Damaso Perez Prado: the original Mambo King

Latin Beat Magazine, May, 2002 by Jesse Varela

UGH! was the primordial grunt that pianist/bandleader Dámaso Pérez Prado called shouts of nature. With it he conquered the world with a unique blend of guaracha, rumba and jazz. A gifted composer/arranger, he was a musical visionary that drew from the inventiveness of the American swing bands and the driving Afro-Cuban beats of pioneering conjuntos and early Cuban big bands. El Rey Del Mambo was the crown he earned with this post-WWII music and dances that spun the world with mambo mania.

Born in Matanzas, Cuba on December 11, 1916, he studied classical piano with Rafael Somavilla Pedroso as a child and later went on to play danzones in local charangas. His arrival in Havana in 1942 was far from spectacular, as he earned his living playing piano in cabaret houses. He landed on Radio 1010 with Orquesta Cubaney, where one of his first arrangements was broadcast over the air. Little by little, people began to pay attention to him when he played with singer Paulina Alvarez, but it was his arrangements for Orquesta Casino de la Playa that earned him ah invitation to join the prestigious organization.

At the time, Casino de la Playa was the most popular band in Cuba and had made the careers of Miguelito Valdés and Orlando Guerra (Cascarita). It was Cascarita who enjoyed the energetic numbers arranged by Prado and urged that he be brought in as pianist/arranger. Working with an instrumentation of mostly trumpets, he began to incorporate ideas that had surfaced in the charanga of Arcaño y Sus Maravillas. In a danzón called Mambo, the López brothers (Orestes and Israel) created syncopated musical passages using counterpoints that excited the music.

He liked these concepts and began to incorporate them into arrangements for artists such as Arsenio Rodríguez. It was so hot people began to call it "diablo." But promoters and more conservative bandleaders criticized him for being too far out and straying away from traditional song frameworks. Work for his piano and arranging began to dry up as many considered him loco. He left for Latin America in 1947, but thanks to broadcasts by Casino de la Playa over the powerhouse CMQ Radio, he had achieved a certain level of fame and was particularly embraced in México, where he decided to stay.

In México, people were more open to his ideas and in 1948, the year he arrived, the Mexican capital was the center of the Latin American entertainment industry including film, recording and radio. He started his first bands and paid his dues in the vaudeville-style carpas (tent shows) around the city. His sound drew from the bold stylings of Stan Kenton and had a percussive, high-energy brass sound. In 1949, he recorded a demo for RCA Victor; executives heard it in New York City, told him his music was too advanced, and advised him to simplify his songs. He did, and produced a debut release--Qué Rico Mambo and Mambo No.5--that rocked the world.

While the mambo scene was already percolating in New York City with Machito, Tito Puente and Tito Rodríguez, Prado developed a new sound that drew more from the guaracha and rumba that he experienced in Cuba. He was also marketed like no other Latino bandleader ever. Not even Luis Alcaraz--who was México's Benny Goodman--got the same treatment. His association with Hermán Díaz Jr., the noted A&R man at RCA Victor, gave Prado all the promotional resources available at the time that by the early 1950s put him on top.

When his records began to hit in the U.S., the label dropped his first name and he became Pérez Prado. In México, he was all over the place, arranging and recording with Toña La Negra, Daniel Santos and the great Benny Moré. The 24 sides he did with "el Gran Benny" are considered treasures of Afro-Cuban music. He also appeared and served as musical director on several films, including "Aventurera" (with Niñón Sevilla).

In the pre-rock-n-roll era, Prado became a countercultural hero with his lacquered pompadour and Dizzy Gillespie-style goatee, a symbol of Latino hipness.

It was an unrivaled success, but Prado went through several dramas that included getting kicked out of México for working with an expired visa, being allegedly impersonated in Europe by his brother (who attempted to chisel him out of his royalties) and being hassled by the IRS in the U.S. later.

But his arrival in 1951 in the U.S. was certainly a monumental event, particularly in NYC, Chicago and the West Coast. He arrived in Los Angeles in August to play the Zenda Ballroom with special guest Pete Candoli from the Stan Kenton band. He floored the crowd and set a regional buzz that, by the time he arrived at Sweets Ballroom in Oakland had evolved into a full-blown mambo-mania.

As his hits began to pour out--Mambo En Sax, Mambo a la Kenton, Mambo No.8, Pachito Eché--he was being written about in major magazines and his music was being featured in North American films such as "Mambo" (with Shelly Winters) and "Underwater" (with Jane Russell).

In 1955, his mass popularity was rewarded with a Top 40 10-week hit for Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White (Cerezo Rosa). From there, Prado was constantly on the road, performing throughout the U.S. and Latin America including a spectacular reception in Lima, Perú where his appearance caused riots!