Trini Lopez
Encyclopedia
Trini Lopez is an American (Chicano
) singer
, guitarist
and actor.
, on Ashland Street in the Little Mexico
neighborhood. He began his entertainment career in Dallas playing at the Vegas Club, a nightclub owned by Jack Ruby
. He made his name on the club circuit of the Southwestern United States
before being 'discovered' in 1962 playing at the club PJ's in Hollywood, California
, by record producer
Don Costa
. Costa was taken with Lopez's Latinized versions of contemporary hits
and signed him up to Frank Sinatra
's record label
, Reprise Records
. His debut album
, Trini Lopez Live at PJ's (R/RS 6093), was released in 1963. The album included a version
of "If I Had a Hammer
", which reached number one in 36 countries (No. 3 in the United States) and was a radio
favorite for many years. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
. He also performed his own version of the traditional Mexican
song "La Bamba
" on the album; his recording
of the tune was later re-issued as a single
in 1966.
His popularity led the Gibson Guitar Corporation
to ask him in 1964 to design a guitar
for them. He ended up designing two: The Trini Lopez Standard, a rock and roll
model based on the Gibson ES-335
semi-hollow body, and the Lopez Deluxe, a variation of a Gibson jazz guitar designed by Barney Kessel
. Both of these guitars were in production from 1964 until 1971 and are now highly sought after amongst collectors. Some owners of the guitar include Dave Grohl
of Foo Fighters
and Noel Gallagher
of Oasis
.
He scored thirteen chart
singles through 1968, including "Lemon Tree
" (1965), "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy" (1966) and "Sally Was a Good Old Girl" (1968). On the adult contemporary chart, he ranked up 15 hits, including the Top 10 singles "Michael" (1964), "Gonna Get Along Without Ya' Now" (1967) and "The Bramble Bush" (1967). Beyond his success on record
, he became one of the country's top nightclub
performers of that era, regularly headlining in Las Vegas
, Nevada
. In 1968, he recorded an album in Nashville entitled Welcome to Trini Country
(R/RS 6300).
During the 1960s and 1970s Lopez moved into acting
, though his film
career was not as successful as his music. His first film role was in Marriage on the Rocks
(1965), in which he made a cameo appearance
in a nightclub scene; Lopez's soundtrack
song
, "Sinner Man", became a hit single (No. 54 pop
/No. 12 adult contemporary). He was one of The Dirty Dozen
(1967) and starred in Antonio (1973). He made two appearances (playing different characters) on the television program
, Adam 12. He continued his musical career with extensive tours of Europe
and Latin America
during this period; an attempt to break out by releasing a disco
album in 1978 proved a flop. Lopez produced a single promoting the Coca-Cola soft drink Fresca
in 1967.
Since then, Lopez has done charitable work and received honors such as being inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame
in 2003. In 2002, Lopez teamed with Art Greenhaw
for Legacy: My Texas Roots. The album used the "Texas Roots Combo" including Lopez, Greenhaw and Lopez' brother, Jesse. Said reviewer Steve Leggett of All Music Guide, "The album has an easygoing feel very similar to Lopez' classic live sets from the 1960s, only it rocks a good deal harder."
He was still recording and appearing live in the 2000s. He took part in a benefit concert
to raise money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
and tsunami
.
(excluding compilations and re-recordings)
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
) singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and actor.
Career
Lopez was born in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, on Ashland Street in the Little Mexico
Little Mexico
Little Mexico is a former neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, encompassing the area bordered by Maple Avenue, McKinney Avenue and the MKT Railroad. Formerly a Polish Jewish neighborhood, it grew into Little Mexico starting from the 1910s until the 1980s...
neighborhood. He began his entertainment career in Dallas playing at the Vegas Club, a nightclub owned by Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby
Jacob Leon Rubenstein , who legally changed his name to Jack Leon Ruby in 1947, was convicted of the November 24, 1963 murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Ruby, who was originally from Chicago, Illinois, was then a nightclub operator in Dallas, Texas...
. He made his name on the club circuit of the Southwestern United States
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
before being 'discovered' in 1962 playing at the club PJ's in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, by record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Don Costa
Don Costa
Don Costa was an American pop music arranger and record producer, best known for his work with Frank Sinatra.-Career:...
. Costa was taken with Lopez's Latinized versions of contemporary hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
and signed him up to Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
. His debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Trini Lopez Live at PJ's (R/RS 6093), was released in 1963. The album included a version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "If I Had a Hammer
If I Had a Hammer
"If I Had a Hammer " is a song written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays. It was written in 1949 in support of the progressive movement, and was first recorded by The Weavers, a folk music quartet composed of Seeger, Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, and then by Peter, Paul and Mary.- Early...
", which reached number one in 36 countries (No. 3 in the United States) and was a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
favorite for many years. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. He also performed his own version of the traditional Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
song "La Bamba
La Bamba (song)
"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs...
" on the album; his recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
of the tune was later re-issued as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in 1966.
His popularity led the Gibson Guitar Corporation
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
to ask him in 1964 to design a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
for them. He ended up designing two: The Trini Lopez Standard, a rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
model based on the Gibson ES-335
Gibson ES-335
The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial thinline arched-top semi-acoustic electric guitar. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958, it is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid wood block runs through the center of its body...
semi-hollow body, and the Lopez Deluxe, a variation of a Gibson jazz guitar designed by Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century, he was noted in particular for his vast knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies...
. Both of these guitars were in production from 1964 until 1971 and are now highly sought after amongst collectors. Some owners of the guitar include Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
of Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
and Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
of Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
.
He scored thirteen chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
singles through 1968, including "Lemon Tree
Lemon Tree (Will Holt song)
"Lemon Tree" is a folk song written by Will Holt in the 1960s. The tune is based on the Brazilian folk song Meu limão, meu limoeiro, arranged by José Carlos Burle in 1937 and made popular by Brazilian singer Wilson Simonal...
" (1965), "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy" (1966) and "Sally Was a Good Old Girl" (1968). On the adult contemporary chart, he ranked up 15 hits, including the Top 10 singles "Michael" (1964), "Gonna Get Along Without Ya' Now" (1967) and "The Bramble Bush" (1967). Beyond his success on record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, he became one of the country's top nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
performers of that era, regularly headlining in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. In 1968, he recorded an album in Nashville entitled Welcome to Trini Country
Welcome to Trini Country
Welcolm To Trini Country is an album by country musician Trini Lopez. Released in 1968 by Reprise Records .-Track listing:#Gentle on My Mind #Crazy Arms #Devil Woman #Once a Day...
(R/RS 6300).
During the 1960s and 1970s Lopez moved into acting
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, though his film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
career was not as successful as his music. His first film role was in Marriage on the Rocks
Marriage on the Rocks
Marriage on the Rocks is a 1965 film comedy with Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, and Dean Martin about a businessman's wife who ends up divorced by mistake and then married to his best friend by an even bigger mistake. The film was written by Cy Howard and directed by Jack Donohue.Marriage on the...
(1965), in which he made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in a nightclub scene; Lopez's soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
, "Sinner Man", became a hit single (No. 54 pop
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
/No. 12 adult contemporary). He was one of The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 film directed by Robert Aldrich and released by MGM. It was filmed in England and features an ensemble cast, including Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, and Robert Webber. The film is based on E. M...
(1967) and starred in Antonio (1973). He made two appearances (playing different characters) on the television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, Adam 12. He continued his musical career with extensive tours of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
during this period; an attempt to break out by releasing a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
album in 1978 proved a flop. Lopez produced a single promoting the Coca-Cola soft drink Fresca
Fresca
Fresca is a citrus diet soft drink made by The Coca-Cola Company. First introduced in the United States in 1966, the drink is now sold throughout the American continent...
in 1967.
Since then, Lopez has done charitable work and received honors such as being inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame
International Latin Music Hall of Fame
The International Latin Music Hall of Fame was established in 1999.In addition to the induction into the Hall of Fame, the award ceremonies include Special Recognition Awards and Beny Moré Memorial Award.-1999:...
in 2003. In 2002, Lopez teamed with Art Greenhaw
Art Greenhaw
Art Greenhaw is a Grammy Award-Winning recording artist, producer and mixing engineer, having won the Grammy Award in 2003 in New York City for "Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album of the Year" for the album WE CALLED HIM MR. GOSPEL MUSIC: THE JAMES BLACKWOOD TRIBUTE ALBUM...
for Legacy: My Texas Roots. The album used the "Texas Roots Combo" including Lopez, Greenhaw and Lopez' brother, Jesse. Said reviewer Steve Leggett of All Music Guide, "The album has an easygoing feel very similar to Lopez' classic live sets from the 1960s, only it rocks a good deal harder."
He was still recording and appearing live in the 2000s. He took part in a benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
to raise money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
and tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
.
Hit singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US AC Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
||
| 1963 | "If I Had a Hammer If I Had a Hammer "If I Had a Hammer " is a song written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays. It was written in 1949 in support of the progressive movement, and was first recorded by The Weavers, a folk music quartet composed of Seeger, Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, and then by Peter, Paul and Mary.- Early... " |
3 | - | 4 | 12 |
| "Kansas City" | 23 | 13 | 35 | - | |
| 1964 | "Sinner Not a Saint" | 103 | - | - | - |
| "Jailer, Bring Me Water" | 94 | - | - | - | |
| "What Have I Got of My Own" | 43 | - | - | - | |
| "Michael Michael Row the Boat Ashore Michael, Row the Boat Ashore is an African-American spiritual. It was first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina.... " |
42 | 7 | - | - | |
| 1965 | "Lemon Tree Lemon Tree The term Lemon tree may refer to:* Lemon Myrtle, an Australian native tree with a distinct lemon smell, used in cooking and as an anti-bacterial agent.* Citrus limon, the tree bearing the lemon .Lemon Tree may also refer to:... " |
20 | 2 | - | - |
| "Sad Tomorrows" | 94 | 22 | - | - | |
| "Are You Sincere Are You Sincere Are You Sincere is a song by Wayne Walker, originally released in 1957. Andy Williams released the song as a single under the Cadence Records label in 1958 and it reached the top ten in the charts.Elvis Presley recorded it on September 24, 1973 at his home in Palm Springs, California.It appeared... " |
85 | 25 | - | - | |
| "Sinner Man Sinner Man "Sinner Man" or "Sinnerman" is an American traditional spiritual song that has been recorded by a number of performers. The song dates to the turn of the 20th century but most modern recorded versions derive from the 1956 recording by Les Baxter, further changes and additions were codified in 1959... " |
54 | 12 | - | - | |
| 1966 | "Made In Paris" | 113 | 36 | - | - |
| "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy" | 39 | 2 | 28 | - | |
| "La Bamba La Bamba La Bamba may refer to:*La Bamba , a 1987 film based on the life and death of Ritchie Valens*"La Bamba" , a folk song best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens*"La Bomba" , a 2000 Latin pop song by King Africa... Pt. 1" |
86 | 9 | - | - | |
| 1967 | "Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now Gonna Get Along without Ya Now "Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now" is a popular song written by Milton Kellem, and published in 1951. Originally written in English, has been done in several styles and tempos.... " |
93 | 6 | 41 | - |
| "Up To Now" | 123 | - | - | - | |
| "The Bramble Bush" | - | 4 | - | - | |
| "Together" | - | 30 | - | - | |
| 1968 | "Sally Was a Good Old Girl" | 99 | 30 | - | - |
| "Mental Journey" | - | 18 | - | - | |
| "Malaguena Salerosa Malagueña Salerosa Malagueña Salerosa also known as La Malagueña is a well-known Son Huasteco or Huapango song from Mexico, which has been covered by many performers.... " |
- | 24 | - | - | |
| 1969 | "Come a Little Bit Closer Come A Little Bit Closer "Come a Little Bit Closer" is a popular song by the 1960s rock and roll band Jay and the Americans that reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, making it the band's highest ranking single ever . It also peaked at #4 on the Cashbox chart and at #1 on RPM's singles chart... " |
121 | - | - | - |
| "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'" | 133 | - | - | - | |
Albums
- 1963: Live at PJ's
- 1963 More Trini Lopez Live at PJ's
- 1964 On the Move
- 1964 Live at Basin St. East
- 1964 The Latin Album
- 1965 The Folk Album
- 1965 The Love Album
- 1965 The Rhythm and Blues Album
- 1965 The Sing Along World of Trini Lopez
- 1965 Trini Lopez Live in South Africa
- 1966 Trini
- 1966 The Second Latin Album
- 1967 In London
- 1967 Now!
- 1968 It's a Great Life
- 1968 Welcome to Trini CountryWelcome to Trini CountryWelcolm To Trini Country is an album by country musician Trini Lopez. Released in 1968 by Reprise Records .-Track listing:#Gentle on My Mind #Crazy Arms #Devil Woman #Once a Day...
- 1969 The Whole Enchilada
- 1969 The Trini Lopez Show
- 1970 Viva
- 1971 Trini Lopez Live in Tokyo
- 1977 Y Su Alma Latina
- 1978 Transformed By Time
- 1991 The 25th Anniversary Album
- 1998 Dance Party
- 2000 Aylole-Aylola
- 2001 Dance the Night Away
- 2002 Legacy: My Texas Roots
- 2005 Romantic and Sexy Guitars
- 2008 Ramblin' Man
(excluding compilations and re-recordings)
In popular culture
- Jerry and George talk about his cover of "Lemon Tree" in an episode of SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. - His coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Cielito LindoCielito Lindo"Cielito lindo" is a popular Ranchera song from Mexico, written in 1882 by Quirino Mendoza y Cortés . It is roughly translated as "Lovely Sweet One". Although the word "cielo" means sky or heaven, it is also a term of endearment comparable to sweetheart or honey. "Cielito" can thus be translated as...
" was used in the 1989 filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Born on the Fourth of JulyBorn on the Fourth of July (film)Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American film adaptation of the best selling autobiography of the same name by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Tom Cruise plays Kovic, in a performance that earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Oliver Stone co-wrote the screenplay with Kovic, and also...
. - Live at PJ's album was featured in the November 1966 Playboy centerfold; Playmate Lisa BakerLisa BakerLisa Baker was Playboy 's Playmate of the Month for its November 1966 issue, and Playmate of the Year for 1967. Her original pictorial for photographed by William Figge and Ed DeLong....
is using it for support. - In the 1983 comedy The Survivors, Walter MatthauWalter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
's character, Sonny Paluso keeps a photo of Lopez in his bedroom as a souvenir of Lopez purchasing gasoline for his limousine at Paluso's service station. - In the situation comedy The Golden GirlsThe Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
, Lopez is mentioned in the episode where Rose Nyland endured an AIDS scare in February 1990, when she was alerted that a blood transfusion she had received during an operation several years before may have been tainted with HIV. Specifically, The Golden Girls matriarch, Sophia Petrillo, indicates her desire to purchase Lopez in a celebrity auction in the hopes of being able to shower with him. The name of the episode is "72 Hours." - TV's Frank sings a few lines of Lemon Tree in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
External links
- Official site, with detailed biography
- Trini Lopez, from the Texas MonthlyTexas MonthlyTexas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
website