Time for a little Tex-Mex! So this song is performed by Texan born Mexican Lydia Mendoza and this recording is from 1934. Turns out she was a very adept musician and made her own guitar of a plank of wood and nails when she was a kid. She was a good singer and learned the guitar and mandolin (that's her playing the 12-string guitar in this recording) and she got the lyrics for this song from a bubble gum wrapper, which was apparently a thing. This was her biggest hit and made her super popular in the south-west United States. The song, which means 'Evil Man' in Spanish tells the tale of horrible womanizer and features such lines as 'you crushed the flower of my innocence' and 'You are a pig, you are evil, you are a cold-hearted man'. This was on a gum wrapper? Oh my. REVIEWS:
Holly:
Mal Hombre (Lydia Mendoza): 4/5 I feel like I recognize the name Lydia Mendoza, but maybe I’ve never heard her before. So when I read in the 1,001 Songs book that said she is one of the great pioneers of American music, I felt a little dumb. I really enjoy her singing voice, she has a really sweet sound that goes well with the more intense tango rhythms in the guitar playing. This song is really simple, but super effective. For those of you following along at home, did you guys know of her?
Kelly:
Ooo, I love the sound of a 12-string guitar, so full. And she has it perfectly in tune, which is a bit of a bitch to do, so kudos to Lydia. I'd never heard the song or of Lydia until now, so it's kind of cool to hear one of the first pioneers of Mexican-American music. Her singing is really good and strong, shows how angry she is. Alas, I was not crazy about the song itself and I felt it was about a minute too long, so her score has to suffer. Sorry Lydia. 3.5/5
Mal Hombre
I'm a big fan of Tex-Mex music (and food for that matter) hell I even enjoy a good mariachi band, add a minimalistic arrangement and you have my attention. Even though I know the current Tex-Mex repetoir fairly well I am not familiar with the early early stuff, yet I couldn't help thinking "I've heard this somewhere" but where?
ReplyDeleteAs the girls noted the 12 string playing is very nicely done and in this recording it is right up front, not muddied or lost in a lot of over produced orchestral fluff. Her voice is perfect for the genre and she holds it well within the emotion of the piece.
It bothered me that I could shake the feeling of recollection of this number so I did a search of my itunes library and there it was, included on the Crazy Heart soundtrack. My memory may be failing but a spark still glimmers. 3.5/5
RD