Super Sonido

DEEJAYS: Next time you’re looking for a closer for your deejay nite, throw on a mariachi joint–preferably à la Vicente Fernández or José Alfredo Jiménez–and let ‘er rip. Always kills. Granted, I don’t usually throw mariachi records on the turntable at home, but I like to keep a couple 45s handy when deejaying…just in case everyone needs it. Bodes well with Jalisco-born tequila, too.

Upon hearing about mariachi maestro Vicente “Chente” Fernández’s impending retirement from showbiz (well deserved, I might add, after a near half century-spanning career!), thought I’d share a couple of regional Mexican 45s from my collection. Big up to Franko y su Super Sonido for having me!

1. Vicente Fernández: Volver Volver (Discos Columbia, 1976)

Classic track by a classic dude. No mariachi rocks a mustache or a mic better than Chente. ‘Nuff said.

Found this in a dig while trekking across southern New Mexico two summers ago. It appealed to me primarily because of the fantastic picture sleeve, but bandleader/cantante Ruben Padillo’s signature was an added bonus. While the songs on the disc aren’t particularly mind-blowing (though the featured side is decent enough), it makes up in aesthetic value. Really, how often do you come across a signed, picture-sleeved mariachi 45 on a relatively obscure Mexican label? In my case, not terribly often. Not a bad way to spend 50 cents.

– Alex LaRotta

2. Mariachi Metropolitano de Ruben Padilla: Soy Fronterizo (Discos Aragón – 197?)

Great post and some amazing images on those picture disks. I’ve never met Alex personally, but he has been a fan of Super Sonido for some time now – for which I am greatful for. It appears that when Alex isn’t doing awesome guest blog posts, he can be found in San Antonio Texas playing all sorts of awesome records. Thanks Alex, totally appreciated, and you’re welcome back anytime sir!!! On a side note, Vicente Fernández‘s Volver, Volver (come back, come back) was initially written as a love song. However, the famous ranchera tune took on another meaning in the 70’s and 80’s – becoming a rallying song for Mexican immigrants to return to Mexico. Probably the most famous ranchera song ever written, if not a ballad that made Vicente Fernández legendary – Sonido Franko

I did a short post about Los Tigres Del Norte over two years ago, but since then, drug smuggling in Mexico has since slipped into epic proportions; therefore, I thought I’d do another.

I summed up Los Tigres pretty well in my last post – I wrote about how Norteño music and corridos formed the sound-tract to the social problems and successes of the Mexican people. But it was the number Contrabando y Traicion (contraband and betrayal) that had catapulted not only the band, but the whole Norteño genre to massive success in the early 70’s. A lot earlier than I had previously indicated.

The gritty tune Contrabando y Traicion is a song about a couple who smuggles drugs across the US/Mexican border. Lyrically, it is a cover of an older corrido, which is kind of like a country ballad which can have a parable of some sort at the ending. As the story goes, Emilio Varela and Camelia the Texan smuggle marijuana in their tires from Tijuana, Mexico to Hollywood, California. But as Emilio wants to leave the business and follow a more sobering life in San Francisco, he is murdered by his female partner.

Ballads about anti-heroes, drug dealers, immigrants, and the modern ills of society were nothing new at the time. The Mexican corrido is a musical tradition that lasted over 100 years. The only difference was the approach Los Tigres Del Norte had taken musically to the genre. The combination of instruments, the use of the accordion, the loud/heavy use of the electric bass, and the nasal singing style were the subtle differences that modernized the corrido sound into what is now called Norteño. These guys popularized this sound, an approach which was copied by nearly all of Los Tigres’ contemporaries of the time.

Now the story of Contrabando y Traicion may very well be an exaggeration of some sort, but one can almost see this song as a lament to the trails and tribulations of the Mexican immigrant, a reflection for some, of how much bullshit one has to go through just to cross a border. On a side note, a few movies in the 80’s were made about this ballad. Probably one of my favorite songs of this entire genre. Please enjoy!

1. Los Tigres Del Norte: Contrabando y Traicion

Here on Super Sonido we tend to focus on cumbia and the more costal/tropical sounds from Latin America but in this post I want to shine some light on music from the Andes of Peru, specifically the region my family is from, Ayacucho.

Located in the central province of Huamanga is the capital city of Ayacucho. The city is named after the historical Battle of Ayacucho, fought during the Peruvian war of independence from Spain. Upon seeing so many casualties on the battlefield, locals called the area Ayakuchu, aya meaning “dead” and kuchu meaning “corner” in the Quechua language. An appropriate moniker considering it later became the epicenter of the Maoist uprising in the 80’s, led by the rebel group Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path), an organization that gripped the country for over 20 years.

Since the times of the Spanish conquest, death and sadness have been common themes in this region -and nothing reflects this more than the melancholic rythm of la guitarra Ayacuchana. A guitar style so unique, that it is rarely heard in other parts of Peru , much less outside of the country.

The history of music from Ayacucho would be difficult to cover in one single blog post. It would probably require it’s own separate blog entirely. However, I wanted the opportunity to post some of my own personal videos and tracks – something that I hope will give the listening audience some idea of how this style of music fits into the larger picture of Peruvian popular culture. Perhaps illustrating how prominent the guitar is in Peruvian music, as reflected later in musical genres like Chicha and Cumbia Peruana. In Ayacucho the guitar became the instrument that empitomized that region’s sound. It achieved classical status while reflecting it’s indigenous melodic roots, something that tends to allude other instruments and styles such as Chicha and Cumbia, which are commonly looked down on as low class music.

Included in this post are videos that I shot back in 2001 in Huancayo, Peru . They feature my friend and mentor Rudi Felices playing various compositions, one of which he composed. During the war in the 80’s, Rudi was lucky to escape from Ayacucho with his life, he was shot in the arm as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, escaping the city in the middle of the night. He now lives in Huancayo and works as a math teacher. In the second video clip he goes into some of the history behind one of the classic Ayacuchano songs he refers to as Temple el Diablo, also known as Helme. I have also included an MP3 version* played by the undisputed king of the guitarra Ayacuchana Raul Garcia Zarate. As the story goes, the song was written by a guy named Helme, who after finding his woman with another man, killed them both in a fit of rage and ate their hearts. In his depression, he called upon a famous quenista (flute player) and asks him to teach him a type of playing called Manchay Puito, which is the saddest music known to man; Sadder even than another style called “Yaravi”. He then began to play this music as punishment for the crime he had committed. It’s widely believed that if you play this style of music long enough it will drive you to suicide. ENJOY!!!!

– Dj Lengua

1. Raul Garcia Zarate: Helme *

2. Lira Paucina: El Solitario

3. Florencio Coronado: Arascasca

1. Los Tigres Del Norte: Cesar Chavez

There is probably nothing more Mexican than Los Tigres Del Norte playing a  norteño (northern) corrido. And there is probably nothing more Mexican American than farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. This is a perfect 45 for a day that symbolizes Mexican pride and heritage.

Norteño music, corridos, and banda are probably the most popular regional styles in all of Mexico. Hailing from the Northern part of the country, thus the name, Norteño forms the sound-tract to the social problems and successes of the Mexican people.

Although the music tends to sound the same after a while, it is the ever changing lyrics that speak to the Mexican people in that down to earth manner. The ballads tell of anti-heroes, drug dealers, immigrants, activists, patriotism, love lost, and the modern ills of society. It was songs like this that catapulted Los Tigres Del North to enormous success. Their modernized and retailored version of the norteño sound resulted in a phenomenon that changed the face of Mexican music in the 1990’s.

Feliz Cindo De Mayo!!!

1. Edilio Paredes: La Mama Y La Hija

Bachata or Bolero Campesino (peasant love song) is a style of guitar music that is often overlooked when you think of other more popular Latin American musical genres. In fact, for a long period in the Dominican Republic (where it originated) it was marginalized, denigrated, and usually associated with the lower classes.

The music began in the rural areas as a romantic bolero style music. Early Bachata often had themes of heartbreak, deception, and love lost.  However, things began to change for the Bachata movement with the death of dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1961, whose family had a monopoly on the entire Dominican music industry. It was at that point where the Bachata recording industry and the music itself began to flourish.  And it had evolved in that era with a more rhythmic and dancable beat borrowing from Merengue and Son.  

However, it appears that there was a backlash to Bachata in the 70’s where it again was stigmatized and barred from the higher class venues. Most songs from this era dealt with the musicians environment of uncivil behavior, drunkenness, and prostitution. Songs of the time were ripe with sexual innuendo (double sentido) . Although super popular in the Dominican Republic, these songs were thought of as vulgar and ignorant by the mainstream society. 

This 45 from Edilio Paredes is a perfect example of Bachata at this time. You can already see where this song is going with La Mama Y La Hija (the mother and the young daughter). Its basically a tale of two friends liking, enjoying, and marrying both the mother and daughter.

2. Edilio Paredes: La Gozadera

A great two sider from Edilio Paredes, who is considered by many as the most influential singer, guitar player, arranger, and the person who most influenced these more uptempo changes of Bachata in the mid 1970’s .

Born in the town of La Galana, near near San Francisco de Macoris, Edilio Paredes began his musical career young and still still plays today. At age 13 he moved to the capital of Santo Domingo and got a job working at a record store/record label which launched his music profession.

You have to excuse me but Dominican Spanish is sometimes difficult for me to understand due to the idiomatic expressions and dialect. But what I do know or what I sense, is that this song is ripe with all sorts of innuendo.  If anyone from the Dominican Republic would like to translate or thinks my paraphrasing sucks, just let me know. The song La Gozadera (fun loving time?) is a story about a guy who has a problem with his girl, whose love is over, and whose solution is to party and womanize. Amazing, amazing, amazing 45.