Buena Vista Social Club Page #2

the loveliest in the world

Let's ride our horses

to the mountains

Hello, how are you?

We've been waiting ages.

You're late

I thought maybe the cops

were after you

Make yourselves at home

Once, in Santiago de Cuba,

my grandfather was...

...the president of

a French society

It was called 'EI Cocuye'

Once, a delegation of Africans

went to visit him there

One of the women became

Friendly with my mother

And when she left, she gave

my mother this staff

My mother was a firm believer

in this Lazarus

I have one the same. And I believe

in my Lazarus, too

We call him the Beggar

He's very powerful

He's the one who leads the way

and helps the poor

The other Lazarus is the same

But that's one I take with me.

The one who begs

I lay flowers for him

Sometimes I light a candle

I give him honey

See? 'lt's bees' honey

I give him perfume

Lots of perfume

Every time I go out,

I spray him

And I spray myself

His little shot of rum

I like it, so I assume

he must like it, too

My wife makes him a meringues

sometimes. Know what that is?

We put them here

We offer them to him

So that's how he gets

all these things

We Cubans can be thankful,

I don't know, to the Man up there...

...that we are the way we are

If we cared about possessions, we

would have disappeared long ago

But we Cubans are very fortunate

We're a small country

But we're very strong

We've learned how to resist...

...the good and the bad

Cienfuegos has its Guaguanco

Today I am very moved

I will sing to my land

To that famous region...

...known as the Pearl

of the South

That's the last one

It's the one Juan de Marcos wanted

My name is Ruben Gonzalez

Fontanells

I was born in Santa Clara,

in 1919

At the age of nine, I started

playing the piano

My family had bought a piano

It was a fine one, a John Stowers

It was also a pianola.

It sounded lovely

When I saw that instrument,

I went crazy

I really liked it

So I began practising

all the time

When my mother saw I had talent

and could become a great pianist...

...she arranged for me to study

with a teacher in Cienfuegos

I studied with her until

the eighth grade

She'd say to me "Ruben, you'll be

a good pianist

"You have great skill

with your hands"

I was ignored, so I lost touch

But I wasn't going to starve

I polished shoes, cleaned the

streets, sold lottery tickets

I had a family to support

I'm not ashamed to say that

We moved from Santa Clara

to Havana

But being in the capital

made me feel insecure

I said to myself "There are

lots of pianists in Havana"

So, I started studying

other things

Playing other instruments

But it turned out that

one of my neighbours...

...was a man calledcame to know as Arsenio

He had a great band

And he heard me play

But Arsenio was blind

Not from birth

He had an accident

and lost his sight

Anyway, one day he said:

Ruben, would you like

to join my band?

I said yes, of course

He'd had a pianist who'd left

He'd gone to Europe

I played in Arsenio's band

for about four years

I had a few hits

People always said Arsenio

liked to pick fights

He'd get really angry when

people argued back

He'd stand there, listening

Then leap in the direction

of the voice

But of course, he was blind

So they'd all run away

And whoever it was would say

"Quiet, don't let him catch me"

And poor Arsenio would

stumble about

And get really angry

Because people were

nasty to him

He was a big fat guy,

taller than anyone

He used to make me laugh

I swear, I won't smoke again

Well, just a little bit

And I won't drink either.

No more of that

I used to drink a lot

I've a good bodyguard here.

She won't let me

This is Arsenio Rodriguez

It's his best photo

May 24, 1946

His band toured a lot in Mexico,

and in Venezuela

Most of them are dead now

This one is still alive.

He's nearly 100

His name is Pascualito.

He plays the timbal

He died in Spain

The one thing I don't want

is to die. Not yet, anyway

That Man up there,

and my wife here...

...are making sure I'm still around

to enjoy myself

You know, some people

don't have much time left

As long as I have blood

in my veins...

...l'll go on loving women

Women, flowers and romance are

the most beautiful things in life

One night of romance...

that has no price

I haven't forgotten it,

and I'm 90 years old

I have five children

You met Salvador and Basilio.

Salvador is the youngest

I have five children. But now

I'm working on the sixth

I want to have one more

See you some other day

One day, out of the blue...

...there was a knock on my door

It was Juan de Marcos

I was shining my shoes at the time

He said "What are you doing?"

I said "l'm just shining my shoes"

He said "l've been looking for you.

Come with me"

I told him I didn't want

to sing any more

But he said "No, man, I need you"

So I ask him when

Tomorrow? I said.

And he said "No, right now"

Well, let me have a shower

No, no, right now he said

All I had time for was

to wash my face...

...and wipe the shoe polish

off my hands

So we came here, to the Egrem

And here, in the Egrem studios,

I found Eliades Ochoa

He was with Compay Segundo.

And Ruben was playing the piano

When Ruben saw me,

he started playing...

That's a number I'd made

popular in Cuba

It's called Candela, by

Faustino Oramas 'EI Guayabero'

There goes a dancing rat,

having a whale ofa time

While a mouse drums out a tune

to brighten up the day

A cat comes along, too.

So elegant and content

Good evening, friend

he says to the drummer

Anyway, I started singing

And Ry, who was in the booth,

must have been listening

He heard me...

...and decided to record it

So I said OK. And we recorded it

And that is how it all started

Fire! Fire!

I'm burning up!

Faustino Oramas and friends,

put this fire out forme!

Just dial seven zeros

and the firemen will be right here

My name is Orlando Lopez 'Cachaito'

I want to tell you how

I became a musician

I started playing I was nine

When I was 1 1 , I joined

my aunt's orchestra

Starting with my great-grandfather,

we all play the bass in the family

I was going to study the violin

But my grandfather said I had to

play the bass. You know how it is

I was a bit of afraid of the bass

But in the end I got used to it

My style of playing is...

Well, I need to concentrate.

I love this instrument

I've studied classical music,

every genre

I don't know, to me music

is like a game

I've played with many orchestras

in my time

And this is how I met Ruben

I'd played with so many pianists,

And he was the only one missing

Now it turns out we're a great duo

My great strength is that

I have a good ear

I can also sight-read very fast

So before he plays a note,

I already have it in mind

My name is Amadito Valdes.

I am percussionist

I use my father's name as he was

my source of inspiration

I followed in his footsteps

In the field of percussion,

the timbal is very limited

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