May 2007

   Tejano Rap With "The Dean"
 

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN!

I’M BACK!!

Well….. you probably already heard.  Last November, I made a surprise announcement informing Tejanos all across this country that I had decided to step down as President and CEO for the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame.  Having served in that capacity since 1999, I felt that my health was not up to par and I needed to retire.  The time was right to turn the reigns over to a younger and healthier advocate.  In January, the Board of Directors voted to name Albert T. Martinez to step in and take over.  Everything looked very promising and the future for Tejano R.O.O.T.S. looked bright.  Albert took over with a passion and directed his focus on setting the goals for this great organization.

Unfortunately, sometimes things happen.  In Albert’s case, it was his personal family business.  One needs to understand that every member of the Board of Directors acts on a “Volunteer Basis”.  No-one gets paid a penny for their contributions, it all comes from the heart.  So consequently, we all have to work on a steady basis.  Albert, being a young entrepreneur was also focusing on his trucking company, which he had recently launched. Although he tried very hard to split his time between his company and R.O.O.T.S., it was too much for him and he was forced to step down as CEO.  On Saturday, April 28th, the Board of Directors accepted his resignation and thanked him for all his efforts.

At this same meeting, the Board of Directors asked me if I would consider “Stepping Back In The Saddle” one more time.  The passion I feel for our music and heritage took over and I accepted the challenge without batting an eye.  So all I can say at this point is…. “I’M BACK!”

I would like to personally thank Albert, (who will remain as a member of the Board) and the rest of the members for the vote of confidence, and I promise to show the same passion as I have always tried to show.

In the next few months, I look forward to keeping our website updated and also look forward to planning more and bigger events.  I will continue with my personal motto of KEEPING IT TOTALLY TEJANO!

I also want to thank my wife, Mary Ester for understanding my passion and sticking by side for all these years.  I love you baby!

Now it’s time to get back to work!  I hope and pray that you will show me the same support that you have given me for the past eight years.

Let me also add that since my retirement, I have been elected as President of the Board of Directors for The National Tejano Music Alliance and have also been named to the staff of The National Tejano Music Convention…….. Did I say I had retired?........ I will never let my passion die out!

Please feel free to email me or call on me at anytime.

I pray that you stay safe, & I pray that you stay TEJANO!!

The Dean’s Featured Artist
 

Featured Artist:  Bobby “El Charro Negro” Butler

In mid 1959 and approximately one thousand miles north of Temple, a drummer named Bobby Butler and his wife Marcia Rose were struggling to make their marriage work in St. Louis, Missouri. "She wanted for us to leave St. Louis to get me away from all the gangs I was in," Butler recalled. "Her father was living in Temple and by accident, I took a stab at a U.S. map and my finger landed on Temple. So I said, 'Lets go,' This is what actually happened. Other people trying to sensationalize and add more drama to the story will say that Bobby's wife had just died and he was feeling very depressed.  That in looking for a change in location, he threw a dart at a United States map - the dart landed on Temple and the next day Bobby packed his bags and left St. Louis, Missouri. On the contrary, Bobby's wife was very much alive. That summer, Bobby, his wife and three children, Anthony, David and Corbette boarded a MKT train also known as "The Katy" and headed for Texas.

Four days later, they arrived in Temple and moved into a house on 14th Street off Avenue H and east of the railroad tracks. Then Butler took a job with the city as a trashman and two more years would pass before he and Little Joe would cross paths. Physically, Butler was a muscular 5-feet-11-inches tall, had a small mole on the left side of his nose, had long side burns and a mustache.

MUSICAL HISTORY

Late '61 Emilio Lopez, who worked on a truck with Butler, told him the Latinaires were looking for a drummer.
"One evening Bobby came over and asked if he could listen to the band rehearse," Rocky said. "He sat down to enjoy the music and somewhere in the process played 'Malaguena' on Luigi's piano. Then he played left-handed drums.""So we let him sit in," Little Joe  added. Cino's brother Isabel was still the Latinaires' drummer, but he didn't want to play at Sunday matinees. So after practice was over, Jesse suggested Bobby Butler as a replacement.Little Joe said. "He's black' and Jesse replied, "hell no, he's a drummer."

When Joe agreed Jesse was right, they went over to Bobby's house to ask him if he would join The Latinaires."I play drums, but I don't know if I can play your kind of music," Bobby told Joe and Jesse. His wife Marcia was all for it so Bobby became their new drummer. That same weekend, Butler did his first gig with the Latinaires at a club near the Pioneer Ballroom.

As a drummer, Butler had played with different black groups in Arkansas and Missouri during which time he had the opportunity to sit in with Albert King, Roscoe Gordon and B.B. King. But the highlight of his career, prior to joining the Latinaires was spending one year in Chuck Berry's band."I always loved Spanish music," Butler said. "As a teenager I would pick up radio stations from Monterrey and Juarez after midnight. I remember trying to sing along with Jose Alfredo Jimenez tunes because I loved the tone of his voice and the lyrics to his songs which were about real life."

As luck would have it, once the band heard him sing and they wound up letting him sing one song during their performances. "He played drums and sang. After I got him singing, I moved him up front. Then one day, I put a sombrero on him and I said, 'hey, there's the real Charro Negro and that's how he got his stage name," Little Joe explained
 

1964,    Faced with martial problems, he quit the Latinaires and moved back to St. Louis. Following a divorce, he went back to  Texas.

1969     The Latinaires entered the recording studio to back Butler up on twelve tunes for the second album on Little Joe's Buena Suerte label.

The album, which was titled "El Papalote" featured Butler atop "Trigger Jr." The picture was taken at a ranch near Houston. For over a decade, Little Joe, Johnny, Rocky and Bobby Butler were a musical force to be reckon with. Together and individually the four vocalists put on dynamic unforgettable show.

 After spenting a couple of years in California, in 1973, Butler was one of the musicians to quit La Familia and join Tony "Ham" Guerrero's Tortilla Factory. Several albums later, Butler hung up his microphone and moved to San Angelo, Texas where he remarried and sired a son - Ronald Butler.

1994     Today Bobby Butler works for the City Parks and Recreation Department of the City of San Angelo and with the exception of a few grey hairs, he still looks the same.

 As a performer, he often sings with La Formula and Los Tejanos, two San Angelo-based groups, on a freelance basis.

Most recently Bobby Butler has re-united with Tony Ham Guerrero of the much acclaimed Legendary Tejano Band, “Tortilla Factory” and has resumed his touring career.

Bobby Butler, AKA “El Charro Negro” holds the distinction of becoming the first non-hispanic to be inducted into the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame.  He was inducted in November of 2005

The Dean’s List
Here is The Dean’s list for the month!

                                                                    >> BACK TO TEJANO ROOTS MAIN PAGE