Many of the men at San Quentin love music.
“Asked on the Line” conducted 23 random, informal interviews with men in blue and asked, “What is your favorite type of music, favorite artist, and favorite song?”
Most have a favorite type of music. Some had two or three favorite types, and a few claimed to like all types of music. The top three answers in rank order were Jazz, Gospel, and R&B.
Bob Kaser and Victor Hernandez like Country & Western, Allen Brown and Benny Elmore like Rock, and Clifford Dobbins, Jabari Elbert, Douglas Manns and Rudy Walker all love Jazz. Elbert claims to enjoy jazz, rap, blues, oldies, and soft rock and Johnny Gomez likes Freestyle. Douglass Manns, Darrell Buchana, John Vaden, and Adrian Ramirez all love Gospel.
Richard Arnold said, “I like ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and oldies.”
Kenyatta Leal said, “I don’t have a favorite type of music. I like all types of music. It depends on my mood.”
Almost everyone that was interviewed had a unique favorite artist. Arturo Avalos likes Spanish pop singer Ricardo Arjona, Jesus Vallejo loves to listen to Los Temerarios and Marco Antonio Solis, and Juan Arballo enjoys the music of Camilo Sesto and Katinas. Dobbins likes Norman Brown, Nick Aranda likes Michael Jackson, and Joe Demerson likes Gerald LaVert and Grover Washington Jr.
As for favorite song, Lonnie Liner said, “I like ‘Don’t Mess with Mr. T’ by Stanley Turntine.” Walter Harden likes “I’m different” by Two Chain; Leroy Brown loves “All Eyes On Me” by Tupac; Adrian Ramirez likes “Can’t Give Up Now” by Mary Mary; and Rudy Walker likes “Yolanda, You Learn” sung by David Bowie.
“I like Classic Rock,” said Elmore. “One of my favorite songs is ‘L.A. Woman’ by the Doors.” Hernandez likes “Make Believe” by Conway Twitty and Dee Whitaker likes “Nature Boy” by Nat King Cole.
