Mambo Mania/Havana 3 A.M.

Performer: Pérez Prado
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Comes with a 32 page booklet. Bear Family's Mambo Mania/Havana 3 A.M. combines two albums Perez Prado originally released on RCA during the '50s on one compact disc. Mambo Mania was a delightful collection, boasting the hit single "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White," as well as tongue-in-cheek tributes to a number of popular musicians and songs from the era -- "Mambo A La Kenton," "Marilyn Monroe Mambo," "St. Louis Blues Mambo," "Mambo a Billy May," "April in Portugal" and "Mambo de Chattanooga" (a mambo version of "The Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy"). Havana, 3 A.M. offers more of the same, which is no problem at all. Prado leads his big band through a number of infectious, danceable originals and versions of "Besame Mucho" and "Granada" that are terribly entertaining. Rhino's Mondo Mambo remains the best way to become acquainted with the wonders of Prado, but if you want to dig deeper, this is the place to start expanding your collection. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

D�maso P�rez Prado, the original Mambo King, served time as an arranger and pianist in several Havana-based bands in the 1930s. By the '40s, the traditional Cuban danzon style was evolving into newer, African-inspired sounds like the cha-cha and the mambo. With an irresistible syncopated rhythm and sensual, brass-heavy melodies, mambo dovetailed nicely with the popular swing music of the day. Prado began to plant the mambo seeds farther away from home, and by the '50s, the mambo craze had taken hold in the U.S. While Prado was not the first musician to play this music, he wrote and/or recorded some of the biggest mambo hits of the era. Though the craze eventually faded, Prado performed and recorded until his death in 1989.

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