The Best of Pérez Prado: The Original Mambo No. 5

Performer: Pérez Prado
Producer: Jerry Rappaport
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Liner Note Author: Eddie Gorodetsky. Cuban-born Perez Prado was one of the main popularizers of Latin music in the postwar U.S.: his mambo instrumentals formed part of the soundtrack to the country's 1950s prosperity. Nowadays regarded as a kitsch delight, tunes like "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White," "Mambo No. 5," and "Patricia" once featured heavily in the pop charts in both America and Europe, and were also included in contemporary movie soundtracks like Federico Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA. This best-of gathers many of Prado's most popular pieces, including "Anna (El Negro Zumbon)" and a kitschy reworking of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS' "Heigh-Ho," in a homage to Latin big band pop. Far and away the first place to look for any perspective on the mambo king, The Best of P�rez Prado: The Original Mambo No. 5 works equally well for hit seekers, Latin archivists, and lounge fans who enjoy a tight band with a dynamic spectrum that ably competed with Duke Ellington, Esquivel, and Tito Puente. This, the first Prado compilation of any merit since a 1995 Rhino collection, outdistances any single-disc set with a lengthy runtime and a peerless survey that only begins with the mambo hits and extends to the orchestral experiments he and his band indulged in during the era of the Living Stereo LP. "Mambo No. 8," "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White," and "Mambo No. 5" all appear early in the program, leaving time for four interesting inclusions from Latin Satin, two vocals for longtime Prado vocalist Beny Mor� (another giant in Latin music), and such fascinating pieces as Prado's tribute to Walt Disney (a mambo version of "Heigh-Ho [The Dwarfs' Marching Song]"). ~ John Bush

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