Prof. J. Nicolopulos

Topics Related to the Mexican American Experience:

1. Corridos de Contrabando--the sub-genre of the early heroic corridos

Smuggling from the U.S. into Mexico dates back to Colonial times. The first corridos, however, are from the 1880s, the most well-known of which is "Mariano Reséndez" (see Paredes and "Corrido de Mariano Reséndez"). It was not until the imposition of Prohibition in 1919 that the flow of contraband became a "two-way street", with alcohol being smuggled into the United States from Mexico. The most well-known of the so-called "Tequilero" corridos "Los Tequileros") is a true "heroic" corrido of intercultural conflict, much like "Jacinto Treviño" or "Gregorio Cortez." In addition to the Prohibition era ballads, there are others that continue to sing of smuggling from the US into Mexico, like "La canela" (from 1934), for instance, which really is about cinnamon!!!

Corridos:

b) Another, which would also relate to the themes of contraband and Prohibition, would be "Los Tequileros." There are a number of lesser known corridos which have to do with violent encounters between tejanos and rinches, primarily in the context of bootlegging or border-running, which would be appropriate to a presentation of this kind.

"Los Tequileros." Cantú y Maya. Rec. Alice, TX. c. 1948.

"Los tequileros." Video de Poncho Villag&ocaute;moez y sus Coyotes del Río Bravo.

"Capitán Charles Stevens." Pts. I & II. Lupe Martínez y Pedro Rocha. Rec. San Antonio. October 1929. On Arhoolie/Folklyric CD 7020.

"Chávez y Ofilio Herrera." Pts. I & II. Tamez y Martínez. San Antonio. 3/30/34. Subject: Shoot-out between lawmen and bootleggers.

"García y Zamarripa." Hermanos Chavarría. Rec. San Antonio. 4/8/38. Subject: Smugglers vs. rinches.

Other Corridos of this cycle in the Arhoolie Foundation Frontera Collection. Especially those on Arhoolie CD 7053.

Basic Bibliography:

Avitia Hernández, Antonio. El corrido histórico mexicano: voy a cantarles la historia. 5 tomos. México: Porrúa, 1997.

Hernández, Guillermo. "El corrido ayer y hoy: nuevas notas para su estudio." Entre la magia y la historia: tradiciones, mitos y leyendas de la frontera. Comp. José Manuel Valenzuela Arce. Tijuana: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, 1992. 215-30. UT: Benson GR108.5.E585 1992.

Herrera-Sobek, María. "The Theme of Drug Smuggling in the Mexican Corrido." Revista Chicano-Riqueña 7.4 (1979): 49-61.

Nicolopulos, James. "The Roots of the Narcocorrido: Introduction and Notes." Arhoolie CD 7053. El Cerrito, CA: Arhoolie Productions, 2004.

Paredes, Américo. A Texas-Mexican Cancionero:Folksongs of the Lower Border. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.

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