Timeless Songs and 
Immortal Singers
The music everybody knows,,,and most people like

This is the music that lives on after the composers and performers are long dead.  While modern music has much to recommend it, the old standbys are always welcome. This page will be divided by country, and we'll try to include "classic" musicians from as many countries as possible.  This will give you a chance to learn a little about the music of the country you're going to, and to score some simpático points. Singers from countries with an asterisk in the list below can be found in the contemporary section.  They are too young and too alive to be included here.  Mexico has a large representation - see below for why.

Argentina    Dominican Republic   Ecuador  Guatemala   Panama  Venezuela   

Mexico  You will notice that Mexican singers dominate this page.  That shouldn't be surprising, since about a third of all the native Spanish speakers in the world are Mexicans.  Mexican music is loved anywhere there are Spanish speakers.  I think there are more mariachi clubs in Bogotá, Colombia, than in Guadalajara, Mexico, the birthplace of mariachi music.  For better or for worse, Mexican music dominates the world of latin music, although singers from Spain seem to be over-represented based on the population of that country.

Agustín Lara   1897-1970  Lara's music is less distinctly "Mexican" than that of his companions on this page.  His great passions were Spain and everything Spanish, the Mexican state of Vera Cruz (where he claimed to have been born, although the official record says Mexico City), and women.  He married seven times, once to the Mexican megastar María Felix.  His most famous composition is perhaps Granada, which he wrote without ever having been to Spain.  Always sickly, he was called el flaco de oro ("Golden skinny guy").  It is therefore ironic that he and Pedro Vargas are the only ones of the Mexican musical immortals on this page to have lived the biblical three score and ten.  His romantic music is still extremely popular, and not just in Mexico and Latin America.  He is featured in our Cantemos collection singing one of his most famous compositions, Mujer.  Click on his name above to see cd's of his work.

Lola Beltrán  1932-1996  Lola Beltrán was the dominant female singer in Mexico for decades.  In her lifetime she recorded 78 albums, and appeared in 60 movies.  Her specialty was mariachi music, but she didn't limit herself to that genre.  Her signature song was Cucurrucucu Paloma, which is included in Cantemos.

Pedro Infante   1917-1957  Along with Jorge Negrete, Infante was the grand idol of Mexican films in the 1930's, 40's and early 50's.  He worked for a few years as a carpenter before getting his musical career launched.  He was known for his friendly, approachable personality.  His music is still played, and his numerous movies are still watched.  His love of flying led to his death in an airplane crash (other famous Latinos who met their ends in aviation accidents include the great Argentine tango singer Carlos Gardel, and Panama strongman Omar Torrijos who negotiated the cession of the Panama Canal from the U.S.  His rendition of the great José Alfredo Jiménez song Ella is in our Cantemos collection.

Jorge Negrete   1911-1953  Unlike Pedro Infante's humble beginnings, Jorge Negrete was the son of a Mexican army colonel, and related to some of the wealthiest people in Mexico (although as a poor relation).  In addition to receiving formal opera training, he graduated from the Mexican military academy as a lieutenant, although he left the army very soon to pursue his career as a singer/actor.  In contrast to his friend and competitor Pedro Infante, Negrete was known for his impatience, stubbornness and arrogance.  He appears in Level I of the Platiquemos program singing Adelita, a song from the Mexican Revolution.

Lucha Reyes  1906-1944  The first great female Mexican singer, she appropriately was born and raised in Guadalajara, the cradle of Mariachi music.  When her husband, with whom she was madly in love, left her for another woman, she began to drink uncontrollably and take barbiturates, from the combination of which she expired.  

José Alfredo Jiménez    1926-1973  The unchallenged greatest composer of mariachi music, and from top to bottom and inside out unmistakably Mexican.  Born and raised poor in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato (he later wrote a famous song entitled Camino de Guanajuato - it's on Cantemos), he showed precocious ability as a songwriter.  In fact when you read the words of some of his songs such as "Ojalá que te vaya bonito" (the words are here), it is hard not to think of him as a poet.  Unfortunately, neither his looks nor his voice were up to his talent as a composer.  He died from hepatitis (as did Jorge Negrete), and when he knew he was going to die did a farewell concert--the greatest musical event in the history of Mexico.  You can't claim to know anything about Mexican music without knowing about JAJ.  Several of his songs, sung by him and others, are on Cantemos.

Javier Solís  1932-1966  Born and raised a poor Chilango (colloquial term for people from Mexico City), his first real job was as a butcher.  He rapidly rose to become the most popular bolero singer in Mexico.  He died at the age of 33, officially from complications of gall bladder surgery, but most Mexicans blame medical malpractice.  One of his best known songs, Solamente una vez, is on Cantemos.

Trio Los Panchos 1944-1993 The dates for Los Panchos, instead of referring to the birth and death of a person refer to the birth and death of a trio.  During its almost 50 years of great popularity, El trio los Panchos underwent quite a few personnel changes.  Despite the changes, Los Panchos came to be the symbol of Mexican music for many people outside of Mexico.  They are on Cantemos, singing one of their most popular songs Amorcito Corazón.

Pedro Vargas 1908-1989  The longevity champion of the great Mexican singers.  He, almost alone, had time to enjoy his fame.  Almost until his death, he was still turning out music, which continued to sell well.  Although primarily known as a mariachi singer, he wasn't limited to that genre.  He enjoys the distinction of appearing briefly in the Platiquemos program, put there in the mid 1950's by the authors of the original FSI Basic Course in Spanish.

Carlos Gardel 1890-1935  The most universally popular figure in Argentine history (many Argentines think Eva Perón should be canonized, many others despise her), his music still lives in Argentina seventy years after his death in a plane crash in Medellín, Colombia.  For tango fans the world around, Gardel is the undisputed "King of the Tango".  He is in Cantemos singing one of his own compositions, Volver. 

Julio Jaramillo   1935-1978  Ecuador's proud contribution to the world of Latin music.  Since I spent a couple of years in his hometown of Guayaquil (after his death), I have a soft spot for him.   He was one of Latin America's preeminent bolero singers, and also composed many of his own songs.  He was a notoriously hard drinker, and even wrote a song named Licor bendito (Blessed Liquor).  While his death certificate gives another cause of death, most Ecuadorians have no doubt that he died of alcoholism.

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