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CD
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VAMPI 119CD
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2010 release. Vampisoul presents a compilation of the late '50s and early '60s recordings by this unique singer and showman from Cuba, a contemporary of Pérez Prado, Cachao and Mongo Santamaría. Includes his famous ska/mambo crossover hit "El Jamaiquino." Francisco Fellove Valdés composed "Mango Mangüé" when he was 16, in Niño Rivera's house. The first musician to record the song was the singer Miguelito Valdés. Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, the flautist Johnny Pacheco and Aldemaro Romero also recorded it. In 1955, Fellove travelled to Mexico City where he made his debut at Roberto Morales's Bar Latino with José Antonio Méndez before going to the El Burro club with the Orquesta América. He recorded a few 45s and six LPs for RCA Victor. The artistic director of RCA was the pianist and songwriter Mario Ruiz Armengol, who did a few arrangements for Fellove and lent him his orchestra for the recording sessions. So, beginning with his Havana scat, in which he expressed Cuba's musical soul, the chua-chua was born in Mexico City. Along with Hector Batamba he organized a sextet with Lalo Montaner on the flute, Raúl Cerda on the piano, Hector Leal on the güiro, "El Lobo" on the drums and "El Ratón" on bass. After recording for RCA Victor (from September 1956 to September 1957) the group broke up when Batamba went to Europe. Fellove formed a new band: "I had invented the chua-chua, a kind of scat. In my group, Lobo and Melón did the choruses." In this compilation we discover Fellove's guarachera facet along with the best examples of his career in chuachua, but also some very original versions of the classics of Mexican music ("Te Quiero Corazón," "Baile El Minuet") and of Puerto Rican music ("Cortaron a Elena"). Even more surprising is his interpretation of a Río de la Plata classic, "Los ejes de mi carreta."
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