Buena Vista Social Club [25th Anniversary Edition]

by Buena Vista Social Club

Overview

This album is named after a members-only club that was opened in Havana in pre-Castro times, a period of unbelievable musical activity in Cuba. While bandleader Desi Arnaz became a huge hit in the States, several equally talented musicians never saw success outside their native country, and have had nothing but their music to sustain them during the Castro reign. Ry Cooder went to Cuba to record a musical documentary of these performers. Many of the musicians on this album have been playing for more than a half century, and they sing and play with an obvious love for the material. Cooder could have recorded these songs without paying the musicians a cent; one can imagine them jumping up and grabbing for their instruments at the slightest opportunity, just to play. Most of the songs are a real treasure, traversing a lot of ground in Cuba's musical history. There's the opening tune, "Chan Chan," a composition by 89-year-old Compay Segundo, who was a bandleader in the '50s; the cover of the early-'50s tune "De Camino a la Verada," sung by the 72-year-old composer Ibrahim Ferrer, who interrupted his daily walk through Havana just long enough to record; or the amazing piano playing on "Pablo Nuevo" by 77-year-old Ruben Gonzalez, who has a unique style that blends jazz, mambo, and a certain amount of playfulness. All of these songs were recorded live -- some of them in the musicians' small apartments -- and the sound is incredibly deep and rich, something that would have been lost in digital recording and overdubbing. Cooder brought just the right amount of reverence to this material, and it shows in his production, playing, and detailed liner notes. If you get one album of Cuban music, this should be the one. ~ Steve McMullen

Product Details

Release Date:	10/01/2021
Label:	BMG Rights Management
UPC:	4050538672206

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Buena Vista Social Club   Primary Artist
Bobby Darin   Primary Artist
Ibrahim Ferrer   Primary Artist,Bongos,Claves,Congas,Vocals,Percussion,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Omara Portuondo   Primary Artist,Vocals
Manuel "Puntillita" Licea   Primary Artist,Congas,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Ray Charles   Primary Artist
Ruben Gonzalez   Primary Artist,Piano
Eliades Ochoa   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Doumbek,Lead Vocals
Ry Cooder   Primary Artist,Oud,Lute,Bolon,Mbiri,Guitar,Xylophone,Percussion,Slide Guitar,Maracas Mbira,Guitar (Acoustic)
Sammy Davis, Jr.   Primary Artist
Compay Segundo   Primary Artist,Congas,Guitar,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Barbarito Torres   Lute,Laoud
Juan de Marcos Gonzalez   Conductor,Percussion,Choir/Chorus,Guiro,Vocals,Choir Conductor,Vocals (Background)
Joachim Cooder   Udu,Drums,Tumba,Congas,Dumbek,Doumbek,Percussion
Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez   Bass
Manuel "El Guajiro" Mirabal   Trumpet
Julio Alberto Fernandez   Vocals,Maracas
Carlos Gonzalez   Bongos,Cowbell,Percussion
Julio Fernandez   Vocals,Maracas
Luis Barzaga   Vocals,Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Alberto Valdes   Vocals,Maracas,Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Benito Suarez Magana   Guitar
Lazaro Villa   Guiro,Congas,Percussion
Ruben d'Artagnan Gonzalez   Piano
Julienne Oviedo Sanchez   Timbales,Percussion
Salvador Repilado Labrada   Bass

Technical Credits

Electo Chepin Rosell   Composer
Faustino Oramas   Composer
Juan de Marcos Gonzalez   Transcription,A&R
Bertolt Brecht   Composer
Ray Charles   Composer
Bernie Grundman   Engineer,Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Ibrahim Ferrer   Composer
Israel "Cachao" Lopez   Composer
Larry Hirsch   Engineer
Joachim Cooder   Composer
Eliseo Silveira   Composer
Orestes "Macho" Lopez   Composer
Guillermo Portabales   Composer
Gannon   Composer
Guillermo Rodriguez Fiffe   Composer
Kurt Weill   Composer
Sergio Siaba   Composer
Isolina Carrillo   Composer
Ruben Gonzalez   Composer
Francisco Repilado   Composer,Lyricist
Maria Teresa Vera   Composer
Ernesto Lecuona   Composer
Sindo Garay   Composer
Francesca Clarke   Translation
Rafael Ortiz   Composer
Spotti   Composer
Rafael P. Ortiz Rodriguez   Composer
Orestes Lopez   Composer
Electo Rosell   Composer
Agustin Acosta   Composer
Eusebio Delfin   Composer
Eliades Ochoa   Composer
Ry Cooder   Producer,Liner Notes
Charles Trenet   Composer
Jerry Boys   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Rafael Montiel Ortiz   Composer
Nick Gold   Sleeve Notes,Executive Producer
Luis Marquetti   Composer
Nigel Williamson   Sleeve Notes
Compay Segundo   Composer
Israel Lopez   Composer
Susan Titelman   Photography
Jose Slater Badan   Composer
Manuel Luna   Composer
Maria Rodriguez   Transcription
Ruben d'Artagnan Gonzalez   Composer
Jenny Adlington   Translation
Heraclio Fernandez   Composer