Born Trinidad López III on May 15, 1937 in Dallas Texas, Trini Lopez was a
vocalist, musician, actor, and entertainer best known for his hits “If I Had a
Hammer”, “Lemon Tree”, and others. While generally known by most pop music fans
as a singer, his guitar playing has often been overlooked even though he
designed two guitars for Gibson Guitars. Forming his first band – The Big Beats
- at the age of 15, López connected with the late Buddy Holly’s former producer
Norman Petty. Petty helped the band gain a contract with Columbia Records but
after one single, López left to pursue a ...