On 12th November 1966, dropping to #12 in the UK singles chart was Guantanamera by The Sandpipers.
The Sandpipers were an American easy-listening trio, with close harmonies and imaginative arrangements of popular songs. Guantanamera was the song that really put them on the map, a transatlantic top ten hit, including a 3-week run at #7 in the UK the previous month. In all, the song spent 17 weeks in the Top 50.
There's an interesting story behind Guantanamera.. Cuban composer Julián Orbón came up with the idea of adapting verses from José Martí's collection Versos Sencillos (Simple Verses) to the traditional melody of Guajira Guantanamera.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the arrangement subsequently became hugely popular in Cuba, helped by singer-songwriter Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida aka Leo Brouwer's 1961 performance.
Orbón's pupil Héctor Angulo then introduced the song to American folk musician Pete Seeger, who took it across the Atlantic and registered it with songwriting and arrangement credits attributed to Martí, Angulo... and himself. A version of Guantanamera appeared on Pete's 1963 live album We Shall Overcome.
For The Sandpipers' 1966 recording, Spanish-language assistance came from consultant Consuelo Ortega.
I couldn't find a contemporary television performance by The Sandpipers, but instead stumbled across this marvellous appearance on Spanish TV programme Esta Noche...Fiesta, broadcast on 5th July 1977.
Michael Piano had left The Sandpipers by this point, having been replaced in turn by Michael Brady. Michael is on the left alongside Richard Shoff on lead vocals and Jim Brady... or is that Brian Wilson, moonlighting?!
As ever with these archive clips, I'm as fascinated by the audience as much as the performers, and neither disappoint. The same goes for the fashions, with some spectacular flare action going on, particularly when Brady does a flick kick towards the end.
Wonderful stuff.
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