Beny Moré
One of the pillars of popular music in Cuba, Beny Moré was noted for both his vocal virtuosity and his direct emotional appeal, whether delivering boleros or hip-shaking mambos and rhumbas. While known for a range of styles, his distinctiveness also lay in his synthesis of two of the major currents of Cuban song: Afro-Cuban son and the Spanish-derived guajiro of the Cuban countryside. Though he could not read music, Moré composed two of his signature hits, "Bonito y Sabroso" (1950) and "Que Bueno Baila Usted" (1957), and he doubled as a bandleader with a powerful group that represented the quintessential Afro-Cuban big-band sound of the '50s: brash, multi-textured, and dynamic.
Born Bartolome Maximiliano Moré in 1919 in the village of Santa Isabel de Las Lajas in Las Villas Province, Cuba, Moré left for Havana as a teenager and for several years worked a variety of odd jobs while performing as a street singer in the city's port area. He owed at least some of his singing style to a series of soneros who preceded him: Antonio Machin, Miguelito Valdes, and Orlando "Cascarita" Guerra. His big break came in 1945, when he accompanied the Miguel Matamoros conjunto to Mexico. In the late '40s, Mexico City was a magnet for Cuban entertainers seeking to make it big in the Mexican film industry. After touring Mexico, Matamoros returned to Cuba, but Moré decided to stay behind. Before leaving, Matamoros counseled Moré to change his name since "bartolo" meant donkey in Mexican slang. Rechristened Beny Moré, in a year or two he was discovered by Mario Rivera Conde, the director of RCA Victor Mexico, who featured him with a series of high-caliber orchestras, including those of Perez Prado and Mexican composer Raphael De Paz.
Moré's early recordings in Mexico included a balance of uptempo tunes and ballads; this proportion changed in favor of ballads when he finally fronted his own band. He sang with five different orchestras on these sessions, yet there were few jarring contrasts. The Perez Prado orchestra was an exception to this rule: Prado's flailing piano style and trademark grunts were disparate in an exciting way. Rivera Conde's pairing of Prado and Moré turned out to be a masterstroke that produced some of the most high-energy recordings of Moré's career. Moré sang some of his most memorable songs while on his Mexican sojourn -- "Bonito y Sabroso," "San Fernando," "Donde Estabas Tu" -- with the Raphael De Paz Orchestra. But perhaps his best-known song, the bolero "Como Fue," was recorded with neither Prado nor De Paz but with the orchestra of Ernesto Duarte. "Como Fue" was included in the soundtrack of the film Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, where it added authenticity to an otherwise watery collection of Latin music.
Moré returned to Cuba in 1953 and assembled his own big band, with whom he crisscrossed Cuba until his death. He was intensely loyal to his musicians, referring to them as his tribu (tribe). Because he always insisted on having a large band, he was known to have gone out of pocket on his RCA recordings to pay his men. They responded by embellishing his songs with subtle, ornate orchestral playing. While Moré continued to record uptempo smash hits such as "Francisco Guayabal" and "Que Bueno Baila Usted," he focused on boleros, a natural showcase for his vocal and interpretive gifts. Moré had a signature vocal technique, a sort of glissando, that he used everywhere in varying forms. Typically, he would hold a note, then slide up the scale to a higher note and hold it there for a few seconds. It's an impressive device that he used to build drama on boleros like "Tu Me Sabes Comprender" and "No Puedo Callar." A less frequently used but equally distinctive technique was Moré's seagull squawk, which he included at the finale of the uptempo "Soy Campesino."
Moré never brought his band to record or perform in the United States, even though he was active during one of the rare moments in U.S. pop music history when authentic Cuban music was in demand. He decided to stay in Cuba after the Revolution, but he didn't live long, a victim of his love for rum. Beny Moré finally succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver on February 19, 1963, in Havana.
Moré's recorded output was relatively small, cut short as it was by his premature death. In 1992, BMG Music released the majority of Moré's recordings for RCA Victor from 1948 to 1958 on five CDs for its Tropical Series. Moré never recorded for anyone other than RCA, so it included all of his hits. Nevertheless, his earliest recordings with the Miguel Matamoros conjunto were missing, and only some of his songs with the Perez Prado orchestra were included. However, Moré's great legacy was clearly represented: A voice that could evoke memories of lost romance or make one dance with joyous abandon.
© Spencer Harrington /TiVo
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El Sonero Mayor de Cuba (Remastered)
Latin America - Released by Master Tape Records on 4/10/2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Most From Beny More
Crooners - Released by RCA Records Label on 1/01/1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
King Of Son
Crooners - Released by RCA Records Label on 17/02/2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Canciones de Amor
Crooners - Released by Sony Music Latin on 6/02/2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cuban Originals
Crooners - Released by RCA Records Label on 24/08/1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of Beny More Vol. 1
Crooners - Released by RCA Records Label on 23/05/1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
RCA 100 Años De Musica
Crooners - Released by RCA Records Label on 1/12/2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Perlas Cubanas: Bonito y Sabroso
Bolero - Released by Vintage 2016 on 22/05/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benny More - Creaciones Inolvidables Con El Barbaro Del Ritmo
Bolero - Released by RCA Records Label on 27/09/2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ah Barbara
World - Released by Rhythm Is Gonna Get You on 1/04/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
El Príncipe del Mambo (Remastered)
Latin America - Released by Master Tape Records on 4/10/2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beny Moré: The Very Best
World - Released by Efor, S.L on 10/02/2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
El Increíble Beny Moré
Latin America - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on 10/03/1949
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paré...Que Llego el Bárbaro
World - Released by Fania on 1/01/1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of Beny Moré Vol. 2
Crooners - Released by RCA Records Label on 23/05/1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Francisco Guayabal
Latin America - Released by Vintage Music on 21/03/1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Recuerdos de Cuba
Latin America - Released by WM Mexico on 1/04/2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Magia Antillana
World - Released by RCA Records Label on 1/01/1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of
Latin America - Released by Master Classics Records on 1/06/2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les Idoles de la Musique Cubaine: Beny Moré, Vol. 3
World - Released by Mpm on 9/06/2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo