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El Choclo
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Wikipedia article
"'El Choclo'" (South American Spanish: meaning "The Corn Cob") is a popular song written by ngel Villoldo, an Argentine musician. Allegedly written in honour of and taking its title from the nickname of the proprietor of a nightclub, who was known as "El Choclo". It is one of the most popular tangos in Argentina.
History
The piece was premiered in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1903 the date appears on a program of the venue at the elegant restaurant El Americano on Cangallo 966 (today Teniente General Pern 966) by the orchestra led by Jos Luis Roncallo.
"El Choclo" has been recorded (without vocals) by many dance orchestras, especially in Argentina. A number of vocal versions were recorded in the United States in 1952, but the most popular was the one by Georgia Gibbs, which reached #1 on the Billboard chart under the name "Kiss of Fire".Billboard June 14, 1952 [https://books.google.com/books?id=dR0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50] See page 50 The Nation's Top Tunes
Billboard April 5, 1952. https://books.google.com/books?id=hB4EAAAAMBAJ&q=kiss+of+fire see page 52 Tony Martin's version reached #6, Toni Arden's #14, Billy Eckstine's #16, Louis Armstrong's #20, and Guy Lombardo's version reached #30. There are Spanish versions of "Kiss of Fire" by Connie Francis and Nat King Cole. In 1953 Olavi Virta and Metro-Tytt released a Finnish version, titled "Tulisuudelma", which means "Kiss of Fire". The Finnish words, by "Kullervo" (Tapio Kullervo Lahtinen), closely follow the English. In 2001 the hip-hop group Delinquent Habits made the song known to a new generation when they released "Return of the tres", which relies heavily on samplings from a Mariachi version of the classical tango. The latest edition to this tune is included in the 2013 production by 7 Notas Music Designers of "Red Soul" by Manee Valentine.
Lyrics
The original lyrics by Villoldo specifically sang about the corn cob as food. He later wrote another version titled "Cario Puro" (meaning 'Pure Tenderness'). Another version was written by Marambio Catn, but the most popular remains Enrique Santos Discpolo's (1947), which sing about tango as a way of life. Louis Armstrong sang English lyrics using the title 'El Choclo (Kiss of Fire)'. This English word variant was translated back into Spanish as 'Beso de Fuego' and as such the song was sung by Connie Francis.
In Russian, 'El Choclo' serves as the melody for the well-known 'blatnaya pesnya' (criminals' song) ("a beer bar opened up on De Ribas Street").
Recorded versions
* Victor Orchestra (1912)
* International Novelty Orchestra (1928)
*Toni Arden (1952)
*Louis Armstrong (1952)
*Billy Eckstine (1952)
*Hibari Misora
*Connie Francis
*Georgia Gibbs (1952)
*David Hughes
*Allan Sherman Parody entitled 'Kiss of Meyer' (not the same as Katz's version)
*Mickey Katz Parody entitled 'Kiss of Meyer'
*Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (vocal: Kenny Gardner) (1952)
*Tony Martin (1952)
*Ella Mae Morse as 'It's So Exciting'
*Anne Shelton
*Victor Silvester
*Caterina Valente
* Billy Vaughn Orchestra
*Jimmy Young (1952)
*Olavi Virta (19151972) of Finland (1953)
*Nat King Cole (1959)
*Ikue Mori (1995)
*Julio Iglesias (1996)
*Tav Falco's Panther Burns (1996)
*Violetta Villas (1993)
*Lam Nhat Tien (1998)
*Duane Andrews (2004)
*Hugh Laurie featuring Gaby Moreno (2013)
*Ray Conniff with his orchestra and chorus for the album "Rhapsody in Love" (1962) as "Kiss Of Fire"
*Parov Stelar as El Tango Del Fuego featuring Georgia Gibbs (2020)
*Gregory Golub - jazz piano version (2020)
*Manee Valentine Kiss of Fire - updated Louis Armstrong cover 2013
References
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