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Album: Buena Vista Social Club
Avg rating:
8.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 4749









Released: 1997
Length: 4:12
Plays (last 30 days): 1
De Alto Cedro voy para Marcane
Luego a Cueto voy para Mayari

El carino que te tengo
Yo no lo puedo negar
Se me sale la babita
Yo no lo puedo evitar

Cuando Juanica y Chan Chan
En el mar cernian arena
Como sacudia el 'jibe'
A Chan Chan le daba pena

Limpia el camino de pajas
Que yo me quiero sentar
En aquel tronco que veo
Y asi no puedo llegar

De Alto Cedro voy para Marcane
Luego a Cueto voy para Mayari
Comments (354)add comment
 mgkiwi wrote:

Masters of their trade. Saw them in Havana, what a performance and atmosphere. 




You lucky duck.  I wish that I could have been there too!
 mgkiwi wrote:

I was lucky enough to see BVSC with Ibrahim Ferrer a couple of months before he died. Live concert on the shores of lake Geneva was just magical. 




You Lucky Duck!  I wish I was sitting next to you at that show!!   
I love this song & the way it transports me from a rainy English winter's day to mojitos and cigar smoke.
I was lucky enough to see BVSC with Ibrahim Ferrer a couple of months before he died. Live concert on the shores of lake Geneva was just magical. 
 greiffenstein wrote:

Today you all went from Bach's Toccata in D right into CHan Chan.  I never would have put those two together but it was AMAZING!  Like biting into canteloupe wrapped in serrano ham, two seemingly incongruous flavors that work magically together.  Well done, RP, well done.



I first cringed at the sudden stop of Bach's Toccata in D then my heart strings got this . I have a pair of Carlos Santana signature bongo drums in my house and from emotionally being moved to tears started playing on my drums and moved over to musical ecstasy As someone else said if this was drugs I am hooked . Thanks RP 
I was lucky enough to attend a 20th anniversary screening of BVSC along with the 2017 follow-up documentary Adios at the IFC in new york.  Wim Wenders the director and some of the surviving musicians were on hand to present and discuss.  I can tell you I was not the only guy in the audience with a wet face.  This music and the stories of the musicians touch the soul.
love this music from the roods  to the bottom
This is one of the sexiest songs. Ever. Sex like grownups. Sex like hot, faithful, horny spouses who’ve been fucking for 25 years.
 cely wrote:

Whenever I listen to this album I wonder where it all comes from.  Definitely some salsa, and probably some tango, but then with the rock steady rhythm probably some blues.  Probably missing a lot too, like African influences I don't know about.  The upshot being just how cool and unique Cuban music is.    



Curban "Son" music precedes all those except the Blues. 
Masters of their trade. Saw them in Havana, what a performance and atmosphere. 
Sleepy, sensuous, deep and layered. Utterly brilliant.
 billymann wrote:

From Bach to this, I'm not sure Ive ever experienced a better transition!



Bill & Rebecca are quite good indeed! 
From Bach to this, I'm not sure Ive ever experienced a better transition!
Interesting, one of the first songs I ever heard on Radio Paradise, in November 2010.
The segue from "bachs organ" is hauntingly perfect - Bill, once again, you create an artform of its own. (i bow down humbly)
did it again 10/21/2021
I saw them live in Mexico back in 1998. One of the most joyous, genuinely happy concerts I've ever attended. And to top it all up, after the concert we ended in a dinghy bar not far from the venue, and after a while none other than Ruben Gonzalez (piano player, approximately 457 years old) and Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez (around the same age) walked in by themselves, sat next to us at the bar, and proceeded to down straight whiskeys like water. We had a long chat, they told us many stories, and we all got so severely drunk, except them who then walked out and vanished in the hazy night. Almost like an apparition indeed.
And one of the most joyous nights of my life.
Whenever I listen to this album I wonder where it all comes from.  Definitely some salsa, and probably some tango, but then with the rock steady rhythm probably some blues.  Probably missing a lot too, like African influences I don't know about.  The upshot being just how cool and unique Cuban music is.    
 greiffenstein wrote:

It's musical heroin

This
 asprenkle wrote:

Oh my! Who knew Chan Chan was in D Minor until it was mixed on to the end of  Bach's Tocatta?!?!  Brilliant mix!

It's almost like there's some master hand, controlling everything you hear...
c.

 maclochness wrote:


Great story!  We need more like this on RP (instead of bickering and negativity)!
 
Look after the king of R n R please 
 zurcronium wrote:
When Hollywood skipped over this movie for best documentary to award some film no one had heard of and was seen by no one outside of Hollywood Blvd I knew the AAs were a shame. Ry Cooter created a masterwork
 
Look after the king of R n R please 
 bkrans9 wrote:

Just did it again today--10-29-20
 

Look after the king of R n R please 
Que buena esta la canción 😊
 countyman wrote:

And again today - 11.28.20 on the tape loop.
 
12/28/2020
 bkrans9 wrote:

Just did it again today--10-29-20
 
And again today - 11.28.20 on the tape loop.
 greiffenstein wrote:
Today you all went from Bach's Toccata in D right into CHan Chan.  I never would have put those two together but it was AMAZING!  Like biting into canteloupe wrapped in serrano ham, two seemingly incongruous flavors that work magically together.  Well done, RP, well done.
 
Just did it again today--10-29-20
 greiffenstein wrote:
I was leaving a restaurant in the Caribbean (The Beach House, Grenada, WI) when this track came on and it stopped me in my tracks.  I went to the maitre'd and he showed me the CD cover.  That was in 1999.  To this day, it's remained one of my absolute favorite tunes.  I'm amazed at how this song has had a similar impact on so many people, how it goes right to your heart and infuses this balmy joy throughout your body and gives your experience at that moment a new perspective.  I have never done drugs but I imagine it's a bit like that.  It's musical heroin and  I'm hooked.
 
Very well said, Greiffenstein. I have used certain songs the way an addict might use drugs for my entire life.
I was leaving a restaurant in the Caribbean (The Beach House, Grenada, WI) when this track came on and it stopped me in my tracks.  I went to the maitre'd and he showed me the CD cover.  That was in 1999.  To this day, it's remained one of my absolute favorite tunes.  I'm amazed at how this song has had a similar impact on so many people, how it goes right to your heart and infuses this balmy joy throughout your body and gives your experience at that moment a new perspective.  I have never done drugs but I imagine it's a bit like that.  It's musical heroin and  I'm hooked.
 eveliko wrote:
So it's possible to make a divine song with only four chords.
 
I suspect this was not the first time. 
When Hollywood skipped over this movie for best documentary to award some film no one had heard of and was seen by no one outside of Hollywood Blvd I knew the AAs were a shame. Ry Cooter created a masterwork
 markybx wrote:
I'm guessing this is in D-minor
 
Since it follows seamlessly from Toccata in D-minor
I'm guessing this is in D-minor
 swtobias508 wrote:
I bought this album on a whim from Columbia House or some such music club back in the day.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect.  I am a gringo from Texas and the only Spanish music that I had been exposed to was Tejano. Well I quickly learned an appreciation for the music.  Finally, I saw the documentary in a massive, almost empty theater in Dallas.  And, I was so moved by the music and the musicianship that it brought tears to my eyes.  
Skip forward 10+ years when I started dating a transplanted Puerto Rican and I played the album for her. It brought tears to her eyes, "these are the songs my mother sang to me as a child."  Well, we have been married 15 years.  I think, at least in part, I can thank the Bueno Vista Social Club for my wonderful wife (and life).  My appreciation of her culture, music, and food is what made her fall in love me me.  And this album still brings tears to my eyes.  {#Wink}
 

Great story!  We need more like this on RP (instead of bickering and negativity)!
Today you all went from Bach's Toccata in D right into CHan Chan.  I never would have put those two together but it was AMAZING!  Like biting into canteloupe wrapped in serrano ham, two seemingly incongruous flavors that work magically together.  Well done, RP, well done.
I know this song by hearth since my 15 years old boy is Cuban.  I LOVE this song.

Composed by the late
Compay Segundo
 swtobias508 wrote:
I bought this album on a whim from Columbia House or some such music club back in the day.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect.  I am a gringo from Texas and the only Spanish music that I had been exposed to was Tejano. Well I quickly learned an appreciation for the music.  Finally, I saw the documentary in a massive, almost empty theater in Dallas.  And, I was so moved by the music and the musicianship that it brought tears to my eyes.  
Skip forward 10+ years when I started dating a transplanted Puerto Rican and I played the album for her. It brought tears to her eyes, "these are the songs my mother sang to me as a child."  Well, we have been married 15 years.  I think, at least in part, I can thank the Bueno Vista Social Club for my wonderful wife (and life).  My appreciation of her culture, music, and food is what made her fall in love me me.  And this album still brings tears to my eyes.  {#Wink}
 
Same here...bought it on a whim in a used CD store or some place...over the years I've played it a ton. It always brings a smile to my face when I hear one of the songs, especially Chan Chan. 
Eliades Ochoa ¡un fenómeno!
Less is more
 swtobias508 wrote:
I bought this album on a whim from Columbia House or some such music club back in the day.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect.  I am a gringo from Texas and the only Spanish music that I had been exposed to was Tejano. Well I quickly learned an appreciation for the music.  Finally, I saw the documentary in a massive, almost empty theater in Dallas.  And, I was so moved by the music and the musicianship that it brought tears to my eyes.  
Skip forward 10+ years when I started dating a transplanted Puerto Rican and I played the album for her. It brought tears to her eyes, "these are the songs my mother sang to me as a child."  Well, we have been married 15 years.  I think, at least in part, I can thank the Bueno Vista Social Club for my wonderful wife (and life).  My appreciation of her culture, music, and food is what made her fall in love me me.  And this album still brings tears to my eyes.  {#Wink}
 

One of the best RP posts ever. Hope everything is going wonderfully for you two. 

I've had a few epiphanies via Columbia House  as well. It's funny: you'd wander through their catalog, trying to find enough discs to fill your initial order, and you'd take a no-hope flyer on something like Buena Vista Social Club. And occasionally that chancer would change all sorts of things for you... 
 eveliko wrote:
So it's possible to make a divine song with only four chords.
 
Sure it is.
Tschakka!
Oh my goodness. . . when that trumpet kicks in. . . goosebumps. 
greatest song.  ever
 eveliko wrote:
So it's possible to make a divine song with only four chords.
 
{#Yes}
So it's possible to make a divine song with only four chords.
Easter baking while dancing to RP- should be an interesting batch...
{#Music}
Buena Vista Social Club (film) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buena_Vista_Social_Club_(film)
 

the film almost does justice to the seriously awesome music and musicians  : ) 

MMMMMMMMM, La Floridita, ice cold Cuba Libre, gorgeous young Cuban girl singing this song. Wonderful memories. PLEASE USA, don't go and turn Havana it into another Cancun!!!!!!
Dancer
nice way to zone out from work.  thank you.
 
Yep. They are starting to put up road signs in the back country.

Parrot my caddy. 
I visited Cuba in 2002 and was blown away by the music and the quality of the musicians. For music lovers, this is a great place to go now before it becomes too commercialized. I think the window is pretty small.
Oooooooh yes, getting in the mood for my Cuban experience this Summer - Havana, lock-up your daughters, here comes snake hips!!
PS, Get in there before the good old US of A ruin it!!! {#Cowboy}
thanx 4 turning me on to this
 grahamdillabough wrote:
Quite enjoyable.  Made me stop work and turn up the volume.

Keep up the good tunes.
 

 
Me too, Graham...
Quite enjoyable.  Made me stop work and turn up the volume.

Keep up the good tunes.
 
 Bohemianbemuser wrote:
Bill: Here you go making me want to Salsa dance, instead of working. Sigh, back to it ...

 
same here ! I'm on a difficult project and want to give up  every five minutes. RP is on to keep me from throwing everything through the window but it's doubled-edge, it's keeping me sane but also absolutely unproductive today. Thank you Bill  !

More ? ;)
 swtobias508 wrote:
I bought this album on a whim from Columbia House or some such music club back in the day.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect.  I am a gringo from Texas and the only Spanish music that I had been exposed to was Tejano. Well I quickly learned an appreciation for the music.  Finally, I saw the documentary in a massive, almost empty theater in Dallas.  And, I was so moved by the music and the musicianship that it brought tears to my eyes.  
Skip forward 10+ years when I started dating a transplanted Puerto Rican and I played the album for her. It brought tears to her eyes, "these are the songs my mother sang to me as a child."  Well, we have been married 15 years.  I think, at least in part, I can thank the Bueno Vista Social Club for my wonderful wife (and life).  My appreciation of her culture, music, and food is what made her fall in love me me.  And this album still brings tears to my eyes.  {#Wink}

 

Thank you for sharing this story.
I bought this album on a whim from Columbia House or some such music club back in the day.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect.  I am a gringo from Texas and the only Spanish music that I had been exposed to was Tejano. Well I quickly learned an appreciation for the music.  Finally, I saw the documentary in a massive, almost empty theater in Dallas.  And, I was so moved by the music and the musicianship that it brought tears to my eyes.  
Skip forward 10+ years when I started dating a transplanted Puerto Rican and I played the album for her. It brought tears to her eyes, "these are the songs my mother sang to me as a child."  Well, we have been married 15 years.  I think, at least in part, I can thank the Bueno Vista Social Club for my wonderful wife (and life).  My appreciation of her culture, music, and food is what made her fall in love me me.  And this album still brings tears to my eyes.  {#Wink}
Bill:

Here you go making me want to Salsa dance, instead of working. Sigh, back to it ...
 Kokoloco53 wrote:

Great music, my only wish were that having found this culture's music, Radio Paradise would search out at least a few other samples of Cuban music. Perez Prado the Mambo king or Mongo Santamaria are different but hey, let's Mambo!!!!! Buena Vista Social Club's one song is starting to get old. Épale! 


Perez Prado's "Mambo #5" is on the playlist, but no Mongo Santamaria.
 jpfueler wrote:

so you prefer your Cuban music sans Cubans?

 
No. Sans these particular vocalists...on this particular song.

Great music, my only wish were that having found this culture's music, Radio Paradise would search out at least a few other samples of Cuban music. Perez Prado the Mambo king or Mongo Santamaria are different but hey, let's Mambo!!!!! Buena Vista Social Club's one song is starting to get old. Épale!


 Kaw wrote:
Ah, this song brings me back again to the time before my marriage. We (my girlfriend and I) took the bus once a year to a restaurant that was seriously expensive for our budget, but hey it was our favourite restaurant. Every year, every visit, the same cd was playing on the background with Cuban music. Thanks to RP I found out that it was in fact Buena Vista Social Club.
Those romantic evenings are among the best memories I have.

A few years later the restaurant burned down and is never rebuild, so these memories are really history now.
10 years later and visiting some exquisite michelin-star restaurants on a much bigger budget, it's just an average restaurant to me. But the memories still remain the same. So does the music.
 Thanks for sharing that, nice to associate music with real lives. Groet, Dean
 shellbella wrote:
Sounds so good.....  {#Clap}

 
 {#Clap}  .... it certainly does


 
Sounds so good.....  {#Clap}
Ah, this song brings me back again to the time before my marriage. We (my girlfriend and I) took the bus once a year to a restaurant that was seriously expensive for our budget, but hey it was our favourite restaurant. Every year, every visit, the same cd was playing on the background with Cuban music. Thanks to RP I found out that it was in fact Buena Vista Social Club.
Those romantic evenings are among the best memories I have.

A few years later the restaurant burned down and is never rebuild, so these memories are really history now.
10 years later and visiting some exquisite michelin-star restaurants on a much bigger budget, it's just an average restaurant to me. But the memories still remain the same. So does the music.
Thanks Bill, keep em coming....

 Buena Vista Social Club -->
The success of both the album and film sparked a revival of international interest in traditional Cuban music and Latin American music in general. Some of the Cuban performers later released well-received solo albums and recorded collaborations with international stars from different musical genres. The "Buena Vista Social Club" name became an umbrella term to describe these performances and releases, and has been likened to a brand label that encapsulates Cuba's "musical golden age" between the 1930s and 1950s.

I have the VHS somewhere....


Boring. Repetitively boring. And then overplayed, so doubly repetitively boring.
I don't mind that it's played often. I love it.
Please play BVSC a lot. Thanks, RP!
This has become the RP theme song... way overplayed.
is it just me, or does it seem like i have just heard this song in this lineup....

Yerba Buena - Electric Boogaloo
Beck - Que Onda Guero
Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan.

Maybe it's just me??  {#Eyes}
Good song, but it seems like it's played a lot here. 
 ProjectGemini07 wrote:
Mojito anyone?

 

si...{#Cheers}
Mojito anyone?
 melzabutch wrote:
This song with Rye Codder, think that is spelled correct is also excellent.

 
Ry Cooder
I hear this song two or three times a day here in Mexico. It's like the Latin Comfortably Numb.
This song with Rye Codder, think that is spelled correct is also excellent.
Ohhhh, shake it Juanica.  Shake it!
 Jelani wrote:

Well, you know, I really like the instrumental portion of this tune, I'd say I might give it a '9' on its own.
But throw in the vocals and it brings it straight down to a solid '1' for me.

 
Erm, you said it, from the land of the vague. ROTFLOL. Is that an order for a son montuno without the son? A rap without a rapper?
Puleeaase.
Latin flavor, I love it. Great music selction
It has become the unofficial anthem of Havana, or at least the touristico part.
Que bueno !  again and again !    Chan Chan !  {#Drummer}
 Jelani wrote:

Well, you know, I really like the instrumental portion of this tune, I'd say I might give it a '9' on its own.
But throw in the vocals and it brings it straight down to a solid '1' for me.
 
so you prefer your Cuban music sans Cubans?
 thatch wrote:
A great movie too.

I find the slide guitar is too obtrusive and does not add anything to the song.
 
Just watched this DVD the other night.  Good stuff.  Couldn't agree more about the slide guitar.  It's cool that Ry Cooder brought this all to pass, but he could have just stayed at the mixer board.

And now for something completely different:
Album cover, Buena Vista Social Club  Album Cover, Abbey Road  Album cover, Songs to Learn and Sing

 Kittee wrote:

Uh yeah no. This song is 10+.  The brass in this song makes angels cry.

 
Well, you know, I really like the instrumental portion of this tune, I'd say I might give it a '9' on its own.
But throw in the vocals and it brings it straight down to a solid '1' for me.
A great movie too.

I find the slide guitar is too obtrusive and does not add anything to the song.


works SO well on sundays in a buena vista cafe (in private setting) by the ocean with blue skies and windless...
 cohifi wrote:
I appreciate this tune and everything, but when do we hear PT?   It's been a while now, and I'm curious if the PSD button really works. 
 
Full points for utterly irrelevant bashing of an utterly unrelated artist. 
I used to get so bored of hearing this song every 10 minutes fifteen years ago, but now it's nice to my ears again.
a stunning country with beautiful people, I'm back in the Hotel National, supping a Cuba Libre and reading my ACUC book for tomorrow!!!

 

Oh...Nice... Get the dancing feet going again today...and in my mind, travel to a sunny beach with music and ice cold beer...
Can't catch me... I'm already there... How's your cubical today-?  Me-? I'm on the beach with sand between my toes
Such a great song. The Mammals used to do a sublime version of this live.


Tres player and singer Compay Segundo, a prominent figure in the ensemble, in 2002, a year before his death at the age of 95. Born Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz but given the nickname Segundo (second), he was traditionally a "second voice" singer providing a baritone counterpoint harmony. On the Buena Vista Social Club recording, Segundo provides both voices on the song "Y Tú Qué Has Hecho", written in the 1920s by his friend Eusebio Delfín, and composed the song Chan Chan, a four chord son (Dm, F, Gm, A) that was to become what Cooder described as "the Buena Vista's calling card".
  

 It is incorrect to say that the artist of this song is Eladies Ochoa. "Chan Chan" is a son composition by Cuban bandleader Compay Segundo, written in 1987, and included on the album Buena Vista Social Club (16 September 1997), of the Band with the same name.  Afrocubism is Afrocubism, Afrocuban All-Stars is Afrocuban All-Stars, Buena Vista Social Club is Buena Vista Social Club, Eladies Ochoa is Eladies Ochoa.
Some special predilection for E.Ochoa? Or is it because he is better known in the US?  Ok, then why not include some song on air-play, the following albums-Solo of Eladies Ochoa, an artist who I also admire, as surely,

  • Chanchaneando - 2000 (Para)
  • Cuidadito Compay Gallo - 2001 (Egrem)
  • Son De Oriente - 2001 (Egrem)
  • Son De Santiago - 2003 (Edenways)
  • Ochoa Y Segundo - 2003 (Edenways)
  • Se Soltó un León - 2006
  • La collección cubana: Eliades Ochoa - 2006 Compilation (Nascente NSCD 114
    Sublime Illusion (29 June 1999). (Guest musicians include Ry Cooder.)

 


Prefer the version of this song by  El Conjunto Massalia.
what the heck is going on today?? two songs playing at the same time, not just once...several times today!
 Gutter wrote:
Hmm seems like 2 songs are playing at once...wonder if it just our I pod?
 
It's not just you.
Hmm seems like 2 songs are playing at once...wonder if it just our I pod?
 Businessgypsy wrote:
OK, I get the message. Turning off computer after this song and going to the beach for a low tide bike ride, cigar and rum

 
  Viva la Vida !
Love the intermitant twang of the slide guitar or whatever that is
 phlattop wrote:
8.1 only? jeez. great documentary as well

 
I appreciate this tune and everything, but when do we hear PT?   It's been a while now, and I'm curious if the PSD button really works. Sealed


 burdell wrote:
This song was quite prominent in the background of a scene in this week's episode of Burn Notice (S05E08). Helped set the mood for the Cuban festival area where the scene took place. Just thought that was interesting.

 

And an episode of "Dexter" (strangely enough S05E08)
8.1 only? jeez. great documentary as well

{#Daisy}


My favorite song right now {#Clap}
I would give it another 10 if I could. i adore this song. 
Great song.
What a gift to humanity.
This band did a live album at Carnegie Hall which is very good as well

Fabulous song, I love it...but one or more members of this group must be pushing 80, dead or blind to receive an average rating of almost a whole point above the Los Lobos song.

This song was quite prominent in the background of a scene in this week's episode of Burn Notice (S05E08). Helped set the mood for the Cuban festival area where the scene took place. Just thought that was interesting.

 sirdroseph wrote:
This song is just tremendous!{#Bananajam}
 

Haunting, poignant, goosebump-inducing.......{#Yes}  You just feel like you're sitting there in a small, smoky Cuban venue...watching them live.

Linda canción! Viva la música latina! {#Clap}
This song is just tremendous!{#Bananajam}