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El manisero

"The Peanut Vendor (El manisero)"
The Peanut Vendor.jpg
Single by Don Azpiazú and His Havana Casino Orchestra
B-side True Love (Amor sincero)
Released September 1930
Format Shellac 10"
Recorded May 13, 1930
Genre Son-pregón
Label Victor
Writer(s) Moisés Simons
Producer(s) Theodore F. Therrien
Don Azpiazú and His Havana Casino Orchestra singles chronology
"The Peanut Vendor"
(1930)
"With My Guitar and You"
(1930)

"El manisero", known in English as "The Peanut Vendor", is a Cuban son-pregón composed by Moisés Simons. Together with "Guantanamera", it is arguably the most famous piece of music created by a Cuban musician. "The Peanut Vendor" has been recorded more than 160 times, sold over a million copies of the sheet music, and was the first million-selling 78 rpm single of Cuban music.

Maní, maní, maní… si te quieres por el pico divertir, cómprame un cucuruchito de maní...

Maní, el manisero se va, caballero, no se vayan a dormir, sin comprarme un cucurucho de maní.

The score and lyrics of "El manisero" were by Moises Simons (1889–1945), the Cuban son of a Basque musician. It sold over a million copies of sheet music for E.B. Marks Inc., and this netted $100,000 in royalties for Simons by 1943. Its success led to a 'rumba craze' in the US and Europe which lasted through the 1940s. The consequences of the Peanut Vendor's success were quite far-reaching.

The number was first sung and recorded by the vedette Rita Montaner in 1927 or 1928 for Columbia Records. The biggest record sales for "El manisero" came from the recording made by Don Azpiazú and his Havana Casino Orchestra in New York in 1930 for Victor Records. The band included a number of star musicians such as Julio Cueva (trumpet) and Mario Bauza (saxophone); Antonio Machín was the singer. There seems to be no authoritative account of the number of 78 rpm records of this recording sold by Victor; but it seems likely that the number would have exceeded the sheet music sales, making it the first million-selling record of Cuban (or even Latin) music.


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