Maps of Music

Canciones de mi padre (1987)

Where the lyrics of Canciones de mi padre take you, and where it was really made.

Recorded in Los Angeles, this Spanish-language mariachi album became the biggest-selling non-English album in American record history.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (1987)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — The source lists The Complex in Los Angeles as the recording location for this album. The point is placed at the city center, so the exact building position is not shown. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Linda Ronstadt's first album of Mexican traditional Mariachi music
• Title is Spanish for 'Songs of My Father' or 'My Father's Songs'
• Released in late 1987; the Italian Wikipedia gives 24 November 1987
• Label: Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States, WEA International outside the United States (Discogs)
• Ronstadt's first fully Spanish-language album, per the Spanish Wikipedia

Background

• Title refers to a booklet the University of Arizona published in 1946 for Ronstadt's late aunt Luisa Espinel
• Luisa Espinel was an international singer in the 1920s
• Ronstadt credits the Mexican singer Lola Beltrán as an influence on her singing style
• Eduardo 'Lalo' Guerrero, called the father of Chicano music, often serenaded her with these songs as a child
• She had recorded Spanish-language songs before, including 'Lo Siento mi Vida' on the 1976 album Hasten Down the Wind
• 'Lago Azul', a Spanish version of 'Blue Bayou', was released as a single after the 1977 album Simple Dreams
• Follow-up albums: Mas Canciones, Frenesí, and the Rhino compilation Mi Jardin Azul

Recording

• Rubén Fuentes served as musical director and bandleader
• Fuentes also made the arrangements and conducted
• The production used three Mariachi bands: Mariachi Vargas, Mariachi Los Camperos and Mariachi Los Galleros de Pedro Rey
• The page calls it the only recording production in the world to use those three bands together
• Peter Asher and Rubén Fuentes are credited as producers
• Shawn Murphy handled recording and mixing; mastering was done at The Mastering Lab in Hollywood
• The printed booklet paired each Spanish lyric with an English translation and background notes

Cover

• Bob Blakeman credited for photography
• John Kosh credited for art direction and design
• Back cover painting by Gilbert Ronstadt

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born July 15, 1946 in Tucson, Arizona; American singer across rock, folk, pop, country, and soul.
• In the mid-1960s joined the folk-rock trio the Stone Poneys as lead singer, releasing three albums in 1967–68.
• Solo debut Hand Sown ... Home Grown (1969), described as the first alternative country record by a female recording artist.
• Became the first female "arena class" rock star; top-grossing concert artist of the decade.
• Voted Top Female Pop Singer of the 1970s; "You're No Good" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Worked with producer Nelson Riddle on the Great American Songbook trilogy What's New, Lush Life, and For Sentimental Reasons.
• Recorded Canciones de Mi Padre (1987), the best-selling non-English-language album in US music history.
• Retired in 2011 after losing the ability to sing; later diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014; Kennedy Center Honoree in 2019.

Formation

• At age 14 formed a folk trio with her brother Peter and sister Gretchen.
• Moved to Los Angeles in 1964 to form a band with Bobby Kimmel.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released in late 1987 and immediately became a global smash hit
• Sold about 2½ million copies in the United States, the biggest-selling non-English album in American record history

Reappraisal

• Announced as inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021
• Selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2022

Records

• RIAA double-platinum certification, for over 2 million US copies sold
• Won the Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album at the 31st Grammy Awards
• Nearly 10 million copies sold worldwide as of 2012

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The page calls this the only recording production in the world to use the three best Mariachi bands in the world.
• The printed booklet paired Spanish lyrics with English translations and background notes; the CD omitted those notes.
• Before this album, Ronstadt had already recorded in Spanish, though the album is often called her first Spanish-language recording.
• The 1946 booklet behind the title was made for her deceased aunt, a 1920s international singer.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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