Eloy Perez Family Papers

Eloy Nuñez Pérez was a Mexican American musician whose bands were at the forefront of the Mexican American orchestra/big band scene in Houston during the 1950s and 1960s. The band Eloy Pérez and the Latinaires was established in 1949 and later renamed Eloy Pérez y Sus Latinos in the 1960s. His groups performed extensively at quinceañeras, weddings, important holiday and social events, and community benefits. The youngest of four brothers in the original orchestra developed after the war, Eloy Perez toured across Texas and the Southwest.

Pérez was born December 2, 1923, in Bastrop, Texas, to Tranquilino Pérez and Caroline Nuñez. His grandfather founded a school for Mexican Americans in Bastrop County. As a teenager Pérez played banjo, guitar, trombone, and saxophone and joined one of his brothers in a band. The family moved to Rosenberg, Texas, in 1937 and then in 1944 to Houston, where Eloy joined a country western band.

His older brothers—Felipe, Sixto, and Locaido—were mainstays in the band and his groups created over 100 studio recordings. In 1955 they recorded the hit “El Cha Cha Cha de Eloy,” which helped solidify the band’s popularity. He is credited with composing more than 200 songs, including the 1960s “Cuidadito Cuidadito,” which was later covered by Little Joe y La Familia.

Pérez’s primary instrument was the saxophone. One Houston article referred to him as the “Glenn Miller of Latin American hepsters.” Eloy’s recordings were used in the renowned band program of that era at Jeff Davis High School (now called Northside High School). Pérez died in Houston on March 19, 1996. He was inducted into the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame (Alice, Texas) in 2007.