Canciones de Mi Padre

The mariachi songs of her Tucson childhood, and the best-selling non-English-language album in US history.
Linda Ronstadt, 1987

Released
November 1987
Recorded
1987
Studio
The Complex, Los Angeles
Label
Asylum
Producer
Peter Asher, Rubén Fuentes
Length
39:41

The title comes from a 1946 University of Arizona booklet by her aunt Luisa Espinel, and her father Gilbert painted the back cover. Rubén Fuentes arranged, conducted and co-produced, with Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, Mariachi Los Camperos and Mariachi Los Galleros de Pedro Rey, and family members on harmony. She credited Lola Beltrán and Lalo Guerrero, who had serenaded her as a child, as influences. The original booklet carried the lyrics in Spanish with English translations.

It reached number 42 on the Billboard 200, won the Grammy for Best Mexican-American Performance, and by 2013 had sold over 2.5 million copies in the US. It is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and, since 2022, the National Recording Registry. The stage show built around it played Broadway's Minskoff Theatre and toured in 1988, and the Christian Science Monitor called it a triumph.

Track listing

  1. Por Un Amor2:56
  2. Los Laureles2:25
  3. Hay Unos Ojos2:45
  4. La Cigarra3:45
  5. Tú Sólo Tú3:09
  6. Y Ándale2:32
  7. Rogaciano El Huapanguero3:00
  8. La Charreada3:49
  9. Dos Arbolitos2:34
  10. Corrido de Cananea3:24
  11. La Barca de Guaymas3:25
  12. La Calandria3:00
  13. El Sol Que Tú Eres2:57

Personnel

More from Linda Ronstadt

Silk Purse (1970), Don't Cry Now (1973), Heart Like a Wheel (1974)

Sources

  1. Canciones de Mi Padre, Wikipedia
  2. Canciones de Mi Padre, Asylum 9 60765-1, Discogs
  3. Linda Ronstadt brings her heritage to Broadway, Christian Science Monitor (1988-07-20)