José Roberto Pulido (born March 1, 1950), known as Roberto "El Primo" Pulido, is an American musician whose career spans five decades. Pulido has been recognized as a

Tejano music Tejano music (), also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican influences. Its evolution began in northern Mexico (a variation of regional Mexican music known as ). It reached a larger audience in the late 20th century ...

pioneer for his introduction of the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

into his music which "helped bridged the traditional conjunto and the modern Tejano camps" in the mid-1970s. Pulido is the father of Tejano musicians Alma Pulido and Bobby Pulido.

Background

Roberto "El Primo" Pulido was born and raised in

Edinburg, Texas Edinburg ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 100,243 at the 2020 census, and in 2022, its estimated population was 104,294, making it the second-largest city in Hidalgo County, and th ...

to José "Don Chuy" Pulido and Adelina. Pulido first gained interest in the music industry after his uncle Leonel Pulido's band (the Los Cardenales de Leonel Pulido) introduced him to the genre and taught him the basics of music. At the age of twelve, Pulido repaired his grandfather's guitar and began playing it and singing around the house. When he was fifteen, he joined the Los Hermanos Layton in

Elsa, Texas Elsa is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,668 at the 2020 census. It is part of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission and Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan areas. Geography Elsa is located in eastern Hidalgo Coun ...

. Pulido's father bought him his first saxophone in the 1960s. In 1969, a senior, Pulido garnered several music scholarships and enrolled at Pan American University and took music studies as his major. A year later, he married Diana Montes, daughter of Mario Montes of Los Donnenos. In 1973, Pulido gained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

and began teaching music in high school for an annual salary of $6,100. After a couple of years, Pulido retired from teaching and started his own band Los Clasicos, which included his uncle Leonel and brothers Roel and Joel Pulido on sax. The band was signed to indie labels and produced only regional hits, including "Copa Tras Copa", "Simplemente", "Senorita Cantinera", "No Nos Quieren, Corazon", and "Flecha Envenenada". Pulido won the first Tejano Music Award for Male Vocalist of the Year and the Tejano Music Award for Male Entertainer of the Year in 1981 and won once more in 1985 (Male Vocalist of the Year). In 1989, Pulido signed with

EMI Latin Capitol Latin (formerly EMI Latin) is a brand of Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group. Previously, it was a subsidiary of EMI. History In 1989, José Behar, the former head of CBS Discos, signed Selena t ...

, which helped increased public awareness and record sales. His 1994 album, ''Te Vi Partir'', peaked at number 33 on the United States ''Billboard''

Top Latin Albums Top Latin Albums (formerly Latin 50) is a record chart published by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the United States, American music market. ...

chart and number 12 on the ''Billboard''

Regional Mexican Albums In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

chart. The album also produced the top twenty single "Ya Ahora Es Tarde". That same year, EMI Latin released a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

''Branding Icons'' featuring Pulido on the album with his son Bobby Pulido on the song " Contigo". The song was responsible for jump-starting Bobby's musical career.

Discography

GCP Records: Vol. 1 Vol. 2 Vol. 3 Hojita Falcon/ARV Records: Copa Tras Copa On Tour Seguire Mi Camino El Primo Mi Pequeñito Polkas, Redovas y Huapangos Llorando En Mi Tumba Aquí Amor Derecho For Profono International Records: Envidias La Silla De Tu Abuelo For Freddie Records: Voy A Tirarme A Los Vicios Dame Amor - Con Las Alas Rotas Otra Vez A La Cantina Un Rosal Simplemente El Bandolero Desde Mi Rancho Un Día Llegasrte - Corazon De Hielo Amor Ingrato Que Esperabas De Mi For Capitol/EMI Records: Nuevos Caminos Si a todas Fueran Como Tu Si Te Decides LIVE! Dulces Recuerdos Te Vi Partir Toro Prieto A Través De Los Años Todavia Creo En El Amor For Primo/Sniper Records: Bien Pulido Vino Tequila y Cerveza Ahora Que * * * * * *

References

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pulido, Roberto 1950 births 20th-century American singers American mariachi musicians American musicians of Mexican descent American ranchera singers Capitol Records artists Cumbia musicians EMI Latin artists Hispanic and Latino American musicians People from Edinburg, Texas Polka musicians Singers from Texas Spanish-language singers of the United States Tejano musicians Living people

Background

Discography

See also

References

Notes

External links