Sing a Song for Peace
1972 · Optimum OP-106 · San Antonio, Texas
- Artist
- Royal Jesters
- Title
- Sing a Song for Peace
- Release
- Sing a Song for Peace / Manning Ave
- Year
- 1972
- Label
- Optimum # OP-106
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Songwriter
- Al Garcia
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul · Tex-Mex
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
From San Antonio, Texas, USA, the Royal Jesters were a Mexican-American group combining doo-wop, pop, and soul, led by Oscar Lawson and Henry Hernandez, which they founded when in high school at the age of 15. They later founded the record label Optimum Records in San Antonio, to release their music. The organist, Luvine Elias Jr., said that the group "were the first Hispanics that actually did doo-wop". (1) (2) (3) The track "Sing a Song of Peace" (Optimum Records # OP-106) was a generic Vietnam-era peace song, with an additional Civil Rights message, calling on people to live together, and that a "change is gonna come".
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
The Royal Jesters formed in San Antonio, Texas in 1958, when founders Louis Escalante, Henry Hernandez, Oscar Lawson and Mike Pedraza met at Sidney Lanier High School on the city's west side, and became a leading Chicano soul act blending doo-wop, Motown and Mexican-American influences. After a pay dispute with Cobra Records they ran their own labels - Clown, Jester and Optimum - and "Sing A Song For Peace" (1972) appeared on their own Optimum Records (OP-106). Later members included Dimas Garza and Joe Jama; the group received the Tejano Music Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2006. [Source…
Themes
In collections
Civil Rights Songs · Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs