Early Life & Rise To Fame
He was born Juan Raul Davis Rodriguez in Sabinal, Texas, the second youngest in a family of ten children living in a four-room house in this small town situated ninety miles from Mexico.
Growing up in Sabinal, Rodriguez was a good student in school and an altar boy for his church. He was also the captain of his junior high school football team. When Rodriguez was sixteen, his father died of cancer and his older brother Andres died in an automobile accident the following year. The two incidents soon had an effect on Rodriguez and he became a troubled teen. In 1969, he and some friends were caught by law enforcement officers after stealing and barbecuing a goat. This unfortunate incident and subsequent jail sentence led to his ultimate break in the music business. He often would sing in his cell and was overheard by Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson, who was very impressed and told promoter "Happy" Shahan about him.
Shahan then hired Johnny to perform at his local tourist attraction called the Alamo Village. While singing at this venue, he came to the attention of country singers Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare, who encouraged the young singer to fly up to the country music capital Nashville, Tennessee in 1971.
The 21-year old singer arrived in Nashville with nothing more than a guitar in his hand and $14 in his pocket. Fortunately, Hall soon found work for Rodriguez fronting his band, as well as writing songs.
Less than one year later, Hall personally took Rodriguez to the heads of Mercury Records' Nashville division to land him an audition with the record label. After performing the songs "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "If I Left It Up to You," he was then offered a contract with Mercury. Upon signing as a Mercury artist, Rodriguez then recorded in their Nashville studio.
Read more about this topic: Johnny Rodriguez
Famous quotes containing the words early, life, rise and/or fame:
“I have always had something to live besides a personal life. And I suspected very early that to live merely in an experience of, in an expression of, in a positive delight in the human cliches could be no business of mine.”
—Margaret Anderson (1886–1973)
“This is one of the most serious intrusions into personal life that I can think of, and it’s as bad as anything I’ve ever experienced.”
—Ellen Wood Hall (b. 1945)
“To rise from error to truth is rare and beautiful.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“Those poor farmers who came up, that day, to defend their native soil, acted from the simplest of instincts. They did not know it was a deed of fame they were doing. These men did not babble of glory. They never dreamed their children would contend who had done the most. They supposed they had a right to their corn and their cattle, without paying tribute to any but their governors. And as they had no fear of man, they yet did have a fear of God.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)