Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

MENDOZA, Lydia

(b May 1916, Houston TX; d 20 December 2007, San Antonio) Tex-Mex vocalist, guitarist, songwriter; the greatest female artist in the genre, earning nickname 'La Alondra de la Frontera' ('The Lark of the Border') with an astonishing voice and a wide repertoire, from standard Tex-Mex love songs and corridos (song-stories) to art songs, accompaniment from twelve-string guitar to accordion conjuntos, mariachi bands and orchestras.

She began performing with her family, who played popular songs of the day wherever they could (restaurants, barbershops). The family recorded as Cuarteto Carta Blanca; an obituary said that the family first recorded six 'singles' (which would be 12 sides) in the Blue Bonnet Hotel in San Antonio for Okeh in 1928; another story is that at first their first session they cut 20 songs for $140. She began to sing solo with her own guitar, recorded solo in 1934; 'Mal Hombre' was allegedly learned from a chewing-gum wrapper, a local hit and something of a theme for her. A strong regional following was helped from then until the 1980s by records on Arhoolie, Azteca, Columbia, Falcon, Gaviota, Globe, Ideal, Victor, and others. She appeared in documentary film Chulas Fronteras '76, singing in a club in Galveston, talking and cooking at home in Houston. She performed at Jimmy Carter's inauguration in 1977; further nicknamed 'La Gloria de Texas' ('The Glory of Texas') late '70s. In 1999 she received the National Medal of the Arts at a White House ceremony, sharing the stage with Aretha Franklin, producer/director Norman Zlear, architect Michael Graves and sculptor George Segal. She was guest of honor at her own tribute concert in San Antonio in 2006.

She had many tracks in the series Texas-Mexican Border Music on Folklyric, including vintage tracks on Vols. 15 and 16, Lydia Mendoza Part 1 and Part 2, also Mal Hombre on CD. Others: Lydia Mendoza Con Su Guitarra and Una Voz y Una Guitarra on Azteca, La Gloria de Texas on Arhoolie.