José Alfredo Jiménez’s discography can be divided into two main periods. His unconventional, emotive vocal delivery on his own songs, combined with the arrangements of Rubén Fuentes and the accompaniment of the Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, created some of the most beloved mariachi recordings of all time and made Jiménez a cultural icon not only in Mexico but throughout Latin America. The composer’s straight-from-the-heart lyrics, devoid of any literary pretensions, touched a deep chord in the Mexican psyche.
In 1950, the song was recorded by Andrés Huesca y Sus Costeños, becoming one of the first in a long line of hits for Jiménez. Huesca was impressed by the songs he heard from the young composer, including “Yo,” which was to become a ranchera classic. One of the restaurant’s regular customers happened to be Andrés Huesca, the famed harpist from Veracruz who was a prime exponent of son jarocho, the southern folk music style featuring harp, guitars and rhythmic footwork. His first song was recorded two years later, also as a result of his work at La Sirena. In 1948, he made his radio debut with “The Rebels” on Mexico’s powerful and popular XEW.
He struck up a friendship with the owner’s son, who played guitar in a trio called Los Rebeldes, and Jiménez was soon singing and writing songs for the group. (For a time, Jiménez played soccer on a semi-pro team, and was known to be a pretty good goalie.) He got his first big break in the music business after taking a job as a waiter at a Yucatecan restaurant in the capital named La Sirena. Jiménez completed elementary school but had to work from an early age to help support the family: shining shoes, busing tables, loading trucks, and selling women’s footwear door to door. His mother, Carmelita Sandoval, moved her four children to Mexico City where she opened a small store but still struggled to make ends meet. His father, Agustín, who owned a small drugstore, died when he was just 10 years old, leaving the family almost destitute. José Alfredo Jiménez Sandoval was born in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, on January 19, 1926. Like Pete Seeger in American popular music, Jiménez’s songs have become standards that are emblematic not just of a musical genre but also of a country’s culture as a whole. His extraordinary repertoire of more than 1,000 songs encapsulated the sentiment, ideals, and concerns of the common man in a folksy yet poetic way. José Alfredo Jiménez (1926-1973) was by far the most important, prolific, and popular composer of música ranchera in Mexico during the 20th century.
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