Meanwhile, the four teenaged children of the bandmembers in the Coronados – who sometimes appeared with their parents on stage – were being attracted to rock music and began singing and performing together as the Real Americans. Gilbert Ortiz (now known as Gil Silverbird), Perry Ortiz and Mark Ortiz are the sons of Reuben Ortiz and Ginger Ortiz; Joerey Ortiz is the son of Steven Ortiz. Reuben Ortiz encouraged them in this endeavor, and he recorded the songs that they were writing using a company that he had formed earlier having the innocuous name of Recording Artists, Inc. Ginger Ortiz began singing with the Real Americans as well, supplying the high vocals that Perry Ortiz was beginning to lose as he matured.
As an experiment, Reuben Ortiz decided to see how the Coronados and the Real Americans would sound if their music were combined. Ginger Ortiz recalled: “There was a kind of realism to this music. It was a nice contrast to what we’re always supplying as the Coronados: those dreams that our audiences want.”
The result of this merger of the two bands is Silverbird. Their career was launched on May 2, 1971 on one of the Fanfare programs on National Educational Television (NET), a precursor to Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
(August 2013)
