Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

pregón Pregón, a Spanish word meaning ''announcement'' or ''street-seller's cry'', has a particular meaning in both Music of Cuba, Cuban music and Latin American music in general. It can be translated as ''a song based on a street-seller's cry'' or '' ...

Moisés Simons Moisés Simons (born Moisés Simón Rodríguez; 24 August 1889 in Havana, Cuba – 28 June 1945 in Madrid, Spain),Listed in Díaz Ayala, Cristóbal 1988. ''Si te quieres por el pico divertir: historia del pregón musical latinoamericano''. Cubanacan, San Juan P.R. p317–322. airly complete up to 1988/ref> Sales of its sheet music topped 1 million, and it also was the first million-selling

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

recording of

Cuban music The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban ...

in the U.S.< "The Peanut Vendor" was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001 and was added to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

's

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

in 2005. It also has appeared in more than a half-dozen films, from the 1930s through the 2020s.

History

The score and lyrics of "El manisero" were by Moises Simons (1889–1945), the Cuban son of a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

musician. It sold over a million copies of

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

for E.B. Marks Inc., earning $100,000 in royalties for Simons by 1943.Sublette, Ned 2004. ''Cuba and its music: from the first drums to the mambo''. Chicago. Chapter 17, p399. Its success led to a 'rumba craze' in the US and Europe which lasted through the 1940s. The consequences of "The Peanut Vendor"'s success were far-reaching. The number was first recorded for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in 1927 or 1928 by Rita Montaner, a leading singer and actress of the period. The biggest record sales for "El manisero", however, came from the recording made by

Don Azpiazú Justo Ángel Azpiazú ( Cienfuegos, 11 February 1893 – Havana, 20 January 1943), better known as Don Azpiazú, was a leading Cuban orchestral director in the 1920s and 1930s. His band introduced authentic Cuban dance music and Cuban mu ...

and his Havana Casino Orchestra in New York in 1930 for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

. The vocalist was

Antonio Machín Antonio Abad Lugo Machín (11 February 1903, in Sagua la Grande, Cuba – 4 August 1977, in Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish-Cuban singer and musician. His version of ''El Manisero'', recorded in New York, 1930, with Don Azpiazú's orchestra, was th ...

, who had recorded it the year before with a sextet that he led. The band featured a number of other star musicians, including

Julio Cueva Julio Cueva ( Trinidad, Cuba, 12 April 1897 – Havana, 25 December 1975) was a Cuban trumpeter, composer and band leader. He was an important figure in the spread of Cuban popular music in the 1930s. Life and career Cueva played cornet in the l ...

(trumpet) and

Mario Bauza Mario (; ) is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the '' Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the '' Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintend ...

(saxophone) The total copies of 78 rpm recordings sold by Victor is unknown, but the song's sales easily topped a million, a first for Cuban (or even Latin) music. The

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

were in a style based on street vendors' cries, a

pregón Pregón, a Spanish word meaning ''announcement'' or ''street-seller's cry'', has a particular meaning in both Music of Cuba, Cuban music and Latin American music in general. It can be translated as ''a song based on a street-seller's cry'' or '' ...

; and the rhythm was a son, so technically this was a ''son-pregón''. On the record label, however, it was called a "rumba-fox trot", reflecting its Cuban origin and the rhythm that suits the fox-trot dance. Thereafter, the term

rhumba Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and ballroom dance, dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cub ...

(the anglicized spelling of ''rumba'') was used as a general label for

Cuban music The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban ...

, as salsa is today, because the numerous Cuban terms were not understood abroad. Rhumba was easy to say and remember. On the published score both music and lyrics are attributed to Simons, though there is a persistent story that they were written by Gonzalo G. de Mello in Havana the night before Montaner was due to record it in New York. Cristóbal Díaz says "For various reasons, we have doubts about this version... 'El manisero' was one of those rare cases in popular music where an author got immediate and substantial financial benefits... logically Mello would have tried to reclaim his authorship of the lyrics, but that did not occur." The second attack on the authorship of the lyrics came from none other than the great Fernando Ortiz. For Ortiz, the true author was an unknown Havana peanut seller, of the second half of the 19th century, who served as the basis for a

danza Danza is a musical genre that originated in Ponce, a city in southern Puerto Rico. It is a popular turn-of-the-twentieth-century ballroom dance genre slightly similar to the waltz. Both the danza and its cousin the contradanza are sequence danc ...

written by

Louis Moreau Gottschalk Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer, pianist, and virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States. Life and career Gottschalk ...

. Of course, it may be that elements of the song were to be found in real life. The English lyrics are by L. Wolfe Gilbert and

Marion Sunshine Marion Sunshine (born Mary Tunstall Ijames,} May 15, 1894 – January 25, 1963) was an American actress and songwriter. During her youth she worked in many films and Broadway musicals, as well as vaudeville and variety shows. In the 1930s she w ...

; the latter was Azpiazú's

sister-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling or the sibling of one’s spouse. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred to as a brother-in-law for a male sibling-in-law and a sister-in-law for a female sibling-in-law. Sibling-in-law al ...

, who toured with the band in the US as singer. The English lyrics are, in the opinion of

Ned Sublette Ned Sublette (born 1951) is an American composer, musician, record producer, musicologist, historian, and author. Sublette studied Spanish Classical Guitar with Hector Garcia at the University of New Mexico and with Emilio Pujol in Spain. He s ...

, of almost unsurpassed banality. "The Peanut Vendor" had a second life as a hit number when

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...

recorded it with his big band for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, in 1947. This was also a great and long-lasting hit, re-recorded by Kenton twice with the band, and played by him later in life as a piano solo. The Kenton version was entirely instrumental, with the rhythmic pattern emphasized by trombones.

Legacy and influence

"The Peanut Vendor" has been recorded more than 200 times. Because of its cultural importance, it was inducted into the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

in 2005 by the

National Recording Preservation Board The United States National Recording Preservation Board selects recorded sounds for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. The National Recording Registry was initiated to maintain and preserve "sound recordings tha ...

, which noted: :"It is the first American recording of an authentic Latin dance style. This recording launched a decade of 'rumbamania', introducing U.S. listeners to Cuban percussion instruments and Cuban rhythms." Several films included versions of "El Manisero". It appeared in ''The Cuban Love Song'' by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

(1931), with Ernesto Lecuona as musical advisor;

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

briefly sang the tune in the film '' Duck Soup'' (1933);

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...

sang it alongside

Jean Arthur Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American film and theater actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur had feature roles in three F ...

in the film ''

Only Angels Have Wings ''Only Angels Have Wings'' is a 1939 American adventure romantic drama film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and is based on a story written by Hawks. Its plot follows the manager of an air freight company in a r ...

'' (1939);

Jane Powell Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce; April 1, 1929 – September 16, 2021) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image, Powel ...

sang the song in '' Luxury Liner'' (1948); and

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

sang a fragment in the film '' A Star is Born'' (1954). "The Peanut Vendor" was used as the tune in an advertising campaign for

Golden Wonder Golden Wonder is a British company that manufactures snack foods, most notably crisps. These include Ringos, Golden Wonder and Transform-A-Snack. Since 2006, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Northern Irish company Tayto, purchased ...

Peanuts in the 1960s and '70s. More recently, it was featured in the Carnaval scene of

José Luis Cuerda José Luis Cuerda Martínez (18 February 19474 February 2020) was a Spanish filmmaker. He is nationally recognised and considered to be amongst the greatest and most influential Spanish directors of all time, having made such critically successfu ...

's film ''

Butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

'' (1999) and was also used in the reunion gala scene of

David O. Russell David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has earned numerous accolades including two British Academy Film Awards, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for five Academy Aw ...

’s ''

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

'' (2022). Cuban music—which has prominent African-derived elements—was also very popular in Central and West Africa starting in Kinshasa in the 1930s and spreading throughout Afric

In the 1960s, famous Highlife, Nigerian High Life musician Cardinal Rex Lawson used the tune from The Peanut Vendor in his hit song Sawal

Because of this song, the melody remains known to this day in Nigeria and was recently used by Nigerian musician Flavour (musician), Flavour N'abania in his song "Nwa Baby" (2011), including the remix.

Selected recordings

The song appears on more than 200 releases, including both instrumental and vocal versions. Following is partial listing of some of the song's more significant recordings: *1928 Rita Montaner

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

—first recording *1929 Sexteto Machin,

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History 1916–1929 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...

—sextet led by Antonio Machin *1930 Don Azpiazú & His Havana Casino Orchestra with Antonio Machin as vocalist,

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

—the year's number 2 hit on the Billboard charts in the U.S. *1930 California Ramblers, Columbia Records—first recording by a U.S. band *1931

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra,

OKeh Records OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

—first version by a U.S. jazz band *1933 Red Nichols & His Five Pennies,

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History 1916–1929 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...

—soundtrack for an experimental

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

short by New Zealand artist and animator

Len Lye Leonard Charles Huia Lye (; 5 July 1901 – 15 May 1980) was a New Zealand artist known primarily for his experimental films and kinetic sculpture. His films are held in archives including the New Zealand Film Archive, British Film Institute, ...

*1938

Rosita Serrano Rosita Serrano (born María Martha Esther Aldunate del Campo, 10 June 1912 – 6 April 1997) was a Chilean singer who had her biggest success in Nazi Germany between the 1930s and the early 1940s. Because of her bell-like voice and pitch-perfe ...

,

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television producer, founded in Berlin in 1903 as a joint venture between Siemens & Halske and the ''AEG (German company), Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ("General electricity company"). Prior to ...

—German recording *1940 Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra, Columbia Records *1948 Stan Kenton & His Orchestra, Capitol Records—second biggest selling 78 rpm version and first significant instrumental version *1949

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

on ''

Djangology ''Djangology'' is a compilation album by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, released in 1961. In 1949, Reinhardt and Grappelli reunited for a brief tour of Italy. While they were there, they recorded about 50 tunes with an Italian rhythm s ...

'', RCA Victor—released 1961 *1949

Pérez Prado Dámaso Pérez Prado (December 11, 1916 – September 14, 1989) was a Cuban bandleader, pianist, composer and arranger who popularized the mambo in the 1950s.''On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture'' Louis A. Pérez Jr. - 2012 ...

, ''Havana 3 A.M.'', RCA Victor *1952

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

on ''The Capitol Recordings, Vol. 3 (1951-1952)'',

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

*1957

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...

with the Rhythm Rockers, RCA Victor *1958

Anita O'Day Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self-proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appe ...

on '' Anita Sings the Winners'',

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

*1960 Alvin Red Tyler & The Gyros on ''Rockin' and Rollin, Ace Records—featured in 5th episode of season 2 of the

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

television series *1961 Rolando Laserie and

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...

on ''Pachanga in New York'', Gema Records *1966 Chico O'Farrill and

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

on '' Spanish Rice'', Impulse! *1975 The Ritchie Family on ''

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

'',

20th Century Fox Records 20th Century Fox Records (also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, or simply 20th Century Fox Film Scores and Fox Records) was a wholly owned subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox. The history of the label covers three distin ...

*1998 Esquivel! on ''See It in Sound'', House of Hits Records—recorded 1960, previously unreleased *2001 The Gonzalo Rubacala Trio on ''

Supernova A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion ...

'', Blue Note Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peanut Vendor, The 1927 songs 1930 singles Cuban songs Latin Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients RCA Victor singles Rhumba Sones cubanos Songs written by L. Wolfe Gilbert Street cries United States National Recording Registry recordings Stop-motion animated music videos Films directed by Len Lye 1933 animated short films