Lucho Gatica embraces the best of MPB
Chilean singer records duets with MPB stars like Nana Caymmi, João Bosco and Leny Andrade
Rodrigo Faour
02/04/2001
Ava Gardner used to love the song Ninguém Me Ama - MPB standard written by Antonio Maria and Fernando Lobo, released by Nora Ney in 1952 
. The tale is told by Lucho Gatica, the greatest bolero interpreter in the world. Aged 72, visiting Brazil to promote Dançando ao Som de Grandes Boleros - an album filled with bolero classics, which Lucho peforms alone or in duets with big MPB stars - Gatica recalls having played the samba-tune for the pretty Hollywood actress. This was one of the many times when MPB and Brazil have crossed his musical path.
La Barca, Sabra Dios, Sinceridad, Tu Me Acostumbraste, Sabor a Mi, Encandenados e Esta Noche Vi Llover are some of the boleros launched by him. Not to mention Besame Mucho and the old Contigo En La Distancia, turned famous worldwide in his interpretation. Since many Brazilians are keen on bolero, producer Roberto Menescal thought of joining the King of Bolero with Nana Caymmi, Leny Andrade, Emílio Santiago, João Bosco and Pery Ribeiro and Cauby Peixoto, among others, on the CD Entre Amigos, featurings duets only. But that's not all.
The box set released by Reader's Digest - and sold over the Internet - features three other discs: El Enamorado - where Lucho reviews his greatest hits - Brasil Bolero, with MPB artists reviewing Brazilian boleros, and Bolero Ao Redor do Mundo, featuring original recordings of bolero standards, interpreted by Pedro Vargas, Leo Marini and Lucho himself.
Brazilian debut in the '50s
Ary Barroso, Lupiscínio Rodrigues and Dorival Caymmi are some of Lucho's favorite Brazilian songwriters. Not by chance, he loves Pra Machucar Meu Coração, Nunca and Não Tem Solução. He even recorded the latter, as well as other MPB standards: Risque, Casinha Pequenina, the aforementioned Ninguém Me Ama and Alguém Como Tu (on his new CD).
"I made my Brazilian debut in 1955, here at the Copacabana Palace. After one month, I went to Mexico and only returned to Brazil 10 years later. But then, I was more successful, because I had already incorporated hit boleros into my set list, such as El Reloj, La Barca, La Puerta...", says the singer who appeared in 10 motion pictures in Mexico, where he lived for thirty years. In the past 14 years, though, he has lived in Los Angeles, with his third wife. Always traveling around the world, he has visited Brazil a number of times and has an opinion on the receptivity that his music gets around here. "It's like in Mexico, Cuba and Porto Rico, bolero is successful in Brazil because the people are sentimental", he claims.
Regardless of having become a bit of an outcast when rock music took over in the 1960s and '70s, Lucho never lost his majesty. More recently, he was pulled up by younger artists like Luis Miguel. "He has made an album with 16 of my hit songs", says a pride Gatica. "The power of bolero is still amazing in Latin America, especially after Luis Miguel, and other kids from Colombia and Mexico decided to record them, too", Lucho explains. He's not the type who will dismiss other music styles, but he prefers traditional rhythms. "I respect the pop music, but I'll stick to my own style".
The statement is not in vain. Lucho has listened to and worked with some of the greatest international music stars. He met Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf, Ella Fitzgerald, Caterina Valente, Nat King Cole and many others. From the Latin realms, the list goes on with Perez Prado, Elvira Rios, Adelina Garcia, Pedro Vargas, Leo Marini, Gregorio Barrios and songwriters Álvaro Carrillo, Agustín Lara, Consuelo Velasquez and Armando Manzanero, as well as Scottish maestro Roberto Inglez, who gave Gatica a definitive boost in 1954.
"He used to play the piano and was a great arranger. He conducted an orchestra with 60 musicians. He was very cool. I wanted to record with him, so I spoke to (record company) Odeon, and they told me to go for it. But when I spoke to Roberto, he told me we could record together, bu he was tied up and couldn't write the arrangements. So he suggested that I record the vocals, and he would write the arrangements later on. I recorded four songs: Besame Mucho, O Samba Me Chama, Não Tem Solução and Las Muchachas de Plaza de Espanha. It was a big hit in Argentina, Chile Uruguay... and we toured those countries together", Lucho recalls. Roberto Inglez eventually settled in Chile, where he died. "He died in his sleep and never got to know his son - his wife was pregnant".
Telling Eydie Gorme off
After Roberto, Lucho met the greatest bolero songwriters. Augustín Lara, for instance. "I made an album fully dedicated to Augustín's music. He's the writer of the most important boleros in this world, such as Solamente una Vez, Maria Bonita and Granada, recorded by Frank Sinatra. He wrote Suíte Espanhola without having ever visited the country". Then, Lucho made friends with Álvaro Carrillo, another Mexican songwriter. "He showed me Amor Mio and Sabra Dios. Later, Sabor a Mi.
Among Lucho's many memories is the voice of Elvira Rios ("Sha had an amazing personality") and the time when he told Eydie Gorme off, because she was recording the bolero Eres Tu with no emotion at all. "I told her that she was going to have to put some feeling in it. We had an argument during the recording session, and I told her that she had to use the same amounts of emotion that she bestowed on the American songs that she was recording. When she compared the two versions and noticed the clear difference, she went: "You are right!"
. The tale is told by Lucho Gatica, the greatest bolero interpreter in the world. Aged 72, visiting Brazil to promote Dançando ao Som de Grandes Boleros - an album filled with bolero classics, which Lucho peforms alone or in duets with big MPB stars - Gatica recalls having played the samba-tune for the pretty Hollywood actress. This was one of the many times when MPB and Brazil have crossed his musical path. La Barca, Sabra Dios, Sinceridad, Tu Me Acostumbraste, Sabor a Mi, Encandenados e Esta Noche Vi Llover are some of the boleros launched by him. Not to mention Besame Mucho and the old Contigo En La Distancia, turned famous worldwide in his interpretation. Since many Brazilians are keen on bolero, producer Roberto Menescal thought of joining the King of Bolero with Nana Caymmi, Leny Andrade, Emílio Santiago, João Bosco and Pery Ribeiro and Cauby Peixoto, among others, on the CD Entre Amigos, featurings duets only. But that's not all.
The box set released by Reader's Digest - and sold over the Internet - features three other discs: El Enamorado - where Lucho reviews his greatest hits - Brasil Bolero, with MPB artists reviewing Brazilian boleros, and Bolero Ao Redor do Mundo, featuring original recordings of bolero standards, interpreted by Pedro Vargas, Leo Marini and Lucho himself.
Brazilian debut in the '50s
Ary Barroso, Lupiscínio Rodrigues and Dorival Caymmi are some of Lucho's favorite Brazilian songwriters. Not by chance, he loves Pra Machucar Meu Coração, Nunca and Não Tem Solução. He even recorded the latter, as well as other MPB standards: Risque, Casinha Pequenina, the aforementioned Ninguém Me Ama and Alguém Como Tu (on his new CD).
"I made my Brazilian debut in 1955, here at the Copacabana Palace. After one month, I went to Mexico and only returned to Brazil 10 years later. But then, I was more successful, because I had already incorporated hit boleros into my set list, such as El Reloj, La Barca, La Puerta...", says the singer who appeared in 10 motion pictures in Mexico, where he lived for thirty years. In the past 14 years, though, he has lived in Los Angeles, with his third wife. Always traveling around the world, he has visited Brazil a number of times and has an opinion on the receptivity that his music gets around here. "It's like in Mexico, Cuba and Porto Rico, bolero is successful in Brazil because the people are sentimental", he claims.
Regardless of having become a bit of an outcast when rock music took over in the 1960s and '70s, Lucho never lost his majesty. More recently, he was pulled up by younger artists like Luis Miguel. "He has made an album with 16 of my hit songs", says a pride Gatica. "The power of bolero is still amazing in Latin America, especially after Luis Miguel, and other kids from Colombia and Mexico decided to record them, too", Lucho explains. He's not the type who will dismiss other music styles, but he prefers traditional rhythms. "I respect the pop music, but I'll stick to my own style".
The statement is not in vain. Lucho has listened to and worked with some of the greatest international music stars. He met Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf, Ella Fitzgerald, Caterina Valente, Nat King Cole and many others. From the Latin realms, the list goes on with Perez Prado, Elvira Rios, Adelina Garcia, Pedro Vargas, Leo Marini, Gregorio Barrios and songwriters Álvaro Carrillo, Agustín Lara, Consuelo Velasquez and Armando Manzanero, as well as Scottish maestro Roberto Inglez, who gave Gatica a definitive boost in 1954.
"He used to play the piano and was a great arranger. He conducted an orchestra with 60 musicians. He was very cool. I wanted to record with him, so I spoke to (record company) Odeon, and they told me to go for it. But when I spoke to Roberto, he told me we could record together, bu he was tied up and couldn't write the arrangements. So he suggested that I record the vocals, and he would write the arrangements later on. I recorded four songs: Besame Mucho, O Samba Me Chama, Não Tem Solução and Las Muchachas de Plaza de Espanha. It was a big hit in Argentina, Chile Uruguay... and we toured those countries together", Lucho recalls. Roberto Inglez eventually settled in Chile, where he died. "He died in his sleep and never got to know his son - his wife was pregnant".
Telling Eydie Gorme off
After Roberto, Lucho met the greatest bolero songwriters. Augustín Lara, for instance. "I made an album fully dedicated to Augustín's music. He's the writer of the most important boleros in this world, such as Solamente una Vez, Maria Bonita and Granada, recorded by Frank Sinatra. He wrote Suíte Espanhola without having ever visited the country". Then, Lucho made friends with Álvaro Carrillo, another Mexican songwriter. "He showed me Amor Mio and Sabra Dios. Later, Sabor a Mi.
Among Lucho's many memories is the voice of Elvira Rios ("Sha had an amazing personality") and the time when he told Eydie Gorme off, because she was recording the bolero Eres Tu with no emotion at all. "I told her that she was going to have to put some feeling in it. We had an argument during the recording session, and I told her that she had to use the same amounts of emotion that she bestowed on the American songs that she was recording. When she compared the two versions and noticed the clear difference, she went: "You are right!"