Childhood
Lydia Mendoza was born in Houston, Texas in 1916. Originally from Mexico, Mendoza’s parents fled because of the political distress caused by the Mexican Revolution. She grew up poor; her parents barely made enough to feed the family. During the early 1900s, tensions between Mexicans and Texans were high. This made it difficult for Mendoza’s father to find a job in Texas, so he found a job that allowed him to work on both sides of the border. The family also started making regular trips across the border with Mendoza’s father after he took a job as a mechanic with the railroad that linked Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico with Laredo, Texas. He crisscrossed the border for his job and his family often tagged along. On one of those border crossings in 1920, when Mendoza was four years old, immigration agents washed the girl’s hair with gasoline to exterminate potential lice. Unfortunately, this was not an unusual occurrence considering the racial tensions at the time.
Branching Into Music
From a young age, Lydia was taught to play many instruments, including guitar, mandolin, violin, and singing, by her mother and grandmother. Her grandmother had formal musical training. During her childhood, Lydia joined her family band in performing songs and variety shows for the Tejano community. At 12 years old, her family responded to an OKeh Records Company advertisement seeking Spanish-language recording artists placed in La Prensa, the Spanish-language newspaper in San Antonio. After successfully auditioning, the family recorded twenty songs under the professional name Cuarteto Carta Blanca and earned $140. However, they soon left San Antonio to seek work in the sugar beet fields in Detroit, Michigan. At 16, she learned how to play the guitarra doble, the 12-stringed guitar (popular in Tejano music). Hers was not a standard 12-string, however. At her request, her father rearranged the strings so that the top four pairs were in alternating notes rather than in pairs of the same notes. This personalization of the instrument created a distinctive sound.
Fame and Popularity
Lydia started gaining fame after joining her family band and performing at Tejano business establishments, on the streets, and at the Plaza del Zacate. When Lydia was a teenager, Manuel J. Cortez, a Tejano broadcaster, heard her sing at the plaza and offered her a guest appearance on his radio show, Voz Latina. The audience’s quick and positive response to her talent led Cortez to invite Mendoza to appear regularly on his show for $3.50 a week. A few years later in 1934, Lydia recorded four songs at a Bluebird Records audition in San Antonio. Of the songs that she recorded, “Mal Hombre” (“Evil Man”) rose to fame and quickly boosted her presence and popularity in the Tejano community.
OKeh Records and Bluebird Records
Both OKeh Records and Bluebird Records played important roles in Texan music during the 1920s and 1930s.
OKeh Records provided music for audiences neglected by other, larger record companies. Otto Karl Erich Heinemann, the founder of OKeh Records and a German immigrant, wanted to provide other immigrant audiences with music they could understand and enjoy. OKeh produced records in German, Czech, Polish, Swedish, and Yiddish. Many immigrant communities in Texas spoke these languages, and OKeh Records became a staple in immigrant homes. Some popular Texan artists that recorded with OKeh Records include Gene Autry and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Bluebird Records, on the other hand, provided low-cost records that featured blues and country music. Low-costs made Bluebird Records’ more accessible for low-income communities, which often were immigrant communities. As previously mentioned, these communities were abundant in Texas. Additionally, blues and country music were two genres that Texas was known for. Some popular Texan artists that recorded with Bluebird Records include Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.
Today, both OKeh and Bluebird Records are owned by Sony.
Influences from Texan and Mexican Music
Genres
Lydia usually sang in the style of Tejano, a Mexican-American genre of music create by Mexicans who crossed the border into Texas and adopted some Texan sounds and styles. Occasionally, she would perform conjunto, a term meaning “together” that represented multiple artists performing a piece with each other.
Instruments
As mentioned before, Lydia was well-versed in multiple instruments. Most notably was the guitarra doble, or the 12-stringed guitar. Since most of her works were solo, she used solely her voice and her skill on the guitar to create most of her songs. On conjunto songs, trumpets, accordian, maracas/shakers, and violin/fiddle can be heard being played by other artists.
El Grito
In some of her songs, Lydia utilized a staple Mexican sound, el grito. El grito is a distinctive yell or shout perfected by Mexican mariachi bands that sounds like a cross between a laugh and a cry. It can be the ultimate expression that someone is having a good time. Historically, el grito represents celebrates the heroes of the Mexican independence movement against Spain. Some examples of el grito can be found here.
Close Harmony
Another common staple of Mexican music is the use of close harmony. A chord is in close harmony if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. An example of close harmony singing can be found here.
Impact on Mexican-American Community
One of Lydia’s most important impacts was that she sang in the vernacular. Vernacular music is ordinary, everyday music such as pop and folk music. The opposite of vernacular music is art music, which is more like what you would think of when you think of concert music performed by orchestras, bands, and choirs. By singing in the vernacular, Lydia made her music accessible to thousands of listeners, particularly the lower-income Mexican-American listeners that could not access art music due to their socioeconomic status. She became the genre’s first female superstar at a time when the business of vernacular music was still in its infancy, and dominated by men. For decades she served as a role model and inspiration for other female artists. Some additional notable recognitions are noted below.
Recognitions
1977 – Sang at President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration
1982 – Awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship
1982 – Inducted into the Tejano Music Hall of Fame
1985 – Inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame
1999 – Awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton
2002 – Inducted into the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame and Museum
2003 – Awarded the Texas Medal of Arts by the Texas Cultural Trust
Top Three “Peak” Songs
Mal Hombre (Evil Man)
Era yo una chiquilla todavía
Cuando tú casualmente me encontraste
Y a merced a tus artes de mundano
De mi honra el perfuma me llevaste
Luego hiciste conmigo lo que todos
Los que son como tú con las mujeres
Por lo tanto no extrañes que yo ahora
En tu cara te diga lo que eres
Mal hombre
Tan ruin es tu alma que no tiene nombre
Eres un canalla. Eres un malvado
Eres un mal hombre
A mi triste destino abandonada
Entable fiera lucha con la vida
Ella recia y cruel me torturaba
Y más débil al fin cai vencida
Tú supiste a tiempo mi derrota
Mi espantoso calvario conociste
Te dijeron algunos:
“Ve a salvarle.”
Y probando quien eres
Te reíste
I was still a young girl
When, by chance, I met you
And thanks to your worldly charm
You crushed the flower of my innocence
Later you treated me like all men
Who are like you, treat women
So don’t be surprised that, now
I say it to your face what you are
Evil man
Your soul is so wicked it has no name
You are a pig. You are evil
You are a bad man
To my sad fate abandoned
Engaged in a fierce struggle with life
Suffering the depths of cruelty
I was weak and finally defeated
With time, you learned of my downfall
How my life had become a road to hell
Some told you:
“Go save her”
And proving who you are
You just laughed
Mal hombre
Tan ruin es tu alma que no tiene nombre
Eres un canalla. Eres un malvado
Eres un mal hombre
Poco tiempo después en el arroyo
Entre sombras mi vida defendía
Una noche con otra
Tú pasaste
Que al mirarme sentí que te decía:
“¿Quién es esa mujer?”
“¿Tú la conoces?”
“Ya la veres”, respondiste
“una cualquiera”
Al oír de tus labios el ultraje
Demostrabas también
Lo que tú eras
Mal hombre
Tan ruin es tu alma que no tiene nombre
Eres un canalla. Eres un malvado
Eres un mal hombre
Evil man
Your soul is so wicked it has no name
You are a pig. You are evil
You are a bad man
A short time later in the gutter
I defended my life in a shadowy world
One night, with another woman
You passed by me
And upon seeing my expression, she said to you:
“Who is that woman?”
“Do you know her?”
“Soon you’ll see,” you replied
“she’s a nobody.”
At the hearing from your lips the abuse
You were showing again
What you were
Evil man
Your soul is so wicked it has no name
You are a pig You are evil
You are a bad man
Pálida Luna (Pale Moon)
Pálida luna, noche de amor
noche serena, noche serena
que no volvió.
Noche de ensueños de inmenso amor
pálida y bella, pálida y bella
con blanco armiño, con blanco armiño
de un brillo al sol.
Pálida luna, noche de amor
noche serena, noche serena
que no volvió.
Noche de ensueños de inmenso amor
pálida y bella, pálida y bella
con blanco armiño, con blanco armiño
de un brillo al sol.
Noche divina, perfume místico
plegaria íntima de mi pasión
y sella un coro de mis cantares
cuando a mi amada en sueño santo
iba a turbar.
Mi triste noche de luna llena
noche apacible, noche de amor
cuando a mi amada llegaré a cantarle
y a ofrendarle con toda
mi alma mi corazón.
Pale moon, night of love1
serene night, serene night
that never returned.
Night of illusions of immense love,
pale and beautiful, pale and beautiful
with white ermine fur, with white ermine fur
brilliant as the sun.
Pale moon, night of love
serene night, serene night
that never returned.
Night of illusions of immense love,
pale and beautiful, pale and beautiful
with ermine fur, with ermine fur,
brilliant as the sun.
Sublime night, mystical perfume,
intimate prayer of my passion,
and sealed with a chorus of my songs
when the saintly dreaming of my beloved
I was going to disturb.
My sad night with a full moon,
placid night, night of love,
when I will arrive to sing to my beloved
and offer to her all
my heart and soul.
La Boda Negra (The Black Wedding)
Oye la historia que contome un día
El viejo enterrador de la comarca
Era un amante que por suerte impía
Su dulce bien le arrebato la parca
Todas las noches iba al cementerio
A visistar la tumba de su hermosa
La gente murmuraba con misterio
Es un muerto escapado de la fosa
En una horrenda noche hizo pedazos
El mármol de la tumba abandonada
Cavó la tierra y se llevó en sus brazos
El rigido esqueleto de su amada
Y allá en la triste habitacón sombría
De un cirio fúnebre a la llama incierta
Sentó a su lado la osamenta fría
Y celebró sus bodas con la muerta
Ató con cintas los desnudos huesos
El yerto cráneo coronó de flores
La horrible boca la cubrió de besos
Y le contó sonriendo sus amores
Llevó a la novia al tálamo mullido
Se acostó junto a ella enamorado
Y para siempre se quedó dormido
Al rígido esqueleto abrazado
Listen to the story that I told one day
The old undertaker of the region
He was a lover who luckily unholy
The sweet good of him snatched the grim reaper
Every night he went to the cemetery
To visit the grave of his beautiful
The people murmured with mystery
He is a dead man escaped from the pit
On a horrendous night he tore
The marble of the abandoned tomb
He dug up the earth and carried in his arms
The rigid skeleton of his beloved
And there in the sad gloomy room
From a funeral candle to the uncertain flame
He sat next to him the cold skeleton
And he celebrated his wedding with the dead
He bound the bare bones with ribbons
The stiff skull crowned with flowers
Her hideous mouth covered her with kisses
And she told him smiling about her love
She led the bride to the fluffy bed
He lay next to her in love
And he forever he fell asleep
To the rigid skeleton embraced
Additional Songs to Reference
Sources
Acosta, Teresa P. “Mendoza, Lydia (1916–2007).” Texas State Historical Association, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mendoza-lydia.
“Bluebird Records.” Wikipedia, 11 February 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebird_Records.
Burnett, John. “Lydia Mendoza: The First Lady of Tejano.” NPR, 24 May 2010, https://www.npr.org/2010/05/24/127033025/lydia-mendoza-the-first-lady-of-tejano.
Gurza, Augustín. “Lydia Mendoza.” The Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings, https://frontera.library.ucla.edu/artists/lydia-mendoza.
“Lydia Mendoza.” National Endowment for the Arts, https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/lydia-mendoza.
“Okeh Records.” Wikipedia, 29 January 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okeh_Records.
