The MG Album Club #19- Celia Cruz- Canta Celia Cruz

[Nickyboy]

1956. What a year for music! Especially jazz music and early rock and roll. We've got Elvis, we've got Ella Fitzgerald, we've even got Ferrante & Teicher! We've also got some smooth music coming from a little island in the Caribbean.

Between college and grad school, I got into a deep Cuban music jag. It started with a handful of Xavier Cugat EPs I bought at a flea market. I was hooked. I moved on to Perez Prado, Machito, Tito Puente, Orquesta Aragon, and even Desi Arnaz. I was Chachacha-ing and Mambo-ing my feet all day long. A friend I made in grad school was looking through my collection and said "What? No Celia Cruz?". Boy, was there a gap in my Cuban music library!

So, here we are in 1956, and guess what. Celia Cruz's first album, "Canta Celia Cruz", was released. And there is not a clunker in sight! What a voice! Whether singing alone or with her band La Sonora Matancera, her powerful voice rises above. Available for streaming on Spotify.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Spotify link:

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

N-n-n-na-nineteen...nineteen.

How'd we get all the way to 19

Good choice - excited about it?

 

[Ojai Sam]

Great pick, Nick! For a while I was working on a Seeco Records discography. The New York label (founded by Sidney Siegel) recorded lots of Latin artists starting in 1943. When the LP arrived, they started a "Gold Series" to reissue their deep catalog of 78 rpm singles, including this one.

La Sonora Matancera had a long and distinguished history dating back to the 1920's. In 1950 they invited 25 year old Ursula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso to replace the immensely popular Myrta Silva ("La Gorda de Oro") as their lead singer. She had toyed with the idea of being a teacher but found her destiny in front of a microphone. This album collects a bunch of Celia early singles with the band and they are all outstanding. The vibrant Havana music scene of the 1950's lives again!

on the Sam-O-Meter.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

This morning I was at loose ends deciding what to listen to ("to what to listen?" Nah. Why does my brain ask these questions?) This is a delightful suggestion. I really enjoy Latin-Cuban rhythms. I'm two tracks in, and enjoying it.

I wish I had kept up on the Spanish classes from my school days. I always feel a tiny bit silly listening to music where the lyrics are perfectly audible and I have no idea what they're singing.

Also, Is it just me or does it look like they cut out Ms. Cruz's face from another picture and glued it onto this cover?

 

[Nickyboy]

Also, Is it just me or does it look like they cut out Ms. Cruz's face from another picture and glued it onto this cover?

It does. Her boobs pointing away from each other at 90 degrees also looks uncomfortable

 

[lpfreak1170]

It does. Her boobs pointing away from each other at 90 degrees also looks uncomfortable

That's what boobs used to do.

 

[axolotl]

That's what boobs used to do.

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

I really enjoyed the Cuban pop feel of this. The melodies and rhythms were sunny and bright. Mz. Cruz has a lovely voice, strong and full of joy. This was just a piece of ear candy for me. Wonderful.

It's a little odd though, it seems like in many tracks, the horns and background singers seem to be a hair louder than Celia's voice. I'm sure it's just an oddity of this particular digital conversion or maybe just my own sound chip and speakers.

 

[Nickyboy]

It's a little odd though, it seems like in many tracks, the horns and background singers seem to be a hair louder than Celia's voice. I'm sure it's just an oddity of this particular digital conversion or maybe just my own sound chip and speakers.

I have noticed that on other Cuban music albums I have. I wonder if it is done intentionally in the studio or if it is just digital conversion that does that.

 

[Ojai Sam]

I have noticed that on other Cuban music albums I have. I wonder if it is done intentionally in the studio or if it is just digital conversion that does that.

You guys are way ahead of yourselves technology wise. When these records were made, the studio looked something like this:

Multitrack recording was years in the future. I doubt if Seeco, a low budget label,was even using tape in the early 1950’s. They probably recorded live to wax blanks. Moreover, since most sales came from jukeboxes in noisy clubs, they wanted the band up front to be heard over the crowd.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Hey, this sounds just like one of my parents' records!

Hey, my parents almost certainly had this record.

I wish I still had my parents' records.

I give it: .

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

You guys are way ahead of yourselves technology wise. When these records were made, the studio looked something like this:

Multitrack recording was years in the future. I doubt if Seeco, a low budget label,was even using tape in the early 1950’s. They probably recorded live to wax blanks. Moreover, since most sales came from jukeboxes in noisy clubs, they wanted the band up front to be heard over the crowd.

Oops, you're right. I forgot we were talking about an old recording with a shoestring budget.

It reminds me of the story of the resonator guitar (Dobro, National) and horn violin. They were used to match the volume of other instruments in the studio -- and live, I imagine -- for just this reason. Everyone gathered around one mic to record. Oh wait, on second look, there's a horn violin right in the front of the photo.

Now I'm imagining the recording engineer. Rather than set volume levels, he's listening to headphones and moving players around the room. "No, the saxophone is too close. Take a step back. Okay, now cello, move your chair about six inches closer to the mic."

 

[axolotl]

Oops, you're right. I forgot we were talking about an old recording with a shoestring budget.

It reminds me of the story of the resonator guitar (Dobro, National) and horn violin. They were used to match the volume of other instruments in the studio -- and live, I imagine -- for just this reason. Everyone gathered around one mic to record. Oh wait, on second look, there's a horn violin right in the front of the photo.

Now I'm imagining the recording engineer. Rather than set volume levels, he's listening to headphones and moving players around the room. "No, the saxophone is too close. Take a step back. Okay, now cello, move your chair about six inches closer to the mic."

I grant you these points, but what makes it right to put trombones in the near corner of the room?

ETA: It's a good thing they have an ear doctor in the far corner of the room, standing in front of the kettledrums.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Here's a more modern arrangement:

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Here's a more modern arrangement:

Where does Logic or ProTools fit into that?

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Good stuff, Nicky. Love this style of music and love the Cuban music from the 40s-50s that enjoyed crossover success to the U.S. pre-Castro.
(It's interesting that a Cuban bandleader and his redheaded wife was the hottest thing on TV until 1957 - two years later they would've changed Ricky's heritage to be from Mexico or Puerto Rico if that show was gonna work - but I digress)
Just a cool, energetic album. Great pick

 

[lpfreak1170]

I enjoyed it, but it just didn't completely tickle my fancy for some reason. I should give it further listens.

 

[axolotl]

I enjoyed it, but it just didn't completely tickle my fancy for some reason. I should give it further listens.

This is where I am. Like it, not yet to loving it.

It is muy Cubano, pero it does not set my zapatos en fuego.



I could end up loving it. The rhythm and percussion soy la mierda.

 

[Nickyboy]

I enjoyed it, but it just didn't completely tickle my fancy for some reason. I should give it further listens.

She blossomed on later albums. This I can tell you.