Yesteryear's Hits

Latin Beat Magazine, March, 1999 by Max Salazar

ANNA BOROCO TINDE

In March, 1940, vocalist Miguelito Valdés decided to leave Cuba for the United States. The tune Babalu, composed by Margarita Lecouna and arranged by pianist Anselmo Sacassas, was recorded by the orchestra Casino De La Playa. Babalu became a mega hit and was heard throughout Latin America. Valdés and Sacassas left Havana in April, 1940 with intentions of co-leading their orchestra. It never happened. Sacassas organized his band and immediately became a star attraction. A few weeks after his arrival in New York City, Valdés met Xavier Cugat, Latin music's most popular bandleader at the time and signed a contract to sing for him. Valdés' first Cugat recording session was on May 27, 1940 for RCA.

The following year on March 28, 1941, the Xavier Cugat Orchestra recorded the tunes Acercate Más, Incertidumbre, Tony's Wife, La Cucaracha, Yo Ta Namora and the Chano Pozo composition Anna Boroco Tinde. The last two tunes became the most often heard throughout Spanish Harlem for months. Dick Gilbert, Latin music's first English speaking disc jockey at the time would announce "and now Miguelito Valdés with the Xavier Cugat Orchestra," the first time a sideman received billing over a popular bandleader. Contributing to this Columbia Records recording session was Cugat's 15-piece orchestra which included Esy Morales on flute and sax, Jorge López on trumpet, Nico Patone on bongos, Alberto Calderon on timbales, Fausto Curbelo on piano and other top notch studio musicians selected for their sight-reading proficiency. Both recordings were released as 78s first, and later in an album.