LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Vicente Fernandez: New Mexico
built 285 days ago
Las Vegas - Mexican recording legend Vicente Fernandez held a press conference recently to announce his plans for opening a mariachi-themed casino in Las Vegas. Designed to cash in on the immense popularity of such large scale theme casinos as "New York, New York," Fernandez said he expects to open his casino, which will be called "Guadalajara, Guadalajara," by the end of the year.
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Considered the king of the rancheros, Fernandez's romantic, nostalgic sound typifies old Mexico. He wields exquisite control over his voice, surging from intimacy to drama at the drop of a hat. Fernandez is heir to singers like Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante, but his story is ... bound up with the rise of television. Born in Jalisco in 1940, Fernandez had his first brush with musical success when he won a Guadalajara singing contest. But it wasn't until he won a small role on a television show called La Calandria Musical that his career really got moving. He began singing for many of the major mariachi groups of the 1950s, and famously gave an impassioned concert in Mexico City just after learning his father had died.
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Fernandez believed in fulfilling his professional duties and not disappointing his audiences. The night his father died was one of those occasions. He was ready to go on stage when he received news that his father has died. Fernandez went on with the performance. That night, he expressed such deep feelings through his singing that audience members, who were not told of his father's death until after he had left the stage, were in awe. As a result of this performance, many people started to compare him to some of Mexico's great singers, such as Pedro Infante, Javier Solís, José Alfredo Jiménez and Jorge Negrete.
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In 1965, the local party circuit palled for him and Fernandez headed to Mexico City to make his musical fortune. But Mexico City had little use for Fernandez and time after time doors were shut in his face. In a famous story, Fernandez finally got an audition. The record producers listened; they were not impressed. In fact, the response (one that is difficult to believe for anyone having heard Fernandez sing) was that his voice did not register enough to record. Disheartened, but not defeated, Fernandez went back to singing at local restaurants and events.
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Fernandez was born on February 17, 1940 in Huentitán del Alto, Jalisco, Mexico. His beginnings were extremely humble, and he worked as a shoeshine boy, a waiter and a bus boy as a child to help support his family. He got into singing at 21 when he won a vocals contest in Guadalajara, and has never looked back since. He has released more than 50 albums, and is one of the best selling artists of all time.
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At 21, Fernandez decided to make his living by singing. Initially, he sang for tips at the Amanecer Tapatio, serenaded drivers who sat waiting to move in traffic, and continued with "La Calandria Musical." From there he went on to sing with some of Mexico's best-known mariachi groups, such as Amanecer de Pepe Mendoza and the Mariachi of Jose Luis Aguilar. It was through these groups that he met Felipe Arriaga.
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