"Allá en el Rancho Grande" is a Mexican song. It was written in the 1920s for a musical theatrical work, but now is most commonly associated with the eponymous 1936 Mexican motion picture ''

Allá en el Rancho Grande ''Allá en el Rancho Grande'' ( en, Out on the Great Ranch) is a 1936 Mexican romantic drama film directed by Fernando de Fuentes and starring Tito Guízar and Esther Fernández. The film is considered to be the one that started the Golden Age ...

'', in which it was sung by renowned actor and singer

Tito Guízar Federico Arturo Guízar Tolentino (; April 8, 1908 – December 24, 1999), known professionally as Tito Guízar, was a Mexican singer and actor. Along with Dolores del Río, Ramón Novarro and Lupe Vélez, as well as José Mojica, Guízar was ...

and with

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...

s. Bing Crosby recorded the song on April 3, 1939 as "El Rancho Grande" and it reached the No. 6 spot in the charts during a ten-week stay in 1939. Crosby recorded the song again in 1954 for the album Bing: A Musical Autobiography. The song was featured in the film '' Mexicali Rose'' (1939) starring

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

. Autry also made a commercial recording of the song. Others to record the song are

Al Bowlly Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1898 – 17 April 1941) was a Mozambican-born South African–British vocalist and jazz guitarist, who was popular during the 1930s in Britain. He recorded more than 1,000 songs. His most popular songs include ...

(as "Give Me My Ranch"),

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

(on his ''

Bravo! Brubeck! ''Bravo! Brubeck!'' is a 1967 live album by Dave Brubeck and his quartet, recorded during their tour of Mexico. The quartet were augmented by Chamin Correa on guitar, and the bongo and conga player Salvatore Agueros. It was released in 1967. A ...

'' album) and

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

(on his ''

Dino Latino ''Dino Latino'' is an album by Dean Martin. Recorded during August 1962, the album is a collection of Latin standards and popular songs composed in the same vein. Description While the A-side of the record features five uptempo songs (among them ...

'' album). In 1958 the song was covered by

Rex Allen Rex Elvie Allen (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999), known as "the Arizona Cowboy", was an American film and television actor, singer and songwriter; he was also the narrator of many Disney nature and Western productions. For his contribut ...

on his album ''Mister Cowboy'' on the Decca record label. Elvis Presley sang the song when playing around at the rehearsals for the documentary film ''

That's the Way It Is That's the Way It Is may refer to: *'' Elvis: That's the Way It Is'', a 1970 documentary film about Elvis Presley * ''That's the Way It Is'' (Elvis Presley album), a 1970 album by Elvis Presley * "That's the Way It Is" (Mel and Kim song), a 1988 so ...

'' (on Wednesday, July 15, 1970). His performance was recorded and, in 1995, released by

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

on the box set '' Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters''.

Musical style

The song is a typical

ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in virtually all regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional folk music ...

, with mariachi choruses and lyrics dealing with life in a traditional Mexican ranch. The American arrangement of the song was copyrighted as a "

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

", a term largely used in the US to denote Americanized Afro-Cuban and Latin ballroom music According to the book ''The Course of Mexican Music'',

Track listing of Presley CD

''Elvis La Canta A Mexico "Allá En El Rancho Grande"'' (promo CD, 1998, BMG Entertainment Mexico, S.A. De C.V.) # "Allá en el Rancho Grande" # "Guadalajara" # "México"

References

Works cited * *

External links

Elvis Presley – Elvis La Canta A Mexico "Allá En El Rancho Grande"
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alla en el Rancho Grande (song) Ranchera songs 1920s songs Elvis Presley songs Al Bowlly songs