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A musical tour of Cuban cities with Beny More.
05/30/08
**updated**
Pinar del Rio, La Habana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camaguey, Oriente.
Beny More loved Cuba. I can arrive at such a conclusion through simple deduction: People devote their energy and try to be close to what they love. Beny More left a lucrative career in Mexican music and film to return to Cuba (foot-vote). He also stayed in Cuba after the revolution of 1959 while many of the best Cuban singers, like Celia Cruz, left. Beny More sang about Cuba- alot. Many singers sang about Cuba in general and some sang about cities, but Beny is the only one who paid musical tribute to more than one city. Not only that, but he often gave those non-universal and potentially less lucrative tribute songs his best melodies and music. Therefore, Beny More loved Cuba. With that in mind, let's take a tour of Cuba with Beny as our guide. You can get the albums below.
All aboard the Guagua (autobus for my non-Cuban brothers):
Follow up:
Palma Soriano is first up. The excellent site, Guije.com (Don't go there now, as you may not come back.), has an article in Spanish here.
Palma Soriano is a municipality in the Santiago de Cuba Province of Cuba.
The municipality is divided into the barrios of Alto Cedro, Caney del Sitio, Guaninao, José Martí, Juan Barón, La Concepción, Las Cuchillas, Los Dorados, Norte, Palmarito de Cauto, San Leandro, San Ramón, Santa Filomena and Sur.[1]
The city of Palma Soriano is located on the banks of the upper Cauto River. The city was founded in 1825, uniting ranches (haciendas) that stood in this area, and was the place where José Martí (the leader of the Cuban independence movement) was killed in 1895, in the Battle of Dos Ríos.
Palma Soriano is the birth place of Latin Reggae singer Mey Vidal, as well as Cuban baseball legend Orestes Kindelán and Ana Fidelia Quirot.
The church honoring Caridad del Cobre is in Palma Soriano.
OK. Just down the road is Santiago Cuba, the birthplace of such notable Cubans as Desi Arnaz and Roberto Guirado, my father. Guije.
Santiago de Cuba is the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island nation of Cuba, some 540 miles (869 km) east south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana.
The municipality extends over 1,023.8 square kilometers (395 sq mi), and contains the communities of El Caney, Guilera, Antonio Maceo, Bravo, Castillo Duany, Leyte Vidal and Moncada.
Historically Santiago de Cuba has long been the second most important city on the island after Havana, and still remains the second largest. It is on a bay connected to the Caribbean Sea and is an important sea port. In 2004 the city of Santiago de Cuba had a population of about 494,337 people.
Manzanillo is an Oriente port city. Guije.
It is a port city in the Granma Province (Castro changed the names of the provinces) in eastern Cuba on the Gulf of Guacanayabo, near the delta of the Cauto River. Its access is limited by the coral reefs of Cayo Perla.[citation needed]
The municipality is divided into the barrios of Primero, Segundo, Tercero, Cuarto, Quinto y Sexto (part of the city of Manzanillo), as well as the rural communities of Blanquizal, Calicito, Canabacoa, Caño, Ceiba Caridad, Congo, Jibacoa, Palmas Altas, Purial, Remate, Tranquilidad and Zarzal.
Manzanillo was founded in 1784,
In the middle of Cuba is the province of Las Villas. Within that province is the small municipality of San Fernando. The description, in Spanish, is on Guije.com
Right next door is Beny More's birthplace where he lived with his 17 younger brothers and sisters, Santa Isabel de las Lajas (guije) This is my favorite "city song," unusual in that the music doesn't seem to match the singing. Beny sings slow while the music bubbles underneath at a faster tempo. The contrast is musically exciting.
The last Las Villas province today is Cienfuegos. It's a large coastal city. Guije and wiki.
>
I think you'll enjoy the song's lilting rhythm.
Manigua isn't a city, as far as I know, but it's too great a song to leave out. I'd change the name of one of the smaller cities to "Manigua" just to include it in this list. Manigua means "Jungle." It's also the site (not a city) of a famous battle in the Cuban war of independence.
Marianao is part of Habana province. It borders the capital, Habana (is "v" easier to pronounce than "b?" (guije)
Marianao is a town and municipality in the province of the city of Havana, Cuba, 6 miles southwest of the original city of Havana, with which it is connected by the Marianao railway. As of 1989, the municipality had a population of 133,016. Marianao is on a range of hills about 1500 ft. above sea level, is noted for its salubrious climate. The city dates from about 1830.
As the Havana expanded during the 1930s and 1940s, Marianao became a suburb of the city.
As of 2007, the neighborhood is known for a relatively high crime rate, and has a "tough" reputation.
A famous landmark is the monument built to honor Carlos J. Finlay. Mr. Finlay was a doctor who helped eradicate yellow fever in Cuba in the 1800s. What is interesting about this building is the fact that it is shaped like a syringe. The monument is at the junction of calles 100 y 31, close to several major hospitals.
Marianao is home to the famous Tropicana Club and was home to the Oriental Park Racetrack.
We have Beny arguing with Joseito Fernandez over regional allegiances (think Ohio-Michigan or Northern-Southern California). You may also notice them talking about "land reform." This song is from the early days of the revolution.
Finally, we have Vertientes, Camaguey. A reader informed me that I missed it (comments, below), but since the song is called Mi Saoco, I didn't realize that it was about a city until it came up on my iPod's random feature. Anyways, I apologize to rsnlk and the 58,000 people who live in Vertientes.
OK. folks, I hope you enjoyed our trip. Don't hit your head on the way out.
I'll be back with more Cuban city songs by Celia Cruz and others sometime next week.
Bonus Song. Maracaibo is in Venezuela, but what the heck? It's over on this post.
All of the songs can be found on the essential albums below.
Grabaciones Completas 1953-1960
El Barbaro del Ritmo (1948-50) by beny more
OK, now go to Guije.
Tags: cities in cuba, songs about cities in cuba
), 02:40:01 pm, 1156 words PermalinkCategories: Pre-1959 Cuban Music, Contains video :: 7 comments »
7 comments
Very interestingly and informative 
anyone else having problems with the clips? They sound super fast and like the Chipmunks... 
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