Tequila, Señoritas and Teardrops

With opinions and personal testimonies from the artists themselves, this book takes a detailed look at the huge impact that Mexican music and culture has had—and continues to have—on Country music in its various forms.
This very American form of cultural expression has changed over the last few years, but Mexico—with its bordertowns, beaches, colonial architecture and ancient ruins conjuring up a range of powerful images—has remained an influential presence in Nashville, Texas, and even places like Australia and South Africa.
Featuring contributions from Merle Haggard, Jimmy Buffett, Randy Travis, Dwight Yoakam, Jessi Colter, Johnny Rodriguez and Flaco Jimenez, this book reveals the unique and largely undocumented relationship between “America’s Music” and Mexico.

Writer and journalist Adrian Peel has written for such publications as Country Music People, Maverick, Country Update, Country Standard Time, and Country Line Magazine. He lives in Queretaro, Mexico.

Adrian Peel
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 280
Bibliographic Info: 3 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9673-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1780-0
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments  vi
Preface  1
Prologue  3
Introduction: “Mexican” Instruments in Country Music  5
1. “Baby, Let’s Go to Mexico”: Doug Sahm and the San Antonio Sound  13
2. Joe King Carrasco: The King of ­Tex-Mex Rock ’n’ Roll  30
3. “Somewhere Between Texas & Mexico”: The Impact of Mexico and Its Culture on Texas Country and “Red Dirt” from the “Outlaws” of the 1970s to the Present Day  33
4. “Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room”: Mexico and the Bakersfield Sound  74
5. “Playboys of the Southwestern World”: The Portrayal of Mexico in Modern Nashville  98
6. “North of the Border”: Hispanic Country Singers from the Early 1970s to the Present Day  142
7. There Will Be Love: The Mexican Influence on Country Singers from Outside North America  185
8. “Mexicali Rose”: The Classic Country Songs Inspired by Mexico  192
Appendices
I. Mexican Memories  203
II. American Country Influences on Mexican Music and Culture  206
III. Joe King Carrasco’s Mexico  209
IV. Favorite Songs, Mexico in One Word and Tequila  213
V. Songs—Alternate Versions, About Mexico, New Mexico, Tequila and Margaritas  239
Chapter Notes  255
Bibliography  257
Index  263