Versión en español

A musical Phenomenon from the 50's!

Dámaso "Mambo" Pérez Prado

By: Nereyda Barceló Fundora
Translated by

"Cuando el serio y bien vestido compositor cubano, Pérez Prado, descubrió la manera de ensartar todos los ruidos urbanos en un vilo de saxofón, se dio un golpe de estado contra la soberanía de todos los ritmos conocidos... "

"When the serious and well-dressed Cuban Songwriter, Pérez Prado, discovered the way to thread all the urban sounds into breath of a saxophone, he pulled a coup d'etat against the sovereignty of all of the rhythms known to man..."

--Gabriel García Márquez

Mambo makes up one of the most important chapters in the history of contemporary popular music.

This syncopated rhythm appeared in 1938 in Cuba, born of the genius of two brothers, Orestes López and Israel López (Cachao) members of the Charanga de Arcaño y sus Maravillas. They enriched the moving third part of the Danzón by incorporating an "estribillo" or sychopated "montuno". Each time they were to repeat it, they would say, "Vamos a mambear". It was this portion of the song that they would call "sabrosura" or "mambo". Within the Orquesta de Arcaño they called this particular Danzón, Danzón de Ritmo Nuevo or Danzón Mambo. Thus, the Mambo emerged as a rhythmic and orchestral change rooted in the Danzón, another truly Cuban rhythm, but the person who was really responsible for restructuring this genre into a caribbean dance rhythm and launching it into world-wide fame was Dámaso Pérez Prado.

It should be noted that Pérez Prado took the Arcaño mambo, superimposing the four by four rhythm of American Swing and turned it into the ballroom dance that became the furor of the 50's.

When responding to the question of who had invented the mambo, our own Bárbaro del Ritmo, Beny Moré said in his song, Locas por el Mambo: "un chaparrito con cara de foca" (some little short guy with the face of a seal) referring to Dámaso Pérez Prado. One can not ignore the creativity of various artists who contributed to this genre, but you have to appreciate the indisputeable genius of this great artist: Dámaso Pérez Prado.

Pérez Prado was born on December 11, 1916 in Matanzas, Cuba and died in Mexico City in 1989.

He studied piano in his native city, and in 1940 he moved to Havana. He was the pianist for the Paulina Álvarez Orchestra and later played with the Casino de la Playa Jazz Band. He was a member of the Cabaret Kursal where he began to use very novel arrangements, especially with the singer, Orlando Guerra, also known as Cascarita.

In 1947 Pérez Prado wrote the famous mambo song, QUE RICO EL MAMBO, using a jazz band orchestra, restructuring it again with a distinct new rhythm in the sounds of the trumpets and saxophones, with Cuban percussion and developing the melody on top of a base of percussion sequences. Most noteably, he used the voice with incoherent text that had onomotopoetic percussive value.

In 1949, the songwriter went to México, where he recorded Mambos for the RCA Víctor record label.

His first published pieces were JOSE and MACAMÉ, which were slow numbers. He then recorded MAMBO NO.5, MAMBO NO. 8, QUE RICO EL MAMBO, EL RULETERO, LA CHULA LINDA, CABALLO NEGRO...

Many famous dancers of the times kicked up their heels to the mambo: María Antonieta Pons, Ninón Evilla and “Tongolele”. Other world famous artists like Silvana Mangano, Brigitte Bardot, Gingers Rogers and Fred Astaire danced to this famous rhythm.

It was a time of guayaberas and two-tone shoes, but Pérez Prado used even more exotic clothing such as long jackets and platform shoes to hide his small stature of 1.58 meters (about 5'2) He was famous for his thin moustache and the toupee he used in his later years.

In 1951, México inaugurated the traditional Disco de Oro prize and it was awarded to the following people or groups in the following categories: Singer: Pedro Infante; Songwriter: María Victoria; Duo: Hermanas Hernández; Trio: Los Tres Diamantes; Vocal Group: Hermanas Reyes; Orchestra: DÁMASO PÉREZ PRADO; Song: Quinto Patio, by Luis Alcaraz; Composer: José Alfredo Jiménez.

The triumph of the mambo was so overwhelming that it was declared the best dance music of 1955 and the North American Association of Critics declared the Pérez Prado Orchestra to be the most popular of the year. RCA Victor awarded them the Golden Disc for Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom Time which was made into a movie.

Pérez Prado wrote mambos for everyone, and especially for his good friends: El Ruletero, El Papelero, Universitarios, Politécnicos and others.

His interpretations of other songs like Historia de Amor, María Bonita, Quien será, Guagluine, Patricia, Moliendo Café, Caballo Negro were also well received.

In Patricia, he introduced the organ to popular contemporary music, even including elements of rock. He wrote his Concierto para bongó, Suite de las Américas and a new rhythm: the dengue.

During the fifties the mambo was spread by many writers and musicians and other musical groups included it in their repetoire.

Bebo Valdés contributed notable works such as, Rareza del Siglo and Guempa. Ernesto Duarte gave us important songs like Miguel, dónde estabas tú.

Benny Moré, whose voice shined forth from the Pérez Prado Orchestra, wrote Bonito y Sabroso, Locas por el Mambo, Mamboletas... and Silvestre Méndez added his two bits with Mambeando y México lindo.

Another successful version derived from this genre is the bolero-mambo used frequently by artists beginning in the fifties, such as Julio Gutiérrez in Un poquito de tu amor, Bobby Collazo with La última noche and Humberto Hauma with Estás como mango.

There were very many famous interpretations of Pérez Prado's boleros such as Solamente una vez, Perfidia, Aquellos ojos verdes. Lamento Gitano, Frenesí, Quizás, Quizás, Quizás and Adiós.

Mambo was made popular during the post-war years when people just wanted to forget, dance and enjoy.

 

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This page last updated on:  31-Dec-2007