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Guantanamera

Quentin

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Quentin @ 2012-12-09 20:40:21 UTC

I can't find any Cuban recording of the song. It seems it was first released in the US of A.


Do you guys know something more?

Last edit: 2012-12-10 16:59:46 UTC by Quentin

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wally creek

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wally creek @ 2012-12-12 11:06:39 UTC

http://latinpop.fiu.edu/searchact.cfm?code=1&type=s&term=guantanamera&recno=1

For this site, dates of any kind are hit or miss. And I wouldn't necessarily throw out ones that are credited to someone other than Fernandez.


The version on Columbia 5741 X B has a 1938 recording date FWIW (2nd page of list)


There's an advanced search where you can select 78s only, etc.

Last edit: 2012-12-12 11:22:50 UTC by wally creek

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walt

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walt @ 2012-12-12 12:08:06 UTC

Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings ..., Volume 4

gives April 18, 1938 for Cuarteto Caney, if it's the same song that would be a first !


Joseito Fernández = Sept 12, 1940 (?) Victor 83240

Quentin

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Quentin @ 2012-12-12 14:29:26 UTC

Yup, http://latinpop.fiu.edu was very useful.


However, the song as we know it has Fernandez melody + chorus (Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera, etc.) and Jose Martì lyrics, taken from the poem Versos Sencillos. The song didn't have fixed lyrics before, it was used by Fernandez to comment the news during his radio program "El suceso del dia" (I think the program started in 1932). So he made up different lyrics on a daily basis, so to speak.


The guy who had the idea of "mixing" Fernandez and Martì was Julián Orbón in the late 50's, apparently. Leo Brouwer sang this "definitive" version in 1961 (live? on a record? was he the first performer?). Pete Seeger listened to this version and introduced the song in America and the rest of the world.


The first Cuban "definitive version" I can't find...


http://www.jose-marti.org/jose_marti/guantanamera/mariaargeliaguan/guantanamerap…

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jojo

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jojo @ 2012-12-13 18:09:04 UTC

Well guys,


Listen for yourself.




JoJo greets

walt

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walt @ 2012-12-19 13:13:27 UTC

Thanks to jojo, I've posted it on my YT channel:


Quentin

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Quentin @ 2015-09-28 16:07:59 UTC

Ok, I added: Guajira Guantanamera

If you think you know the first performance/recording/release of Guantanamera let us know.

Also, I need to listen to "A Mi Madre" by Joseito Fernández, because I have the feeling that Guajira Guantanamera might be the style/genre of the song (like Mambo, Slow Dance, Fox-Trot...) and not the title.

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camembert electrique

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camembert electrique @ 2015-09-28 21:08:15 UTC

The German wikipedia entry for the song starts with "Das Lied Guantanamera geht in seiner heute verbreiteten Fassung zurück auf eine Guajira-Melodie" - The song, as widely known today, has its origins in a Guajira melody....

Guajira, again, is described as a style having developed from Flamenco shortly before 1900 and since the 1930s having changed into a more simple rhythm. Cha Cha Cha (having come up in the 1950s) has obvious similarites with 1930's Guajira.

So, Guajira is a style... But it's not unusual to use styles as a parts of titles - and in the end "Guajira Guantanamera" is either a Guajira for a girl from Guantanamo or simply a Guajira from G....

walt

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walt @ 2015-09-29 16:31:41 UTC

I have a full version of the author that has the famous refrain. You can listen at AMG for a snippet (but it doesn't reach the chorus unf). I see no reason to doubt the aforementioned 1940 rec date or the song itself. It is misleading though, the actual label has A MI MADRE in bigger letters (I think this may be a misprint). Also note, it's a B-side of a danzon called "Campo vivo" written by another composer.


Various Artists - Cuba, I Am Time, Vol. 2: Cantar en Cuba (1999)

http://www.allmusic.com/album/cuba-i-am-time-vol-2-cantar-en-cuba-mw0000602636


Thanks for all the work involved. Looks good!

Last edit: 2015-09-29 17:05:21 UTC by walt

Quentin

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Quentin @ 2015-09-30 16:48:29 UTC

There's no doubt Fernandez recorded the song at some point. I just don't know for certain that "A mi madre" was THE song, considering that the Guajira (and the Guajira Guantanamera in particular) was also a style of dance. It looks to me as if the name of the song was "A mi madre" performed in the style of a Guajira Guantanamera.

I can't be certain until I hear a clip of the song. And it's weird that there are no clips of said song.


If their search works, these are the 78rpms with Guantanamera in the title:

http://latinpop.fiu.edu/advSearchR.cfm (link doesn't work Unhappy - anyway, advanced search, format 78 + guantanamera)

the song A mi madre (I used the same method) does not mention Guajira Guantanamera in the title, but it's in the style "Guajira".

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jojo

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jojo @ 2020-09-09 14:45:27 UTC

walt

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walt @ 2020-09-10 10:04:43 UTC

Good find, Joop!


Guillermo Portabales (1911-1970)


The Victor cat nr matches indeed "1937", the rec date confirms


Nice pics here, but not sounding 30s to me:


walt

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walt @ 2020-09-10 10:12:57 UTC

Victor BS-011520 10-in. 7/29/1937 Guajira guantanamera Guillermo Portabales Re-recording : Male vocal solo, with guitar


Unf. not on that Tumbao collection att.


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