"...Paredes writes with both the first-hand authority of a cultural insider and an experienced scholar's care for documentation. His clear, direct and personal style makes the book the most widely useful textbook on a regional Mexican musical tradition since his earlier work, 'With His Pistol in His Hand': A Border Ballad and Its Hero."

—Ethnomusicology

"Paredes makes possible a greater understanding of how ordinary people react and reacted to the experience of living on the border, politically, socially, and personally, between two cultures. It is of major importance in the social history of the area."

—Journal of the West

"...highly useful for courses in Chicano politics, folklore, sociology, and anthropology."

—Journal of American Folklore

"Paredes' book should be read by everyone interested in Mexican American history."

—Journal of Mexican American History

The folksongs of Texas's Mexican population pulsate with the lives of folk heroes, gringos, smugglers, generals, jailbirds, and beautiful women. In his cancionero, or songbook, Américo Paredes presents sixty-six of these songs in bilingual text—along with their music, notes on tempo and performance, and discography. Manuel Peña's new foreword situates these songs within the main currents of Mexican American music.