Julio Jaramillo had humble beginnings. His talent was not recognized right away in Ecuador. He started out singing serenades on a street corner for coins, and from there worked himself up step by step in the music business. One biography of him that I read said that aspiring singers still hire themselves out to sing serenades on the same corner where Julio Jaramillo got his start in the music business. Julio Jaramillo eventually moved to Venezuela, where he is today appreciated as much as he is in his native Ecuador. Julio Jaramillo toured all over Latin America at the height of his career, and even in the United States.
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| Julio Jaramillo, by Maty1206, GNU Public License, Wikipedia |
Julio Jaramillo interpreted songs of many different songwriters from many Spanish-speaking countries. I have heard it said that songwriters from all over Latin America lined up to have Julio Jaramillo interpret their songs, because he did it so beautifully and could make them famous overnight. However, today there is some jealousy today from people outside Ecuador, who say that Julio Jaramillo became famous singing songs from their countries. But Julio Jaramillo was an interpreter more than a songwriter. His genius lay in his voice and the emotion that he gave to the songs that he sang, not that they were original.
Most of the arrangements of the backing music on Julio Jaramillo's songs use classical guitar, acoustic bass, and a simple rhythm section. Julio Jaramillo's long-time collaborator, Rosalino Quintero, was responsible for the backing arrangements, and played guitar on many of the tracks. Guitarists will be interested in the way Quintero embellishes the simple chord changes on the tracks behind Julio Jaramillo. Other instruments appear from time to time on Julio Jaramillo records, such as piano and accordion, and he is even supposed to have recorded some rock and roll songs, but the bread and butter of what Julio Jaramillo sings over is classical guitar, bass, and rhythm.
If you are in Ecuador for any length of time, you are sure to hear Julio Jaramillo music. People still play it on the bus, in restaurants, at home, in bars, and on the guitar at parties. The younger generation in Ecuador is interested in more modern music, but they still know who Julio Jaramillo is, and most of them would probably tell you that he is the greatest singer ever to come out of Ecuador.
If you want to include some Julio Jaramillo music in your collection, I suggest that you start with the CD 32 Mas Grandes. It has the songs that I heard the most on the radio in Ecuador.
Another CD to get, without duplicating too many songs from the first one, would be Best of Julio Jaramillo
.If you prefer to use mp3 downloads, try Los Años De Oro - Lo Mejor
.Here is a link to a Julio Jaramillo song on YouTube, Carnaval de la Vida. Following are the lyrics in Spanish, and below that my translation of the lyrics. The translation is not literal. A literal translation would have been clunky. Warning: The lyrics are sad, really sad. But please listen to the song, so that you can hear what a beautiful treatment Julio Jaramillo gives it.
Carnaval de la Vida
Entre las sombras, vegetando vivo,
Sin que una luz ante mis ojos radie,
E indiferente, mi existir maldigo,
Sin creer en nada, y sin amar a nadie.
Ya sin amores y con la fe extinguida
Me río de las iras de mi suerte;
No tiene objeto para mí la vida
Si el corazón se anticipó a la muerte.
Si hasta la esperanza está perdida,
Me río de las iras de mi suerte;
Qué carnaval más necio el de la vida
Qué consuelo más dulce el de la muerte
Carnival of Life
Among the shadows, I live, stagnating,
With no light that radiates before my eyes,
And indifferent, I curse my existence
Believing in nothing, loving nobody.
Now without love and with faith extinguished,
I laugh out of bitterness at my luck,
Life has no purpose for me,
If my heart has already anticipated death.
Even hope is lost,
I laugh out of bitterness at my luck,
What a foolish carnival life is,
What sweet consolation death.
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OK, if you made it through Carnaval de la Vida, then I guess you deserve a happy song! This one is called Chica Linda (Beautiful Girl). (Again, my translation follows, not literal, but faithful to the ideas of the song.)
Chica Linda
Yo tengo una chica linda
la que me hace padecer,
cuánto diera en esta vida
por ser el dueño de su querer.
Ella sale muy airosa
por el parque a pasear,
qué bonita es su mirada
con su elegante modo de andar.
Chica linda,
una mirada yo quiero,
para brindarte sincero
mi pecho lleno de un gran amor.
Chica linda,
déjame besar tu boca,
calma mi pasión tan loca
que hace que sufra mi corazón.
No hay como mi chica linda,
por su cuerpo y por su andar,
qué bonita es su mirada,
y su sonrisa es un madrigal.
Por eso, a mi chica linda
me la quisiera robar,
porque yo no sé hasta cuándo
tendré esta pena que soportar.
Beautiful Girl
I have a beautiful girl
Who makes me suffer.
What I wouldn't give in this life
To be her lover.
She leaves home, pure grace,
To walk around the park.
How beautiful her smile is
With her elegant style of walking.
Beautiful girl,
I want you to look at me,
So that I can sincerely offer you
My heart filled with great love.
Beautiful girl,
Let me kiss your lips,
Calm this passion so crazy
That it makes my heart suffer.
There's nobody like my beautiful girl,
With her body and the way she walks,
How pretty her look is,
And her smile is a song.
That's why I want to steal
My beautiful girl's love away for my own,
Because I don't know how long
I can stand this pain.
