Lopez 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, 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. 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 13 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.
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.
Since then, Lopez has done charitable work and received honors such as being inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2003. He was still recording and appearing live in the early 2000s. Recently he took part in a benefit concert to raise money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
Pancho Lopez
Trini Lopez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
En un petate bajo un ciprés
A los dos años hablaba inglés
Mató a dos hombres a la edad de tres.
Pancho, Pancho López,
Chiquito pero matón.
La carabina sabía apuntar
A treinta yardas le vi apagar
Un ojo a un mosquito y sin apuntar.
Pancho, Pancho López,
Valiente como un león.
A los cinco años sabía cantar
Tocar guitarra y hasta bailar
Y su papá le dejaba fumar
Y se emborrachaba con puro mescal.
Pancho, Pancho López,
A Alaska se fue a parar.
A los seis años se enamoró
Luego a los siete fue y se casó
Lo que tenía que pasar pasó
Y a los ocho años papá resultó.
Pancho, Pancho López,
Se fue a la revolución.
Aquí la historia se terminó
Porque a los nueve Pancho murió
Y el consejo de la historia es:
¡no vivas la vida con tanta rapidez!
Pancho, Pancho López,
Chiquito pero matón.
Pancho, Pancho López,
Viviste como un ciclón.
The song "Pancho Lopez" by Trini Lopez tells the story of a fictional character named Pancho who is portrayed as a child prodigy with impressive skills such as speaking English at the age of two, killing two men at the age of three, and being able to ride horses and shoot a rifle at the age of four. Despite his young age, he was also a talented musician and dancer, as well as a smoker and drinker. He eventually fell in love and married at the age of six, and by eight years old, his father had died. The song concludes with the message that Pancho's life was lived too quickly, as he died at the young age of nine.
The lyrics of this song can be interpreted as a commentary on the culture of violence and recklessness in certain parts of Mexico, where children are often exposed to dangerous situations from a young age. The line "no vivas la vida con tanta rapidez" (don't live life so quickly) at the end of the song can be seen as a warning against this lifestyle.
Line by Line Meaning
Nació en Chihuahua 906
Pancho Lopez was born in a humble background in Chihuahua, Mexico.
En un petate bajo un ciprés
He was born in a makeshift bed under a cypress tree.
A los dos años hablaba inglés
Pacho Lopez learned English by the age of two.
Mató a dos hombres a la edad de tres.
At three years old, Pancho Lopez had already killed two men.
Pancho, Pancho López,
Chiquito pero matón.
Pancho Lopez was small in size but had a killer spirit.
A los cuatro años sabía montar
La carabina sabía apuntar
By four years old, Pancho Lopez knew how to ride and shoot a rifle.
A treinta yardas le vi apagar
Un ojo a un mosquito y sin apuntar.
He was so skilled at shooting that he could hit a mosquito from thirty yards away without aiming.
Pancho, Pancho López,
Valiente como un león.
Pancho Lopez was as brave as a lion.
A los cinco años sabía cantar
Tocar guitarra y hasta bailar
Pancho Lopez had musical skills at a young age, including singing, guitar-playing, and dancing.
Y su papá le dejaba fumar
Y se emborrachaba con puro mescal.
His father allowed him to smoke and he himself drank mescal to excess.
Pancho, Pancho López,
A Alaska se fue a parar.
Pancho Lopez moved to Alaska at a young age.
A los seis años se enamoró,
Luego a los siete fue y se casó.
Lo que tenía que pasar pasó,
Y a los ocho años papá resultó.
He fell in love at six, married at seven, and his father became a grandfather at eight years old.
Pancho, Pancho López,
Se fue a la revolución.
Pancho Lopez joined the Mexican Revolution.
Aquí la historia se terminó,
Porque a los nueve Pancho murió,
Y el consejo de la historia es:
¡No vivas la vida con tanta rapidez!
The story ends with Pancho Lopez dying at the young age of nine, with the moral of the story being that one should not live life too fast.
Pancho, Pancho López,
Chiquito pero matón.
Pancho, Pancho López,
Viviste como un ciclón.
Pancho Lopez may have been small but he lived his life fiercely and with great impact.
Writer(s): George Edward Bruns, Tom Blackburn, Lalo Guerrero
Contributed by London N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.