Much More Early Pérez Prado

Those of you with a long history with this blog may recall that in the dim past I offered a few LPs by mambo king Pérez Prado that were devoted to his earliest recordings. Those posts date back to 2009 and 2015.

Today I've gathered 24 more of these Prado gems, all from the late 40s and early 50s.Compiled from lossless needle-drops of 78s found on Internet Archive, these greatly expand what I've presented before, filling out our knowledge of this exciting and influential band.

In addition to the new items, I've remastered my two earlier Prado posts - his first US LP, Plays Mucho Mambo for Dancing, and a later Camden compilation, Latino! All told, there are about 40 Prado selections in the collection.

As I wrote back in 2009, "Prado was born in Cuba, but in the late 40s he moved his base of operations to Mexico City, where his version of a new dance called the mambo became wildly popular."

Even before then, the bandleader had made some records in Cuba. A few of them came out on the Discos Cafamo label in about 1947 and circulated in the US as imports in March 1949. Two of these items - "Tu Ve, Tu Ve" and "La Clave" - later appeared on the small US Monogram label, and start off our collection. I haven't been able to date the Monogram release, but I suspect it was in the early 1950s, after Prado had achieved some popularity.

In mid-1949, RCA Victor's Latin-American department saw some promise in the band, and signed Prado to a contract. His first RCA release was "José" and "Macomé," which, as with all the subsequent items in this collection, were issued in RCA's International Series.

While his recordings of the time were all made in Mexico, Prado had his eyes on the much bigger American market. He tried to form an American band in early 1951, but New York union regulations prevented him from doing so. His break was soon at hand, though, in the form of a cover record.

Freddy, Sonny, Dave - no Pérez

In 1950, Prado had recorded what would become two of his most famous numbers on one single - "Qué Rico el Mambo" and "Mambo No. 5." (The latter was a hit as recently as 1999, via Lou Bega's version.) These display the instrumental precision, flamboyant brass playing and extraordinary rhythmic verve that characterize his music.

In 1951, American bandleader Sonny Burke took up "Qué Rico el Mambo" and turned it into the "Mambo Jambo," which became a hit and was covered by such unlikely advocates as sedate maestro Freddy Martin and pop guitarist Dave Barbour. I've actually featured Burke's Mambo Jambo LP, and it's not bad, but not Prado, either.

RCA must have been impressed by the "Mambo Jambo" sales - or embarrassed that it didn't have a hit with Prado's original and superior version - and soon announced that the bandleader would be recording both for the International series and for its pop series.

It took a while, but Prado would eventually have big hits in the American market - "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" in 1955 and "Patricia" in 1958 - plus a number of quick-selling LPs.

The records in this post, however, predate his most successful period. Most of them come from 1950-51, with the final two singles from 1953. One of those couples the title song from the film Anna with Prado's tribute to its star, Silvana Magnano.

I hope you enjoy these exceptional recordings from a remarkable band and bandleader.