Pérez Prado
Pérez Prado | |
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RCA Victor |
Dámaso Pérez Prado (December 11, 1916 – September 14, 1989)
Pérez Prado began his career as pianist and arranger for the
Biography
Early life
Dámaso Pérez Prado was born in Matanzas, Cuba, on December 11, 1916;[5] his mother Sara Prado was a school teacher, his father Pablo Pérez a journalist at El Heraldo de Cuba. He studied classical piano in his early childhood, and later played organ and piano in local clubs. For a time, he was pianist and arranger for the Sonora Matancera, Cuba's best-known musical group at the time. He also worked with casino orchestras in Havana 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 of
Pérez Prado and his Orchestra performed at the famed tenth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at
Famous pieces
Pérez Prado is the composer of such famous pieces as "
International popularity
Pérez Prado's popularity in the United States matched the peak of the first wave of interest in
In 1953, during the height of his popularity in Mexico, Pérez Prado was unexpectedly deported from that country and wouldn't be able to return until 1964. A
By 1960, Pérez Prado's popularity in the United States began to wane, with the new decade giving way to new rhythms, such as rock and roll and changing trends in pop 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 in Latin America and recycled Latin-style anthologies. After returning to Mexico, he had a final hit there with the self-penned danzón "Norma, la de Guadalajara", which topped the Mexican charts in 1968.[18]
Later life
In the early 1970s, Pérez Prado retired to his spacious apartment off
In 1981, Pérez Prado was featured in a musical revue entitled Sun, 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 press
Legacy
Although he did not create the genre—Orestes López and his brother Cachao 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-style big bands of the 1940s and away from the quieter Cuban charanga.
He also worked with a variety of musicians who would go on to have successful careers. In 1946, he worked with
In 1999, Pérez Prado was posthumously inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.[19]
In popular culture
Pérez Prado's mambo records and the joyous dancing they caused, are described in a later chapter of Jack Kerouac's seminal novel
In the decade after his death, the popularity of Pérez Prado's music was on the rise again. CD reissues of his RCA recordings continue to sell steadily. "
The soundtrack to the 1997 action thriller
Avant-garde musician
Pérez Prado's song "La Chunga" has been used as the theme music for several versions of The Spud Goodman Show.
Discography
Singles
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Albums
All albums,
- Pérez Prado Plays Mucho Mambo For Dancing (1951)
- Voodoo Suite (1955)
- Mambo By The King (1955)
- Mambo Mania (1955)
- Havana 3 A.M. (1956)
- Latin Satin (1957)
- Cha Cha Cha (1958)
- Mambo Happy! (1958)
- Dilo (Ugh!) (1958)
- "Prez" (1958) - Pérez Prado's only US Top 40 album, reaching the No. 22 spot in May 1959[23]
- Pops and Prado (1959)
- A Touch of Tabasco with Rosemary Clooney (1959)
- Big Hits By Prado (1960)
- Perez Prado's Rockambo (1961)
- Latino! (1961)
- La Chunga (1961)
- Exotic Suite of the Americas (1962)
- Now! Twist Goes Latin (1962)
- Our Man In Latin America (1963)
- Dance Latino (1965)
- The Best Of Perez Prado (1967) Reissue of Big Hits By Prado
- This Is Perez Prado (1971)
- Perez Prado - Pure Gold (1976) Another reissue of Big Hits By Prado
Filmography
- Serenade in Acapulco(1951)
- Underwater! (1955)
- Cha-Cha-Cha Boom! (1956)
- Girls for the Mambo-Bar (1959)
Notes
- ^ His stage name was simply Pérez Prado (Spanish: [ˈpeɾes ˈpɾaðo]), although his brother Pantaleón also used the same name in the 1970s, which led to confusion.[1]
- ^ Chapter Five, Article 38 of the Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem states that "It is strictly prohibited to alter the words or music of the National Anthem and to execute it totally or partially in compositions or arrangements. Likewise, it is prohibited to sing or play the National Anthem for purposes of commercial advertising or of a similar nature." (Translated from Spanish).
References
- ^ a b c d e Huey, Steve. "Pérez Prado - Biography". AllMusic. Rovi. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- ^ a b On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture Louis A. Pérez Jr. - 2012 "The origins of the new Cuban dance were variously attributed to Orestes López, Antonio Arcaño, Arsenio Rodríguez, and Israel “Cachao” López, but it was pianist Dámaso Pérez Prado's arrangements of the mambo, presented in a big, brassy ..."
- ^ Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture Volume 1 - Page 624 Cordelia Candelaria, Peter J. García, Arturo J. Aldama - 2004 "The instrumentation used by Pérez Prado typically featured brass and saxophone, sometimes organ, and his own ... In 1951, Pérez Prado made his first performance in the United States, and by 1954 the mambo craze had achieved the height ..."
- UNAM. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ "Damaso Perez Prado Dies at 72". The New York Times. 16 September 1989. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ Wilds, Tony. "Dilo (Ugh!) - Pérez Prado Orchestra". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ “Tenth Annual Cavalcade Offering Finest Variety At Wrigley Field June 20” Article The California Eagle June 2, 1954.
- ^ “Basie, Jordan, Prado Top Jazz Cavalcade” Article Los Angeles Sentinel June 3, 1954.
- ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ Stephen Nugent, Pete Fowler, Annie Fowler: Chart Log Of American/British Top 20 Hits, 1955-1973. In: Charlie Gillett, Simon Frith (eds.): Rock File 4. Frogmore, St. Albans: Panther Books Ltd. 1976, p. 276
- ^ Günter Ehnert (ed.): Hit Bilanz. Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980. Hamburg: Taurus Press 1990, p. 162
- ^ ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo Volume 1 - Page 559 Ned Sublette - 2007 "If the film composers' harmonies were impressionist, with their elevenths and thirteenths, Pérez Prado's mambo was expressionist, with minor seconds, piano clusters, and much chromaticism. The recordings were good, with the percussion ..."
- ^ Tito Puente: When the Drums Are Dreaming Page 209 Josephine Powell - 2007 "San Francisco reported that three thousand five hundred people followed Pérez Prado into Sweets Ballroom. The navy barracks at Oaknoll, Oakland, were ten miles from Sweets Ballroom. The dancehall, styled like a huge Quonset, was ..."
- ^ "Ley Sobre el Escudo, la Bandera y el Himno Nacionales: Capítulo Quinto". JUSTIA México (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- ^ MacMasters, Merry (12 June 2018). "Revelan por qué Pérez Prado fue expulsado de México". La Jornada (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- ^ Karim, Josué. "1953: el año que México exilió al mambo". Península 360 Press (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- ^ "Billboard "Hits of the World"". 9 March 1968. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
- ^ de Fontenay, Sounni (7 December 1998). "International Latin Music Hall of Fame". Latin American Rhythm Magazine. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
- ^ "Some Enchanted Evening". Snpp.com. 1994-09-10. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
- ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Office Space". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
- ^ Joel Whitburn, "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Albums" (1991), p. 208.
Further reading
- Pérez Firmat, Gustavo. "A Brief History of Mambo Time," in Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way. Austin: The University of Texas Press, 1994. Rpt. 1996, 1999. Revised and expanded edition, 2012.
External links
- Pérez Prado – complete discography
- Pérez Prado discography at Discogs
- Perez Prado at IMDb
- Perez Prado discography at MusicBrainz
- Mambo, a documentary about Perez Prado