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Guerrero (Lalo) collection
CEMA 24
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Title: Lalo Guerrero collection
Identifier/Call Number: CEMA 24
Physical Description:
33.68 Linear Feet
(34 boxes: 14 document boxes, 1 half-sized document boxes, 3 binder boxes, 15 oversized boxes and 1 CD box)
Date (inclusive): 1939-2016
Abstract: The Guerrero Collection is rich in photographs, videos, interviews, correspondence, phonograph records, audiocassettes, scrapbooks,
and ephemera, and ranges from photographs autographed by the President and Hillary Clinton to music and lyrics sheets for
his comedic "Elvis Perez" and his "El Hustle de las Ardillitas" (the "Chipmunks' Hustle"). It also includes recordings of
his popular boleros, parodies such as "I Left my Car in San Francisco," as well as "La Canción Mexicana" (unofficial Mexican
national anthem), in addition to taped interviews and performances on the Univisión television show "Cristina". Material about
the Lalo & Amigos Tribute Concert (1992 and 1994) can be found in Series III Press and Publicity as well as in Series V Photographs.
Interviews, transcripts and clips used to make the documentary, Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano are included in this collection.
Language of Material:
English
.
The collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Lalo Guerrero, December 4, 2000. Additions donated by Dan Guerrero, November 5, 2013 and August, 2 2016.
Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero (December 24, 1916 – March 17, 2005), known as the "Father of Chicano Music," entertained lovers of
Chicano music for six decades. Composer, musician, singer and recipient of many awards, including the prestigious "National
Medal of the Arts" awarded to him at a White House ceremony in 1996. Guerrero played guitar and sang in films alongside Jane
Russell, Robert Mitchum, George Raft and Gilbert Roland. He serenaded the public alongside Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, Red
Skelton, Milton Berle and Hoagy Carmichael. He also co-hosted the Paul Rodríguez Show on Spanish-language television.
Guerrero claims many accolades; amongst the most prominent are those from Nosotros, the Mexican Cultural Institute, El Teatro
Campesino and the United Farm Workers. In December 1996 he was awarded the "National Medal of the Arts" from President Bill
Clinton and his wife Hillary at a White House ceremony with other honorees such as jazz great Lionel Hampton and opera star
Luciano Pavarotti. Guerrero has received a Golden Eagle Award from Nosotros, for lifetime achievement, and Caminos magazine's
"Hispanic of the Year" award, as well as having his name immortalized in the Tejano Hall of Fame. His name adorns streets
and schools – Avenida Lalo Guerrero is found in California's Cathedral City and his former school in Tucson has been be named
after him. The Lalo Guerrero School of Music in Los Angeles, part of the "Art in the Park" non- profit organization, was founded
in 1999. In 2006 the Documentary Film, Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano was nominated for the best documentary with the
Alma Awards.
Guerrero was born in Tucson on Christmas Eve, 1916, after his parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1912.
Lalo gives all credit to his late mother for his musical ability, for it was from her that he learned to "embrace the spirit
of being Chicano." At 17 he wrote and performed the classic Canción Mexicana, a song that was endorsed by the Mexican people
and became the unofficial Mexican National Anthem. He began entertaining in bars then at military camps and hospitals during
WW II. By 1946 he was playing in a nightclub in LA called "La Bamba," where Hollywood stars frequented. In the 50's and 60's
Lalo had five songs riding the top 10 on the Latin and American music charts in the U.S. His love and concern for his Chicano
people soon had him traveling to farming areas where he championed farm workers' causes, writing songs about Cesar Chavez
and calling for the decent treatment of agricultural laborers. In the 1950's Guerrero made America laugh with satires such
as "Pancho Lopez" and "Elvis Perez," while in the 1960's the children of America were entertained with Guerrero's music aided
by three chipmunk-type characters, "Las Ardillitas." In 1978, four of Guerrero's songs were featured in Luis Valdez' hit film
and musical "Zoot Suit." Luis Valdez' papers and the archives of his Teatro Campesino are also housed in CEMA.
In 1998, at 81 years of age, Lalo Guerrero visited Paris along with his two sons, Dan and Mark. He played his beloved songs
about his Chicano culture at La Cite de la Musique, a government-funded arts complex, at a three-day American music festival.
Lalo's signature, "Barrio Viejo," had a standing ovation. This song above all has meant more to him than anything he has ever
written, for it embodies what his mother called "Puro Chicano."
[Identification of Item], CollectionTitle, ResourceIdentifier. Department of Special Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library,
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dan Guerrero Papers, CEMA 078
Don Tosti Papers, CEMA 88
Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano [DVD] / a presentation of Original Chicano Productions; produced by Dan Guerrero, Nancy
de Los Santos; written by Nancy de Los Santos, Dan Guerrero. Los Angeles, CA: Original Chicano Productions, c2006
The Guerrero Collection is rich in photographs, videos, interviews, correspondence, phonograph records, audiocassettes, scrapbooks,
and ephemera, and ranges from photographs autographed by the President and Hillary Clinton to music and lyrics sheets for
his comedic "Elvis Perez" and his "El Hustle de las Ardillitas" (the "Chipmunks' Hustle"). It also includes recordings of
his popular boleros, parodies such as "I Left my Car in San Francisco," as well as "La Canción Mexicana" (unofficial Mexican
national anthem), in addition to taped interviews and performances on the Univisión television show "Cristina". Material about
the Lalo & Amigos Tribute Concert (1992 and 1994) can be found in Series III Press and Publicity as well as in Series V Photographs.
Interviews, transcripts and clips used to make the documentary, Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano are included in this collection.
Series I Personal/Biographical spans one box and contains three handmade scrap books arranged chronologically from the 1930s
to 2008, correspondence, fan mail, biographical information and oral interviews.
Series II Programs and Invitations spans three boxes. Arranged chronologically with undated material placed at the end. The
series is made up of invitations, correspondence and performance programs and includes some newspaper articles relevant to
those performances.
Series III Press and Publicity spans the last half of box three and is continued in the oversize series at the end of the
guide. Original articles about Lalo Guerrero have been preserved, along with their accompanying copies. The series has been
divided into six subseries entitled Lalo and Amigos, Papas Dream, Paris Press, Tucson Press and Miscellaneous press each arranged
chronologically.
Series IV Commendations and Awards spans one box and contains correspondence, photos, and awards garnered by Guerrero over
his long and illustrious career. The series is continued in the oversize section and is arranged chronologically.
Series V Photographs spans 6 boxes including one CD box that are arranged according to their subject matter arranged chronologically
from early childhood to the present with the internal order of each section pre-determined by the order in which they were
donated. Some of the photographs are numbered with information written upon the photos included on the guide keyed to those
identification numbers. Each section is separated from the next with labeled acid free sheets. Digital images on the CD are
also on the Special Collections server.
Series VI Oversize spans four boxes and contains items from other series that could not be stored with the bulk of their series
due to size. The items are arranged by subject and then chronologically within each section.
Series VII Audio and Video lists the many videos, tapes and LPs that are included in the collection. Many of these items are
preserved digitally by the UCSB Special Collections Performing Arts Collections and are available for listening on request.
Some items may require advanced notice as originals are stored off site and reformatting a listener/viewer copy may be necessary.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.