"El Triste" ("''The Sad One''") is a song written by Mexican composer
Roberto Cantoral. It was performed for the first time on March 15, 1970, at the "Latin Song Festival II" (predecessor of the
OTI Festival
OTI Festival ( es, Festival OTI de la Canción, pt, Festival OTI da Canção), often known simply as La OTI, was an international song competition, organised annually between 1972 and 2000 by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) ...
) by the Mexican singer
José José
José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz (17 February 1948 – 28 September 2019), known professionally as José José, was a Mexican singer and actor. Born into a family of musicians, José began his musical career in his early teens playing guitar and sin ...
. () ''El Triste'' was included on his
third studio album.
General information
The song talks about a person who is empowered to live by a longing for a loved one, which could refer either to the loss of a lover or spouse, a relative or friend—the song does not specify which exactly. The composition turned out to be very attractive both in lyrics and in its music, it catches the attention of the listener from start to finish, due to the rhetoric of the lyrics and its unique melody. "El Triste" is sung by José José in a considerably high register, highlighting the power of his voice and his extensive management of respiration. He has said it is one of the most significant interpretations that he has performed due to its technical difficulty and the impact that the song caused.
Cultural impact
The song and its interpretation was such a hit, that the audience at the festival demanded that José José had won it, but in the end, even with the impact that his performance caused, he got third place. Although "El Triste" did not win the festival it meant the consolidation of José José as a talented singer of international fame, since then it was the song that closed most of his presentations.
The song became his second number-one single in the
Mexican charts in 1970 (replacing his other song "La nave del olvido"). "El Triste" became a cultural icon in Mexico, as part of the repertoire of favorite songs of
Mexican pop
Mexican pop is a music genre produced in Mexico, particularly intended for teenagers and young adults.
Mexico is the country that exports the most entertainment in Spanish language. Mexican pop was limited to Latin America until the mid-1990s, w ...
ular music.
After its release at the festival it was immediately recorded in studio along with other new tracks on an LP released in 1970. José José recorded the song again in 1982 under new accompaniment and musical arrangement, and in 1998 in a duet with pianist
Raúl di Blasio
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
. Some of the performers who have made their version of the song include:
Plácido Domingo
José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...
,
Manuel Mijares
Manuel Mijares () (born José Manuel Mijares Morán, 7 February 1958 in Mexico City) is an adult-contemporary pop singer who is billed simply as "Mijares". He began his career at age 23 and achieved high popularity from the mid-80s to mid 90s in ...
,
Ximena Sariñana
Ximena Sariñana Rivera (; born October 29, 1985) is a Mexican singer-songwriter and actress. In 2009, she received critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination for her debut album, '' Mediocre''.
Early life
Ximena Sariñana was born in Guadalajar ...
,
Eddie Santiago
Eddie Santiago (born Eduardo Santiago Rodríguez, August 18, 1955) is a salsa singer from Puerto Rico.
Early years
At a young age, Santiago demonstrated great love for salsa music. He performed with several groups, including Generación 2000, ...
,
Vikki Carr
Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than four decades. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has p ...
,
Yuri Yuri may refer to:
People and fictional characters
Given name
*Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc.
*Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...
,
Lucho Gatica
Luis Enrique Gatica Silva (11 August 1928 – 13 November 2018),
''The New York Times''. Retriev ...
,
Charlie Masso
Carlos Javier Rivera Masso (born June 13, 1969 in San Juan, Puerto Rico), better known as Charlie Masso, is a Puerto Rican singer and actor. Masso is a former member of Menudo, joining the band at the height of Menudo's worldwide fame. He rep ...
,
Julieta Venegas,
Kalimba
Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...
,
David Bisbal
David Bisbal Ferre (born 5 June 1979) is a Spanish singer, songwriter, and actor. He gained his initial fame as a runner-up on the interactive reality television show ''Operación Triunfo''.
He has since released five studio albums, all of whi ...
,
Cristian Castro,
Il Volo,
Jorge Valente and
Marc Anthony among others.
Eddie Santiago's cover of the song peaked at No. 28 on the
''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs chart. Notable live cover performances include David Bisbal during the
Latin Grammy
The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been ...
tribute to José José in 2008, Cristian Castro at the
Latin Grammy Awards of 2011
The 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was held on Thursday, November 10, 2011, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and was hosted by Lucero and Cristián de la Fuente. The eligibility period for recordings to be nominated is July 1, 20 ...
, and Il Volo at the
2013 Latin Billboard Music Awards
The 2013 ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards were held on April 25, 2013.
Awards Hot Latin Songs Latin Artist of the Year
Jenni Rivera
*Don Omar
*Prince Royce
*Romeo Santos
Latin New Artist of the Year
3Ball MTY
*Juan Magan
*Jesus Ojeda y Sus Pari ...
after José José received the ''Billboards Lifetime Achievement Award for his fifty-year career.
Certifications
See also
*
List of number-one hits of 1970 (Mexico)
This is a list of the songs that reached number one in Mexico in 1970, according to Billboard magazine with data provided by Radio Mil. Also included are the number-one songs according to the Record World magazine.
Chart history (Billboard)
B ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Triste, El
1970 songs
1970 singles
José José songs
Cristian Castro songs
Marc Anthony songs
Spanish-language songs
Il Volo songs
Number-one singles in Mexico
Songs written by Roberto Cantoral
RCA Records singles