Any fan serious of country music from the 1970s which is worth its salt is experiencing the name, successes, and does not need to be sold on the importance of Johnny Rodriguez. Six songs n ° 1, fourteen top 5, twenty top 10, including a series of fifteen top 10 to start his career between 1973 and 1978, Johnny Rodriguez helped define country music as much as anyone in the decade, and continued to hit well songs in the 80s.
Born in Sabinal, Texas, on December 10, 1951, Johnny Rodriguez was a good child growing up, especially as the altar at the church, and the captain of his undergraduate football team. But when his father passed from cancer at the age of 16, then his brother died the following year in a car accident, a broken heart led to trouble with the law and a taste for country music.
Johnny Rodriguez never did anything too bad, at least not at first. Legend has it that in 1969 at the age of 18, Rodriguez was thrown into prison after he and his friends stole a goat and toasted her. Others say he landed in the Pokey just for an unpaid fine. David Allan Coe believed this last story and wrote it in the verses of the song “Longhaired Redneck”. Anyway, while singing in his cell to pass the time, the famous Ranger of Texas Joaquin Jackson heard Rodriguez and said to the promoter of “happy” Shahan music about him.
“Happy” Shahan in turn hired Rodriguez to sing to the tourist attraction of the village of Alamo where the film made by John Wayne of 1960 Alamo had been filmed. In 1971, Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare crossed the city, and just like everyone else, they were struck down in Johnny’s voice and told him that he should move to Nashville. Johnny conforms, showing up at Music City when he was 21 years old with just a guitar and $ 14. Less than a year later, Rodriguez was signed to record songs for Mercury.
After having marked his first top 10 with “Pass Me by (if you are only passing)”, Rodriguez struck the consecutive # 1 with “You Reve Reven (to hurt me)”, “Ridin ‘My Thumb to Mexico” and “That’s how love is happening”. Johnny Rodriguez became the first big Hispanic star of country music, helping to open the door to Freddy Fender and Linda Ronstadt, and sometimes sing songs and phrases in Spanish, making him a crossover star with Hispanic listeners and making Hispanic listening fans. In 1973, Johnny Rodriguez was nominated for the male singer of the CMA year.
In addition to bringing country successes with rock songs such as “Something” by the Beatles and “Desperado” by the Eagles, Johnny Rodriguez wrote some of his greatest successes himself, like “Ridin ‘My Thumb to Mexico” and “You Reve Back (to injure me)”, for respect for his peers and other writers. Johnny’s affiliation with Bobby Bare and the fact that he came from Texas was also part of the outlaw movement of the time.
In 1979, Rodriguez signed with Epic Records and worked with the famous producer Billy Sherrill. The blows have stopped coming so easily, but Rodriguez would make its mark from time to time, including the achievement of two best successes in 1983 with “Foolin” and “how could I love it so much”. The commercial era of Johnny Rodriguez ended when he pulled and killed a man at his house in 1998, thinking that man was a burglar. Finally acquitted on all accusations, Rodriguez continued to perform for the presidents (Jimmy Carter and the two Bushs), and was exempt from the public.
Johnny Rodriguez continued to play, tour and sometimes record music in the 1970s. In December 2022, it was in the studio to record a project that included duets with Dennis Quaid and Tanya Tucker. But you wouldn’t know that Johnny Rodriguez was still there by the lack of attention he received from his Heydey in the 1970s and 80s.
Rodriguez remained a hero in Texas. He was enthroned in Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2010, he received the Pioneer Prize from the Houston Hispanic Culture Institute. And in November 2022, he was enthroned at the renowned temple of the Champions All Cowboy and Arena in Kerrville, TX. He also received the Ameripolitan Master 2023 award.
In a just world, Johnny Rodriguez would be at least a name in the discussion of the temple of renowned country music. There is An current campaign to make him induct.
But if this day comes, it will be posthumous. After entering palliative care earlier this week, Johnny Rodriguez died on May 9. He was 73 years old.
Johnny’s daughter Aubry Rodriguez published her first single “Pass Me By” with Vinny Tovar in tribute to her father earlier this year.
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