Mañana salgo temprano
al despuntar nuevo dia
y aqui va otro mexicano
que va a jugarse la vida
que se despide cantando
que viva la patria mia.
Now, Freddie wasn't the first singer to interpret this song. But his high nasal voice and accordion gave the song a distinctive sound that earned him fame as the "Cyclon del Valle."
Ask any Hispanic veterans of the time who the artist was who sang that song and inevitably, Freddie's name will be the first from their lips.
Four years ago, Timo Ruedas' the South Texas Conjunto Association teamed up with George Ramirez's Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts and established an annual memorial concert to remember Gomez and musicians who followed in his footsteps. The City of Brownsville is also a co-sponsor.
This year, the Fourth Annual Freddie Gomez Memorial Conjunto Concert will be held from 6 to 12 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30 in Brownsville's Historic Downtown District at the corner of Levee and 11th streets.
The event is free in celebration of Labor Day, the working man's holiday. Gomez died Sept. 3, 2005.
Freddie Gomez was a simple man, and singing with a conjunto was a side gig (he worked at J.C. Penney's in Brownsville and retired from there without ever missing a day of work.) One can only imagine what he could have achieved is he had devoted his full time to his musical pursuits.
The program includes the Memorial Ceremony, Conjunto “Ambassador” Award presentations, Youth-Musician ensembles, a Dance Marathon and three Conjunto performances.
This year, Conjunto music legend, Pepe Maldonado, will be the featured artist for the memorial conjunto venue. Pepe was born in Rio Grande City in 1941and his family relocated to Edinburg in 1945. While he plays a variety of instruments, including the accordion, bass and bajo-sexto, he especially enjoys Singing. Pepe first performed in front of a live audience during the 1950’s at a theater in Alamo that hosted weekly amateur events for local musicians.
He and accordionist, Juan Antonio Tapia, participated in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. in 1998. In 2002 he opened La Lomita, a Western aesthetic park, to host weekly dances and promote local area Conjunto groups.
Pepe Maldonado y Su Conjunto will perform at 8 p.m. and followed by the versatile accordionist/vocalist, Arturo Nino y Su Khromaticos and Brownsville’s popular group, “La Farra” de los Hermanos Lozano.
The Concert venue includes a 25-minute marathon dance competition with seven styles and rhythms of Conjunto dance music that starts with a slow Vals (waltz) then progresses to a Bolero, a Redova, a Shotiz, a Cumbia, a Polka and ends with the rapid beat of a Huapango.
Food and beverage concessions will be available and tables and chairs sitting will be provided.
For further information, call the STCA Brownsville Chapter, 956-545-8446 or visit www.conjunto.org.
Food and beverage concessions will be available and tables and chairs sitting will be provided.
For further information, call the STCA Brownsville Chapter, 956-545-8446 or visit www.conjunto.org.
1 comment:
Memories - I picked cotton in Olmito for Lupe Esquivel back in the day. I could hear the songs acapella by day and full conjunto sounds wafting up Olmito Lake from the Lakeside Inn on Friday and Saturday nights.
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