Beto Villa, Orchestra Innovator
Linda Fregoso speaks with famed Chicano musician, Beto Villa, and his wife about his music, and later interviews Manuel Peña about Villa’s legacy. Villa got his start in Falfurrias, Texas and began playing for local dances and Anglo audiences. It was there that he developed his unique orchestral sound and started adding the accordion to his music. He attracted the attention of Armando Marroquin who had just started his own recording company, and Marroquin recorded Villa’s music and distributed it throughout the United States. Throughout his career, Villa played with several musicians who then went on to join famous big bands. Villa’s band was also the first Chicano orchestra to tour the nation, and Villa’s wife describes these early tours.
Fregoso then speaks with Manuel Peña who describes Villa as a trailblazer. Pena explains that Villa was the first to seek an alternative musical style to the conjuntos that were then very popular. Pena says that conjunto music was largely the music of poor and rural Chicanos, but after World War II, a new Mexican-American middle class began to emerge and the orquesta style of music appealed to them. However, because they were never a large market, artists like Villa tried to broaden their appeal by adapting their music. For Villa, this meant adopting the accordion. Peña believes that the combination of orchestra and accordion represents the union of two musical styles and it inspired many of the most successful Chicano musicians who came after Villa.
KEYWORDS
AccordionAlice, Tx
Arhoolie Brothers
Arizona
Armando Marroquin
Arturo Villa
“Rosia Vals”
Beto Villa
Bruno Villareal
Buddy Miles Band
Carmen y Laura
Chelo Silva
Chicano Composers
Chicano Music
Chicano Owned Business
Class
Conjunto
Dario Perez
Discos Ideal
Eugenio Gutierrez
Falcon Records
Falfurrias, Tx
Folk Music
Freer, Tx
Henry Cuestas
Henry Diaz
Isidro Lopez
Juan Colorado
Juanita Garcia
La Onda Chicana
Lalo Cavazos
Las Hermanitas Cantu
Lawrence Welk
Little Joe
Los Campeones
Luis Alcaraz
Luis Casas
Manuel Peña
Maria Victoria
Mexican American Middle Class
Mexican Music
Narciso Martinez
New Mexico
North Texas
Orchestra
Ornelas Rene
Orquesta Falcon
Orquesta Tejana
Paco Rodriguez
Perez Prado
Radio
Ranchera music
RCA records
Recording industry
Rio Grande Valley
San Benito, Tx
Saxophone
South Texas
Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Sunny Ozuna
Tejano Music
Tony de la Rosa
World War Two