Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

After two volumes of The Beatles in French (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) and The Beatles in Italian, here are The Beatles covered in Spanish. Except for one track — a cover of Blackbird from 1978 — all cover versions are more or less contemporaneous with the originals.

Most of the tracks here are by acts from Spain; not all of them suggest that Spanish music in the 1960s was ready to conquer the world of pop.

Six acts are from Mexico: Los Babys, Los Apson, Los Renis, Juan ‘El Matemático’, Los Moskas and the excellently-monikered Los Loud Jets.

Los Speakers were from Colombia, and two acts from Argentina: Los 5 Latinos and Sandro Y Los De Fuego. The latter was led by Sandro Ocampo, one of the biggest stars in Argentinian pop.

The French-Italian singer Caterina Valente is probably the best-known act here, collaborating with Trinidad-born, Venezuela-raised, British-based and Spanish-deceased easy listening bandleader Edmundo Ros (whose 100-years-long life is really fascinating).

The timeline-outlier here is the Spanish soft-rock band Laredo, which had a big hit in 1977 El Último Guateque. They released their debut album in 1975; after their third album, Laredo broke up in 1979. Singer José Antonio García Morato Soto went on to write and produce children’s albums, winning two Grammy for Best Children Album.

The most interesting track of the lot: She Loves You in flamenco style! A Spanish cover of Happiness Is A Warm Gun is a bit left-field — good thing it was made in Mexico, not Franco-era Spain!Como siempre, la mezcla está programada para caber en un CD-R estándar e incluye una portada hecha en casa y el texto anterior en un PDF ilustrado. Contraseña en la sección de comentarios.

1. Los Sirex – Please Please Me (1964)
2. Dino – Torna Con Me Sulla Luna (I Saw Here Standing There) (1965)
3. Olympia – Lo Tendrás Amor (From Me To You) (1965)
4. Emi Bonilla Y Su Cuadro Flamenco – Ella Te Quiere (She Loves You) (1964)
5. Adolfo Ventas Jr. – Todo Mi Amor (All My Loving) (1964)
6. Dúo Rúbam – Solo Quiero Apretar Tu Mano (I Want To Hold Your Hand) (1964)
7. Los Gratsons – Aquella Noche Fué (A Hard Day’s Night) (1964)
8. Francisco Heredero – Conocerte Mejor (I Should Have Known Better) (1965)
9. Los Beta – Que llorar (I’ll Cry Instead) (1965)
10. Los Babys – Si Cai (If I Fell) (1966)
11. Los Apson – Y La Quiero (And I Love Her) (1964)
12. Los Reno – Mucho Dinero (I Feel Fine) (1965)
13. Los Blue Diamonds – Ocho Días A La Semana (Eight Days A Week) (1965)
14. Sandro Y Los De Fuego – Perseguiré Al Sol (I’ll Follow The Sun) (1965)
15. Los Mustang – Socorro! (Help!) (1965)
16. Los Telstars – La Noche Anterior (The Night Before) (1966)
17. Los Tiburones – Perdí Tu Amor (I’m Down) (1965)
18. Sandro Y Los De Fuego – Boleto Para Pasear (Ticket To Ride) (1965)
19. Grupo 15 – Chica (Girl) (1966)
20. Los 5 Latinos – Michelle (1966)
21. Los Sprinters – Hemos De Salvar (We Can Work It Out) (1966)
22. Los Speakers – Buen Viaje (Day Tripper) (1965)
23. Bruno Lomas – Dentro De Mi Vida (Got To Get You Into My Life) (1966)
24. Los Tonks – Penny Lane (1967)
25. Juan ‘El Matemático’ – Sargento Pimienta (Sgt. Pepper’s…) (1967)
26. Los Mustang – La Ayuda De La Amistad (With A Little Help From My Friends) (1967)
27. Caterina Valente & Edmundo Ros – El Tonto En La Colina (The Fool On The Hill) (1969)
28. Los Loud Jets – La Felicidad Es Un Arma Caliente (Happiness Is A Warm Gun) (1969)
29. Laredo – Mirlo (Blackbird) (1978)
30. Las Moskas – Oh Querida (Oh Darling) (1970)
31. Los Loud Jets – Vengan Juntos (Come Together) (1969)

GET IT!

More Beatles stuff
More Covers Mixes
More CD-R Mixes