This is Chano Rodriguez from Galveston County, Texas.
Paul Renfro, who played drums with Chano and the Rialtos, still recalled in his mind's ear walking down the hall at Lovenberg Jr. High School in 1954, and hearing Chano singing the "Ave Maria" solo in a choir classroom.
Paul Renfro, who played drums with Chano and the Rialtos, still recalled in his mind's ear walking down the hall at Lovenberg Jr. High School in 1954, and hearing Chano singing the "Ave Maria" solo in a choir classroom.
"I get goose bumps when I think about it, just like I did then, and I didn't even know Chano at the time," Renfro says. My brother, Frederick Cherry, says Chano's voice had a sweetness to it, a very unusual quality, and he followed Chano's entire career beginning with his performances at Larry Kane's Record Hops at the Pleasure Pier's Marine Room in the 1960s. Often when Rodriguez was appearing, his wife Margaret, the only wife he ever had, would sit alone at a table for two. It was obvious to everyone, including her, that she wasn't really alone, because Chano sang every one of the romantic ballads to her. He would join her during the breaks. They would hold hands, and she would get his undivided attention. And then sometime during the night he would leave the bandstand, go to her table and ask her for a dance. The floor would become theirs, and theirs alone
Chano Rodriguez, 58, died of a heart attack in 1998, and a big part of the hearts of Galvestonians went to his grave with him.
(From The Galveston Daily News, November 21, 1998)
(From The Galveston Daily News, November 21, 1998)
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