Buell

I found the first three photos in a book titled Images of America - Pharr, by Romeo Rosales Jr. of the Pharr Memorial Library. The next three photos are from my own personal collection. First one is a class photo. I’m in the bottom row, wearing a TMNT sweater. The other two have me in the middle, wearing t-shirts, during the annual Mother’s Day performances. The last three photos were taken today, so y’all can see how the school looks like now.

I always heard growing up that this school was made specifically for Mexican and Mexican-American children in Pharr, so I’m glad I finally saw this statement published in a book. When I was attending, the student body was 99% Latin@s, who came from a small neighborhood-area in East Pharr, or from the colonias in Las Milpas.

When my mom first came over from Rayones, Nuevo León, Mexico, this was the first school she was enrolled at. That was in the early 1960’s. Then my older brother had classes here in the 1980’s, with myself and my little brother following him in the 1990’s.

I went to Buell Elementary from kindergarten to 2nd grade. I left one year going to Ford Elementary for 3rd grade, before returning back to Buell for 4th and 5th.

In those first few years at Buell all of my class, including myself, would speak mainly in Spanish. That’s how we socialized at home, and at school. Since the classes were part of a bilingual program, we benefited by learning the Spanish alphabet, spelling, grammar and rhymes. They had another separate class for kids that were English-speakers only. For Halloween, we would sing that silly pumpkin song, “Calabaza, calabaza, Muy chistosa, muy chistosa.” My older brother, when he heard me sing the song, repeated it but said, “Muy chichona, muy chichona.”. (“Really busty, really busty.”)

Since it was bilingual, we also had to learn English. I always remember this one moment where we had to spell something out-loud in English, in front of the class for a grade. I was spelling the word right (which I can’t remember anymore), but I pronounced the letter “I” the way it’s pronounced in Spanish, which sounded like I said “E”. The teacher immediately stopped me, telling me I had spelled it wrong. I didn’t say anything, since it would have sounded like I was making excuses, and all of my classmates were watching. Code-switching gone wrong in an academic setting, I guess.

When I entered the 4th grade, they moved me to the English-speakers class, and that’s the point where I stopped conversing in Spanish with my classmates at school. I was talking to my friend Rose recently about how growing up, becoming teenagers, we felt pressure to speak in English, and not talk in Spanish. This stigma hurt my overall development in being comfortable communicating in Spanish in public settings.

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.

Recommended Places To Buy Tejano, Conjunto, and Norteño Music‏

A box of my LP's.

One of the most common questions I get asked is, "Where do I find this music?" So this week I felt it would be a good time to recommend nearby stores that sell authentic, physical copies of Tejano, conjunto, and norteño music. While I know there are probably plenty of stores all across the Rio Grande Valley, these are four places near where I live (the Pharr-McAllen area) that I can vouch for without hesitation.

—RyN Music & Wireless, 209 S. 23rd St. in McAllen - Here you can find CD releases from the RyN record label, along with different labels that display a variety of regional music from Mexico and Texas, old and new. There is stuff here you won't find anywhere else. This place has been owned and operated by the musical Cavazos family for decades. Along with the rare CD's, one of my favorite things about this place is that you never know when an impromptu jam session is about the break out. The last time I went, the 87-year-old Ramiro Cavazos was being visited by a middle-aged bajo-sexto player and a young accordionist who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. After a lively conversation, Cavazos got his guitar and bajo-sexto, and all three musicians started playing old polkas and ranchers. It was amazing. Latest item I bought here: El Cachorro y El Donneño, Juan Villarreal y Ramiro Cavazos, Polkas, Redovas y Mas... (Discos RyN, 2012).

—H-E-B, 1300 S Cage Blvd. in Pharr and 901 E. Expressway 83 in San Juan - I only attend these two H-E-B's, so I can't speak for any others in the Hidalgo County. Both of these stores have a surprisingly good selection of musical releases. The San Juan store has a section of good DVD's, some of which include video footage of 1990's Selena and early 2000's Elida Reyna. Some DVD's I've reviewed here in the past (Valerio Longoria, Flaco Jimenez) are available for purchase at this outlet. The Pharr store has plenty of CD's to look through, including Gilberto Perez, Los Badd Boyz Del Valle, Los Texmaniacs, and Little Joe Hernandez. Latest item I bought here: Tejano Roots - Tony de la Rosa - Atotonilco (Arhoolie Records, 1993).

—Novedades Musicales Martinez, 211 N Cage Blvd in Pharr - One day earlier this year I woke and thought, "I want to listen to some more Paulino Bernal music." I remembered that this store was a few blocks from my house. I had gone in the past to buy tickets to go see El Hijo Del Santo perform, but had never actually checked out their collection of music. So I ended up going later that day, and asked if they had any Conjunto Bernal music. They took me to the shelf where I could find Tejano and conjunto CD's, which ended up having about a dozen different Bernal titles. I picked one titled El Maestro Del Acordeon Y Sus Polkas. Also I saw that they had other releases from stars like Carlos Guzman, Roberto Pulido, and Santiago Jimenez Jr.  Latest item I bought here: Mi Manzanita by Santiago Jimenez Jr. and Don Jose Moreno (JB Records, 2006).

—Valley Vinyls, 2201 N 10th St. Suite I in McAllen - I first went here in the Spring of 2011, when a friend invited me to go check it out after my dad gave me his old Magnavox stereophonic micromatic power transistor record player. On that first visit I bought three Esteban Jordan LP's that were in solid to good condition for $15.00 — Ahorita, Mirada Que Facina, and My Toot Toot. Later I picked up a sealed Wally Gonzalez Falcón Records LP titled Las Mujeres y las novelas. What I love about going through crates of old vinyl records is that feeling of finding a hidden gem that most have forgotten about, or maybe never even knew existed. Last time I was there in August, I saw a sealed LP of Los Layton's of Edcouch-Elsa. I didn't have money that day to buy it, so it's still there in case anyone is interested. Latest item I bought here: Cariñito De Mi Vida by Angel Flores (Freddie Records, 1978).

At STFC 31

My friend Rosario took this photo of me inside the STFC cage at the McAllen Convention Center, on September 5, 2014. Fun night of fights.