Pioneering artist rides his thumb to Music Row

Country performer Johnny Rodriguez was originally attracted to American country music because it was so similar to the music of Mexico. “The lyrics to both country and Mexican songs tell stories,” he said. I can’t claim to know about Mexican songs, but Rodriguez is correct when it comes to country music. It is a genre of a variety of themes running through thousands of recordings by thousands of artists. Tales of lonesome roads, lost loves, and regretted decisions wind through many country songs, including both trucking music and road songs. When the artist has actually lived the experiences told in the lyrics, it makes country music all the better. Juan Rauol Davis “Johnny” Rodriguez was born and bred in Sabinal, Texas, just 25 miles north of the Rio Grande. While not a native of Mexico, he will be remembered in country music history as the first star of Mexican descent. A son of Mexican immigrants, his father worked at Kelley Air Force Base in San Antonio. The distance kept him away from Sabinal much of the time, leaving young Johnny with his mother and siblings. He was particularly close to his older brother, Andres. By the time Johnny Rodriguez turned 16, he starred as a high school athlete and served as an alter boy. In the span of a year, however, his world tragically turned upside down. His father died of cancer, and just months later, Andres was killed in an automobile accident. Trouble quickly caught up to Rodriguez’ already troubled soul. Ironically, his first contact with the justice system gave him the break he needed to, seemingly, emerge a better man. When Johnny Rodriguez was 18, legend has it took the rap for a group of friends who had stolen a goat. Rodriguez and the arresting Texas Ranger thought it to be a minor offense, but they didn’t realize the value of a goat in South Texas. Rodriguez spent a weekend in a jail cell, and to pass the time he sang incessantly. The Texas Ranger was impressed with what he heard. Rodriguez paid a fine for the goat theft and thought he was done with the matter. But the Texas Ranger passed Rodriguez’ name on to the owner of “Alamo City,” a tourist attraction west of Sabinal. Soon, Rodriguez was a regular performer on its stage, one which drew the likes of country stars Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare. Hall encouraged Rodriguez to travel to Nashville. After debating the idea for some time, Rodriguez took Tom T. Hall’s advice. As the legend continues, Rodriguez arrived in Nashville with his guitar wrapped in cellophane and $14 in his pocket. He soon found his way to Tom T. Hall who hired him to front his band on lead guitar. Before long, he used Rodriguez as an opening act, a role the young shy performer wasn’t eager to accept. He excelled, and Hall managed to secure Rodriguez a recording contract. The rest is country music history. During his career, one which isn’t done yet, Johnny Rodriguez has recorded 26 albums, his first rising to No. 1 on the charts in 1973. That same year, he was nominated for the Country Music Association’s “Male Vocalist” award. Of his 15 top ten singles, most of which he wrote or co-wrote, 6 achieved No. 1 status. Songs like “Pass Me By”, “You Always Come Back (To HurtingnMe)”, “That’s the Way Love Goes” and “Just Get Up and Close The Door” created a legion of Johnny Rodriquez followers. But while he still had decades of recording and performing ahead of him, perhaps his signature song remains his second No. 1 single, “Riding My Thumb to Mexico,” released in August 1973. “Riding My Thumb to Mexico,” written by Rodriguez, is a two-minute tale of a tortured soul on the road. The opening stanza most everything a listener needs to know about what follows. It should strike a chord with those who lived through similar circumstances, and it’s a theme in countless trucking songs: This old highway seems so lonesome When you’re going where you’ve been And a lonesome song can make you cry Time and time again… Any truck driver no doubt recognizes the tortured soul in the lyrics of “Riding My Thumb to Mexico” and has probably seen it in the eyes of fellow drivers at truck stops across the country. Unfortunately, in the case of Johnny Rodrigues, “Riding My Thumb to Mexico” was as much an omen as a song. While his signature song came early, the theme Rodriguez wrote of eventually mirrored Johnny Rodriguez himself. He continued his recording success through the 1970s and into the 80s, but drugs and alcohol took their toll. Rodriguez has said in many interviews that his career would have been far more successful had he been able to resist the temptations of the road. And with the notoriety of being country music’s first Mexican American star, he is surely correct. But Rodriguez’ troubles lasted nearly three decades. In the late 1990s, his problems became far more complicated. In a story that played out in court rather than song, Johnny Rodriguez faced a first-degree murder charge after killing an intruder in his mother’s home with a single shot from a pistol. Unbeknownst to Rodriguez, the perceived burglar was actually an acquaintance, one he had spent the entire previous night with as Rodriguez and others drank the evening away. By the time the dust settled 18 months later, Rodriguez was acquitted of the charge. In the process, Rodriguez has said he learned valuable lessons. He admitted that substance abuse habits he gained with his troubled life on the road contributed to the incident, although he stands by his word, on the jury agreed with — the shooting was a case of selfdefense and misidentification of an intruder. It’s an incident that will continue to haunt Rodriguez, but while his career was on a steep grade downward before the incident and he no longer has hit records, Johnny Rodriguez lives on, hopefully a soul who over the course of the previous 20 years has become less troubled. The fact of the matter is, the Johnny Rodriguez story is one of rags-to-riches, the tale of an unlikely young man who literally rode his thumb to stardom. Until next time, when you see a troubled soul along your way, pass along a few encouraging words. It might make all the difference.