Besame Mucho . . .

[Beebs]

A version I put together some time ago.
When I think of Besame I recall going to a songwriters meeting a while back and mentioning to a 50-year old that I'd read it was written by a 14-year old in south America during the war , how cool was that.
She leaned over and said "Bassy what?" Talk about feeling old !


https://app.box.com/s/ba165u8ahra60wh9k1fdtzufqum2pk48

Regards

Bob Brown

[Uncle Fiesta]

I wouldn't want anyone to hear what I was writing when I was 14!

But to quote a recent contributor - it didn't do it for me I'm afraid.

Although I've always wondered what the Beatles' version would sound like as an instro.

[Beebs]

Back to Peace Pipe I guess then !

[Garystrat]

Hi Bob,

It’s very difficult with a number that’s been covered as much as this one has in the past with vocals, instrumentals and different arrangements to make it stand out. The stylisation is very much you and it does work, but possibly divides opinion in terms of nostalgia/association, for Shadows fans the Jet and Tony one is probably a hard act to follow as an instrumental.

It doesn’t float my boat as much (or put jam on my toast - love that one) because I think it has more meaning with vocals, this is probably an era thing too, but for me it’s the Elvis version.

There seems to be varying accounts of what age Consuelo Velázquez (Mexican) was when she wrote this, but according to Wikipedia she was born in 1916 and this was written in 1940 (making her 24 year old?), which is perhaps more likely?

Regards

Gary

[Beebs]

Thanks Gary,
Yes looks like she was 16 when she wote this (born 1916) so must have been a while before being recorded:

Bésame mucho

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Her most well-known success is the iconic song "Bésame mucho", composed in the cuban music genre bolero, when she was only 16 years old. This is the piece that gained Velázquez the most recognition and brought the most pleasure to her. The song was created before Consuelo received her first kiss from someone she loves.[9] After being recorded by the Spanish-Mexican baritone Emilio Tuero,[1] in 1944 the famous American pianist and singer Nat "King" Cole made the first adaptation of the song in English. From then on, it was interpreted and performed by hundreds of artists around the world,

Rgds

Bob

[Garystrat]

Hi Bob,

What confused me was that they said it was written (composed?) in 1940, which seems to conflict with what they say suggest in her profile, I can’t find it now but another says she was 19 years old?

The link doesn’t work in you post, so I’ll include both for those who may be interested:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bésame_Mucho

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consuelo_Velázquez

You know a lot more about this stuff than I do, but I was quite blown away when I found out the full extent to which it has been covered, it seems more a case of who hasn’t!

There is some interesting background to The Beatles version on this YT video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE92AEXVHGw

You probably knew all this anyway! LOL

Regards

Gary

[Beebs]

Yes, the real success of the Beatles was their commitment, a rare thing these days. Most musos I think don't want to put the time into songs in case they're playing with someone new the following week ! Moving sideways at best.



rgds

Bob