Campanero (Jose Mangual Jr.)

Can anyone 1) tell me briefly what this song is about, and 2) direct me to the lyrics (assuming they're online)?

I've been trying to find the lyrics via Google, but there are apparently two or three songs with the same title. Plus most of the hits are just links to download pages.

It would be helpful if you could post a few portions of the lyrics, so I could try and Google those.

Thanks!

I became infatuated with this song a few years ago and discovered the interesting circumstances behind its creation, that just made me love it more. Funnily enough, last night I saw that you mentioned this tune in 'What are you listening to?', and I wanted to relay the story behind it, but didn't have time.

In the words of José Mangual Jr.:


Well, it all started with Latin Percussion. After we finished the job with Willie Colón we would have a lot of younger people interested in the percussion and answer their questions. So I said, "Damn, we should do an instructional LP." I approached Martin Cohen from Latin Percussion and in October of '74 we went into the studio and we recorded Understanding Latin Rhythms, which is my concept and my ideas, OK? So we did that LP and it went very well. We used my father on the bongos, Patato Valdéz on the conga, Bobby Rodríguez on bass, Manny Oquendo on the timbales cas deans - I always tell the people that these guys are deans in their field.. For merengue we used Porfirio Jiménez, a merenguero who used to play with a merengue group in the Caborrojeño. I always loved the way he played and so I called him in to do the merengue part, just to give a demonstration of what a merengue sounds like on the tambora and the guira and so on. And that's when I started getting into the producing. Then I decided to record Tribute to Chano Pozo, 1977. The idea was that you would buy the record, inside the record there would be an insert for a dollar and mail it to my company, which was called Tumbao Publishing, and we'll send you a booklet that will go with Cut Number Two and you would hear the sound of the timbal, of a conga drum and the bongo drum . . . So then we record "Campanero." In the booklet it says, "To give a full conjunto effect...," conjunto meaning together, so we had José Febles do the arrangement of "Campanero." So I figured why should we be singing about some woman, about some guy - let's talk about a cowbell player! A bongo player, a percussion player. So we did "Campanero" and it was a tribute to a great drummer, who was Chano Pozo. And let me tell you, "Campanero" and "Cuero na' ma' " became the salsa hits.

David Carp: So they were played on the radio.

I don't know how, but they played on the radio. It started playing on radio in Panamá, in Colombia, in Venezuela - I mean all Latin America played "Campanero" and "Cuero na' ma' ." So an instructional album turned out to be a salsa album.


(From: http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/archives/Interview14)

I can't provide a transcript of the lyrics, but I'd love to see one.

Salsa Bear said:

Can anyone 1) tell me briefly what this song is about, and 2) direct me to the lyrics (assuming they're online)?

I've been trying to find the lyrics via Google, but there are apparently two or three songs with the same title. Plus most of the hits are just links to download pages.

It would be helpful if you could post a few portions of the lyrics, so I could try and Google those.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

"Campanero" lyrics are pretty short since this song was meant to be more like a descarga, a dancer's nirvana. The singer plays the role as the bongo player in an orchestra and how he claims his role, warning others to leave him alone as the only cowbell player.

translation goes more or less like this (other members be free to correct; my english is not the best).

QUE NO ME ANDEN CON LA CAMPANA, QUE YO SOY EL CAMPANERO (2X)
Nobody take the cowbell (campana) because I'm the cowbell player (campanero) (2X).

Coro:
Camparanpán Campanero, Camparandin, Ding
Camparanpán Campanero, Camparandin, Ding Dong

The coro is just a way to vocalize how the cowbell sounds during the soneo sesions.

Soneos:

PIN PIN, CAYO BERLIN*
PON PON, CAYO JAPON*
Y AHORA VIENE EL CAMPANERO
CON SU CAMPANA PARA GOZAR, MARIANA JUANA
Pin Pin, Berlin has fallen*
Pon Pon, Japan has fallen*
And now the cowbell player
with his cowbell plays to enjoy, Mariana Juana

* this is taken from El Gran Combo's "El Pin Pin", recorded in their album "En Accion" (1973)

CON LA CAMPANA DEL TIMBAL
Y LA DEL BONGOCERO
EN UNION SE ARMONIZAN
EL ????? DE CAMPANAS
The timbales cowbell
with the one from the Bongo player
both armonize
In the cowbell's ????

LA CONGA ES LA QUE AMARRA
LA MARACA LLEVA EL COMPAS
EL HIERRO ES EL PULSO
EL CORAZON DEL RITMO
Conga ties it up together
The Maraca leads the beat
The steel is the pulse,**
The rhythm's heartbeat

** steel from both cowbells

CUANDO YO SUELTO MI BONGO
Y AGARRO LA CAMPANA
PITIPON PITIPON PITIPON PONPON
PITIPON CAMPANA VAMO' A GOZAR, MARIANA
When I drop(?) my Bongo
and grab the cowbell
Pitipon pitipon Pitipon Ponpon (vocal sounds like the cowbell)
Pitipon cowbell let's enjoy it, Mariana

CAMPARAM CAMPARAMPAM, CAMPANERO
CAMPARATIN TIN CAMPARAMPAM, MI CAMPANERO
GOZAR MI CAMPANA, CAN QUINQUINQUINQUIRIN
Camparam camparampam, cowbell player
Camparatin Tin Camparampam, my cowbell player
Enjoy my cowbell, Can quinquinquinquirin

Y CON ESTA SE DESPIDE
EL SABROSO CAMPANERO
POMPOTOM POMTONTONTON
[CAMPANA RESPONDE IGUALMENTE]
With this one says goodbye
the greater campanero
Pompotom Pomtontonton (vocal sounds like the cowbell)
[the cowbell responds accordingly]

DJ Yuca said:

I don't know how, but they played on the radio. It started playing on radio in Panamá, in Colombia, in Venezuela - I mean all Latin America played "Campanero" and "Cuero na' ma' ." So an instructional album turned out to be a salsa album.

I can't proivide a transcript of the lyrics, but I'd love to see one.

Click to expand...

Both were huge hits in Puerto Rico. Check my earlier reply with the lyrics.

Thanks, wonderful!

Great thread everyone!

Salsa Bear, I believe that you will love Jose Mangual´s other classic and some what similar to Campanero - Campana Mayoral. I have played both tracks almost to death in the early to late 1990s.

They are both perfect examples of what is REAL salsa.

Wow, thanks for all the tips. This song just gets better and better.

In the video, the guy playing the maracas looks totally poised and into it, while Jose Mangual looks so laid back. And who would take the cowbell seriously as an instrument? Most people would instinctively think of the famous Saturday Night Live skit ("Gotta have more cowbell!").

Yet when Jose starts jamming out on the cowbells, it's absolutely perfect.

I also appreciate lyrics that offer a break from salsa romantica; in my case, it's even nice to have a break from political salsa.

It seems to me Campanero ought to qualify as one of the best salsa dance songs and one of the best beginner songs at the same time. In fact, it would be a good children's song. Yet it's listed on just one list of top salsa songs I gleaned from the Internet.

I copied six lists - Best On2 Salsa Songs (several hundred titles), Best Salsa Songs (over a hundred songs), two different lists of the Top 100 Salsa songs, the Top 40 Salsa Songs and the Top 10 Salsa songs. They're all over the map! Half the songs on the Top 10 list aren't listed in ANY of the other lists. Only the On2 list includes Campanera.

I'm definitely going to add it to my website this weekend...depending on the weather. It's snowing right now, which means I might be going to work at midnight, day early. But I'll be playing Campanero on the bus.

Holy cow, Campana Mayoral is the same song. Jose should have called it "Campanera [Spinoff, in Spanish]."

It's good, though. I bought Jose's version and another version by the Velvet Salsa All Stars. (Looks like their song is another spinoff - exactly 5:15, just like Jose's!)

PPS. Another subtly funny thing about this song is the similarity of the word campanero (which means cowbell player?) to cOmpanero. Someone who's learning Spanish could easily get confused and introduce a friend like this:

"Hola, esta es mi campanero."

Threads like this are why I like this forum so much. Great thread.

Excellent job explaining the song and lyrics, Abayarde.

I was going to bring up the "it's a family-affair" aspect of the Mangual's. What considerable contributions they've made to the music for so many decades, and continue to do so.

Salsa Bear said:

- Best On2 Salsa Songs

Click to expand...

If ya cant find "2" on that song, ya gotta be deaf !!.. one of the old time greats..