Compay Segundo
Compay Segundo lived through a revolution, helped revolutionize music, and found new popularity that surprisingly revolved around an American visitor. Born Máximo Francisco Repilado in 1907, Segundo received his nickname from singing the second (segundo) vocal line in the 1950s with a group called Los Compadres (compay for short). This Cuban guitarist started performing as a teenager. In the 1920’s he invented the armónico, a guitar with a double third string to stress the harmony of traditional Cuban “son” music (a precursor to salsa). Before the Cuban revolution, Segundo was a star. After the revolution he worked as a cigar roller for the Upmann Cigar company. When Ry Cooder came to Havana in 1996 to find legendary musicians, he found Segundo. The Buena Vista Social Club brought together many of Cuba’s best. Their record went on to win a Grammy, and led to the film directed by Wim Wenders of these musicians in Cuba, and on tour in Amsterdam and New York. Segundo followed this up with four more albums. He died in Havana in 2003 at the age of ninety-six. The opening track of the BVSC album is Segundo’s own “Chan Chan;” you can hear him begin it all.
