Pérez Prado | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Pérez Prado in 1954 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Dámaso Pérez Prado |
| Also known as |
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| Born | (1916-12-11)December 11, 1916 Matanzas, Cuba |
| Died | September 14, 1989(1989-09-14) (aged 72) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Genres | Mambo |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1933–1987 |
| Labels | RCA Victor,His Master's Voice |
Dámaso Pérez Prado (December 11, 1916 – September 14, 1989)[nb 1] was a Cuban bandleader, pianist, composer and arranger who popularized themambo in the 1950s.[2] Hisbig band adaptation of thedanzón-mambo proved to be a worldwide success with hits such as "Mambo No. 5", earning him the nickname "The King of the Mambo".[1][3] In 1955, Pérez Prado and his orchestra topped the charts in the US and UK with a mambo cover ofLouiguy's "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)". He frequently madebrief appearances in films, primarily of therumberas genre, and his music was featured in films such asLa Dolce Vita.
Pérez Prado began his career as pianist and arranger for theSonora Matancera, an internationally successful dance music ensemble from his hometown ofMatanzas. He later established his own group and made several recordings inHavana in 1946, including "Trompetiana", a self-penned mambo and one of the first examples arranged for big band. He then moved to Mexico where he developed this particular genre in multiple forms, including bolero-mambo (withMaría Luisa Landín), guaracha-mambo (withBenny Moré) and two forms of instrumental mambo he created: mambo batiri and mambo kaen. The success of his 1949 recordings landed him a contract withRCA Victor in the US, which led to a prolific career during the 1950s. His number 1 hit "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)" was followed by other charting singles, such as a cover of "Guaglione" and his own "Patricia", both released in 1958. Pérez Prado's popularity in the US began to decline in the 1960s with the advent of other Latin dance rhythms such aspachanga and, later,boogaloo. Despite several innovative albums and a new form of mambo he called "dengue", Pérez Prado was never able to duplicate his earlier success and returned to Mexico in the 1970s, where he became anaturalized citizen in 1980. He died in Mexico City in 1989.[4] His son, Pérez Prado Jr., continues to direct the Pérez Prado Orchestra inMexico City to this day.
Dámaso Pérez Prado was born inMatanzas,Cuba, on December 11, 1916;[5] his mother Sara Prado was a school teacher, his father Pablo Pérez a journalist atEl Heraldo de Cuba. He studied classicalpiano in his early childhood, and later playedorgan and piano in local clubs. For a time, he was pianist and arranger for theSonora Matancera, Cuba's best-known musical group at the time. He also worked with casino orchestras inHavana for most of the 1940s. He was nicknamed "El Cara de Foca" ("Seal Face") by his peers at the time.[1]
In 1949, Pérez Prado moved to Mexico where he formed his own band and signed a recording contract with the International division ofRCA Victor in Mexico City. He quickly specialized inmambos, an upbeat adaptation of the Cubandanzón. Pérez Prado's mambos stood out among the competition, with their fiery brass riffs and strongsaxophone counterpoints, and most of all, his trademark grunts (he actually says "¡Dilo!" ("Say it!") in many of the perceived grunts[6]). In 1950, arrangerSonny Burke heard "Qué rico el mambo" while on vacation in Mexico and recorded it back in theUnited States. The single was a hit, which led Pérez Prado to launch a US tour. He was to record the song again some years later under the title "Mambo Jambo". Pérez Prado's appearances in 1951 were sell-outs. Producers Herman Diaz Jr. andEthel Gabriel signed Pérez Prado to RCA Victor in the US and produced his best-selling recording of "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White.[1]
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Pérez Prado and his Orchestra performed at the famed tenth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held atWrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced byLeon Hefflin, Sr. on June 20, 1954.[7][8]
Pérez Prado is the composer of such famous pieces as "Mambo No. 5" (later a UK chart-topper for bothLou Bega in 1999 and animated characterBob the Builder in 2001) and "Mambo No. 8". The mambo craze peaked in the US in 1955, when Pérez Prado hit the Americancharts at number one with acha-cha-chá version of "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)" (by French composerLouiguy). This arrangement, featuring trumpeter Billy Regis, held the spot for 10 consecutive weeks, sold over one million copies, and was awarded agold disc.[9] The song also went to number one in the UK[10] and in Germany.[11] Pérez Prado had first recorded this title for the movieUnderwater! in 1954, whereJane Russell can be seen dancing to "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)". In 1958, one of Pérez Prado's own compositions, "Patricia", became the last record to ascend to No. 1 on the Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which gave way the following week to the then newly introducedBillboard Hot 100 chart, where in its first week had the song at #2 behindRicky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool." The song also went to number one in Germany, and in the UK it reached number eight. The Italian filmmakerFederico Fellini chose to feature "Patricia" twice in his 1960 masterpiece,La Dolce Vita.[12]
Pérez Prado's popularity in the United States matched the peak of the first wave of interest inLatin music outside theHispanic andLatino communities during the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.[13][14] He also performed in films in the United States and Europe, as well as inMexican cinema (Rumberas film), always with his trademarkgoatee andturtle-neck sweaters andvests.
In 1953, during the height of his popularity in Mexico, Pérez Prado was unexpectedly deported from that country and was not permitted to return until 1964. Apopular legend among Mexicans is that he was deported for having done a mambo arrangement of theMexican National Anthem, which would have constituted a crime underMexican law[a].[15] However, according to journalist Iván Restrepo, the actual reason for his exile was that a Mexican businessman who had hired Pérez Prado to work at theMargo theater in Mexico City became enraged when Pérez Prado decided to work with another businessman who paid him more, prompting the first businessman to report him to the migration authorities as Pérez Prado lacked a work permit. Pérez Prado, who had just finished recording the soundtrack for the movieCantando nace el amor, was then approached by two migration agents who asked him to show them his work permit; since he did not have the permit, Pérez Prado bribed the officers to let him finish recording the mamboAlekum Salem before being deported. His eleven-year exile came to an end after Mexican singer and actressMaría Victoria interceded with then-PresidentAdolfo López Mateos to allow Pérez Prado back into Mexico.[16][17]
By 1960, Pérez Prado's popularity in the United States began to wane, with the new decade giving way to new rhythms, such asrock and roll and changing trends inpop music. His association with RCA Victor ended in the mid 1960s, and afterward his recorded output was mainly limited to smaller labels with limited distribution mostly inLatin America and recycled Latin-style anthologies. After returning to Mexico, he had a final hit there with the self-penneddanzón "Norma, la de Guadalajara", whichtopped the Mexican charts in 1968.[18]
In the early 1970s, Pérez Prado retired to a spacious apartment offMexico City's grandPaseo de la Reforma with his wife and two children, son Dámaso Pérez Salinas (known as Pérez Prado Jr.) and daughter María Engracia. While his career in the US had declined, his popularity in Latin America was still strong. He continued to tour there and he performed regularly on Mexican radio and television. Pérez Prado continued to release recordings in Mexico, Central and South America, as well as Japan, where he was still revered as one of the reigning giants of the music industry. RCA issued a live recording made during his 1973 concert tour in Japan.
In 1981, Pérez Prado was featured in a musical revue entitledSun, which enjoyed a long run in Mexico City. In 1983, his brother Pantaleón Pérez Prado, a musician who was also known professionally as Pérez Prado, died, and the presserroneously reported Dámaso's death.[1]
His final appearance in the US was inHollywood on September 12, 1987, when he played to a packed house. Persistent ill health plagued him for the next two years, and he died of complications from a stroke inMexico City on September 14, 1989, at age 72.
Although he did not create the genre—Orestes López and his brotherCachao did in 1937—Pérez Prado has been recognized as a key figure in the refinement and popularization of mambo and Cuban dance music in general across the world in the 1950s.[2] His success came from his adaptation of the fast mambo rhythm to the American-stylebig bands of the 1940s and away from the quieter Cubancharanga.
He also worked with a variety of musicians who would go on to have successful careers. In 1946, he worked withguaracha singer Orlando Guerra "Cascarita", who became one of the leading exponents of the genre. In Mexico, he helped launch the career ofBeny Moré in 1949, with hits such as "Anabacoa". In America, he worked with West Coast trumpeters such asMaynard Ferguson,Pete Candoli andOllie Mitchell (featured on "Flight of the Bumble Bee"), trombonist-vocalistRay Vasquez, and a variety of percussionists, includingArmando Peraza,Mongo Santamaría andAlex Acuña.
In 1999, Pérez Prado was posthumously inducted into theInternational Latin Music Hall of Fame.[19]
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Pérez Prado's mambo records and the joyous dancing they caused, are described in a later chapter of Jack Kerouac's seminal novelOn the Road (1957). Many of Pérez Prado's recordings have been featured in film soundtracks. "Patricia" was included inLa Dolce Vita (1960),Goodbye, Columbus (1969) andSpace Cowboys (2000), as well as the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" (1990) of theanimatedsitcomThe Simpsons.[20] His songs "Caballo Negro", "Lupita", and "Mambo no. 8" featured in the filmSanta Sangre (1989) byAlejandro Jodorowsky. His recording of "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)" featured in the filmsDeal of the Century (1983),Cookie (1989) andParents (1989), and his recording of "Que Rico Mambo" was featured inThe Irishman (2019).
In the decade after his death, the popularity of Pérez Prado's music was on the rise again.Compact Disc reissues of his RCA Victor recordings continue to sell steadily. "Guaglione" peaked at number 2 in theUK Singles Chart in 1995 and reached number 1 in the Irish singles chart,[12] following its use in theGuinness television commercialAnticipation. "Mambo No. 5" was featured in another Guinness commercial,Swimblack, in 1998 (the year beforeLou Bega took hissampledcover version of that same song to the top of the UK chart).[21]
The soundtrack to the 1997 action thrillerMean Guns heavily features the music of Pérez Prado, as it is the favorite choice of Ice T's character in the film. The soundtrack to the 1999 movieOffice Space featured two of his performances, "Mambo No. 8" and "The Peanut Vendor".[22] The soundtrack to the 2004 movieDiarios de Motocicleta featured Pérez Prado's "Qué rico el mambo", more commonly known as "Mambo Jambo".
Avant-garde musicianNurse With Wound recorded a tribute,Funeral Music for Perez Prado, exceeding 30 minutes in length.
Pérez Prado's song "La Chunga" has been used as the theme music for several versions ofThe Spud Goodman Show.
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All albums were issued byRCA Victor.
