This blog follows the journey of a book of poetry as a repository for thoughts and discoveries along the way. The book will be published by Red Hen Press in March 2012.
I live in Washington, DC where, for many years, the local public radio station WAMU has dedicated a few hours every Sunday night to a program called The Big Broadcast which features "old time" radio shows. While the first few hours feature old radio dramas like Johnny Dollar,Dragnet, and Gunsmoke, the later hours usually include some excruciatingly unfunny old comedy programs like Jack Benny, Fibber McGee & Our Miss Brooks (which is particularly painful as Eve Arden was such an amazing actress).
Anyway, on a recent broadcast they featured an old episode of the Jack Benny Show. It was recorded at an Army base in Arizona and there were jokes about tans and desert heat. Then the band and the show's resident singer (whose name I didn't catch) began to sing a tune I later learned was called "Conchita Marquita Lolita Pepita Rosita Juanita Lopez."
I've never heard this one but it certainly makes for an interesting piece of Pop Latino history. I'm not sure how popular the song was at the time but it certainly was successful enough to be recorded by a number of very well known performers (more on that later).
This novelty song was written by the iconic songwriter Jule Styneand the lyricist Herbert Magidsen (who won the first Oscar for Best Original Song in 1934 for the "The Continental").
"Conchita Marquita Lolita Pepita Rosita Juanita Lopez"'s gimmick is right there in the title: Conchita's rather long Spanish name. (One imagines that Conchita at some point, like many Latinas -- my mother included-- had to shorten her name to the American three-name practice). But what's striking is that this song tells a pretty straight-forward story of a cross-cultural love affair: the tale of an "Irish lad" serving in the Army along the Mexican border who falls in love with the "Rose of Juarez." Mutual love ensues and they soon find themselves living in Hoboken, New Jersey with an ever expanding brood of children with Spanish and Irish names.
The versions I've heard online seem to all trade equally in both Mexican and Irish linguistic and musical stereotypes (and New Jersey stereotypes in the Bing Crosby version above). But aside from Conchita's long name and the "ethnic" names of their children, the song is very matter-of-fact. This was certainly born out in the Jack Benny live broadcast where I first discovered the song. After the band and crooner finished, the crowd erupted in cheers. And that was it. There were no comments or patter about the song's themes (and the Jack Benny show was nothing if filled with groan-worthy patter).
Today's installment's about that old classic standard known by many jazz fans. It's been recorded by dozens of performers over the years from Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and most recently by the likes of Jamie Cullum.
What most jazz fans probably don't know is the song began as "Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado." The bolero (with radically different lyrics from the English version) was written by María Grever(born Maria Joaquina de la Portilla Torres in Guanajuato). She's considered the first Mexican woman to find success as a composer. Her other great songs include "Jurame" and "Volvere." "Grever" was her husband's name (she married a rich oil executive who whisked her away to New York City). The song was later refashioned as "What a Difference A Day Makes" with lyrics by Stanley Adams. And this is how the song is credited to "Grever/Adams" on all the pressings.
Another bit of trivia about Adams: he also wrote the English lyrics to "La Cucaracha."
Here are videos of the song in the original and English versions. First the Mexican/Puerto Rican trio Los Panchos iconic version of the original:
And here's the English version recorded by Dinah Washington:
Born on this date, the pianist, composer and movie music maker José Iturbi.
He made his American debut in New York City in 1929. He made his first appearance as a conductor in Mexico City in 1933 when presented by donon Ernesto de Quesada from Conciertos Daniel. In April 1936, Iturbi was injured in the crash and sinking of Pan American Airways' Puerto Rican Clipper in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. After the incident, he said he would not be able to play "for some time", and "I may not be able to conduct again." Later that year, however, he was named conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in upstate New York, serving until 1944. He also led the Valencia Symphony Orchestra for many years. He often appeared in concert with his sister, Amparo Iturbi, who was also a renowned pianist.
He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the 1943 musical, Thousands Cheer and in the 1945 film, Anchors Aweigh. He was involved in a complex family custody battle in the 1940s that culminated in his former son-in-law kidnapping Iturbi's two granddaughters.
Here he is in the 1945 film Anchors Aweigh leading a group of classical pianists in Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody.Watch for Gene Kelly.
