Las Hermanas Segovia

Although a sister act performing as the duo las Hermanas Segovia, three siblings actually participated in the group’s 1950s recordings. Aurelia Segovia and Sara Segovia launched the enterprise in 1949, cutting norteño sides for Texas’s Ideal label. After the pair switched to the Falcon imprint in 1953, Aurelia paired with Marcelo Garcia for duets and exited the following year, whereupon Lucita Segovia stepped in. Sara and Lucita continued issuing material under the las Hermanas Segovia name for Falcon, while Aurelia pursued solo work as Aurelia Maria and completed a duet album with singer-actress Rosita Fernandez.

Arhoolie later gathered a dozen of the Ideal and Falcon sides onto the CD Punaladas de Amor. Although the majority stay within the mid-twentieth-century conventions of close-harmony rancheras, several tracks incorporate rhumba and jazz elements, supported by guitar and jazzy brass that extend beyond standard norteño practice.