So we've made it down to Panama. At first I thought about recreating the playlist the US used to get General Noreiga to leave the sanctity of the Vatican Embassy and surrender back in 1989 but having now read it I think that might be classified as a war crime (if only because it includes Lee Greenwood).
We'll get to the actual music shortly but first a few quick random facts. Panama's border with Colombia is where the two American continents meet. Scotland briefly had a colony there that proved so financially ruinous it is considered to have contributed to the Act of Union. The hats don't come from there. Their football team will be playing England in the World Cup in June. And I believe there is some sort of canal.
When it comes to Panamanian music there is really nowhere you can start except with Rubén Blades. He made his first album in 1970 and apart from a five year stint as the Minister of Tourism in the 2000s has been recording and performing regularly ever since. In that time he has won 12 Grammys and a further 12 Latin Grammys. He also had a pretty successful acting career in parallel.
The song that I've chosen is from his 1977 album "Metiendo Mano" and it addresses the treatment of the native population in Latin America's colonial times. The album is a collaboration with Willie Colon and their follow-up "Siembra" is apparently still the biggest selling salsa album of all time.
The next biggest name on the Panamanian salsa scene was Francisco Buckley, known as Bush for reasons unclear. He was most prominent in the 1970s and 1980s when he fronted groups known variously as Su Nuevo Sonido, Sus Magnificos or simply Su Orquesta. It was under the latter name that he released this track in 1989 and it was a smash hit despite its lyrical complexity. You can find it on the album "¡Ahora O Nunca!".
The global centre for salsa music is New York City, and that was where Ralph Weeks found himself back in the late 1960s. Ralph was more of a Latin soul man and while in NYC gigged regularly with his band as Ralph & The Telecasters. Their most popular number was "Something Deep Inside". Back in Panama in 1972 he cut a Spanish version, which is the one I have gone with.
The Names You Can Trust label reissued both of them a few years back, and also teamed Ralph up with Combo Lulo in 2019 to make new reggae-tinged versions of both songs. Ralph's voice sounds as good on them as it does on the originals nearly 50 years before.
We will get to the actual Mandatory American Reggae in due course but first we have some calypso and soca for you. Sir Jablonski provides the former; this track is one of the highlights of the fine Soundway Records compilation "Panama! 2 (Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical & Calypso Funk On The Isthmus 1967-77)".
The soca comes from The Beachers who are celebrating 50 years in the business this year. Their 2019 album "Cincuenta" is packed with fun soca and calypso tunes.
Los Timidos were a pioneering Panamanian punk band formed in 1987. In 1995 they recorded an album called "Crónicas de Lujurias" (Chronicles of Lust), some tracks of which are randomly available as free downloads on Bandcamp. This tribute to salted cod is one of them. Other than that I know nothing about them.
I know a good deal more about Yejo Cedeño and his (literally) banging tunes thanks to a highly informative article in El Ciglo Panama, the title of which Google rashly claims can be translated as "the man who sings and performs traditional songs under the awnings".
Yejo is a traditional musician who is following in the footsteps of his late father. He performs in the saloma style, described as "characterized by high-pitched, melodic shouts", as you shortly be able to confirm. Today's track is from his 2017 album "Ya Amaneció".
Finally we come to the MAR slot. Pureza Natural are doing the honours this time out. They've been putting the R in Panama-r since 2005 and appear as guests on one track on The Beachers album that I was raving about earlier. Today's pick comes from their own album "Larga Distancia" that came out in 2015.
"Plantación Adentro" - Rubén Blades
"Bum, Bum, Bum" - Bush y Su Orquesta
"Algo Muy Profundo" - Ralph Weeks
"Juck Juck Pt. 1" - Sir Jablonski
"Mama Lele" - The Beachers
"Bacalao" - Los Timidos
"Delen Gusto A La Cantina" - Yejo Cedeño
"Ramón Miseria" - Pureza Natural
No comments:
Post a Comment