Social Club Buenavista (composition)

"Social Club Buenavista" (also known as "Buena Vista Social Club") is a danzón composed by Cuban bassist Israel López "Cachao".[1][2] It is one of his many compositions dedicated to a Cuban venue where he frequently played as part of the charanga Arcaño y sus Maravillas. It has become a standard of the genre, being regularly performed by artists such as Frank Emilio Flynn and Rubén González throughout the 20th century. Although composed during the 1940s, it was first recorded in 1958 by Cachao himself, along with several former members of las Maravillas, for the album El Gran Cachao, released by Kubaney.

Origin and composition

Between 1938 and 1948, Cachao and his brother Orestes (nicknamed "Macho") were the songwriting and arranging core of Las Maravillas de Arcaño, later known as Arcaño y sus Maravillas, one of Cuba's most popular charangas, directed by flautist Antonio Arcaño. Every night, las Maravillas would play in a different venue, including casinos, hotels, youth associations, blacks associations, etc.[3] Their long sets required them to have a vast repertoire, so Cachao and Orestes would compose new danzones regularly, totalling thousands over the years.[4][5] Many of these were dedicated to the venues they performed in, such as "Club Social de Marianao", "Redención Sport Club" (in Pogolotti, Havana), "Avance Juvenil" (in Ciego de Ávila), "Centro San Agustín" (in Alquízar), and "Social Club Buenavista".[1] The latter was an association of Afro-Cubans in the Buenavista neighbourhood of Havana, founded in 1932.[2][6]

The song was copyrighted in the United States on 23 March 1964,[7][8] shortly after Cachao arrived in the country from Madrid, where he had originally gone into exile.[3]

World Circuit recordings
Main articles: Buena Vista Social Club and Buena Vista Social Club (album)

In March 1996, a recording session took place in Havana featuring musicians from the so-called "Golden Age of Cuban music" (1940s and 1950s), organized by the record label World Circuit. During the sessions, guitarist and producer Ry Cooder asked Rubén González to play his favorite tunes on piano. Of all the tunes, Ry selected "Social Club Buenavista" as his favorite and used its title as the name for the album and the ensemble itself: Buenavista Social Club.[9] The bassist in the group was Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Cachao's nephew.

In the album's liner notes, however, the composition is misattributed to Cachao's brother and Cachaíto's father, Orestes López.[10]

See also

References
  1. Sublette, Ned (2004). Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press. p. 495. ISBN 9781569764206.
  2. García, Juan Carlos Roque (2016). Cómo Cuba puso a bailar al mundo. Veinte años del Buena Vista (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: LibrosEnRed. p. 24. ISBN 9781629153056.
  3. Entrevista con Israel López "Cachao". 2003. In Spanish.
  4. Calle 54: una película de Fernando Trueba (in Spanish). Sociedad General de Autores y Editores. 2000. p. 154. ISBN 9788480483650.
  5. "Cachao". Latin Style Magazine (37–42): 30. 2000.
  6. Arrechea, Carmen Victoria Montejo (2004). Sociedades negras en Cuba: 1878-1960 (in Spanish). Editorial de Ciencias Sociales. pp. 243, 277. ISBN 9789590603075.
  7. Catalog of Copyright Entries. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1964. p. 1125.
  8. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1966. p. 560, 1070.
  9. "Interview with Ry Cooder" in Los Angeles, by Betty Arcos, host, “The Global Village”, Pacifica Radio, 27 June 2000. Buena Vista Social Club site. PBS.org. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  10. Díaz Ayala, Cristóbal (Fall 2013). "Afro-Cuban All Stars / Buena Vista Social Club" (PDF). Encyclopedic Discography of Cuban Music 1925-1960. Florida International University Libraries. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
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