Francisco Fellove Valdés (October 7, 1923 – February 15, 2013), also known as El Gran Fellove (The Great Fellove), was a Cuban songwriter and singer. A prolific composer of the '' feeling'' generation, he is well known for his particular style of

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

known as chua chua. He is the author of the famous

guaracha The guaracha () is a genre of music that originated in Cuba, of rapid tempo and comic or picaresque lyrics. The word had been used in this sense at least since the late 18th and early 19th century. Guarachas were played and sung in musical thea ...

pregón Pregón, a Spanish word meaning ''announcement'' or ''street-seller's cry'', has a particular meaning in both Cuban music and Latin American music in general. It can be translated as ''a song based on a street-seller's cry'' or ''a street-seller' ...

"Mango mangüé", recorded by

Machito Machito (born Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, December 3, 1909 – April 15, 1984) was a Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music. Ginell, Richard S. ''Biography''. Allmusic, 2011/ref> He w ...

and Celia Cruz among others. He was the cousin of conga drummer

Carlos "Patato" Valdés Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

Life and career

Fellove was born on October 7, 1923, in the neighbourhood of Colón,

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. He started his musical career as a songwriter, primarily of guarachas, but also of

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

s such as "Dos caminos", which he wrote for

Olga Guillot Olga Guillot (October 9, 1922 – July 12, 2010) was a Cuban singer who was known as the "Queen of Bolero". She was a native of Santiago de Cuba. Biography Daughter of Catalan-Jewish immigrants who moved to Cuba, her father was a tailor and her ...

. Together with other authors of boleros, sones, canciones and guarachas, he became part of the so-called filin movement, where the

descarga A descarga (literally ''discharge'' in Spanish) is an improvised jam session consisting of variations on Cuban music themes, primarily son montuno, but also guajira, bolero, guaracha and rumba. The genre is strongly influenced by jazz and it wa ...

format began to develop. Soon, several of his guarachas became very popular, especially "Para que tú lo bailes", "Sea como sea" and "Mango mangué". The latter, which he composed when he was only 17 years old, was recorded by numerous artists including Miguelito Valdés,

and his Afro-Cubans featuring

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

, Celia Cruz with

La Sonora Matancera La Sonora Matancera is a Cuban band that played Latin American urban popular dance music. Founded in 1924 and led for more than five decades by guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer Rogelio Martínez, musicologists consider it an icon of ...

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...

, and

Johnny Pacheco Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco (25 March 1935 – 15 February 2021), known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer who in the 1970s became one of the leading exponents of salsa as well in t ...

, as well as Fellove himself. Based on the fast tempo of his guarachas, which he termed "chua chua", Fellove developed a scat singing technique together with fellow vocalist Dandy Crawford. In 1952, Fellove took part in some of the descargas (jam sessions) directed by Julio Gutiérrez at

Panart Panart was one of the first and most successful independent record labels in Cuba, founded in 1944 by engineer Ramón Sabat. In 1961, its studios were seized by Fidel Castro's communist regime and the label was nationalized, becoming "Panart Nacio ...

Studios in Havana (released in 1956). In December 1955 he moved to Mexico with fellow filin songwriter José Antonio Méndez and joined the cha-cha-cha group Conjunto Batamba. In 1956 he met Mexican promoter and head of RCA Victor in Mexico Mariano Rivera Conde, who gave him the nickname "El Gran Fellove", kickstarting his solo career. Among his first solo recordings for RCA Victor were "Mango mangüé",

Niño Rivera Andrés Echevarría Callava (April 18, 1919 – January 27, 1996), better known as Niño Rivera, was a renowned Cuban tres player, songwriter and arranger. Early in his career he played with the Sexteto Boloña and Sexteto Bolero, before forming hi ...

's "El jamaiquino" and " Azul pintado de azul", backed by Lobo y Melón. In 1957, RCA Victor released an LP of Fellove's recordings entitled ''El Gran Fellove''. In the 1960s, Fellove switched from RCA Victor to

Musart Discos Musart is a Mexican record label founded in 1948. It is headquartered in Mexico City and remains one of the country's biggest labels, focusing on Mexican music, as well as international releases licensed from various labels around the world. ...

, releasing ''Watusi'' in 1966. Fellove continued to record and perform in Mexico, the US and throughout Latin America. He played with

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In 1979 he released his last album as a leader with his Conjunto Habana featuring

tres Tres may refer to: * Tres (instrument), a Cuban musical instrument * Tres, Trentino, municipality in Italy * "Tres" (song) by Juanes * "Tres", a song by Líbido from their album ''Hembra'' * TrES, the ''Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey'' * Templi ...

. In 2002 he recorded a cover version of "

Walking on the Moon "Walking on the Moon" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as the second single from their second studio album, ''Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979). The song was written by the band's lead vocalist and bassist Sting. It went on to beco ...

". Fellove died on February 15, 2013, in Mexico City.

Discography

*1957: ''El Gran Fellove'' (RCA Victor) *1958: ''Chua chua con su creador El Gran Fellove, Vol. II'' (RCA Victor) *1965: ''Goza mi ritmo'' (Otra/RCA Victor) *1966: ''Watusi'' (Musart) *1973: ''El que inventó la salsa'' (Gema) *1977: ''Salsa con Fellove'' (Gas); reissued as ''La escena presenta al Gran Fellove'' (La Escena) *1979: ''Fellove'' (Areito) - with Conjunto Habana

References

External links

"Francisco Fellove"
''Discogs''. Retrieved October 15, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fellove, Francisco 1923 births 2013 deaths Cuban songwriters Male songwriters Cuban male singers Scat singers Guaracha singers Guaracha songwriters RCA Victor artists Male jazz musicians Cuban expatriates in the United States Cuban expatriates in Mexico