Customer Reviews

Mondo Mambo: Best of Perez Prado

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Prado, of course, invented the Mambo. Really, he did. He took a straight angled big-band sound and twisted it into a crazy cauldron of repetetive rhythm, overlayed with intersecting horn solos and driven by a savage, primal heartbeat of bongo and conga drums. You hear Prado's work all the time, on waffle commercials, in the supermarket or in elevators in drab cheerless remixes. But in those places, it's robbed of the frenetic energy, the fantastic and infectious thunder that makes you want to DANCE!

Without Perez, we'd have no Tito Puente, no Buena Vista Social Club, no Gloria Estefan. They all owe a tremendous debt to Prado's wild experiments.

This album is a little heavy on the treble, so keep that in mind while playing, and set the equalizer accordingly. The songs are fantastic, there are no real stand alone favorites, I love them all.

At times hilariously cheesy, with highly creative arrangements and rule-breaking Latin production for the 1950s that must have influenced Esquivel. Unlike Esquivel's (who used mambo riffs but was not playing mambo per se), Prado's band, like many other 1950s mambo outfits, can be maddeningly sloppy in rhythm, pitch, and tone. There must be high school swing bands in the suburbs of Buffalo that can now play some of these charts more accurately than Prado's professional band. So why buy it? It's great fun. It still sounds terrific despite the sloppy playing. It *was* influential on today's best and tightest salsa music, despite the downplay by critics who look down on it because it was watered-down jazz that had a strong niche popularity in its day with musically "uneducated" Americans who just fell in love with mambo. These guys need to loosen up and join in the conga line. And like other compilations by Rhino, it comes with a terrific booklet with a well-written essay (here by Peter Grendysa) and historical information about the recordings that put it a slot above other Prado compilations.

With the revived interest in Latin music, not to mention the lounge revival, this album is a must. Coming from those wacky Rhino folks, this album features some catchy, kitschy tunes like "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" but also some fine sampling of traditional mambo. And with vocalists like Benny More and Rosemary Clooney, you can't go wrong. No hep cat should be without it.

If you are looking for some of the best latin mambo band you have found it, I belive Perez Prado music will live for ever, You can play his music on any type of party you man have, His music will make you get up and dance, you won't be able to set down, do youself a favor, Don't pass this wonderful CD up, oder Perez Prado CD's now, you will be glad you did.

This CD collects 20 of the best recordings by "The King of the Mambo", including the #1 hits "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" and "Patricia". If you like the mambo, you will definitely enjoy this CD.

Pérez Prado is just not honored in the way he should be remembered; when rock and roll hit the airwaves this mambo type of music slowly but surely faded out of "the scene." However, with just one listen to this CD, you can experience and appreciate the electricity of Pérez Prado's music and I doubt you'll want to hear these tracks just once!

Most of the music here is really instrumental; but of course we get Pérez's energetic cries with their challenge to his orchestra to play with even more flair and passion. Prado's method always worked, too; and it still sounds wonderful today. This music is truly every bit as classic as those elegant just-above-the-elbow length black gloves that ladies wore when people still dressed to go out to dinner in a restaurant or hotel; if you're from that generation you will REALLY enjoy this CD.

My favorite tracks, although honestly they're all wonderful, would have to include "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White;" "Patricia" which is an absolute masterpiece in Pérez Prado's hands; "Mambo Jambo" which was also a real favorite amongst the ladies; the magical "Skokiaan" and "Mambo No. 5;" "Perdido;" "Guaglione" with that wonderful use of the organ; "Perfidia" with all that brass; "Mambo del Ruletero;" "Cosé Cosé Cosé;" "Frenesi" and "Adios" with Rosemary Clooney singing faultlessly as the music plays just right for her vocals!

Overall, this is one mandatory album for any Pérez Prado fan; and it also serves well as an introductory CD to people just discovering Pérez Prado's magic. If you like classic mambo music in all its glory, you won't be disappointed.

Perez Prado pretty much invented mambo, plain and simple. Sure, you can point to earlier artists as having laid some of the groundwork for it, but it was Prado who brought it all together as one genre. If you are interested in getting into Prado's works or the mambo genre as a whole, this is a good sampler to pick up. Sure it doesn't have all his best works (the "Voodoo Suite" probably couldn't be included here due to its length) and it does have some of his more tame works (the first two tracks where big hits so they pretty much had to be included here), but it has a lot of his best songs. His best songs are the best things the mambo genre ever produced - full of loud squeling horns and shouted vocals. In other words, great stuff to dance to. Try to track down a used copy of this, as it probably is the best Prado compilation. While you're at it, also pick up Rhino's Tito Puente compilation (also out of print), Rhino's "Mambo Mania" sampler, and Prado's "Voodoo Suite" album (the title track is probably his best work).

If you get a kick out of the some of the lounge classic discs (as I definitely do), you'll love this one.

"Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" is one of the top ten lounge hits of all time, of course. But the rest of the album is every bit as much fun, with all the cliches of mambo, like the loud karate-style grunts, taken to the max.

I've got the Ultra-Lounge "Mambo Fever" disc, but it doesn't come close to this one if you're looking for a definitive mambo collection.

Liner notes are also excellent. The only minus is some shaky sound quality, but that's something you learn to live with if you like pre-seventies pop.

In the early 1940s, Perez Prado created his own new rhythm to traditional Cuban dances like the conga and rumba, which he used to spice up the sound of his orchestra, and get a better dance beat that was original and upbeat. Perez was rejected by the Cubans who were more conservative and favored their traditional dances, but when Prado came over to Mexico, he was a big hit, and his new style and rhythm was brought over to the U.S., where Hispanic performers were far and few, and struggled to reach the billboard, with Desi Arnaz and perhaps Xavier Cugat as the only exceptions. In the early 1950s, Perez broke the barrier of an easy listening and smooth jazz dominated billboard by whites with his, racial music, as it was called then. Prado started a new dance craze that everyone wanted to learn, and his performances sold out quick because so many people loved his upbeat and unique rhythm that was dominated by heavy brass, as well as his trademark grunts. You can easily distinguish the style of Perez from others by the lack of woodwind instruments like flutes and clarinet, as well as a light, rhythmic drum beat in the background of the heavy brass instruments. Perez invented this style and rhythm that inspired many other Latin performers like Tito Puente who in turn inspired Latin rock guitar legend, Carlos Santana. It might not have been as elegant or easy sounding as jazz or swing, but it was very musical and had a great dance beat. Perez is one of the few artists, whose music just makes me want to dance, and not many performers achieve that feeling anymore. Among his hits are number one billboard singles, Cherry Pink as well as Patricia, which are two very powerful arrangements. You also have his mambo standards like Mambo Jambo and Mambos number 5 and 8. They are simply very great songs, and very catchy. Once you hear these songs, you won't forget them. Unfortunately, once rock n roll took over, mambo was forgotten in America, and Prado had to leave the U.S. after the 60s to continue to seek his old popularity. During the 70s and early 80s, he did find mild success in Asia, which shows that Prado's music was so unique and catchy that any country could dance to it. Prado did make a return to the U.S. a few years before his death, and surprisingly, sold out. Most of these people were probably older fans who longed for the nostalgic feeling of dancing that crazy rhtym they remembered from their teenage years. His music was never forgotten by his fans, and his music inspired many mambo clubs and Latin dance clubs to open, and Perez also opened the doors for future Latin performers to become successful in the U.S. like Tito Puente and Ritchie Valens. Perez was the first Latin performer to reach number one on the billboard, and made history with his new music. Perez was also given posthumous fame with two of his songs, Mambo 8 and the Peanut Vendor being used in the 1999 hit movie, Office Space. These two songs make the film memorable and helped introduce Perez to a new generation. A few months later, pop singer Lou Bega performed a cover hit of Mambo No. 5, which featured Perez's orchestra in the background and was very successful on the billboard charts across the world. Prado is the only true king of mambo, and his music is so upbeat and rhythmic that it is hard not to have an urge to dance. Prado's music is the best of its kind, and no other mambo artist can beat him.