Consuelo (Chelo) Silva was born on August 25, 1922, in Brownsville, Texas, the eldest of seven children.
As a teenager, Silva performed with her school and La Guadalupe Catholic Church, eventually performing locally with a local group, the Tito Crixell Orchestra. El Cheque en Blanco was one of her better-known hits and she became known as "La Reina de Los Boleros." She was married to Brownsville's Americo Paredes, also a musician and future author, with whom she had a son.
Chelo was inducted into the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame in 2004. She was also inducted into the South Texas Music Walk of Fame. Chelo died of cancer on April 2, 1988, in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Joe and Rosa Perez, of Rumbo al Anacua, composed this tribute to her.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODIES
By Rosa Canales Perez
Bohemian rhapsodies
Seldom find their place in Mexican-side of town cantinas
More beer than wine cantinas
Heavy with cigarette smoke
"El Monkey Lounge"
"El Mante Bar"
"El 1,2,3"
Troubadors strapped with
Acordeon and bajo sexto
Wander in and out
But thumping wails
from stereophonic jukebox prevail
En el 1,2,3
A hard-living barrio poet
Stands back turned toward the rest
Hands upon the jukebox
Selecting his music
Like pulling a cork
From a bottle of vintage rare---
Until the voice of Chelo Silva fills the air
Chelo Silva...
Self-avowed Bohemian
Passionate
Elegant
Rebellious
Bending notes from
Shades of Mexican blue
One bolero after another
Torch songs aching with
Heartbreak, talent and
Never-ending hometown due
Chelo Silva
1950s Texas bolero queen
yet to be replaced
reigning from the grave
Cast in a cantina scene
With a hard-living barrio poet
Secure within the
Tolerance zone where
People don't ask
Too many questions
When the
Bohemian
Rhapsodies of an
Errant soul find
Their way back home
2002
.
2 comments:
Chelo Silva, Chayito Valdez, Paquita la del Barrio etc All became famous singing Cheque en Blanco. We need another singer from Brownsville to sing these old songs.
Paquita la del Barrio was a woman who got royally screwed by men and as a result was artistically bitter. She was never my mug of 🍺 beer.
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