Happy Thursday. This week we’re talking about the legendary Miguel Aceves Mejia. Mejia is easily one of the most important figures in Mexican cultural history. This week we’ll be talking about his iconic version of the classic “La Malagueña”.
Born in 1915, Miguel Aceves Mejia was a wildly popular actor and singer. Having appeared in 64 films between 1941 and 1963, Mejia was a prolific Mexican star on the silver screen. On the musical side, he recorded over 40 albums and released upwards of 1600 songs. He earned the nicknames the “God of Ranchera” and the “Golden Falsetto”. Along with Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete, Mejia represented one of the three greatest Mexican performers of his generation.
Mejia’s recording career began in 1938 and continued for decades. Mejia’s acting career peaked in the late 1950’s. His success in both music and film allowed him to travel the world. He released films alongside legendary Spanish actress Lola Flores after touring in the country. Mejia died in 2006 in Mexico City, just a few days after his 91st birthday.
This week’s song is “La Malagueña”. The song has been recorded over 200 times over the years but Mejia’s version is considered one of the most iconic versions. His mariachi version has become one of the standards of this deeply important Mexican song. The lyrics tell the story of a woman from Malaga, Spain who is the most beautiful woman the author has ever seen. He pursues her but she rejects him because he is too poor. Other versions of the song have been recorded by artists like Placido Domingo, Jose Feliciano, Bomba Estereo, Los Panchos, and even Avenged Sevenfold.
From 1958, “La Malagueña”.
For last week’s post click here.
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