Trinidad López III was born in Dallas, Texas on May 15, 1937, and at the age of 15 formed his first band, The Big Beats, playing guitar to cover Mexican Folk songs, Rhythm and Blues hits and Rock ’n’ Roll favorites. Playing this circuit, Lopez met Buddy Holly and Holly referred him to his producer, Norman Petty, who helped the Big Beats and Trini get their first record dea, with Columbia Records.
Later working solo, Lopez ended up without a label by 1962 while living and playing in LA. Record man Don Costa, who worked for Frank Sinatra’s new label, Reprise Records, brought his boss to one of Lopez’s shows in LA and soon after, Lopez was signed to Reprise and released his first album, Trini Lopez at PJ’s. The album reached #2 on the Billboard album charts. Lopez put out 20 albums from 1963–1969 with Reprise and established himself as one of the first Latin acts to cross over to the pop charts.
But he also released several non-LP A- and B- sides throughout the years and Omnivore Recordings will be releasing The Rare Reprise Singles, a 24-track compilation gathering most of the non-LP tracks that Lopez recorded for Reprise from 1962–1970. This will be the first release on CD for many of the songs. The collection will also include liner notes from former Warner Bros. writer Gene Sculatti, and photos and ephemera from Lopez’s career with Reprise.
Sculatti notes:
“Trini’s post-Reprise period took him to a variety of labels where he continued to put out singles through the early ’90s. But he never experienced the artistic nor commercial success he enjoyed at Reprise. As those first hits about a tart fruit and carpenter’s tool and this compilation prove, his lively, affable recording remain an indelible signature of that most vibrant of pop music epochs.”
Sadly, Lopez died from COVID-19 complications in his home of Palm Springs, California in August 2020.
