UNIQUE FRAMED TRINI LOPEZ GIBSON GUITAR PROMO AD 1965

" The Gibson Guitar that was inspired by Trini Lopez!."

BIRTH NAME:  TRINIDAD LOPEZ, III

BIRTH DATE:  May 15, 1937 

BIRTH PLACE:  Dallas, Texas

PARENTS:  Trini's father, Trinidad Lopez II, was a singer, dancer, actor, and musician in Mexico. When he was 18, he married Petra Gonzalez and moved to Dallas, Texas, from Mexico to make a better life for themselves. Both of Trini's parents are deceased. 

SIBLINGS:  4 Sisters - 1 is deceased and the other 3 are homemakers.  1 Brother - Jesse, is also an entertainer.

EDUCATION:  Attended grammar school and N. R. Crozier Tech High School in Dallas, Texas. Trini had to drop out of High School in his senior year because his father needed his financial support.

BACKGROUND:  Trini was a poor boy from the barrio of Dallas, Texas. He remembers barely enough food for the family, the amount always determined by his parents' ability to get whatever work they could. "They worked and struggled together just to survive," he recalls. "They plowed fields together. My mother washed clothes in the neighborhood for extra income. You cannot imagine how hard it was."

Trini has made "lemonade" from a life that began with nothing but lemons! When he was 11 years old, his father spanked him for "hanging around with the wrong kind of kids"...what a wise man he was to lead his talented son from a life of street gangs to a life of sophisticated graciousness. Trinidad Lopez, Sr., felt so bad about the spanking he had given his son, he bought him a $12.00 guitar he really could not afford. Trini says, "A spanking literally changed my life."

Trini learned to play the guitar from his father.  Then he played for money on the street corners.  He eventually went on to form his own group.  It was then that the world saw the beginnings of the singing, acting, and very talented Trini Lopez.  Trini's first songs were Mexican sing-alongs with his mother, father, brother, and sisters.  He dropped out of high school to help his father support the family by singing around Dallas and the Texas "Southland."  Trini's quality could not be denied.  He went on to the El Cipango Club in Dallas, (a more affluent part of Dallas) and to other big clubs throughout the Southwest.  He realized music would make him something special.  Indeed it did, enabling him to get himself, and his family, out of the barrio.

When Trini was 18 years old, King Records in Cincinnati, Ohio, heard that Trini had written and recorded a single in Dallas on a little label called Volk Records. The name of the song was "The Right to Rock. "  From the beginning, the record producer  wanted Trini to change his name to anything but Lopez. Trini was, and is, proud of his heritage and was devastated by the situation.  Trini refused and was heading out the door when the record producer stopped him and said, "Okay, Okay, you can keep your name."  The single made a little noise in Dallas, enough noise for King Records to be impressed with Trini's voice and style. King Records offered Trini a recording contract and for three years, they flew Trini from Dallas to Cincinnati to record for two weeks at a time. Unfortunately, the only songs they were giving Trini to record were old country songs they had in their catalog by country artists such as Cowboy Copus. Once in a while on some recording sessions, Trini would slip in some of his own compositions that were more up to date. The only song to hit the charts nationally on the King label for Trini was a song Trini covered by the Skyliners called "Since I Don't Have You." The song hit the Top 10 nationwide, and Trini was elated to see his name on Cashbox, and Billboard. The only other song on King Records Trini had that was a No. 1 hit in his hometown of Dallas was a song called "Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die."

Trini befriended the famous recording artist, Mr.. Buddy Holly, a fellow Texan. Buddy Holly asked if Trini would like to meet his record producer in Clovis, New Mexico. Trini was elated and packed his station wagon with his group and drove to Clovis with the hopes of recording. Buddy Holly's record producer turned out to be prejudiced because of Trini's heritage. He would not allow the use of Trini's name on the record label. Trini's group agreed with the conspiracy against Trini's Latin name, and they agreed not to allow Trini to sing on the record. The record was released as an instrumental under the name "The Big Beats."   When Trini returned to Dallas, he disbanded the group and assembled a new band

While in Clovis, Trini befriended not only Buddy Holly, but also his band, The Crickets. As fate would have it, two months later, Buddy Holly was killed in the fatal plane crash along with Richie Valens and The Big Bopper. A couple of months after the plane crash, Trini received a phone call from The Crickets asking him to come to Hollywood to be their lead singer. Trini was ecstatic, and instead of flying, he used the money sent by The Crickets to drive his station wagon to Los Angeles. All through the two and half day trip, Trini kept saying to himself "Hollywood or bust, Hollywood or bust!!!"  In 1960, Trini arrived in H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D driving his old station wagon with "Trini Lopez and his Combo" painted on each side.

The agreement Trini had with The Crickets did not materialize because The Crickets were enjoying their royalties and record sales from Buddy Holly's past hit recordings and were in no hurry to perform.

The $200 Trini left Dallas with was gone. He had promised he would be sending monies to his parents from his engagements in California. Out of desperation, Trini Lopez, the soloist was born.

Trini got a job at the Ye Little Club in Beverly Hills. He was hired with no group, just with his guitar.  His engagement was to last two weeks and ended up lasting a year.  

The first big break came at the popular night spot called P. J.'s. Here, he was spotted by the world famous record producer, the late Don Costa, who then brought Trini to the attention of his longtime idol, Mr. Frank Sinatra.   The great singer recognized a fellow stylist and immediately signed Trini to an exclusive eight-year contract with his own label - Reprise Records.

Reprise released his first album, "Trini Lopez at P. J.s," which became a No. 1 hit album. Out of that album a single, If I Had a Hammer" became a No. 1 hit in thirty eight countries.

"If I Had a Hammer," hammered his name in GOLD with many hit albums and many hit singles ... and in the hearts of millions of fans throughout the world!  Following "Hammer" were many hits which he wrote, as well as songs like "I'm Coming Home Cindy," "Michael," "Lemon Tree," Kansas City," "America," and, of course, "La Bamba." The list goes on, but that's another story!

Among Trini's numerous successful albums are "Trini Lopez Live at P. J.'s "More Trini Lopez a P. J.'s by Popular Demand", "The Latin Album," "The Second Latin Album," "The Love Album," "It's a Great Life," "Trini Lopez in London," "Trini Lopez Now, "Trini Lopez Live at Basin Street East, Trini Lopez' Greatest Hits,". "Trini - Transformed by Time," "The Best of Trini Lopez," and more recently, "Trini Lopez 25th Anniversary Album." To date Trini has more than 63 albums to his credit, and there's always another project just around the corner.

From there, it was standing room only audiences for Trini across the face of Europe and the world.   He had earned about half a million dollars by then, and his weekly salary was twenty-five thousand dollars.