|
|
|
|
Little Joe Y La Familia
Little Joe & La Familia has been one of the most popular Tex-Mex bands in the music industry. Little Joe has been entertaining for more than 40 years and has been described as the "KING OF THE BROWN SOUND". He has also helped pioneer "Tejano" music, a mix of traditional "norteño", country, blues and rock styles.
Jose Maria DeLeon Hernandez, "Little Joe", was born to Salvador "La Cotorra" Hernandez and Amelia DeLeon Hernandez in a three-wall dirt floor garage in Temple, Texas on a cold stormy night on October 17,1940. He was the 7th child of 13.
When Joe was 13, his cousin, David Coronado, recruited him for guitar, Cino Moreno on drums and Tony Matamoros on saxophone to join his band "David Coronado & The Latinaires".
At age 15 he had his first performance in Cameron, Texas for $5.00 at a high school Sock Hop. He was so excited, he realized that picking guitars beat cotton picking - and he could actually get paid for it!
He made his recording debut in 1958 on Terro Records in Corpus Christi, Texas, as a guitarist on an instrumental single "Safari part 1 and 2" composed by the members of the Latinaires. A year later, Jesse, Joe's young brother who was a bassist, singer and songwriter joined the band. Since David Coronado was leaving, Joe took over the band renaming it "Little Joe & The Latinaires".
Jesse was killed in an automobile accident in 1964. At his gravesite Joe made a vow to carry his music to the top, not realizing how high his music would take him, how it would open many doors for other artists or how he would set many trends.
In the 60's, Joe signed with some Texas based independent record companies, starting with Corona Records in San Antonio, next Valmon records in Austin and later Zarape Records in Dallas. Joe ventured into his own independent label "Buena Suerte Records" for Spanish recordings and "Good Luck Records" for his English records. Then followed Leona Records, owned by Joe and a distribution deal with Freddy Records in Corpus Christi, which kept Joe independent through the 70's and 80's.
In 1970, after playing and spending much time in San Francisco and the bay area, Joe discovered "Latinismo", a strong Latin musical world that was not found in Texas at the time. It had a profound influence on his music and his cultural values, which prompted him to change the name of his band from The Latinaires to "La Familia". Joe was searching for more information on his heritage and his roots.
While with Sony Discos, he was a 2 time Grammy nominee, and in 1992 received the Grammy for "Diez y Seis De Septiembre" in the Best Mexican-American Performance category. Part of his vow to Jesse had been fulfilled.
In 1983, Joe signed his first major record deal with WEA International. After leaving WEA, he once again went independent and formed "Redneck Records" where he released the live double album "25 Silver Anniversary" in 1985. This set was distributed by CBS Records, which later became Sony Discos International.
After leaving Sony the following year, going independent again, Joe received his third Grammy nomination for "Que Pasó" the first release on his label, Tejano Discos International. Joe also appeared on the 1997 Grammy nominated album, "Frank Yanovich and Friends, Songs of the Polka King, Vol. 1” in which he performed a duet with Frank Yanovich on the song "Just Because/Si Porque".
Recently, Joe signed with Capitol EMI. His first recording there became a Grammy Nominated album entitled “Little Joe 2000”. Aside from his music career, Joe has worked in the film industry starring in two feature films, “Proposition 187, A Deadly Law”, and "Down for the Barrio".
Forty Years... and over 50 albums later, Joe is touring the world, trailblazing and looking forward to new challenges, breaking down cultural and musical barriers and innovating his musical style. As always, Joe strives to bring many people together to make a more peaceful and harmonious world.
DeLeon Publishing, Joe’s publishing arm, and peermusic have a joint venture deal in an effort to bring a major publishing outlet for Texas songwriters extending publishing works to 33 countries.
|
|
|
|
