Armando Manzanero, one of the great bolero composers and singers, died this Monday at the age of 85.
On Thursday the 17th he was admitted to a hospital in Mexico City after catching the coronavirus.
The world of music and culture mourn his loss and remember his ballads, the soundtrack of the romantic love of an entire era.
A good account of this is given by the multiple versions that artists of great international importance made of Manzanero's music.
Among them, the version of 'Somos Novios' popularized by Elvis Presley in 1973 and already sung by Perry Como in 1970. Manzanero composed the song in 1968 and it was translated by Sid Wayne as
It's Impossible
.
The English version is an adaptation since they changed the original lyrics, although both tell a love story.
Since then countless artists have interpreted the compositions of the Mexican musician.
Much has been made of whether what happened with
It's Impossible
was a case of plagiarism.
In 2013, Manzanero explained that he never had a lawsuit over Sid Wayne's version, on the contrary, he was so pleased to hear it that he granted him 50% of the rights to the composition.
"My son still has the original acetate of that song," said the teacher.
"Sid Wayne was very grateful because when a song has original lyrics the one who makes the version in another language takes 35% and with Sid Wayne it was so much pleasure that I had such a great success that I gave him 50% "Manzanero stated in the program 'You have the word' on Argentine television.
It was not the first time that Elvis made content related to Mexico.
In 1963 he recorded the movie
Fun in Acapulco
where he has several songs with content in Spanish including the song composed by Pepe Guízar 'Guadalajara'.
Armando Manzanero never met Elivis Presley in person but he kept fondly that 'El Rey' had sung one of his songs.
"I saw him once perform in Las Vegas and I still have the pleasant taste of how great he was acting and when he records 'We are boyfriends' for me, it is one of the most beautiful memories I have in my life," he said in a brief interview in 2015 with NP25TV.
The music Armando Manzanero has been interpreted by great singers such as Tony Bennet, Bill Evans, Chavela Vargas, Diego 'El Cigala', Andrea Bocelli, Christina Aguilera or Dione Warwick.
We leave you some versions of the most famous songs of the Mexican composer and singer:
Bill evans
Diego the Cigala
Chavela Vargas
Tony Bennet and Alejandro Sanz
Andrea Bocelli and Christina Aguilera
Luis Miguel
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