El Manisero

The peanut vendor's street cry, made immortal. Moisés Simons built 'El Manisero' on a real Havana pregón — the sing-song call of a maní seller — and in 1930...

The peanut vendor's street cry, made immortal. Moisés Simons built 'El Manisero' on a real Havana pregón — the sing-song call of a maní seller — and in 1930 Don Azpiazú's orchestra cut it in New York with Antonio Machín on vocals. It became the first Cuban record to sell a million copies in the United States, throwing open the door for the whole 'rhumba' craze and much of what followed. From Rita Montaner's early Havana reading to Stan Kenton's swing chart, Tito Puente's mambo and Aymée Nuviola's modern Cuban jazz, it's the song that taught America to dance in Spanish.

Composer

Moisés Simons

Year

1928

Lineage

son-pregón