Guillermo Enrique Morales Portillo (6 April 1937 – 1 January 2017) was a Venezuelan singer. Better known as Memo Morales, he was also dubbed as ''El Gitano Maracucho''.
Morales was the main voice of many important orchestras of the country, as were the
Luis Alfonzo Larrain
Luis Alfonzo Larrain (22 July 1911 – 4 July 1996), was a Venezuelan composer, music director and producer, sometimes known as the ''Magician of the dancing Music''.
Luis Alfonzo Larrain died on 4 July 1996, in Caracas.
Some of his works: ...
and
Billo's Caracas Boys popular dance bands.
Career
Born into a musical family, Morales started as a child prodigy while attending radio amateur singing contests. In 1945, he went to Caracas, where he participated in "Proarte infantil", in which he interpreted the "Princesita rubia" tango that earned him his first award.
Morales began his professional musical career in 1953 as a crooner for the Garrido y sus Solistas band. In 1954, he moved to Caracas and worked there until 1958 with Juanito Arteta and his Orchestra.
In 1958, Morales joined the Carlos Torres band, and from 1959 to 1960 was the lead singer of the aforementioned Larraín orchestra. Afterwards, he was a member of the Pedroza y sus Caciques and Hermanos Salani orchestras between 1961 and 1964.
In between, Morales sang to former Venezuelan president
Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez (25 April 1914 – 20 September 2001) was a Venezuelan military and general officer of the Army of Venezuela and the dictator of Venezuela from 1950 to 1958, ruling as member of the military junta from 195 ...
, when he celebrated one of his birthdays in the Military Circle of Caracas and the Summit of El Ávila (today
El Ávila National Park), as well as when the
Hotel Humboldt
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
opened in the mid-1950s. On that occasion Morales sang for thirty consecutive days for the first visitors of the then novel construction.
In 1964, Morales joined the Billo's Caracas Boys, working together with other large names such as Cheo García (El Guarachero de América) and
José Luis Rodríguez José Luis Rodríguez may refer to:
* José Luis Rodríguez Vélez (1915–1984), Panamanian musician
*José Luis Rodríguez (singer) (born 1943), ''El Puma'', Venezuelan singer and actor
*José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (born 1960), former Prime Mi ...
(El Puma), popularizing
pasodobles such as "Ni Se Compra, Ni Se Vende" and "Viva España". This progression brought him such huge hits as "Se Necesitan Dos", "Rumores", "Parece Mentira", "El Tunante", "Dámele Betún", "Juanita Bonita", "Qué Tienes Tú", "Eva", "La Rubia y la Trigueña", among many other songs.
In 1976, Morales had a successful tour of concerts as a soloist in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, where he performed in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, and
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
.
Besides, Morales founded, along with
Luisín Landáez
Luis Felipe Landáez Requena (17 August 1931, Higuerote, Venezuela – 16 November 2008, Peñalolén, Santiago, Chile) was a Venezuelan-Chilean cumbia singer who was popular in Chile for his songs "La piragua" and "Macondo".
Biography
...
, ''La Nuestra'' in 1981, and later rejoined with García in 1984 to create La Gran Orquesta de Cheo y Memo. They performed together until Garcia's death in 1994. Morales next to their children William, Alicia, Mariela and Gustavo, covered the Organización Musical Memo Morales, led by his son William (Memito) Morales.
On 1 April 2016, Morales was appointed as an honorary citizen and ambassador of good will from the mayor of the city of
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Sylvester Turner, in recognition of his valuable musical contribution to humanity.
Death
On 1 January 2017, at a
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
concert at the Galician Brotherhood in Caracas at 2:30 am, while on stage, Morales suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
. Despite having vital signs in the ambulance, he stopped breathing while being transported to the hospital and was declared dead. Hours earlier, he gave his last full concert in the Military Circle hall in Caracas.
References
External links
Barranquilla es Salsa - Memo Morales - El Gitano MaracuchoMemo Morales Discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Memo
1937 births
2017 deaths
20th-century Venezuelan male singers
Musicians from Maracaibo