Robert P. and Sugar C. Rodriguez Collection of Tejano Music
Scope and Contents Note
The Robert P. and Sugar C. Rodriguez collection of Tejano music video recordings is organized in four series: Estamos en Tejas, Live from Austin, Tejas, Other Recordings, and Commercial Recordings. All video recordings are 3/4 inch Umatic tapes unless otherwise noted.
Estamos en Tejas series includes episodes of the program starting from 1989 to 2001 (years not inclusive). Musicians represented include Flaco Jimenez, Grupo Culturas, and Los Aventureros as wells as recordings of the 1994 Tejano Music Awards (TMA).
Live from Austin, Tejas series includes episodes of the program from 1986 to 1998 (years not inclusive). Musicians represented include: Tierra Tejana, Gary Hobbs, Patsy Torres, Pio Trevino, and Johnny Degollado, among others. The recordings include videos of the fourth anniversary of Live from Austin, Tejas at Cocktails Nightclub, the lineup included La Grupacion, Paco Rodriguez and Alma Tejana, Ruben Ramos and the Texas Revolution, and Alfonso Ramos.
Other Recordings series includes videos of other Tejano musician performances recorded by Mr. Rodriguez. The series is organized alphabetically by musician, music venue or event and thereunder chronologically. This series includes large sets of recordings of performances by Paco Rodriguez and Alma Tejana, Ramiro (Ram) Herrera, Roberto Pulido, and Selena y los Dinos.
This series also includes recordings of music related events such as the Tejano Music Awards (TMA), Latin Times Music Awards, Aqua Fest (Austin, Texas), Texas Sky Fest (Corpus Christi, Texas), and South by Southwest (SXSW).
Commercial Recordings series contains videos not produced by Mr. Rodriguez. This series is organized alphabetically and thereunder chronologically. Musicians/groups represented include: La Diferenzia, Flaco Jimenez, Joel Nava, Nydia Rojas, as well as video compilations of RMM Records artists. Other record labels represented include Arista Texas, Arista Latin, Prestigio Recordings, and Caiman Records, among others.
Music Venues:
List of music venues mentioned in the collection; location is given when known. Several Tejano music clubs were located in East Austin.
- Amigos Night Club or Amigos Club (1523 Tinnin Ford Road, Austin, Texas)
- Bajitos
- Casino (Austin, Texas)
- Club 281
- Club Amistad (Round Rock, Texas)
- Club Mexico
- Club Miami
- Club Variedades
- Cocktails Nightclub (Austin, Texas)
- Conquistador
- Dance Across Texas (Austin, Texas)
- Expo Center (Belton, Texas)
- Joe Freeman Coliseum Fairgrounds (San Antonio, Texas)
- Market Square (San Antonio, Texas)
- Pepe Polkas Club /aka Pepe’s (Austin, Texas)
- Stardust Nightclub (2237 E. Riverside Drive, Austin, Texas)
- SPJST Hall (Round Rock, Texas)
- Southpark Meadows (Austin, Texas)
- Tejano Ranch (Austin, Texas)
- La Villita (San Antonio, Texas)
Dates
- Creation: 1986-2001
- Creation: 2008
Language of Materials
English, Spanish
Access Restrictions
Advance notice is required to access video recordings that need to be digitized.
The collection is stored remotely. Advance notice required for retrieval.
Use Restrictions
Standard copyright restrictions apply.
Biographical Sketch
Robert P. Rodriguez* was born on June 7, 1944 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Robert grew up in Round Rock, Texas but traveled back and forth between Round Rock and Monterrey during his childhood and began playing guitar when he was twelve years old. He eventually settled in Round Rock in 1962.
In 1982, Robert met and later married Charlotte (Sugar) Castillo, who became his life-long partner when Mr. Rodriguez decided to do something about promoting Tejano music.
In 1985, Mr. Rodriguez took camera and editing classes at Austin Community Television (ACTV) and in 1986 began producing two Tejano music shows: Estamos en Tejas and Live from Austin, Tejas (the shows aired in ACTV Channel 10). Mr. Rodriguez produced and hosted both shows and Sugar worked alongside him as camera operator. Other crew members included: Balta Alvarez (technical director of both shows in 1992), Armando Ibarra, Fabacker Garcia, Art Trevino, Jesse Amaro, Alex Villagomez and Freddie Galvan.
Mr. Rodriguez originally contacted Willie Cisneros, the manager of Amigos Night Club in east Austin, about the possibility of recording musicians at the club. They were able to reach an agreement and Mr. Rodriguez began recording live performances at Amigos forLive from Austin, Tejas. Eventually, Mr. Rodriguez also began recording performances at other local music venues and at other events such as South by Southwest (SXSW), Aqua Fest, Texas Sky Fest, and the Tejano Music Awards (TMA).
In June 2012, Mr. Rodriguez was honored by the Austin Latino Music Association (ALMA) as part of its Sonidos del Barrio Showcase in recognition of his efforts to promote Tejano music. Robert Rodriguez died on June 2013, at the age of 69. He was survived by his wife Sugar Rodriguez.
*His name sometimes appears as Robert Rodriguez Rodd or Robert Rodd Rodriguez.
Sources:
Austin American Statesman. Neighbor section, "Access TV shows off Tejano music," June 18, 1987.
Austin Latino Music Association (ALMA). Sonidos del Barrio Showcase booklet, June 8, 2012.
Full Extent
43 linear feet
Abstract
Collection of Tejano music video recordings including episodes of Estamos en Tejas and Live from Austin, Tejas, two local access television programs produced and hosted by Robert Rodriguez together with his wife Sugar C. Rodriguez. The collection includes performances of Tejano musicians in different music venues in Austin and other places in Texas. Musicians represented in the collection include Alma Tejana, Selena, Ramiro "Ram" Herrera, and Gary Hobbs, among others.
Acquisition Information
Donation.
Accession numbers: 2014-27
Additions
No further materials are expected for this collection.
Alternative Form Available
Items noted with an asterisk in the inventory have been digitized. An access copy is available for reading room use.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Carla O. Alvarez, 2014.
- Title
- Robert P. and Sugar C. Rodriguez Collection of Tejano Music
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection
- Date
- 2014
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- 2019 October: Date normalization in inventory section by Carla O. Alvarez.
- 2021 January: Edited by Carla O. Alvarez to fix compliance check errors to prepare for the migration to new TARO website.
- 2021 November: Edited by Devon Murphy to update control access terms and formatting based on the TARO Control Access List.
- 2025 July: Revised by Ryan Sullivant to fix validation errors prior to ingestion into ArchivesSpace.
- 2026: Edited by Carla O. Alvarez.
Repository Details
Part of the Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin Repository
2300 Red River Street
Austin Texas 78712 United States
(512) 495-4578
bensonspecialcollections@austin.utexas.edu