Lot’s of people have discovered salsa because of these old men, brought back to fame by “Buena Vista Social Club“.
“Chan Chan” from 1987 , written by Compay Segundo…
… one of his last compositions.
Beautiful song, one does not forget those four chords ((Dm, F, Gm, A)
Ry Cooder…
… deserves a lot of credit for giving these great musicians a career again, and bringing this music to the public attention. But I don’t think he adds anything of value musically to the piece, to say the least.
Seriously, does he have any business messing around with that slide guitar, and what is that big drum set doing there?
And of course, you can dance a slow salsa to it, but it’s a Son,
“De Alto Cedro voy para Marcan
Llego a Cueto, voy para Maya
El cario que te tengo
No te lo puedo negar
Se me sale la babita
Yo no lo puedo evitar
Cuando Juanica y Chan Chan
En el mar cernan arena
Como sacuda el jibe
A Chan Chan le daba pena
Limpia el camino de paja
Que yo me quiero sentar
En aqul tronco que veo
Y as no puedo llegar
De alto Cedro voy para Marcan
Lleg a Cueto voy para Mayar”
English translation:
“From Alto Cedro, I go to Marcan
I arrive in CUeto, and then I go towards Mayar.
The love I have for you
is something I cannot deny
I drool all over
I cannot help it.
When Juanica and Chan Chan
sifted sand at the beach
…
Chan Chan felt sorry/shame
Clean the path of straw
cause I want to sit down
on that tree trunk I see
and that way I’m never going to arrive
From Alto Cedro, I go to Marcan
I arrive in Cueto, and then I go towards Mayar.”
Other notable musicians in this song..
Orlando “Cachaito” Lopez on bass..
Eliades Ochoa on guitar…
Vocalist Manuel “Puntillita” Licea…
Pianist Rubén González…
Barbarito Torres with the te laúd..
The beautiful black woman is singer Omara Portuondo..
The Buena Vista Social Club recording on Spotify here