Little Joe's days in the field led to life of success

Hernandez, 66, a two-time Grammy winner, remains rooted in la gente, loyal fans he acquired after leaving migrant farm work and life as a cotton picker in the Texas Panhandle. He picked up a guitar and eventually became what his biographer describes as the Elvis Presley of Tejano music, a popular icon whose music inspired civil rights marchers, crossed cultural lines and still influences younger musicians across the Southwest. "I was playing music and learning to perform but still picked and chopped cotton.

It was a way of life," he said before a recent El Paso concert benefiting farm workers. Hernandez has been cranking out music since the mid-1950s. His birth certificate identifies him as Jose Maria De Leon Hernandez, a seventh-grade dropout whose diverse musical style gets people shouting and dancing in cantinas, ballrooms and theaters across the Southwest and in unexpected places such as Japan.

"It's been a long, beautiful

journey. I've most enjoyed meeting interesting people of all walks of life," Hernandez said. "I've known people from the whorehouse to the White House.

Sometimes it's hard to tell 'em apart." Ramon Hernandez, publisher of the National Hispanic Entertainment Directory in San Antonio, has been working on a Little Joe biography for 17 years. Hernandez, who is not related to the singer, described Little Joe and Rubén Ramos as two Tejano music icons who have never faded.

"They've been out there consistently without missing a beat. Basically, it's sheer talent," he said. "You talk to Los Lobos and Chicanos from California, and they look up to Little Joe not only as their role model and inspiration but as an icon.

He's like the Elvis of Tejano music." Hernandez grew up in Temple, a small Central Texas city 65 miles north of Austin. He describes himself as a cotton picker at heart who does about 120 music gigs a year.

Little Joe met farm worker organizer César Chávez while touring California in the late 1960s. He has remained a close friend of the Chávez family. "I immediately understood the (farm workers') plight.

Their cause is my cause," he said. Hernandez's "Las Nubes," a melody that he described as one of his most spiritual songs, became the national anthem for striking farm workers, Chicanos marching for civil rights in the 1970s and Mexican-Americans across the United States. A year ago, he promised to do a fundraiser for Sin Fronteras Organizing Project, which helps the Border Farmworkers Center raise money.

"Little Joe is a man of his word. Very few major artists fulfill their word," Lily Limón, a concert organizer said. "As much as we appreciate his time, farm workers look at him as a hero who brought music to the sadness in their life and encouraged them to go on.

" Hernandez has supported many other causes over the years, but he has a special affection for veterans. An uncle fought in World War II and a brother in Korea. Another brother did two tours in Vietnam, and a cousin died there.

Nephews and nieces have fought in the first Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan, including a niece who was injured in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon. His grandfather Col.

Jose Maria De Leon commanded Mexican troops. Hernandez described himself as someone who has encouraged countless young musicians to develop their talent without sacrificing their education. Five San Angelo State University seniors played recently in the horn section of Little Joe's band, La Familia.

"I like to polish them and then try to connect them with whatever they want to do with their musical careers," he said. "If you can read and write music correctly, you can go to China and perform with whomever." Hernandez has covered all sorts of music over the years, not just the bilingual Chicano or Mexican-American hybrid brand he popularized.

He once recorded an album with Willie Nelson and does a heart-wrenching version of Frank Sinatra's "My Way." "Music gives us the opportunity to show our inner selves, our soul," Hernandez said. "It's just an incredible sense of freedom to let the spirit out.

" "Just remember me for whatever. I just did the best I could with what I had. It's that simple," he said.

"Life goes by quickly. One more day to see the sun or pretty girls or hear 'Las Nubes' is not bad."

Roots: Born and raised in Temple, Texas, the seventh of 13 children.

Family: Wife Criselida; grown children Ivan Joseph, Criselida Estela, Isaac John, Demetrio Adrian; seven grandchildren; and one great grandchild.

Proud moment: Picking almost 500 pounds of cotton on his 15th birthday, a record for him.

Musical interests: "I had many different influences including black music.

I like all types but my first choice is jazz."

Quote: "I prefer doing indoor shows. But many times I've gone where the fans are, pull up a flatbed trailer, find some electricity, crank it up and give it to the people.