When I was growing up and where I grew up, there were mostly what people refer to as Mexican-Americans. When I first came to Houston in 1969, there were mostly only Mexican-Americans. Today, we have people from all over the Americas. Where I live, there are probably as many people from Central America as there are from people whose roots began in what is now Mexico. Most of the music I listened to was Tejano, but if I went to watch a Spanish movie, then Rancheras were most likely to be the songs played.
Being Chicano is being bi-cultural and, back then, bi-lingual.
Some of my friends preferred songs in English, but my car, radio, and Tejano songs were the norm. But there was an album from the Beetles that I did like listening to. Back then, it was played on a four-track player.
So what was that English album that I enjoyed?
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While Vincent Fernandez may have been El Rey, it was Jose Alfredo Jimenez that I enjoyed listening to when I wanted to hear Rancheras.