Early Life & Rise To Fame
He was born Juan Raul Davis Rodriguez in Sabinal, Texas, the second youngest in a family of ten children living in a four-room house in this small town situated ninety miles from Mexico.
Growing up in Sabinal, Rodriguez was a good student in school and an altar boy for his church. He was also the captain of his junior high school football team. When Rodriguez was sixteen, his father died of cancer and his older brother Andres died in an automobile accident the following year. The two incidents soon had an effect on Rodriguez and he became a troubled teen. In 1969, he and some friends were caught by law enforcement officers after stealing and barbecuing a goat. This unfortunate incident and subsequent jail sentence led to his ultimate break in the music business. He often would sing in his cell and was overheard by Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson, who was very impressed and told promoter "Happy" Shahan about him.
Shahan then hired Johnny to perform at his local tourist attraction called the Alamo Village. While singing at this venue, he came to the attention of country singers Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare, who encouraged the young singer to fly up to the country music capital Nashville, Tennessee in 1971.
The 21-year old singer arrived in Nashville with nothing more than a guitar in his hand and $14 in his pocket. Fortunately, Hall soon found work for Rodriguez fronting his band, as well as writing songs.
Less than one year later, Hall personally took Rodriguez to the heads of Mercury Records' Nashville division to land him an audition with the record label. After performing the songs "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "If I Left It Up to You," he was then offered a contract with Mercury. Upon signing as a Mercury artist, Rodriguez then recorded in their Nashville studio.
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