SAN ANTONIO — A Sunday ritual for many Mexican Americans always started with the words “you got it, take it away.”
They were spoken by Johnny Canales on “The Johnny Canales Show.” It was the Tejano gospel, and many in the Tejano industry credit Canales for their success.
“It wasn’t limited to Tejano. I say Tejano because we are in San Antonio,” Ramón Hernández said. “Pero (but) he would bring bands from Mexico. It could be banda, it could be quebradita, it could be norteño, there was no discrimination.”
Hernández, a historian, says he and Canales met back in 1966. He said status didn’t matter to Canales — everyone was welcome on his show.
“You didn’t have to have 'x' number of albums under your belt. He was great for giving young talent that stepping stone,” Hernández said.
Your age didn’t matter either. Tejano legend Shelly Lares was first featured on “The Johnny Canales Show” when she was 13 years old.
“Every artist that ever graced his stage for sure, but let alone Tejano artist because he was very supportive of Tejano music for a very long time,” Lares said. “New artist, veteran artist…it really did catapult a lot of our careers.”
He was called the Mexican Dick Clark, a reference to the legendary host of “American Bandstand” who made the careers of hundreds of American acts.
Grammy Award-winning Tejano and Chicano artist Sunny Ozuna knew both Johnny Canales and Clark. Ozuna was the first Chicano to perform on “American Bandstand.”
He said one appearance on “The Johnny Canales Show” was all artists needed.
“Anybody that was going to be working from Corpus Christi down to the Valley,” Ozuna said. “We knew if we appeared on his show, the phone calls would come from the Valley because everybody knew Johnny Canales’ program.”
Canales’ wedding was covered by the Caller Times in Corpus Christi.
All it took was for Canales to say those famous words: You got it, take it away.
“Now the angels and musicians up in heaven have a proper introduction: you got it, take it away,” Lares said.
Canales’ legacy, just like his catchphrase, will live on forever.
“So many things bring back good memories of Johnny Canales,” Ozuna said. “Johnny Canalews was a hell of a friend, and we are going to miss him a whole lot.”