zishgts headline low, and welcome to commune dad dell value. i'm damian trujillo. we have a mystery guest. he is actually a living legend. we're celebrating 15 years hosting this great show comunidad del valle. it is your comunidad del valle. ♪ i was probably a 10 or 12-year-old back in greenfield, california, and i'm watching television. i'm watching nba on nbc.

it's a lakers against the celtics. there was a show on channel 11 at a 10 and 12-year-old that i would flip the channel to because they were talking about latino issues. the show was called comunidad del valle. the host was mario decastillo back then, and it intrigued me because i had never seen a show about latinos hosted by a latino. i put it back to channel 11 because i was intrigued. i wanted to be a tractor driver. not a journalist. here i am. you have been so gracious enough to allow me into your homes every sunday for a half hour. i'm so appreciative. we're celebrating. wait until you see who our guest is. here's a look back at those 15 years. >> we have a surprise for you this morning. >> reporter: for 15 years you've allowed me into your homes every sunday on your comunidad del valle. we've been fortunate to be joined in a decade and a half by

grassroots community leaders, celebrities, and world leaders. some have been funny. >> you know how you can tell latino as part from each other? >> the way they dance. >> ricardo is going to show us there. >> we're going to show how latinos or mexicans dance. >> see, mexicans always -- they always flap their arms. they're like little chickens. >> that's americanos. they shake their -- >> puerto ricans look like they're thinking. did i leave the iron on? >> how about white people? >> they do the -- white people do the river dance. >> we have about 30 seconds. the website, you guys have a website? >> culture clash www.com. >> a lot has changed since i first started my career in television. not just my appearance, but today host 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, and thank you to the management at kntv who put up with the man with very little patience for putting the heavy weight of an iconic show on the shoulders of this your humble host. for believing in this former farm worker. it is with great honor that i carry out the duties of hosting comunidad del valle. thank you for celebrating with me, and here's to another 15 years. >> with me today is a gentleman i'm so honored because he was a guest on comunidad del valle when i first began hosting this program that's been on for about 30 or 40 years. we don't even know joe hernandez of little joe. joe, it's such an honor having you back on the show.

>> congratulations. you are on because people love you and appreciate you. you have a big hearted. you do great things for the public. for the community and the people. we know and feel that, damian, god has blessed you, and by doing that he has blessed us all. really. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for the great work you do, man. >> i appreciate it. i'm a california kid. i love tejano music. what is it that tugs at our hearts from chicano land? we'll get into that in a little bit. >> i think the -- >> in my case it's just music. it's entertainment. i've been real fortunate with what music has done for me. it's taken me around the world a couple of times, and you get to meet so many different people from so many different walks of life. many cultures.

the one thing tst the common denominator is music. you know? >> joe will be here for the entire half hour. he will be in town july 29th at club babylon in santa clara. there's the number to call for more information. we will be there. it's going to be a big deal. make sure you come out and enjoy some great tex-mex, tejano music. we'll be there with little joe y familia. be rht back. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like --

there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? ♪ [ male announcer ] the new united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in. we're back here on comunidad del valle celebrating my 15 years on comunidad del valle. what is it that's kept you going, joe, because -- >> when i first saw you 125, 20 years ago, you sound like you do now. i mean, it's your love of the

music and your love of the -- >> it's an old secret. no. the love for the people, the audience, and, you know, it's -- for me there's nothing greater in life than to be able to make people happy. you know, to make people -- really to see their emotions when i perform. you know, they cry because they're happy. being sad, i guess, the touches are -- it makes us happy. it really is all about the audience. it's all about the people. and i love music. you know, i have fun with it. i'm not basically trying -- i didn't go to school for music, but maybe that's kind of what saved me. what is it called? ignorance bliss.

i do what i feel, and it's worked for me. >> at what point did it become tex-mex or tejano music? was it known as chicano music when you started? >> that's what i have called it all along. i really -- the latin labels, the record companies started using different -- to me it was always chicano music, and that's been 50 years. >> when you used the word chicano, you are to be able to back it up. that's one of the most powerful words. >> what credentials do you have to say that you are a chicano? >> you are so right, and in so many cases, you know, we've all been painted with hispanics or latinos with the same brush, which is, hey, we're all people, but for me chicano is a way to identify ourselves. you know, you get pulled over by

the man and you say, well, i'm hispanic, but you could be from argentina or columbia or peru or mexico or anywhere, you know, but when you say i'm chicano, you know you're mexican-american, or you should know. in that sense that's a way of me identifying myself, and then the music itself is what is mexican-american worked with and developed, and it's bilingual and bicultural, and a lot of times by myself if i don't do it right. you know, chicano is also a state of mind. really it's to identify mexican-americans because we're all latinos, hispanics. puerto rican, cuban, or, you know, we're all hispanic. >> do you think there's less or fewer of us using that word or labelling ourselves? >> i think back in the 1970s,

remember, that's when the identity crisis and, you know, the civil rights and i did a lot of marching behind that because the schools, you know, all the things that happened with schools, and, unfortunately, a lot of people think that's a derogatory -- >> my mom didn't want us to use the word chicano until i got to college that i realized, hey, i am chicano. >> what's wrong with knowing who we are, you know? >> right. >> you didn't call yourself whatever you want, but it's better if you know who you are, and be it. i think a lot of people just really don't understand the word chicano. we should be proud. we all should be proud of who we are and where we come from and what we do, you know? i just have to be chicano and people who know that, that's what i am. it 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?

>> i'll have a seven-piece group, myself included. there will be eight people on stage. >> very nice. >> seven people and me. >> it's that club avalon. we'll be back and play some music. [ mom ] hey guys.

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>> who introduced the horn -- the brass, and the accordian and that? that's unique. was that you? >> yeah. i'll take the responsibility. >> yeah? >> i'll take the blame. yeah. it's quite a mixture there. there was a guy that had done this before me. >> they had bands similar to what you just saw right there. i just never thought that i away ever want to li this long. had i known how to take better care of my pickup. you know, that was really -- i was influenced by their music, their performance. they were all great artists.

>> and all these new up and coming young tejano performers, they're not young anymore, but they all credit you. you're the godfather. >> it can be good. i'm honored for that, you know. i was born at a time and place and an era when music was so different, you know. i grew up listening to the big band. you know, the crooners of the -- theingers from the 1940s, and the 1930s. i was born in 1940, but the 1950s and 1960s. it's great talent. you know, great artists. people see the show and you'll hear me do a sinatra song or a tony bennett song, and i have written a couple of things that sound similar to that, and the biggest compliment they can pay

me is when they say that i have one song that they say, oh, my god, it's like those are my heroes, and i have studied. i studied his writing, and we can learn if we stop and listen, and so i come from that old school, you know, and where some of the younger artists are taking off from, i wish. when they can me, i say, look, go to the basics. go back. you learn from the people that actually make this music happen. it doesn't matter what genre, you know? you talk about doouk ellington and those were the teachers. those were the -- although now the artists are so beyond, but still the foundation is always

to me very, very important. >> it's very -- joe actually flew in from austin this morning. he is going to fly back this afternoon. he flew in just for this special taping, but he will be back july 29th at club avalon in santa clara. come on out. we'll be back with more little joe. stay with us. get the technology they love, on the network they deserve. and video chat with up to 9 of your friends with the galaxy nexus by samsung, or get the samsung stratosphere, and for a limited time, get twice the data for the same low price. verizon. ♪ takes everything you've got ♪ wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪

♪ sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪ you want to be where you can see ♪ ♪ our troubles are all the same ♪ ♪ you want to go where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ we're back with little joe celebrating mike on the show. you have an afint, joe, for the american veterans. i remember -- i was never brave enough to sign my name on the dotted line. talk, if you lshgs briefly about your honor and respect towards the american veteran. >> i did -- his brother is in

the korean conflict. my second oldest brother was on the line. all together my family served the military over 400 years. that's a lot. my nieces and nephews and cousins, i have one sister that had four kids that were all military and three boys and a girl and the girl outranked them all. yeah. and -- >> the old man in the military. >> yeah. >> and maybe that comes the sdwrooenz, my mom's father was -- i'm named after leon hernandez. like you, i never served, and i think back in those days there was one way to break the cycle of poverty, and i read about so

many chicanos that would enlist, and for them to serve their country, they wanted to make a contribution. i started opening up the show with america the beautiful, which i still do today, and i said i'll do this until the war is over. unfortunately, there will always be wars. i just continue it. we need to pay respect. we owe the veterans. we owe the military, period, and their families. we need to acknowledge the veterans because there's no way to pay them what we owe them, you know, and, unfortunately, with as rich of a country we are, we're not making up their promises to them, and anybody that anybody out there can do anything for the now -- the military -- the people in the military now, and the veterans,

i -- an open hand is welcome. they should not be on stamp -- food stamps. it's -- that's another story. >> that's another half hour. real briefly, if you will, you are working on a gnaw project now? >> well, several. >> okay. >> there's a movie. >> something to look forward to in the near future? >> yeah. the movie is a comic. this is my third -- fourth movie. i'm not an actor, and i keep saying that, but i have three movies to prove that i'm not an actor. this is not the da vinci code. this is the pincci code, and what's happening is who else can decipher the code controls the barijo, and you can control all the tequila that flows into the barrio, and it's so low budget. i don't even have the name. i just call it the old man, and i have a young girlfriend who i

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

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

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laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret?