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His peers in film and music were legendary names -- Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete and Miguel Aceves Mejía. Guizar died Dec. 24 in San Antonio. He was 91. His career spanned nearly 70 years of recordings and film work. He is best known for his signature song Allá en el Rancho Grande, the title track from the 1936 movie of the same name. The song, about idyllic country life, was comparable to Roy Roger's Happy Trails. More significantly, Allá en el Rancho Grande is credited with starting the singing-charro genre in Mexican cinema, mirroring the singing-cowboy craze in American films by stars such as Rogers and Gene Autry. Born Federico Arturo Guizar Tolentino on April 8, 1908, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Guizar had an early interest in singing. "When I was 12 or 13, I used to sing in the shower, and my voice began changing," he said in a September interview at his San Antonio home. "My mom told me then that I sang nicely. Then I began playing the piano." But a stern, conservative father wanted Guizar to study medicine instead. In the late 1920s, Guizar told his parents he was going to New York to enroll in Columbia University's medical school. New York then was a hotbed of activity in the early days of radio, and Guizar was not alone.Other compatriots came -- ranchero singer Negrete, Jesús "Chucho" Navarro Moreno and Alfredo "El Güero" Bojalíl Gil -- were all looking for radio or recording work. Guizar stayed busy, singing in Prohibition-era nightclubs and later, after an audition got him a spot on CBS radio, he dropped out of school. Moving to Los Angeles, he got his own radio show, Tito Guizar y Su Guitarra, gaining audiences with his own classical arrangements of popular Mexican and Spanish melodies such as Cielito Lindo and La Cucaracha. In Guizar's first films, for Warner Bros., he had minor parts. But in 1936, director Fernando de Fuentes asked him to play the leading role in Allá en el Rancho Grande. "Federico originally wanted Rancho Grande to be titled Cruz, after the leading lady, played by actress Esther Fernández," Guizar recalled. Other future greats in the film were noted composer Lorenzo Barcelata and cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. "We were hanging out in the Cafe Tenampa when Fuentes recognized me," Guizar said. "He asked if I would be in one of his movies that he was working on called Cruz. I told him I was not an actor, I was a singer. But I suggested the name of a song, Allá en el Rancho Grande, instead of Cruz, for the movie title. He accepted. The movie came out in '36." Another memorable movie was the 1948 western The Gay Ranchero, in which Roy Rogers plays the sheriff and Guizar his sidekick, singing You Belong to My Heart (English version of Solamente una Vez) and Granada. In all, Guizar appeared in 40 Mexican films and eight American movies, including Big Broadcast of 1938 with Bob Hope, who sang Thanks for the Memory, and Tropic Holiday with Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland.
In 1932, Guizar married the Mexican singer Carmen Noriega in New York. She died in 1990. Guizar later recalled their marriage fondly, describing their life together as idyllic. Even in the recent interview, Guizar maintained an easy smile and readily broke into song with the enthusiasm that came through in his screen roles. And he was quick to share his signature motto: "El pasado es polvo, el futuro, no mas una brisa. Si quieres ser feliz, vive por ahorita" (the past is dust and the future a passing breeze. If you want to be happy, live for the moment). Guizar will be remembered for his endless appreciation and passion for life, love and music. Ramiro Burr covers the Latin music scene each week. Burr is also the author of The Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music, published by Billboard Books. For questions or comments call Burr at 800-555-1551, Ext. 3429, or e-mail rburr@express-news.net. This page was designed and created by S. A. Vega Used by Permission.© Fiesta Del Mariachi |
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