Paulino Bernal

Paulino Bernal (born June 22, 1939) is an accordion player and Christian evangelist. He was a member of the Mex-Tex group Conjunto Bernal. [http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/chh/bio/bernal.htm]

In 1972, Paulino became a born again Christian, and founded Bernal Christian Records in order to evangelize his Christian beliefs. Through his "La Nuevo Cristiana" ministry currently owns and operates more than a dozen Spanish Language religious radio stations located in Texas carrying a satellite fed programming schedule. Paulino Bernal is currently working with multiple Grammy & Latin Grammy winning Producer Armando Lichtenberger Jr on a new CD with new recordings of his favorite classic Polkas spanning from the 50's & 60's along with some new original instrumental compositions. The CD is rumored to be released in the summer of 2008 on Urbana Records. [http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/music/directory/radio/radio.south.htm]

External links

* [http://www.lanuevaradiocristiana.com/pbe.htm Official Biography]
* [http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/chh/bio/bernal.htm Conjunto Bernal history]
* [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/EE/xge1.html Handbook of Texas Online]

Texas-Mexicans have always been prolific music makers. They have been the music trendsetters among Mexicansin the Southwest throughout most of the 20th century. In fact, beginning in the 1930's, the Texas-Mexicans createdthe two most powerful regional styles ever to emerge among Mexicans anywhere – orquesta and conjunto.

The best of the conjuntos is, beyond a doubt, El Conjunto Bernal. Described by connoisseurs of conjunto music as"the only one of its kind" and "twenty years ahead of its time" El Conjunto Bernal is well known for its tremendousrange of innovations. Its musical experiments spanned the gamut of conjunto, from the traditional polka to Latinmusic such as the bolero, cha cha cha, and even American rock and roll. El Conjunto Bernal owed much of itsoriginality and meteoric rise to fame to the genius of its founder, Paulino Bernal.

Paulino Bernal was born June 22, 1939, in Raymondville, deep in south Texas. Reared in the grinding poverty thatvisited most of the Texas-Mexicans of his generation, Paulino was forced to quit school when he was in the seventh grade. An accomplished accordionist by that time, he left school he says "to try and earn money and get usout of the poverty in which we found ourselves."

Bernal’s mother was a divorcee, and early on she moved to Kingsville, where Paulino, his older brother Eloy, theyounger Luis, and three sisters were all forced to pick cotton, cucumbers, and other crops to help support thefamily. One day a man came by the house selling a guitar, and Mrs. Bernal "with great sacrifice," bought it for theboys. Paulino soon learned enough to play the cantinas with an elderly accordionist, where he picked up tips tohelp buy food for the Bernal family.

But Paulino’s future lay with the accordion. He remembers hearing the best accordionists of the late 40’s and early50's on the radio – Narciso Martinez, Valerio Longoria, Tony de la Rosa – all of whom were recording for the largestTexas-Mexican company at the time, Ideal Records. Paulino dreamed of joining their ranks, and when a friend of his was given an accordion as a gift, it was Paulino who spent the most time practicing on it. Shortly afterward, on atrip to visit their father in Rio Grande Valley, Eloy was given a bajo sexto by his father and the Bernal’s were soon ontrack toward their future.

Los Hermanitos Bernal launched their musical career in 1952. They were hired to play a dance in nearby Premont– Paulino on accordion, Eloy on bajo sexto, and a friend, Adan Lomas, on drums. According to Bernal, "a lot of people attended, and they liked the Bernal Brothers so much, they kept calling us back." They began playing in nearby Falfurrias and in Alice, the home of the powerful Ideal Records. Soon the Bernal Brothers came to theattention of Armando Marroquin, the man who recorded all the artists for Ideal Records.

The Bernal Brothers were first recorded as the backup conjunto for some of the duets then popular among Texas-Mexicans, such as Carmen y Laura. In March 1955, Marroquin gave the Bernals their chance as headliners, and a78 rpm record was released with the cancion ranchera Mujer Paseada on one side and the romantic boleroDesprecio on the other. With the release of their first record, the Bernal Brothers quickly put their cotton picking days behind them forever and soon joined Valerio Longoria and Tony de la Rosa as the top conjuntos in the stateof Texas.

El Conjunto Bernal recorded prolifically for Ideal between 1955 and 1960 and some of the best sides including themonster hits: Mi Unico Camino and Sentimiento Y Rencor, both from late 1958, are on this CD and cassette.

Marroquin began taking them on tours throughout the southwest and beyond where they always played for packedhouses. They were especially popular in Arizona where local bandleader Pedro Bugarin was fond of featuring themwith his orquesta. In fact, according to Paulino, he and Eloy used to sit in with Bugarin’s band, and some of theband musicians would in turn sit in with El Conjunto Bernal. This exposure to band music inspired Paulino tobranch out of the normally simple ranchero music of the conjunto into the more sophisticated style of the orquesta.

When Armando Marroquin ended his relationship with Ideal Records around 1960, El Conjunto Bernal stayed withhim and recorded for his new label, Nopal Records. Shortly however, El Conjunto Bernal relocated to McAllen, inthe Lower Rio Grande Valley, across the border from Mexico. Bernal began working with Victor Gonzalez and the two men founded Bego Records (the company name a combination of their two last names). The Bego yearsrepresent some of Conjunto Bernal’s most innovative work. It was at his time that Paulino attracted the mosttalented musicians in the conjunto traditions to his group.

In the late 1960's, Gonzalez bought out Paulino’s interest in Bego Records and Paulino went on to found BernalRecords, which also produced many outstanding hits by El Conjunto Bernal. By this time however, Paulino hadgiven up performing in favor of the administrative aspects of show business. He ran the recording company, hosted a regional TV music show, and generally concentrated on the promotional aspects of the business.Meanwhile, Oscar Hernandez and other very able accordionists picked up the slack and carried on the tradition ofexcellence begun by Paulino. During this same time, success in the music field took its toll on Paulino and he succumbed to the allure of alcohol and drugs.

In 1972, however, a cook Paulino had hired to work in a restaurant he owned changed his life by converting him to the teachings of born-again Christianity. From that day on Paulino gave up the life of alcohol and drugs to devote himself to preaching. He also resumed his career as accordionist, only this time he did so in the service of Christianity. He started a new recording company, Bernal Christian Records, under whose banner he has continued to develop his inimitable style. As he once commented in an interview, "People who knew me before lament that I’m not playing anymore. They don’t seem to realize that I play more now than I ever did before!"