Monthly Archives: February 2020

Gospel music

Music

Here are some great gospel tunes. Enjoy!

Alex Bradford: Too Close to Heaven

Alex Bradford and Marion Williams: Take Me To the Water

Alex Bradford and the Bradford Singers: Close to Thee

The Caravans: None But the Righteous (different version of “Take me to the Water”)

The Caravans: Where Is Your Faith In God

The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi: Sending Up My Timber

Aretha Franklin: Climbing Higher Mountains

Mike Jemison, Yolanda Adams and Shirley Caesar: Oh Happy Day/How I Got Over

Dottie Peoples: Little Wooden Church

The Meditation Singers: Jesus Be A Fence

We’ll see how long this stays up…It’s the full movie titled “Amazing Grace”, recorded in 1972 and released in 2019.

It’s Time for a Dance Party on the Chicano Connection (02/12/20)

Chicano Connection Radio Show, KXCI, Music,

Listen to part one of last night’s show here.

Playlist for Part One:

Rufus with Chaka Khan/Dance Wit Me–Aretha Franklin/What a Fool Believes–Grace Jones/I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect For you)–The Weather Girls/It’s Raining Men–The Pointer Sisters/I’m so Excited–Wham/Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)–Madonna/Like a Prayer-Natalie Cole/This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)–Lipps, Inc./Funky Town–Cher/Take Me Home–Alicia Bridges/I Love the Nightlife–Deniece Williams/Let’s Hear It For the Boy (partial)

Listen to part two of last night’s show here.

Playlist for Part Two:

Deniece Williams/Let’s Hear It For the Boy(partial)–Aretha Franklin/Who’s Zoomin’ Who?–Whitney Houston/How Will I Know?–Gladys Knight/Love Overboard–Chaka Khan/I Feel For You–Darlene Love/He’s Sure the Man I Love–The Staple Singers/I’ll Take You There–Madonna/Holiday–Natalie Cole/Pink Cadillac–Etta James/Jump Into My Fire–Grace Jones/Pull Up to the Bumper Baby–Labelle/Lady Marmalade–Aretha Franklin/Deeper Love

I didn’t know what the heck I was going to feature on the program yesterday. I’ve been so focused on getting my website updated that I haven’t had much time to pay attention to birthdays or holidays etc. When I finally sat down to start preparing it, it occurred to me that I needed a good workout, as I haven’t been exercising regularly lately, and I thought about doing an oldies show, but for some reason, I decided on featuring 70’s and 80’s dance music. I started by looking at Aretha Franklin’s music from the 80s. I wanted to hear songs that had a strong dance beat, so I decided on stuff like “What a Fool Believes”, “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” and “Deeper Love.”, all three of which I played last night. I actually had six of her songs in mind, but once I got started pulling other material, I ended up playing just three of them.

Because I wanted the show to be a dance show, I decided to open it with an invitation, and played “Dance Wit Me” by Rufus and Chaka Khan. I then played Aretha’s version of “What A Fool Believes” and Grace Jones song, “I’m Not Perfect, But I’m Perfect for you”. From there, I did my usual introduction and let folks know that the evening was going to be nothing but dance music by women, and proceeded with “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls. I also played Madonna’s song “Like A Prayer” , Lipps, Inc. tune “Funky Town”,and other stuff. One of my boo boos included playing the song “Wake Me Up, Before You Go Go”, by Wham. I miscued the darned song, thinking I was going to play the Deneice Williams’ tune, “Let’s Hear It for the Boy”. I ended up joking about George Michael sneaking in and being one of the girls… oh well. I played the song by Williams later in the program.

The show proceeded without too many other boo boos, but one other big one occurred when, to my horror, Cher’s song, “Take Me Home”, started, rather than “I Love the Nightlife” by Alicia Bridges. Another miscue. Damn, that was the very first time I’ve ever played Cher. I think she’s tacky, stuck up and rude, and I don’t like her. I’ve never played her and never will again. I cut that song short, as a result, and segued into the Alicia Bridges song.

Other than those two miscues, everything else turned out fine. I included stuff by Whitney Houston, The Staple Singers, Labelle, Gladys Knight and others. I had a blast and danced my ass off for two whole hours. I’m now very sore, but I needed a good workout. I hope folks enjoyed the music!

I have no idea what I’ll be playing next week. That’s what makes this all so much fun!

The Role of Women in the Mexican Revolution as Portrayed Through the Corrido / Program, November 18, 2010

Work,

For the second program I coordinated, I invited UA professors Celestino Fernandez and Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith to speak about the role of women in the Mexican Revolution as portrayed through the corrido. We also had music that evening (corridos!), featuring Justin Enriquez and Juan Aguilar, of the group “Los Cuatro Vientos” who were joined by two additonal musicians from the restaurant, La Fuente. It was a night to remember!

Dr. Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith
Dr. Celestino Fernandez

From the news release: “Raquel Rubio Goldsmith, historian and lecturer in the UA Department of Mexican American and Raza Studies, will discuss the significant role women played during the Mexican Revolution. Celestino Fernandez, Professor, UA Department of Sociology, will discuss the corrido as a popular song form and its importance in communicating values, issues and ideas during the Revolution and into the present. The presentations will be illustrated by a performance from the local musical quartet Los Cuatro Vientos”.

The program was videotaped and is available for viewing below. It is divided into 8 separate sections. My thanks to Antonio Arroyo for filming it.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
La Adelita, probably the most famous of all the corridos of the Revolution.

Several years later, in 2016, I presented a lecture on the corrido Mexicano in Special Collections. It was titled, “What’s to Know about corridos anyway?“ I included it in my blog back then. It includes references for further reading and a number of corridos performed by some of Mexico’s best singers. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Tio Eddie (02/08/26-07/08/97)

Family,

My mom’s brother Eduardo Rascon was born on February 8, 1926 in Superior, Arizona. He was the second of five children born to Josefa Ortega and Donato Rascon.

Uncle Eddie’s birth certificate

At one point, I had a photo of him as an adult. It was taken at my mom’s house and in the photo with him was my aunt Dora. I loaned the photo to my tio Donato, and unfortunately he never gave it back, so the only photos I have to share are ones from his childhood.

Uncle Eddie and his siblings. He’s the one seated in the middle. The other children are Dora on his left, my mom Josefina standing above him, and his brother Donato on the right. Tia Mary was either too young or not yet born when this photo was taken.
Image may contain: 36 people
Uncle Eddie in grammar school in Superior Arizona. He is in the second row from the bottom and the fourth boy from the left in that row. This photo was probably taken in 1931-32.
Uncle Eddie and my mom at their first holy communion in Superior Az, mid-30s.

Uncle Eddie had his share of troubles. When he was young, he had a few run-ins with the law and was put in jail for having, along with another young guy, stolen someone’s car. He was called up to serve in the military in the mid-40s, although I’m not sure in which branch he served, or even if he actually did serve. The article below is from the December 3, 1948 edition of the Arizona Daily Star. Uncle Eddie’s name is included in the list of young men from Tucson who were called in for a pre-induction physical.

In 1958, Uncle Eddie married Maria Luisa Canez (Mary Lou) when he was 32 and she was 30, and they had two children. A son named Ruben died in infancy and another, Eduardo Jr., is my age and lives in Tucson, if I’m not mistaken, but I haven’t seen him in many years. The family used to live way out in Flowing Wells, and they had a gorgeous antique buffet, that my grandmother held onto for the longest time. It’s funny how one remembers these things…

My tios divorced in 1970 and Uncle Eddie lived alone for a long time in a trailer in South Tucson. He was a gardener for the University of Arizona. I distinctly remember him raking the grounds outside the Social Sciences building while I was in class one year. I was always happy to see him and I made sure to say hello whenever I ran into him on campus. I remember that my mom was very fond of him too.

Uncle Eddie died on July 8, 1997 and is buried at the Holy Hope Cemetery in Tucson.