Boasting decades of activity as one of traditional norteño music's most enduring and prosperous ensembles, Carlos y Jose have issued more than 85 albums. Carlos Salazar, who handles vocals and accordion, started the group in General Teran, Nuevo Leon, although the band launched its professional run in Camargo, Tamaulipas during 1968. Their earliest successes arrived via the corrido singles "El Nuevo Albur de Amor" and the lament "La Mata de Sandia," both broadcast on the influential border radio stations transmitting from Mexico across the southwest and into the midwest, where they reached migrant workers and immigrant families that bought the recordings in large numbers. Further momentum came from a series of homeland favorites that included "Estrellita del Norte al Oriente," "Yo Tambien Soy de Teran," "La Carta Que Te Mande," "Cuentame Tus Penas," "Pistoleros Famosos," and numerous additional tracks.
The musicians maintained an intensive touring schedule throughout Mexico as well as in the U.S. states of California, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, building a devoted audience. Superstar recognition followed when the international hit "El Chubasco" broke every Mexican sales record and extended their reputation to Florida, Puerto Rico, and across Central and South America. Their songs, and at times the band itself, have featured in more than 24 films such as Pistoleros Famosos, La Coyota, and La Muerte del Palomo, while appearing repeatedly on Mexican and Puerto Rican television. Nominations for multiple Latin Grammys have accompanied seven Gold and four Platinum certifications plus the Aztec Gold Calendar Yuri award. The 2013 release Cabalgando por el Pacífico: En Vivo, issued as a combined audio and video package, returned them to Billboard's Regional Mexican chart. In 2017 EMI/Universal initiated an extensive reissue program that brought ten of their best-known albums back into circulation. International Musical Treasures supplied two multi-artist collections, Duelo de Leyendas alongside Luis y Julian and the three-artist set Norteñas Llegadoras that also featured Adolfo Urias, while AJR Records brought out the studio album 20 Rancheras in June of that year.
