A sad goodbye to the music
Al Hurricane. Now George Adelo. Two musicians, both born of Northern New Mexico, have left us. Hurricane became famous as the “Godfather of New Mexico Music,” creating a music-producing factory from his Albuquerque studio — he was a one-man creative industry before the term was widely used. Adelo, a Pecos native, fronted the band White Buffalo, worked as an attorney, helped run the family store in Pecos and appeared in films. Both will be greatly missed.
Born Alberto Nelson Sanchez in Dixon, Hurricane spent most of his early years in the village of Ojo Sarco before moving to Albuquerque at age 9. He began performing as a strolling troubadour in Old Town Albuquerque restaurants and started a band while attending Albuquerque High School.
Hurricane was that rare creature, a working musician all his life. His unique blend of rock ’n’ roll and country, with a large helping of New Mexico flavor, created a new sound that was warmly embraced by his native state. His life shows us that despite hardships, despite tragedies, if we can adjust and adapt to the curves, another day of joy is around the corner. In a car accident in the late 1960s, Hurricane lost an eye — a loss, to be sure. After, he wore the biggest, blackest eye patch around; it became part of his signature look. And always, he continued to make music.
That music formed a connection with fans closer than the bonds of some families. He greeted them warmly, signed autographs, shook their hands or hugged them during concerts and always conducted himself with kindness. When the legend realized he was not going to beat prostate cancer, he went on a farewell tour so he could say goodbye. He fought his cancer with the same courage with which he lived his life.
For all those reasons, he will live on in memory, because Al Hurricane was loved. He leaves his musical legacy, his beloved family and the thousands of people — both in and outside of New Mexico — who will continue to turn up the radio when an Al Hurricane song comes on.
Hurricane died Sunday, and the day the news of his passing broke, we learned that another beloved musician had left the world.
George Adelo was a fixture on the Santa Fe scene in the best possible way. He welcomed strangers to town, giving insight to our corner of New Mexico — he is credited with coining the slogan, Carpe Mañana, or seize tomorrow. Whether playing with Georgie Angel Blues, or lately, White Buffalo, he kept things hopping. (Sadly, the drummer of White Buffalo, Jimmy Varela, died earlier this month during a fundraiser for the Pecos Valley Medical Center.)
All the while, he juggled his various interests, including law, music, motorcycles, acting and work on the New Mexico Music Commission. If you hadn’t heard him playing on the Santa Fe Bandstand or at a local club, perhaps you stopped at his family store in Pecos (Adelo’s Town and Country Store) before it closed, or saw him acting in No Country for Old Men.
Of Lebanese and Northern New Mexico heritage, Adelo personified the crazy mix that is Santa Fe. As local astrologer and spiritual counselor Heather Roan Robbins wrote on Facebook, “I just heard one of the great Santa Fe personalities has left the building, George Adelo was a lawyer for the underdogs, big persona, town activist and community gatherer, a musician whose band White Buffalo was a New Mexico standby — connected to old Santa Fe and new, and honestly a friend to most everyone he met, with a bear hug for anyone who needed it.”
To honor both those men, play a little music. Share more hugs. And while you mourn, give thanks that we in New Mexico are so blessed with music and the talents who make it.