José Alfredo Jiménez (born January 9, 1926 in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, died November 23, 1973 in Mexico City, Mexico) was a Mexican singer-songwriter in the ranchera style.

His songs are considered part of the Mexican musical heritage and comparable, for instance, to what Woody Guthrie meant to American folk music.

He had no musical training—according to the singer Miguel Aceves Mejía, Jiménez didn't play an instrument and didn't even know the Spanish terms for "waltz" and "key". Nonetheless he composed more than 1000 songs. Among the most famous are Ella, Media Vuelta, El Rey, El Jinete, Si Nos Dejan, Amanecí Entre Tus Brazos, Cuando el Destino, El Caballo Blanco, Llegó Borracho el Borracho and Que Te Vaya Bonito, as well as Camino de Guanajuato, where he sang about his home State of Guanajuato as well as his home town of Dolores Hidalgo Guanajuato.

In addition to his own hit recordings, many of his songs have been recorded successfully by recording artists around the Spanish-speaking world, most notably by Pedro Infante, Rocío Durcal, Javier Solís, Pedro Fernández, Jorge Negrete, Vikki Carr, Luis Miguel, Lola Beltrán, Lucha Villa, Vicente Fernández and by spaniards Joaquín Sabina and Manolo García.

continued at Wikipedia