Butch rillera biography

Pat and Lolly Vegas are another example that anyone can have soul.
Butch Rillera joined the band Redbone in 1973.
Butch Rillera Arturo Perez Aloisio Aguilar.

•

Blogroll

As I’ve pointed out many times in this column, soul doesn’t know any colors. When you hear a song on the radio, by an artist that you’ve never seen, you have no way of knowing if that artist is black, white, or any other color. Rock and roll legend tells us that the first time that Buddy Holly showed up to play at the Apollo Theater, the audience, which to that point had only heard his records on the radio, was stunned to learn that he was white. It made no difference of course because Holly proceeded to blow the crowd away.

Pat and Lolly Vegas are another example that anyone can have soul. The brothers were born near Fresno, California. Their heritage was a blend of Native American and Mexican. Early on, Pat won a Coca Cola singing contest that promised him the chance to become a recording artist. Instead of pursuing that opportunity, Pat moved with his brother to Los Angeles in 1969. In LA the brothers formed a band and began playing gigs in Hollywood clubs. At the same time they were writing songs and playing on records by artists like Tina Turner, Sonny & Cher,

•

Redbone: Cajun Funk with a Touch of Latin Soul

by Mark Guerrero

Redbone was a funky band whose music was a mixture of r&b, Cajun, Latin, and Native-American tribal elements. They were founded in the late 60s by brothers Pat and Lolly Vegas, born Pat and Lolly Vasquez. Lolly is actually the diminutive form of the nickname for the name Eduardo, which is Lalo. The name Redbone came from a derogatory Indian slang term meaning half-breed. However, they chose to bear the name with pride and a touch of humor. Although the heritage of three of the band members was a mixture of Chicano and Native American, they emphasized the latter with their name and image. They dressed in full Indian regalia, buckskins, moccasins, and headdresses. Redbone signed with Epic Records in 1970 and went on to have two top forty hits, the biggest being their million seller “Come and Get Your Love” in 1974. They performed on the major television shows of the day and toured extensively in the United States and Eu

•

Pat Vegas: My father and mother met during the Depression in Texas and moved onto an Indian reservation in Arizona. When I was a year old in 1942, we moved with my older brother, Lolly, to Fresno, Calif., where my father found a job working in the Coalinga Oil Field.

Our family name was Vasquez. We were descendants of Native-American tribes of the Southwest and proud of our heritage. My mother’s father, Antonio Beltrán, was a musician. So was everyone in his family. His sister was Lola Beltrán, Mexico’s most famous ranchera singer and a favorite of Linda Ronstadt.

My grandfather had a guitar he played all the time at family gatherings. He kept it on top of his armoire. He said, “When you can reach that guitar, it’s yours.” A few days later, when I was 5, I stood on a chair, took down the guitar and started practicing.

My brother already was playing guitar. He played it like a piano, picking at the strings with all four fingers at once. We formed our first local band when I was 14, playing Top-40 hits. Soon I had to switch to bass. We couldn’t find a bass player who