Feb

28

When Max Bygraves recorded ‘The Cowpuncher’s Cantata’ in 1952, he invented a formula that would remove the need for artistic creativity to sell records to a hit-happy public; for the rest of his career he was successful by covering popular hit songs strung together in a seamless medley. Ever since, that same formula has been reworked with solid sales results - the Stars on 45 series in the disco era, for example, or the Elvis mashups of the late 90s. In 1971, Roberto Delgado decided to take a stab at the formula; and ‘Samba Caramba South America Ole’ is the result. The album is a steady stream of popular Latin-American melodies, from the vintage ‘Amopola’ and ‘Rum and Coca Cola’, through to such constant staples as ‘La Bamba’ and ‘El Condor Pasa’. All the players turn in their choruses with equal skill; Geisler on guitar, Wende on marimbas, Geller on flute; 28 songs played with proficiency and skill, blandly upbeat without any attempt to jazz things up or step out of the formula. It sold well - in 1971 all his records sold well - but has not been reissued on CD, now relegated to oblivion as an unexciting and unessential part of the Delgado catalogue.


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  1. Russ on May 26, 2008 8:58 pm

    This is actually a compilation album, taking songs from various Delgado albums and editing them into medleys. Polydor put out a number of compilations like this, but this one is actually quite good. The songs are skillfully edited so that they fit together, rather than just cutting and pasting.

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