Vintage Vinyl

Ray Camacho and The Teardrops "Lonely Town"/"I Told You So" Copper State CSR 1078, 1968.

Multi-instrumentalist Ray Camacho was born in El Paso and raised in Mendota, California where he worked in the fields till he turned 17. He formed Ray Camacho and The Teardrops at Fresno City College. The trumpet was Ray's main instrument. The Teardrops included saxophonist, keyboardist and arranger Manuel Palafox, guitarist Mingo Cervantes, and conguero Enrique Mendoza, who all remained with Ray for over four decades.

During their multi-decade existence, Ray Camacho and The Teardrops mixed Latin music with rock, soul, funk and disco. The group performed USO tours, including shows in Vietnam. They toured the West Coast, but honed in on El Paso, Phoenix and Tucson. Among their 1960s Tucson gigs was a residency at Manny's Latin Quarter (formerly Hoof 'N Horn, at 3249 E. Miracle Mile) in the summer of '67. The group recorded numerous records for several independent labels, as well as Sony, from the '60s to the '90s. "I Told You So"/"Lonely Town," produced by Forster Cayce and recorded in Tucson, was one of two singles released by Ray Camacho and The Teardrops on Tucson's Copper State record label in 1968.