hello, welcome to comunidad del valle. we have a mystery guest in the studio. ladies and gentlemen, a living legend. we're celebrating 15 years hosting comunidad del valle. it is your comunidad del valle. ♪ i was telling joe with mercury news i was probably a 10 or

12-year-old back in greenfield, california, watching television, nba on tv lakers against celtics. there was a show on channel 11 as a 10 and 12-year-old i would flip the channel to because they were talking about latino issues. it was called comunidad del valle. it intrigued me because i had never seen a show about latinos hosted by a latina. so i'd do back to the nba and flip it back to channel 11 because i was intrigued. this is when i was doing farm work. i wanted to be a tractor driver not a journalist. here i am. you've been so gracious enough to allow me into your homes every sunday for a half hour. i'm so appreciative. we're celebrating. a look back. >> welcome back. we have a surprise this morning. >> for 15 years you've allowed me into your homes on sunday on

your comunidad del valle. we've been joined by community leaders, world leaders. some are funny. >> you know how you can tell latinos apart from each ear. >> how they dance. >> show us how latinos, mexicans dance the salsa. >> mexicans flap their arms. look like little chickens. >> shake it. >> puerto ricans look like they are thinking, did i leave the iron on? >> how about white people? how do white people dance the salsa. >> the river dance. >> we have about 30 seconds. do you have a website. >> www.cultureclash.com. >> a lot has changed since i first started my career in television, mainly my

appearance. today hosting this great show, i say thank you. thank you to my hundreds of guests. thank you to you, the viewer, for allowing me into your homes. thank you to the management at tntv who put up with the man with very little patience for putting the heavyweight of an iconic show on the shoulders of this host for believing in this former farm workers. it is with great honor i host comunidad del valle. thank you for celebrating with me. >> i'm so honored. he was a guest on comunidad del valle when i first began hosting this program that's been on 30 or 40 years. we don't even know. joe hernandez of little joe familia. such an honor to have you back on the show. >> my honor. congratulations.

fifteen years. >> you have children? >> that's right. >> congratulations. you're on because people love you and appreciate you. you have a big heart. you do great things for the public, the community and the people. we know it and feel that, damien, god has blessed you and by doing that blessed us all. really. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> thank you for the great work you do. >> i'm not a tehano, i'm a california kid. i love the music. what is it about it that tugs at our heart. i guess we're all from there. we'll get into that. >> it's the spirits that go with the music. no. in my case, it's just music. it's entertainment. i've been fortunate with what music has done for me. it's taken me around the world a couple of times. get to meet so many people from

so many different walks of life, many cultures. the one thing, the common denominator, music. >> willie nelson gets to say, i played with little joe. >> yeah, my grandson reminds me, grandpa, grandpa, you remember when willie met me. >> joe is going to be on for the entire half hour on comunidad del valle. he will actually be in town. there you go. july 29th at club avalon in santa clara. there's the number to call for information we will be there. it's going to be big. make sure you come out and texas m tex mex, whatever you call it. we'll be back with joe after this.

joe hernandez, little joy, comunidad del valle celebrating my quinceanera, 15 years on comunidad del valle. what is it that kept you going, joe? when i first saw you 15, 20 years ago, you sound like you do

now. it's your love of the music ♪ it's an old secret >> the love for the peep, the audience, it's -- for me nothing greater in life than to be able to make people happy. to make people -- to see their emotions when i perform. they cry because they are happy. being sad, i guess, touches our soul. it makes us happy. but really it's all about the audience, all about the people. and i love music. you know, i have fun with it. i'm not trained formally. i didn't go to school for music. maybe that's kind of what saved me. what is it called, ignorance is

bliss. i do what i feel and it's worked for me. >> at what point did it become tex mex or tehano. was it known as chicano music when you started? that's what i've called it all along. really, the latin labels, the record companies started using different terms for it. but for me it was always chicano music. that's been 50 years now. >> when you use the word chic o chicano, you have to be able to back it up. that's one of those powerful words. what credentials do you have to say you ar chicano. >> you're so right. in so many cases we've all been painted hispanics, latinos with the same brush. we're all people. for me chicano is a way to

identify ourselves. you get pulled over by the man, you say i'm hispanic. you could be from argentina, colombia, peru, anywhere. but when you say i'm chicano, you know you're mexican american, or you should know. in a sense that's an id -- way for me to identify myself. the music itself is what this mexican american continues to work with and develop. it's bilingual, bicultural, a lot of times by myself if i don't do it right. chicano is also a state of mind. really to identify a mexican american. we're all latinos, hispanics, puerto rican, cuban, we're all hispanics. >> you think there's less or few of us using that word or labeling ourselves as chicanos.

>> back in the '70s, remember when the identity crisis and civil rights. i did a lot of marching behind that, because the schools, you know, all the things that happened with schools. unfortunately a lot of people think that's a derogatory comment. >> my mom didn't like it, didn't like us to use the word chicano. it wasn't until i got to college that i realized, hey, i am chicano. >> what's wrong with knowing what you are. you can call yourself anything you want but it's good to know who you are and be that. a lot of people don't understand the word chicano. we should be proud. like anybody else we should be proud of who we are, where we come from and what we do. i happen to be chicano and like people to know that's what i am, doesn't make me better or worse or anything other than that's who i am. >> how many of la familia are

you bringing to this concert in santa clara. >> a seven-piece group with myself included so eight people on stage. well, seven people and me. i don't know if i'm people. >> it's at club avalon in santa clara july 29th. there's the number to call for more information. we'll be back and play some music of little joe.

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one of my favorite songs. who introduced the horns and brass and accordian. that was unique. was that you? >> yeah, i'll take the responsibility. i'll take the blame. yeah, it's quite a mixture there. there was a guy that done that before me. my musical idols. i grew up listening to them. they all had bands similar to what you just saw and heard there. i just never thought that i would ever, one, live this long. had i known, i would have taken better care of my pickup. but you know, i was influenced by their music, their

performances. they were all great artists. >> all these new up and coming young tehano, they are not young anymore. they credit you. you're the godfather. >> that can be good. i'm honored for that. i was more than at a time and place, an era when music was so different. i grew up listening to the big band. crooners from '30s and '40s. i was born in 1940s, '50s and '60s, all these great talents, great artists. all that, people see the show and hear me do a sinatra song,

i've written things that sound similar to that. the biggest compliment they can pay me -- i have one song they say is that jose? oh, my god, those are my heroes. but i've studied them. i study jose, his writing. we can learn if we stop and listen. so i come from that old school, you know. and where some of these younger artists are taking off from. i wish -- when they ask me, i say, look, go to the basics. go back. you learn from the people that actually make this music happen, you know. doesn't matter what genre when you talk about count basey, duke ellington. those were the teachers.

although now artists are so beyond, but still the foundation is still very, very important. >> that's very -- joe actually flew in from austin this morning. he's going to fly back this afternoon. he flew in for this special taping. he'll be back july 29 in santa on.ra, a, club we'll be back with more little joe. stay with us.

>> we're back with little joy of little joy la familia on comunidad del valle celebrating my quinceanera. you can an affinity for the american veteran. i was never brave enough to sign my name on the dotted line. talk, if you will, briefly about your honor and respect toward the american veteran. >> i think my family has been very military starting with one

of my uncles that fought in world war ii. my older brother in the korean conflict. my second brother did two tours in vietnam and on down the line. all together my family has served the military over 400 years. that's a lot. my nieces and nephews and cousins. i have one sister with four kids. we're all military, three boys and a girl and the girl outranked them all. >> the military. >> i don't know. maybe that comes in the genes. my mom's father, i was named after. like you, i never served. i think back in those days, there was one way to break the cycle of poverty. i've read book about so many chicanos that would enlist just

to get out of the fields and to serve their country. they wanted to make a contribution. since the iraq war broke, i started opening up the show with "america the beautiful" which i still do today. i said i'll do this until the war is over. unfortunately there will always be wars. i just continued it. we need to pay respect. we owe the veterans, the military period and their families. we need to acknowledge the veterans. there's no way to pay them what they have -- what we owe them. and unfortunately as rich as a country as we are, we're not living up to our promises to them. so any time that anybody out there can do anything for the people in the military now and the veterans, a helping hand is

always welcome because they should not be on food stamps, but that's another story for another time. >> that's another half hour. briefly, if you will, you're working on a new project now? >> well, several. >> okay. >> there's a movie. >> something to look forward to in the near future. >> yeah. the movie is a comic -- it is my third, fourth movie. i'm not an actor and i keep saying that. i have three movies to prove eye i'm not an actor. this is not the da vinci code, you probably blinked that out. whoever can decipher the code controls the barrio. you can control it by controlling the tequila in the barrio. it's so low budget i don't have a name. i'm called the old man. i have a young girlfriend i loan

money to, producer, director, writer of the movie but in turn he has to make my girlfriend a star. in the end it all comes back at me. i can't wait. tell the folks at home what they can expect when they come to club avalon on july 29th. >> you can have a great time. it's up to you. the music and the entertainment i promise i'll bring the best. i always do my very best. i don't know what kind of seating you'll get but you'll get a great show. you'll get a fun show. just come prepared. >> all right. joe hernandez, you were here 15 years ago. i'm honored you flew all the way from austin to be with me. >> i had to come congratulate you. i hope 15 years you'll still be here doing what you do best. i think on behalf of all the people that didn't get a chance to say gracias.

>> july 29th club avalon in santa clara. there's the number and information. we thank you again for allowing me and joe and everybody else into your homes on this special sunday. thank you for celebrating my quinceanera with you. we leave now with more little joe of little joe la familia. ♪ ♪

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