LITTLE JOE Y LA FAMILIA. During a more than fifty-year performing and recording history, Little Joe y La Familia has become one of the top Tejano bands. Over the decades, the group has developed a unique style, imbuing its sound with norteño, country, blues, and rock-and-roll music. Established in 1959 by José María de León Hernández, the band was initially known as Little Joe and the Latinaires.
Little Joe, whose musical innovations and leadership has ensured the band’s success, was born in Temple, Texas, on October 17, 1940, to Salvador Hernández and Amelia de León Hernández. The seventh of thirteen children, Little Joe had an early affinity for music. Barely into his teens, he began to play guitar and sing with his cousin’s band, David Coronado and the Latinaires. In the late 1950s, the Latinaires caught the attention of Torero Records, which brought out their first single, the rock-inspired instrumental “Safari, Part I & II.” In approximately 1959, when Coronado left the group, Little Joe became the band’s leader and renamed it Little Joe and the Latinaires.