Johnny Rodriguez has passed at 72
Just another of a generation of country stars who got their start in prison.
Stole a goat from a judges ranch at 18 - wound up in jail as a result and a ranger heard him sing and turned a promoter on to him. The story was memorialized with a line in a David Alan Coe song Longhaired Redneck (Yeah, Johny Cash helped me get out of prison / Long before Rodriguez stole that goat).
Had a pretty damn good career making music in a time where country was about musical ability and people didn’t care about your story or ethnicity.
Just another of a generation of country stars who got their start in prison.
Stole a goat from a judges ranch at 18 - wound up in jail as a result and a ranger heard him sing and turned a promoter on to him. The story was memorialized with a line in a David Alan Coe song Longhaired Redneck (Yeah, Johny Cash helped me get out of prison / Long before Rodriguez stole that goat).
Had a pretty damn good career making music in a time where country was about musical ability and people didn’t care about your story or ethnicity.
