Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1951
El Negro Zumbn
Buy El Negro Zumbn now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'"El Negro Zumbn"' (also known as '"Anna"') is a baio song written by Armando Trovajoli in 1951 for the film 'Anna', directed by Alberto Lattuada and starring Silvana Mangano.
In the movie, the song is performed in a night club scene by Mangano, though she is lip-syncing; the lyrics are actually sung by Flo Sandon's.
After the U.S. release of 'Anna' in 1953, the Brazilian beat of "El Negro Zumbn" influenced American Pop music. It has also been recorded by many Latin American artists.
Notable recordings and versions
* Prez Prado (1950s)
* Amlia Rodrigues (1953)
* Caterina Valente with Silvio Francesco (1956)
* Abbe Lane with Tito Puente (1957)
* Edmundo Ros (1960s) - Mambo no.5
* Connie Francis (1961)
* Gene Ammons (1963)
* Bob Crewe (1967)
* Juan Garca Esquivel
* Chet Atkins (1967)
* Imca Marina (1988)
* Regina Do Santos (1995)
* Pink Martini (2004) - vocals by China Forbes, Timothy Nishimoto, and Dan Faehnle
* Nojazz (2005)
* Haruomi Hosono (2017)
Posterity
A clip of the opening of this performance is featured in the film 'Cinema Paradiso' (1988).
In 'Caro diario' (1993), Nanni Moretti dances on a clip of this song broadcast on a TV set.
A sample of the song is used by the band The Avalanches at the end of their track Frontier Psychiatrist, from their 2000 album 'Since I Left You'.
The song can also be heard in the background in a diner in Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman".
Notes
* IMDb as well as the Pink Martini liner notes credit this song to Roman Vatro (music) - one of the multiple alternate names of Armando Trovajoli - and Francesco Giordano (lyrics).
References
Buy El Negro Zumbn now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1951