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up the Panamanian Carnivals with Pérez Prado.
Pérez Prado arrived to Mexico at the end of 1948, thanks to the invitation from his partner Kiko Mendive. The key behind his success was Mariano Rivera Conde, who made Pérez Prado gather his orchestra and started recording his first two songs: Qué Rico Mambo, and Macombe y José.
The Panamanian musician Martín Cevallos tells:“ Look, Benny Moré arrived to Colón during the 4Os, over here in Calle 12, where Luis Alarcón was in charge of Orquesta Imperial. He was one of those outgoing persons when it came to music. The truth is that I don’ t know how he made it to sign a contract with Benny Moré and Pérez Prado.”
They had just graduated from Conservatorio de Cuba and arrived to Colón to play with Orquesta Ideal. I remember we were playing in calle 12 in Palma Soriano, Sunday night, and Benny and Prado came from Bolívar Avenue in Colón. They fought each other just in the corner in front of people!
We knew so because one of my friends told us when we were playing on stage, all of a sudden we finished and found them arguing. We were all trying to calm them down. I heard Pérez Prado told Benny:‘ Look, boy, you shouldn’ t give this number you brought to Alarcón; it hasn’ t even been promoted in radio stations.”
It seems they recorded in Cuba and Pérez Prado didn’ t totally agree, so he added:‘ When we get to Cuba, we’ ll make arranges.’ Benny replied‘ we have a contract, after that, it’ s up to you what you’ re going to do.’ Then
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a journalist asked‘ Where is it going to be signed?’‘ In Spain’ answered Cevallos, adding that Benny Moré was already gathering his orchestra.”
Benny used to sing ballades, pícaras guarachas, sones montunos, merengues, plenas, porros or mambos.
In 1949, Pérez Prado was # 1 in Mexican and Latin American radio stations, with his Mambo N º 5. But according to José Arteaga, it was Benny Moré who aroused the more enthusiasm recording with Pérez Prado.
Over 1950, Moré returned to Cuba. He worked again with Mariano Merecerón Y Sus Muchachos Pimienta’ s Orchestra
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, in which the Panamanian Camilo Rodríguez sang. Moré continued signing in 1952 with Ernesto Duarte’ s Orchestra, covering Panamanians like José Slater Badán.
El Bárbaro del Ritmo, according to Mario García H., added songs like Aunque jamás me mires, Por ser como tú eres, and Por qué pensar así, to his tracklists.
He basically broke up with Duarte, and excited, founded his own big band called La Tribu. Better known as Banda Gigante de Benny Moré, which consisted of one double bass, two chorus singers, a piano, three trumpets, a
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trombone, a rhythm section, and five saxophones.
He went back to Panama City’ s Carnivals in 1955 with Emilio Sempris’ Rumba Casino Orchestra. They played in Neco de la Guardia’ s Gym, broadcasted by Radio Panamericana.
Benny also performed in El Bohío, having a bigger crowd than in Palma Soriano, where Daniel Santos, Zoila González, and Polito Galíndez performed too.
‘ There were five stages in Barraza. It was never a fight. People were decent’, Martín Cevallos tells. Benny was also hired for 1959 carnivals, performing with Hermanos Paz and Marcelino Álvarez Orchestras, along with renowned singers such as Bambarito Moreno, Carlos Vásquez, and Bim Bim from Calypsonian.
Bombón de Pollo, Vamos a romper el coco, and Buscando la Melodía were his most popular songs at the time.
According to Joaquín G. Santana, by the end of 1955 and consequently in 1956 and 1957, La Banda Gigante con el Benny performed in Venezuela, Jamaica, Haiti, Colombia, Panama, Mexico, and the US.
Finally, he went back to our country to perform in carnivals, and in 1961 he went live on Radio Miramar with Maracaibo oriental, Camarera del amor, Mi compay José, Qué Bueno baila usted, Perdón y obsesión, and others.
Panama was his second motherland, and he was always received like a part of it.
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