The wistful lyrics of San Antonio musician Robert Gomez’s 1968 song “But That Was Then” were about lost love, but they might just as well have foretold a promising music career that turned sour.
I can remember when
You loved me
But that was then
It’s not that Gomez went unloved as a guitarist or songwriter. His two-decade career began with the Eptones and continued with touring band Turning Point, fronted by singer Sheri Nolan, whom Gomez eventually married. But during that time he never received credit or royalties for his songwriting.
Unscrupulous producers and managers at the time often failed to shepherd ambitious but impressionable young clients like Gomez through contracts that might have secured proper recognition and compensation had they known to secure publishing rights for their songs.
So when Rae Cabello, a young San Antonio music aficionado, approached Gomez four years ago with the idea to rerelease the song for a new specialty record label, Gomez declined, still feeling the residue of old bitterness.
“I actually passed,” Gomez said. “I said ‘Nah, I don’t want nothing to do with the business.’” But old colleagues convinced Gomez that Cabello’s heart was in the right place, and Gomez took a leap of faith.
The result is one of two debut vinyl 45 rpm single releases by Pecos Records, a boutique subsidiary of the Chicago-based Numero Group label. Under the artist name G. Robert G., Gomez’s song is featured alongside “Private Number” by Royal Jesters on one release, following the release of two songs from 1964 by San Antonio soul band The Justifiers.
Unsung heroes
Cabello has long been an avid fan of West Side Sound, a loose term referring to a whole San Antonio music scene happening in the 1960s.
What sets that music apart from other music of the era, such as the Motown sound of Detroit or Chicago blues, was the marriage of rock ‘n’ roll and Black soul with Latin genres such as traditional conjunto and other Tejano forms — a mix that was rare at the time due to widespread urban segregation.
San Antonio’s status as a military city helped foster those connections, Cabello said. “We were posting people from all over, and they were meeting each other within that scene and recording, putting creative ideas together.” Though segregation existed in the city, he said, in terms of Latino, Black and white musicians “being in the studio creating things [together], we were a big town to do that.”
Cabello approached gaps in the recorded music history of San Antonio as any completist might.
“I’m a record collector, so I’m always seeking and looking for new records to put in my own collection, enjoy in my own home,” Cabello said. “And I’ve always been really interested in these unsung heroes.”
He said that while Motown artists won wide recognition and fame, the spotlight was too narrow to capture all the other vibrant music scenes happening in other places throughout the U.S. “But San Antonio was like a gold mine for record distribution and recording and the amount that came out here,” he said of multiple recording studios and music labels, such as Kim Records on North New Braunfels Avenue.
The Justifiers recorded “My Love Has Gone” and “Lonely Boy” there in 1968, but the producer who promised to take the band on a subsequent European tour never showed up to take them to the airport — one in a series of disappointments that kept the band from fame.
Cabello located those recordings and secured publishing rights for the artists, making Watch Out They’re Tough Pecos Records’ first release on Oct. 6. A brief story and images of ephemera from the era accompany the vinyl 45s to lend a sense of flavor and context.
Right track, wrong time
Bennie Cherry wrote those songs, and said of seeing the music come back to life through the efforts of Cabello and others, “It feels good. It shows that I was on the right track.”
Cherry went on to perform with The Flamingoes, most famous for their megahit “I Only Have Eyes For You.” He now lives in Las Vegas and performs regularly with his band Touch of Silk. He said if The Justifiers hadn’t gotten hooked up with the wrong people, he’d “be rich by now,” but he retains his sense of humor.
Cabello said part of the Pecos Records effort is what is known in the music business as “sync licensing,” which is working with advertisers, television and movie directors and producers to include songs in soundtracks. That can bring in comparatively significant income for the artists if they have publishing rights.
In 1964, Cherry wrote a song titled “No Time for You” for fellow San Antonio soul band The Commands. The song was recently picked up for an episode of “American Gods,” a Starz network series.
Chicana group The Dreamliners have enjoyed similar success, with songs included in soundtracks from the “Breaking Bad” spinoff series “Better Call Saul” to Netflix series “Dead to Me.”
Cabello said he and the Numero Group are always looking for such opportunities for the artists they work with. Gomez hasn’t seen “But That Was Then” picked up yet, but other songs are finding an audience, particularly in the European underground market, he said.
Still, Gomez keeps his distance from the business, even turning down a recent offer of a European tour. But he appreciates Cabello’s advocacy and said he agreed to the release “for my grandchildren, so they can know that grandpa used to be a musician.”
Interesting, obscure, from Texas
Cabello recognizes that he alone cannot right the wrongs of the music industry. But the day of the Pecos Records release party at Friends of Sound in early October, he reported that 50 copies of each record had been purchased by a dealer in Japan, and over the Thanksgiving weekend The Justifiers record sold out, with G. Robert G. nearly sold out.
Cabello said he’ll break even on producing the records, but the goal is to make sure the artists get paid fairly and their music is heard by a new audience.
Veronica Luna and Alyssa Bunting of San Antonio all-vinyl DJ duo Strawberry Jams met Gomez at Friends of Sound and walked away with copies of the Pecos releases.
Luna praised Cabello for “uncovering some great gems from San Antonio,” and said it’s meaningful to be able to meet the musicians and thank them in person.
Playing their songs “remind[s] me of the best parts of my childhood,” said Bunting, who started collecting records to find songs her grandparents used to play when she was growing up. She said she appreciates what Cabello and Numero Group are doing “because music history is important history. That opportunity at Friends of Sound was very special because we got to hear these stories directly from the legend’s mouth.”
The plan is for Pecos to issue two new releases each season for a total of eight to 10 records per year, Cabello said. “The goal is to put out really interesting records — interesting, obscure, from Texas — and just put it back out into the world and let it go from there,” he said.
On the schedule is a release of songs by 1960s San Antonio band Danny and the Dreamers, who once opened for the Rolling Stones at the Freeman Coliseum.
Band leader Dan Michael Escobedo said he’s honored to have people still interested in his music. “It’s an honor, because the money’s nice, but recognition is even better.”
Look for new Pecos Record releases announced on Instagram, with records available for purchase digitally or on vinyl on Bandcamp.
