Yma Sumac
A singer with an amazing four-octave range, Yma Sumac was said to have been a descendant of Inca kings, an Incan princess that was one of the Golden Virgins. Her offbeat stylings became a phenomenon of early-'50s pop music. While her album covers took advantage of her strange costumes and voluptuous figure, rumors abounded that she was, in actuality, a housewife named Amy Camus. It mattered little because there has been no one like her before or since in the annals of popular music.
According to the Sumac legend, she was the sixth child of an Indian mother and an Indian/Spanish father, who raised her as a Quechuan. She began performing in local festivals before her family moved to Lima, Peru. Once she was in Lima, she became a member of the Compania Peruana de Arte, which was a collective of nearly 50 Indian singers, musicians, and dancers. Sumac married Moises Vivanco, the leader of the Compania, in 1942. Four years later, Vivanco, Sumac, and her cousin Colita Rivero formed the Inca Taqui Trio and moved to New York. By the end of the decade, they were performing in nightclubs throughout New York and playing radio and television programs, most notably Arthur Godfrey's TV show. The Trio also became a fixture on the Borscht Belt circuit and the Catskills.
Sumac was signed as a solo artist to Capitol Records in 1950, releasing her first album, the 10" Voice of the Xtabay, the same year. Voice of the Xtabay was released without much publicity, but it slowly became a hit and Capitol began pushing Sumac with a massive marketing campaign. In 1951, she made her Broadway debut in the musical Flahooley, which featured three songs written by Vivanco; the musical's lifespan was quite brief and it completed its run by the end of the year. Nevertheless, Sumac's career was ascending at a rapid rate, as she continued to release hit records and played sell-out concerts across the country, including one at the Hollywood Bowl and another at Carnegie Hall. She also toured Europe and South America, as well as Las Vegas nightclubs. In 1954, she appeared in a movie called Secret of the Incas, which starred Charlton Heston.
By the end of the '50s, Sumac's audience had begun to decline and she was no longer as hip as she was in the first half of the decade. Sensing the erosion of her popularity, Sumac retired in the early '60s, without leaving any word or her location. She performed a handful of unannounced concerts in the mid-'70s, and in 1987 she played New York's Ballroom nightclub for a total of three weeks; she also had a stint in a Los Angeles club that same year. She followed these shows with occasional concert dates around the world.
Though Sumac did not perform frequently in the '90s, she experienced a popular revival, as a cult of alternative music fans discovered the exotica records of the '50s. The ongoing interest in exotica and Sumac led to the CD release of her catalog in 1996.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Cub Koda /TiVo
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The Essential Yma Sumac Collection: Mambo!
Latin America - Released by Top Tracks on 30 Oct 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All the Best Tracks
Jazz - Released by Classics Works Recordings on 24 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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A new Friend
World - Released by golden times again on 7 Aug 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Only The Best Hits
World - Released by Only The Best Hits on 4 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amor Indio (Original Recordings)
Latin America - Released by Amra Record on 12 Jun 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Essential Yma Sumac Collection: Mambo!
World - Released by Diamond Days on 30 Oct 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs from the Land of the Condor
World - Released by Jasmine Records on 24 Nov 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Yma Sumac's Tumpa!
World - Released by Charly Records on 21 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Yma Sumac's Tumpa!
World - Released by Charly Records on 21 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lure of the Unknown Love / Virgin of the Sun God (Mono Version)
World - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mambo, No. 2 (Mono Version)
World - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Najala's Lament / Birds (Mono Version)
Pop - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Legend of the Jivaro (Mono Version)
World - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fuego del Ande (Mono Version)
Yma Sumac, Moises Vivanco y Su Orquesta
Pop - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Inca Taqui (Mono Version)
Yma Sumac, Moises Vivanco con Su Orquesta
World - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Legend of the Sun Virgin (Mono Version)
Yma Sumac, Moises Vivanco and His Orchestra
World - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
La voz misteriosa de los Andes
Yma Sumac, Orquesta Xtabay, Ensemble Folklorico Peruano, Les Baxter, Moises Vivanco
World - Released by Edition Estela - Tesoros Musicales on 16 Apr 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Voice Of The Xtabay
Latin America - Released by Lumi Entertainment on 1 Jan 1950
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo