Puchito Records

This article is about the company, itself. For the discography, see Puchito Records discography.

Puchito Records was one of Cuba's first independent record labels. It was founded in 1954 during the mambo and cha-cha-chá explosion of the 1950s. Many of its recordings, produced by its founder Jesús Goris, became instant hits.[1][2]

History

Early career of Puchito's founder

The founder, Jesús Goris (né Jesús Ramon Francisco Goris Ballas; 12 April 1921 Havana, Cuba – 16 Aug 2006 Miami, Florida) had been a representative of RCA Victor, selling records from a separate counter at his father's hardware store, La Estrella.[3] Eventually, the store became known as Goris Shop.

Back then, stores were restricted to sell records from just one label. At La Estrella, they were supposed to sell only RCA Records, but Gorís, he would sell you Columbia and Decca recordings he kept

hidden under the counter. I guess that secret can now be told.

— Cristóbal Díaz Ayala, 2006[1]

In 1952, Goris invested in a single, "Guantanamera", composed by Joseíto Fernández, which did well in jukeboxes.[4] Goris and two partners originally wanted to launch a series of children's records, so they chose the name Puchito, which, in this context, means "youngest child." In 1954, Goris and his two partners produced an LP of Olga Guillot singing with the The Castro Brothers Orchestra, one of Cuba's first jazz bands (no relation to Fidel Castro).[5] Although Guillot. "Mienteme" ("Lie to Me"), a bolero composed by Chamaco Domínguez (es) (1921–1985), was one of the album's great successes. Puchito went on to produce Guillot on nine more albums, and a few singles, up until 1960.[3] In 1958, Goris hired pianist René Touzet (1916–2003) as musical director and orchestrator of Guillot's album, Intemidades (MLP-526), which gained reputation as having the most important works of her career, an several that cemented Touzet's reputation as an original composer: "La Noche de Anoche" ("The Night Last Night"), "Será Cuando Tú Quieras," "Estuve Pensando," and "No Te Importe Saber" ("Let Me Love You Tonight"). Guillot and Touzet, though never married, had a daughter together: Olga María Touzet-Guillot (born 1960).

With the support of Benny Moré, Goris spearheaded the rediscovery of a major sonero artist from the 1920s, Abelardo Barroso, who, back then, had sung with Sexteto Habanero. Goris curated and, through Puchito, republished old photographs and produced Barroso with the Orquesta Sensación. In early July 1955, Barroso recorded a single, "La hija de Juan Simón" and "En Guantánamo" (Puchito 224, 78 rpm & 45 rpm), his first recording in over fifteen years, and apart from his solitary single in 1939, his first in over a quarter century. Rolando Valdés, founder of Orquesta Sensación, selected the songs for the session, both from Barroso's radio hits of the 1930s. The release became one of the greatest double-sided hits in the history of popular music. It became a Gold Record in 1956.[6]

In 1956, Puchito released 5 more singles featuring Barroso and Orquesta Sensación.

Selected 1956 releases
Side A: "El Manisero" ("The Peanut Ventor")
Moisés Simons (w&m)
OCLC 84977883
Side B: "Resabroso Cha-Cha-Cha"
OCLC 81455334
  • Puchito 496
Side A: "Coctel Para Dos"
Arthur Johnston (w&m)
Sam Coslow (w&m)
Side B: "Vuelve Navidad"
Other Puchito hits by Barroso
  • "El Panquelero"
  • "Tiene sabor"
  • "El Guajiro de Cunagua"
  • "La Macorina"
  • "Con sabor a bombón"
  • "Bruca Maniguá"

For the rest of the 1950s, Goris produced several other highly successful records on the Puchito label. He produced Chapottin y sus Estrellas on with singer Miguelito Cuní (es) (1917–1984), the Orquesta Riverside with singer Tito Gomez (1920–2000) and Roberto Faz (1914–1966) and his conjunto for the label. Puchito manufactured its discs at Panart's factory.[3]

1961 Cuban nationalization — National Press of Cuba

On May 29, 1961, during the process of enterprise nationalization started by the Revolutionary Government, the assets and management of several record companies were assumed by the Imprenta Nacional de Cuba (INC) (National Press of Cuba), an arts overseer created March 31, 1961. Companies included in the seizure included:

Imprenta Nacional de Cuba acted as the only legal Cuban label until 1964.

In 1964, EGREM (Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales) became Cuba's national label. Eventually, record labels, including Areito and Siboney merged under EGREM, which adopted a policy of recording music with strong cultural identity.

Puchitio Record Mfg. Co. Inc. in Florida

In 1961, two years after the end of the Cuban Revolution, Goris went into exile, immigrating to Miami, Florida, and was lawfully admitted in the United States for permanent residence on October 20, 1962. He began working at a 7-Eleven, them became a top salesman for Equitable Life Insurance in Miami.[7] While working in insurance, Goris launched Puchito Record Mfg Co Inc in 1963 as a Florida entity. Goris became an naturalized United States citizen on April 12, 1968. The company remained active until 1971. It somehow operated afterwards from the US, but seem to have continued also in Cuba for a while after the revolution.

J. & G. Recordings was a United States trademark of Puchitio Record Mfg. Co. Inc., based in Hialeah, Florida. The trademark was active ten years, from April 25, 1967, to April 25, 1977.

Armada and Rodriquez of Miami, Inc.

José Armada and Vicente Rodríguez, who had been in the record business together in Cuba, remain together when they arrived in New York in 1964. They recorded and distributed Puchito Records and set up racks in New York and New Jersey.

Fellow Cubans brought them to Miami in 1968, where they purchased the bankrupt Puchito label at an auction, picked up some other labels, and started a distributing business. In 1972 they opened a manufacturing plant — Armada and Rodriguez of Florida, Inc. — where they press LP's and 45's for their own labels: Gema Records, Velvet Records Inc., Continental Records, Aro Records, Funny Records, Regio Records, and Suave Records, and a number of custom labels. Their labels, Aro, Funny, Regio, and Suave are distributed all over the U.S. and Puerto Rico and for the most part are licensed works from Latin America.

But, the also produced and recorded local artists, including The Antiques, Alexis Fari, Miriam and the Sons of Paraguay. Armada & Rodriquez distributed Gema throughout the U.S., and they owned their own distributing organization in New York and Antilla.

They sold only to distributors, not to retail stores, but also owned a distributing company that sold to retail stores and serviced their racks.[8]

Re-release labels

Subsidiary

Sometime around 1955, Puchito Records became a subsidiary of Montilla Records, which was owned by Fernando Montilla (né Fernando José Montilla Ambrosiani; 1915–2014)[11] and, from 1955 to 1959, managed by Harry Sultan.[12] In 1956, Montilla Records, set-up in a distributorship in New York City on 23rd Street,[13] to expand distribution of Puchito Records coast-to-coast.

Armada & Rodriguez of Florida, Inc., Miami, Florida (founded July 22, 1968 — dissolved September 24, 1999)

Personnel

Antilla Records, Inc., Bronx, New York (founded in October 31, 1985, as a New York entity, and dissolved June 24, 1992)

Not to be confused with the above Antilla Records, another firm named Antilla Records was founded February 26, 1999, as a New York entity. It was renamed Sabor Records, Inc., in June 25, 1999, and dissolved March 2, 2004.

Selected Puchito artists and groups

Individual artists
Groups

Selected discography

Other selected early Cuban independent record labels

10128 N.W. 80th Ave
Hialeah Gardens, Florida 33016
Owned by the Page brothers: Roberto Page, President; Jose Page, Vice President[lower-alpha 1]
Record Distributors

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Velvet Records was founded in Venezuela by Jose Page, who, as of 1973, still lived there and owned Velvet of Venezuela. His brother, Roberto Page, opened the Miami branch in 1965, but lived in Puerto Rico where he directed all aspects of Velvet in the U.S. Miami was considered the main office and there were distributors in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Connecticut. Tony Moreno was the manager of the Miami office and, in 1973, stated that when Velvet came to the U.S. in 1965, the major artist was Felipe Pirela (1941–1972). ("Miami's Latin Music Community: Flourishing, Expanding, Optimistic," Billboard, March 23, 1973, pg. F-15)

––––––––––––––––––––

  1. 1 2 "Jesus Goris, 85, Key Figure In Cuba's Recording Industry In The 1950s And The Founder Of Puchito Records," by Luisa Yanez, Miami Herald, August 22, 2006, pg. 5B (retrieved December 18, 2015, via groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.obituaries/ML1us0jPYxY)
  2. ↑ Enciclopedia Discográfica de la Música Cubana, Volume 2, 1925–1960, Cristobal Diaz-Ayala (ed.), Florida International University, Diaz Ayala Cuban and Latin American Popular Music Collection (latinpop.fiu.edu/downloadfiles2.html) (2002)
  3. 1 2 3 Tonträgerindustrie und Vermittlung von Livemusik in Kuba: populäre Musik im Kontext ökonomischer Organisationsformen und kulturpolitischer Ideologien (doctoral dissertation), by Cornelius Schlicke, Humboldt University of Berlin, LIT (2007), pg. 229; OCLC 85770619
    (a) Encyclopedic discography of Cuban music: Cuba canta y baila (in Vol. 2 of 2), Cristobal Diaz-Ayala. (ed.), Florida International University (2002); OCLC 52298889
    (b) Música Cubana: Del Areíto a La Nueva Trova (1st ed.), by Cristóbal Díaz Ayala, Puerto Rico: Editorial Cubanacán (1981), pps. 245-249; OCLC 7932111
  4. ↑ "The Jukeboxes in Cuba" — "Las Vitrolas en Cuba," by Arnoldo Enrique Varona (born 1939), Pembroke Pines, Florida (ed.), The History, Culture and Legacy of the People of Cuba (website), December 11, 2013 (retrieved November 29, 2016, via www.thecubanhistory.com)
    Note: The author, a journalist, spent years in a Cuban prison (prisoner #32314) for human rights political activism
  5. ↑ "Mienteme" (side A), Olga Guillot with the Castro Brothers Orchestra, Manolo Castro (leader & also saxophonist), Puchito LPP-101 (1954); OCLC 431455143
    Side A
    1. "Míenteme," w&m Armando Domínguez (es)
    2. "Estamos en Paz," w&m Antonio Pereyra
    3. "Eso y Más," w&m Juan Bruno Tarraza (1912–2001)
    4. "Por Eso Estoy Así," w&m Juan Bruno Tarraza (1912–2001)
    Side B
    1. "Alabras Calladas," Juan Bruno Tarraza (1912–2001)
    2. "Vivir de Los Recuerdos," Bobby Collazo (1916–1989)
    3. "Sola," Pablo De Los Andes (1905–1963)
    4. "No Me Quieras Así," Facundo Rivero (born 1930)
  6. ↑ "About Abelardo Barroso with Orquesta Sensación" (liner notes), Nonesuch Records (retrieved December 18, 2015)
  7. ↑ Cubans, An Epic Journey: The Struggle Of Exiles For Truth And Freedom, by Sam Verdeja & Guillermo Martinez, Reedy Press, pg. 411; OCLC 773664513
  8. ↑ "Miami's Latin Music Community: Flourishing, Expanding, Optimistic," Billboard, March 23, 1974, pps. F-14-15
  9. ↑ "PVC, Paper Shortage Is Serious In Latin Mart," by Art Kapper, Billboard, November 3, 1973, pg. 54
  10. ↑ "Business is Booming," by John Floyd Miami New Times, August 15, 1996
  11. ↑ "One Of The Last Great Record Pioneers, Fernando J. Montilla, Who Discovered Many Latin Music Icons, Died Tuesday In Miami," by Fred Montilla (Fernando's son), PRNewswire, June 27, 2014
  12. ↑ "Three Montilla Moves to Boost U.S. Business," Billboard, October 29, 1955, pg. 13
  13. ↑ "Montilla Line In Expansion," Billboard, February 25, 1956, pg. 20
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