If you’ve been watching Luis Miguel: The Series (and you should), you’ll recognize Armando Manzanero. He appears in Season 1 as a producer for Luis Miguel’s Romance. He also appears in this week’s episode (read our review here) as Luis begins to prepare for Segundo Romance. While producing was one of his abilities, Manzanero was a man of immense musical talent. Today’s post is all about Manzanero and his bevy of contributions to Latin music.
Manzanero was born in 1935 in Yucatan, Mexico. The son of a singer, Armando began his own musical career at the age of 15 as a writer. His first song, Nunca en el Mundo, was wildly successful and has be recorded over 21 times. His career continued to grow with his first album in 1959. Manzanero became known for his romantic songs. His songs have become cornerstones of Latin music, specifically boleros. As an artist, producer, writer, and composer, Manzanero has left an incredible legacy as one of the most important Mexican artists of the 21st century. Unfortunately Armando Manzanero passed away on December 28th, 2020 of COVID-19.
While there are plenty of songs we could choose for Manzanero, this week we’re going with Somos Novios. There are a lot of songs we could have chose but Somos Novios is probably the most essential. The lyrics tell of a profound love between a couple. The lyrics are simple, but they’re a slice of life that become more meaningful and profound as love increases. Originally written in 1968, it was rewritten in 1970 for Perry Como, with the new title being “It’s Impossible”. The English version was covered by a number of artists such as Elvis Presley, Andy Williams, and Andrea Bocelli while the Spanish version is amongst the most covered songs in the Spanish language.
From 1968, Somos Novios.
Bonus, I actually have a Armando Manzanero record. Pictures below.
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