Editing Johnny Rodriguez (section)

==Early life==
Rodriguez was born to a [[Mexican Americans|Mexican American]] family in [[Sabinal, Texas]], on December 10, 1951,<ref name="LarkinCountry">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Country Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-726-6|pages=350/3}}</ref><ref name="Biography Country Music Television">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/rodriguez_johnny_1_/bio.jhtml |title=CMT : Johnny Rodriguez : Biography |access-date=2007-06-20 |archive-date=2012-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022031735/http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/rodriguez_johnny_1_/bio.jhtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>. He was the second youngest in a family of 10 children living in a four-room house. 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]] [[American football|football]] team. When Rodriguez was 16 years old, his father died of cancer, and his older brother, Andres, died in an automobile accident the following year. The two incidents had an effect on Rodriguez and he became a troubled teen.<ref name="carthagetexas.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.carthagetexas.com/HallofFame/inductees.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014173140/http://www.carthagetexas.com/HallofFame/inductees.htm|url-status=dead|title=Texas Country Music Hall of Fame-2007 Inductees: Johnny Rodriguez|archive-date=14 October 2013|access-date=9 August 2021}}</ref>

In 1969, at age 18, Rodriguez ended up in jail. He sang frequently in his cell and was overheard by [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]] [[Joaquin Jackson]], who was impressed and told promoter "Happy" Shahan about him. (The common story told is that he was arrested after he and some friends were caught stealing and barbecuing a [[goat]], although Jackson would later state that Rodriguez was in jail simply for an unpaid fine.)<ref name="carthagetexas.com"/><ref name="texas killing">{{cite news |title=A Texas Killing and a Life of Triumph and Trouble |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-23-ca-25448-story.html |first=Cary |last=Caldwell |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=September 23, 1998}}</ref>

Shahan then hired Johnny to perform at his local tourist attraction called the [[Alamo Village]].<ref name="LarkinCountry"/> During one of his sets in 1971, he came to the attention of country singers [[Tom T. Hall]] and [[Bobby Bare]], who encouraged the young singer to go to [[Nashville, Tennessee]].<ref name="Biography Country Music Television"/> The 21-year-old singer arrived in Nashville with only a [[guitar]] in his hand and $14 in his pocket.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Hall soon found work for Rodriguez fronting his band, as well as writing songs.

Less than one year later, Hall took Rodriguez to [[Mercury Records]]' Nashville division and landed 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 offered a contract with Mercury.<ref name="LarkinCountry"/> He signed and began recording in their Nashville studio.