Blue Moon

This photo is from a book titled Images of America - Pharr by Romeo Rosales Jr. of the Pharr Memorial Library.

This club used to be near where I live. By the time I was born, it had already been closed for many years. A lot of the older musicians I talk to always bring up this place.

After I saw this photo, I called my dad on the phone since I remembered him talking about it as well.

"Hay iba casi todos los domingos," ("I would go there almost every Sunday,") my dad said on Wednesday night. "Cuando estaba joven, verdad, iba a tocar allí yo." ("When I was young, right, I would go there to play music.")

His band’s name was Sandy and the Silhouettes. The band-members were from Donna, McAllen, and Edinburg. They recorded one 45 for Bego Records, and briefly toured with the Bego Caravana. My dad estimates that this was around 1970-71, after he graduated from Donna High School.

According to my dad, Joe Vera would have two bands at Vera’s Palladium in Weslaco, and two bands at Blue Moon in Pharr. After their sets were done, the bands would then switch venues. My dad remembers seeing Johnny Canales, Chano Cadena, and Henry and the Glares at these hot spots.

The Veras sold this building later in the decade, and it became a factory where leather jackets were made. My Tia Panchie worked there for a few years.