The Popular Lecuona

My recent post of a few Morton Gould recordings of the music of Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963) led me to seek out recordings that would demonstrate how the Cuban composer’s music became popular in America during the 1930s into the 50s.

This post is the result. It compiles 24 versions of Lecuona’s most popular compositions, drawn from 78s and soundtrack recordings. These include different interpretations of the songs that Gould orchestrated: "Andalucía" ("The Breeze and I"), "Malagueña," "La Comparsa" and "Jungle Drums."

Alfredo Brito

Perhaps the first Lecuona melody to become popular in the U.S. was his 1929 composition "Siboney.” (Siboney is a town in Cuba, and by extension can be understood to refer to Cuba itself.) The song gained notice in 1931 via a record by Alfredo Brito and His Siboney Orchestra, the first item in our collection.

Many artists have since recorded “Siboney,” often with the English lyrics written by Dolly Morse that have nothing to do with Lecuona’s original words. Bing Crosby recorded the English version in 1945 with Xavier Cugat and his Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra. Cugat was prominent in America at the time and recorded many Latin songs, but nonetheless his was not considered an “authentic” Cuban band, even though he spent much of his youth in that country.

The young Cugat. He later grew hair.

Cugat in fact popularized the second Lecuona composition in the set, "Para Vigo Me Voy” (“I’m Going to Vigo,” a town in Spain), which became known as "Say Si, Si" after acquiring Al Stillman’s English lyrics. Cugat recorded it in 1935, the year of its composition. The English version became a hit in 1940, with the Andrews Sisters having the best-selling disc. The download includes both the Cugat and Andrews records.

The next song, “Jungle Drums,” was called “Canto Karabali” by Lecuona when he published it in 1933. I believe “Karabali” refers to African slaves brought to Cuba from a particular region of Africa. Both versions in the playlist come from 1939, the first by Artie Shaw and his band, the second from Cugie again, with an unlikely vocal by Dinah Shore, making one of her first appearances on record. Dinah presents the English lyrics written by Carmen Lombardo, of all people. “Jungle Drums” went on to become one of the theme songs of the exotica movement of the 50s.

“The Breeze and I” is one of Lecuona’s most recognizable and enduring melodies, originally published as “Andalucía” in 1928. With Al Stillman’s new English lyrics, the song became an American hit in 1940 through the single version by Jimmy Dorsey’s band, with a vocal by Bob Eberly. This is another Lecuona song that is still heard today.

Jimmy Dorsey and Bob Eberly

After “The Breeze and I” and “Say Si, Si” became hits, Lecuona wrote the title song for the 1942 film Always in My Heart, which starred Kay Francis and Walter Huston. The song was nominated for an Academy Award, losing to "White Christmas." Dorsey and Eberly, recognizing a good thing, recorded a version with Kim Gannon’s English lyrics, and it became a hit as well.

One of Lecuona’s most popular melodies, "Malagueña" (that is, a type of dance from Málaga, Spain), comes from his 1933 Suite Andalucía, to which he added lyrics in Spanish. Our first interpretation comes from Del Campo and His Orchestra, with a piano solo by arranger Jose Esteves. Luis Del Campo was a former Cugat singer who formed his own band in the 1940s, continuing until his death in 1950. This record, from about 1947, appeared on the short-lived Coda label.

Dorsey and Eberly struck again in 1942 with a vocal version of "Malagueña" called “At the Cross-Roads,” with English lyrics by Bob Russell.

It’s been said that Lecuona lifted the melody of "Malagueña" from a section of Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s 1851 composition Souvenirs d'Andalousie. I think it’s more likely that both Lecuona and Gottschalk were drawing upon the same indigenous melody.

Next we have a record by the Lecuona Cuban Boys, confusingly named because the group did not include Lecuona himself. He did, however, start the group in the early 1930s after seeing the success that Alfredo Brito was having with his music. The song “Panama” comes from a 1937 Columbia album by the group.

The Cuban Boys also contribute a rendition of one of Lecuona’s best-known melodies, “La Comparsa,” taken from their early Victor album Melodias Cubanas, with a piano solo by Armando Oréfiche, the group’s leader. I've also included a 1946 recording of "La Comparsa" from Camilo Lentini and His Latin-American Orchestra on the Pan-American label. Lentini was active in the Los Angeles area in the 1940s.

Hollywood called on Lecuona once more for a title song for the 1946 film One More Tomorrow, an Ann Sheridan-Dennis Morgan-Alexis Smith love triangle in which Morgan has to choose between his principles and his rich friends. (In other words, it has a plot you have seen a hundred times.) The version of the song in the playlist comes from Tex Beneke’s revived Glenn Miller Orchestra, with a sensitive vocal by Artie Malvin, who later became the king of the budget-label cover records.

Also in 1946, Lecuona provided the music for Carnival in Costa Rica, a musical starring Dick Haymes and Vera-Ellen. I am particularly fond of the music from this film, so I have included the main songs directly from the soundtrack and from Haymes’ Decca recordings.

Vera-Ellen’s singing voice was dubbed by Pat Friday, a superb vocalist who appeared on several radio shows, did some film dubbing and made a very few records, including a version of Carnival in Costa Rica's “Mi Vida." My other blog will soon have a post of the few 78s she made in 1946 for the small Enterprise label.

Dick Haymes and Vera-Ellen in Carnival in Costa Rica

In this collection, we have soundtrack versions of “I’ll Know It’s Love” (Friday solo and Haymes/Friday reprise), “Mi Vida” (Haymes/Friday duet) and “Another Night Like This” (Haymes solo). Also included are Haymes’ Decca 78s of “Another Night Like This” and “Mi Vida,” which have backing by Gordon Jenkins.

The Lecuona Cuban Boys return with a 1946 single on the Majestic label – “Rumba-Bomba,” with a Manyo Lopez vocal, and “Maracas,” vocal by Ernesto Ojea.

Lecuona’s music continued to be popular into the 1950s. The playlist concludes with two versions of “The Breeze and I” from that decade. The first is a Vic Damone vocal recording, which became a hit in 1952. Finally, there is a George Shearing instrumental from 1951 that demonstrates the influence of Shearing’s sound on the exotica bands that were soon to emerge.

The sound on these records ranges from good to excellent. Most were sourced from lossless needle-drops on Internet Archive.

Morton Gould - Music of Lecuona / String Time

We return to old friend Morton Gould this week with a 1951 LP that repackages two of his 78 sets from the 1940s, with a few other items tossed in, all in a handsome Alex Steinweiss cover.

Music of Lecuona

The first side is mainly devoted to the music of Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963), whose songs became popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Gould chose four of Lecuona's best known pieces, arranging them for orchestra, in this case the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia. This is the Philadelphia Orchestra, appearing under the name it assumed for its summer concerts at Robin Hood Dell.

Ernesto Lecuona

The Lecuona works are "Andalucía" (which became a hit as "The Breeze and I"), "Malagueña" (still widely heard), "La Comparsa" and "Jungle Drums." All these melodies may be familiar even if you don't know their names.

Morton Gould

Gould was apparently fond of this music, re-recording it for RCA Victor in 1956 for the LP Jungle Drums. The title tune was at the time widely popular with the bandleaders who specialized in what has become known as "exotica," a name derived from a Martin Denny LP. Denny himself recorded all four of these songs, including "Jungle Drums" on his 1959 Afro-Desia LP.

These particular Gould renditions date from August 1947, although they were not released until 1949. Columbia filled out the first side of the LP with Gould's arrangements of Jessel's "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" and Polla's "Dancing Tambourine." These were from the same August 1947 recording session, but were issued separately as a single. The former piece will certainly be familiar. The latter dates from 1927, when it was recorded by any number of bands.

As a bonus, I've added Gould's V-Disc recording of "Jungle Drums," which predates the commercial recording. This version apparently is an aircheck from a 1945 radio program, "Shower of Stars," where Gould was a regular participant. The performance is slightly quicker and less refined, as you might expect.

I'm very interested in the music of Lecuona and its popularity in the US during the 30s and 40s. One of my next posts will bring together a few dozens versions of his compositions -  the four on this Gould album, "Siboney," "Say 'Si, Si,'" the songs from the 1947 film Carnival in Costa Rica, and other items.

String Time

Gould's 78 album String Time came out in 1947, although judging by the matrix numbers it was probably recorded the year before. (Update: discographer Nigel Burlinson writes to say the sessions were probably in July 1946.) It contains his arrangements of eight standards for strings, with the performers are identified as "Morton Gould and His Orchestra."

Cover of 78 album

The cover notes to the 78 release claim, "It is questionable if anyone today can do a consistently better job of spinning the fine cocoon of symphonic ornamentation around a popular melody and then conducting the new arrangement to the best possible advantage." That may have been correct, but I suspect that Andre Kostelanetz of the same Columbia record company would have disagreed.

The sound for the String Time numbers, probably a product of Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York, is very good. (Update: Nigel Burlinson writes that the recording was likely in Liederkranz Hall rather than 30th Street, which did not open until 1949.) In Philadelphia, the engineers were not so lucky, but I've done my best to clarify the opaque sound. I think you will find it pleasing.