Eydie Gorme ain't playin'

In 1965, Eydie Gorme made a record with Trio Los Panchos, who were the most popular of the Mexican trios to emerge in the forties. The Panchos might not have been the first trio nor were they the first to really catch on (Trio Calveras were that), but what the Panchos did for romantico trios was like what Muddy Waters did for electric blues: he threw down the template that everyone else gravitated to. By the fifties, they had singer Johnny Albino in the fold, truly one of the great Mexican bolero singers. And guitarist Alfredo Gil was slick and lithe. They offered definitive treatments of the Mexican standards. Anything of theirs you can find on Columbia or CBS up to about 1968 is totally worth it. If you're in California, these records pop up all time for cheap. grab 'em.

Their biggest seller was Amor, the LP that paired them with... yes: Eydie Gorme.

It's hard to think of Eydie now as much more than a Vegas stereotype singing with Steve Lawrence. But she was at one point ragin' full on.

Amor remains as definitive a treatment of Mexican standards as Frank Sinatra's Song For Swinging Lovers is for American standards: It's the 'how to' guide. This isn't Steve's Eydie. This is Eydie Gormezano, from the Bronx, whose parents were Sephardic Jews. This is the Eydie who sang with the Tex Beneke band (to you, the Glenn Miller band after Glenn died). This is the Eydie who worked at the UN as an interpreter. This is the Eydie who could have been a Barry Sister or June Christy at will. She alternately belts, croons, swings, and then some. This is one of my favorite female singer records. Also, one of my favorite guitar records.

(I've commented on guitarists through this blog, but, for the record, my fav female singers are Dolly, Dionne, Katy Moffatt, Nara Leao, Jennell Hawkins, and Hazel Dickens.)

Incidentally, it has been rumored that Eydie never met the Panchos, that either she overdubbed her parts to their tracks, or that the record said that the Panchos were the band on the record but that it was NYC studio guys. Neither is true, and this TV appearance proves it. It has been rumored that Yomo Toro was one of the guitarists filling out the ensembles in this clip, and he did studio work with them, so it might indeed be so.

Eydie made two more albums with the Panchos (the second of which was a Christmas album). Like most sequels, they're not as forceful as the lead-off. Amor is as true a music treasure as I know. Have at it.