Oye Cómo Va
| "Oye Como Va" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song | |
| Language | Spanish |
| Published | 1963 |
| Songwriter(s) | Tito Puente |
| Composer(s) | Tito Puente |
| Lyricist(s) | Tito Puente |
"Oye Como Va" is a song written and composed by Latin jazz and mambo musician Tito Puente in 1963 and popularized by Santana's cover of the song in 1970 on their album Abraxas, helping to catapult Santana into stardom with the song reaching #13 on the Billboard Top 100.[1]
The title comes from the first words:
| Spanish: | English: |
| Oye como va | (Literally) Listen to how it goes (Colloquially "Hey what's up" or "Hey how's it going") |
| Mi ritmo | My rhythm |
| Bueno pa' gozar | (Literally)It's good for partying, (Colloquially)"Good for celebrating" or "Good to enjoy") |
| Mulata | Mulatta [2] |
The song has the classic rhythm and tempo of cha-cha-cha. It has similarities with "Chanchullo" by Israel "Cachao" López. The Latin Beat Magazine writes, "Cachao's tumbaos for his 1937 composition of Resa Del Neleton (later changed to Chanchullo) inspired Tito Puente's signature tune 'Oye Como Va'."[3] On the original recording of the song the voice of Santitos Colon, the Puente orchestra singer at the time, can be heard in the song along with those of Puente and other orchestra musicians.
The song has numerous arrangements and remakes by numerous artists in various tempi. NPR included the song in its "NPR 100: The most important American musical works of the 20th century"[4]
Santana version
Santana's arrangement is a "driving, cranked-up version"[4] in a new style of Latin rock (attributed to musicians like Santana), adding electric guitar, Hammond B-3 organ, and a rock drum kit to the instrumentation and dropping Puente's brass section. The electric guitar part takes on Puente's flute melody, and the organ provides accompaniment (with organist Gregg Rolie's discretional use of the Leslie effect). There are several guitar solos and an organ solo, all of which are rooted in rock and the blues but also contain licks similar to those of the original arrangement. [5][4]
References
- ^ "Carlos Santana," Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Accessed October 1, 2006).
- ^ Standard LA Spanish for a female of mixed African/European heritage. The term is in everyday use in Cuba, and has no pejorative connotation. The OED supports the derivation of mulatta, and gives the first usage in English as 1622.
- ^ Salazar, Max. "Orestes Lopez and the mambo," Latin Beat Magazine. September, 2002.
- ^ a b c "Oye Como Va" (RAM). NPR 100. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
- ^ "Oye Como Va" (PDF). McGraw Hill. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
