Lalo Guerrero

The father of Chicano music, Lalo Guerrero was the first artist to wed Spanish-language lyrics and slang to swing and R&B, creating a bilingual boogie-woogie sound that articulated and illuminated the Latino experience in 20th century America. Born Eduardo Guerrero, Jr. in the impoverished Barrio Viejo neighborhood of Tucson, AZ, on Christmas Eve 1916, he was one of about two dozen children, several of whom died before he was born. His mother taught him to play guitar, while relatives in Mexico encouraged him to begin writing songs. After dropping out of high school at 17, Gue...