Search - Los Panchos: Eternamente Los Panchos - La Historia on DVD

The Bolero Kings

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 05/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Trio Los Panchos were an enormously influential part of Latin music history, and they gained international fame with some of the most romantic music ever heard; they brought the bolero to the world, and though hundreds of trios have copied them, some very successfully, there's nothing quite like the original Los Panchos. The principal singer changed through the years (we see 4 of the 7 on this DVD), but the essential sound and heart and soul of the trio, with its exquisite musicianship and harmony, remained the same. They started in New York City in 1944, with 2 musicians from Mexico, Alfredo Gil (1915-1999), and Chucho Navarro (1913-1993), and from Puerto Rico, Hernando Aviles (1914-1986), who was the first principal singer, and also returned for a short stint in the mid 50's. We get to see this original cast only in track 2, which was possibly from one of the 50 films they appeared in, as "Flor de Azalea" was written by Manuel Esperon, who scored so many of the Epoca de Oro films (take note of Pedro Vargas walking by in the background while they are singing).

Tracks 1, 3, 4 and 5 have Enrique Caceras as singer, who was with the group from 1968 through 1972, tracks 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 have Ovidio Hernandez, with the group 1972-1976, and tracks 8 and 12 have Rafael Basurto Lara who was with the group until its final dissolution with the passing of Navarro in 1993. Tracks 1 through 3 are in black and white, the rest in color, and most have television show settings. The overall audio is alright considering the age of these clips, but some have a noticeable slight fuzziness, especially tracks 2 and 4. The DVD collection is nearly 35 minutes in length, and has an "extra" of a narrated biography, which is 13 minutes long, and not to be missed. It includes an interview of the 3 original members with Raul Velasco from 1984. Gil and Navarro also wrote some classic hits, which are still recorded by top artists today. Tracks 5, 7 and 8 were written by Navarro, tracks 6, 9 and 12 by Gil. Song list:
1: "Contigo"
2: "Flor de Azalea"
3: "Sin Ti"
4: "No Me Quieras Tanto"
5: "Una Copa Mas"
6: "Vagabundo"
7: "Lo Dudo"
8: "Rayito de Luna"
9: "Caminemos"
10: "Quien Sera?"
11: "Recuerdos de Ti"
12: "Si Tu Me Dices Ven (Lodo)""

Los Panchos Rule!!

E. M. Victorino | 10/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The review of Alejandra Veron was very complete, that's why I bought the video. It's good and I love seeing them in the video versus just hearing them. I just wish they had some more videos, there's only a very few. However, I really enjoyed it. It's short 35 minuets but I liked it."