(Name of artist: Alex AndroBusiness name: Pop Culture)
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
The Broken Sprocket finally did what this city has refused to do since Chelo Silva was alive and after she died.
They gave her the well-deserved recognition that had eluded her since she was born here on August 25, 1922, almost 100 years ago. And even though it happened 33 years after her death April 22, 1988, it couldn't come too soon for her longtime and younger fans.
Now alongside Jimmy Gonzalez of Mazz and Kris Kristofferson, Freddie Fender, Luis Pulido, etc., her portrait now adorns a wall panel at this gathering place in Brownsville.
Her biographers say that Chelo, called La Reina del Bolero (Queen of the Bolero), reigned over Tejano music scene with her romantic ballads and passionate performances in 1940s and into the 1960s.
She was born Consuelo Silva on August 25, 1922, in Brownsville, the oldest of seven children. She began singing as a teenager at school and in her church (Guadalupe Catholic Church on Lincoln Street). In fact, locals say her first public performance was at a Guadalupe Church Kermess.
Retired pharmacist Vincent Crixell said Chelo had been noticed by local musicians while still in her early teens. A few years later, she was singing regularly with a local group, the Tito Crixell Orchestra, headed by Vincent's father.
"Chelo performed in the first Charro Days in 1938," he remembered. "My dad had to ask permission from her parents so she could sing."
Her online biography said Chelo made her mark on a wider audience in 1939 when she was asked to sing on a local radio program hosted by the poet, composer, and author Americo Paredes.
That radio show gave her wider exposure and opened the doors for her. It wasn't long before she was performing regularly at Corpus Christi's Continental Club. Silva also later married, and divorced, Paredes.
However, breaking into recordings was difficult for Chelo and it wasn't until she was 30 that she landed her first record deal with Discos Falcón of McAllen, Texas, where she would go on to record over seventy titles.
Liner notes on a compilation of her hits indicate that by 1955 she had signed with Falcon Records, Peerless Records, and finally Columbia Records.
The move paid off almost immediately as Silva put together an impressive string of hit songs, including "Cheque En Blanco," "La Huella de Mis Besos," “Imploración,” “Esta Sellado,” “Soy Bohemia,” “Inolvidable,” and "Como Un Perro," etc.
In 1955 she signed with Columbia Records and gained even more commercial exposure. She made a series of major hits, including "Sabes de Qué Tengo Ganas," "Amor Aventurero," and "Soy Bohemia." Accompanied by guitar trios, her distinctive low contralto had a melancholy quality well-suited to the canción romántica.
She was born Consuelo Silva on August 25, 1922, in Brownsville, the oldest of seven children. She began singing as a teenager at school and in her church (Guadalupe Catholic Church on Lincoln Street). In fact, locals say her first public performance was at a Guadalupe Church Kermess.
Retired pharmacist Vincent Crixell said Chelo had been noticed by local musicians while still in her early teens. A few years later, she was singing regularly with a local group, the Tito Crixell Orchestra, headed by Vincent's father.
"Chelo performed in the first Charro Days in 1938," he remembered. "My dad had to ask permission from her parents so she could sing."
That radio show gave her wider exposure and opened the doors for her. It wasn't long before she was performing regularly at Corpus Christi's Continental Club. Silva also later married, and divorced, Paredes.
However, breaking into recordings was difficult for Chelo and it wasn't until she was 30 that she landed her first record deal with Discos Falcón of McAllen, Texas, where she would go on to record over seventy titles.
Liner notes on a compilation of her hits indicate that by 1955 she had signed with Falcon Records, Peerless Records, and finally Columbia Records.
The move paid off almost immediately as Silva put together an impressive string of hit songs, including "Cheque En Blanco," "La Huella de Mis Besos," “Imploración,” “Esta Sellado,” “Soy Bohemia,” “Inolvidable,” and "Como Un Perro," etc.
Hailed as "la Reina de los Boleros." she continued to perform until the 1980s, touring extensively throughout Mexico, South America, and the United States. She also performed with notable figures of the música ranchera style, such as José Alfredo Jiménez, Javier Solís, and Lola Beltrán.
She died of cancer on April 2, 1988, in Corpus Christi. In 2004 Silva was inducted into the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame. She was also a member of the South Texas Music Walk of Fame.
Welcome home to Brownsville Chelo Silva, "La Reina del Bolero."
7 comments:
A poster on the wall of a beer joint is not exactly something to be proud of, but I hope its a start. With the gringo lovers in this town it will be hard to get her the recognition she deserves. In the end she was singing along the cantinas en la catorse where she again became very popular. Thanks to the Broken Sprocket for recognizing a true star from this gringo loving town...
Suegra con beneficios.
Local celebrity she deserves, but she is not in Kris Kristofferson's league.
We know that and you know that, Montoya.
c/s
Mexicans do not often honor their own: Erect a statue of Chelo in town!
Pay tribute to your talented people.
(Whites do it all the time)
Rocker Bill Haley is NOT from the Valley; he only died in Harlingen.
Don't appropriate stars!
jambones!!!
That kk from here rejected his home town, not in his league is correct, but league of idiotas, now who want to be in that league, another idiota at: February 23, 2022 at 10:30 AM
c/s
February 23, 2022 at 1:29 PM
Since this town is full of cocos/gringos I doubt if they built a statue honoring any meskin. That porn actor hasn't made it yet and he's a gringo mamon...
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