El Gran Combo originated as an offshoot of the popular Puerto Rican band El Combo de Rafael Cortijo. Invited to start a new group with Joseito Mateo, a singer from the Dominican Republic, Ithier and six fellow musicians dropped out of Cortijo's band to start their new enterprise. The move shocked the Latin music world. "You were not supposed to leave Puerto Rico's favorite group like that," Ithier told Montreal's Gazette, "but the discipline was not very good anymore…. I did not want to be with a band that was not ready to work."
The new band was not lacking in discipline. Its members—including Rafael Alvarez Guedes (who chose the band's name), Eddie Pérez, Héctor Santos, Roberto Rohena, Rogelio Vélez, Martín Quiñones, and Miguel Cruz —prized teamwork and organization as much as they did musical talent. In 1962 the group recorded its first album, Meneame los Mangos (Shake My Mangos). The album was not a hit and the band was not an overnight sensation, but El Gran Combo were willing to work for their success.
It was three or four years before El Gran Combo reached that success, which arrived not long after the group recruited a promising young singer named Junior Montañhez (later known as Andy Montañez). With Montañez joining singer Pellin Rodriguez on vocals, the band turned out hit after hit—catchy dance tunes with such names as "El Menu," "Telefono," and "Goyito Sabater." The songwriting talent behind these and other hits was Perin Vazquez, whose lyrics told tales of everyday passions and universal longings. Working closely with Vazquez, Ithier created lively arrangements for piano, bass, trumpets, saxophone, congas, timbales, and bongos.
The group had released the album Acangana in 1963, just two days before the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Although distribution of the album was postponed because of the tragedy, the recording eventually reached gold-record status. In 1970 the band created EGC, an independent record label under which they released a number of albums, beginning with that year's recording, El Momo de Oro.
El Gran Combo gradually rose to become the first name in salsa within Puerto Rico, winning the island's prestigious Agueybana de Oro prize for the Best Band of 1969. Slowly, word about the band began to spread beyond the island's borders, and from 1971 to 1986 the band's international popularity was at its peak. During this time, El Gran Combo attracted a series of gifted young salsa performers—including singers Charlie Aponte, Johnny Ventura, Celia Cruz, and Jerry Rivas, and musicians Miguel Marrero, Milton Correa, Edwin Cortes, and Martin Quinones. In fact, so many exceptional salsa performers "graduated" from El Gran Combo that the band became affectionately known as the University of Salsa.
For many fans, El Gran Combo is synonymous with salsa—a musical genre that fuses Cuban and Puerto Rican sounds. Headed by three lead singers, El Gran Combo has always drawn dynamic energy from vocals. True to the salsa style, the group balances a vibrant horn section and a rhythmic percussion beat, tempered by the less-prominent bass and piano. One secret to El Gran Combo's long-lived success has been the group's ability to keep its music evolving and to remain open to new, fresh sounds. In 1971 the band added a trombone to its repertoire, played by Epifanio (Fanny) Ceballo. The recording De Punta a Punta, which won best album at Miami's Gold Record Festival, marked the debut of Ceballo, who remained with the band until his death in 1991.
More changes came for El Gran Combo in the mid-1970s, when Pellin Rodriguez left the band and was eventually replaced by the popular vocalist Charlie Aponte. By 1977 the vocalist Montañez also departed, joining the Venezuelan group La Dimensión Latina. Montañez's departure shocked and saddened fans, but his replacement, Jerry Rivas, soon won over audiences.
In 1984 El Gran Combo toured Alaska, where they produced Breaking the Ice—El Gran Combo en Alaska, which received a Grammy Award nomination. The band toured internationally throughout the 1980s and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1987 with a historic concert at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
Although many music critics thought El Gran Combo was past its peak by the 1990s, the band held on to its core group of devoted fans. "When they had singer Andy Montañez, they used to be the music machine of the Caribbean," Rudolph Mangual, publisher of the Los Angeles dance-music magazine Latin Beat, told the Los Angeles Times in 1996. "Obviously, they're way past their prime, but they're so good that they still matter…. [T]heir collective presence has a unique magnetism."
Although the band is an ensemble, one key figure stands out in El Gran Combo: Ithier, who has either outlasted or outlived the band's other cofounders. Many fans regard him as the group's heart and soul, yet Ithier has always emphasized the band's lack of hierarchy. "[El Gran Combo] has persevered because of its system," Ithier told Billboard magazine. "We share everything: our successes, our failures, our earnings. Everything is evenly distributed. And this is an incentive for the band. Everything we make, we divide."
El Matrimonio
El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico Lyrics
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Cuando las cosas van bien
Nada te molesta
Todo se resuelve
No hay ningun problema
Que felicidad!
Todo se ve tan divino,
Estan viviendo en un sueño
Que ni quieren despertar
Ellos cargan con la suegra
Cuando salen a pasear
Siempre esta contenta
Nunca esta enojada
Les trae la comida
Que felicidad
Y hasta les cuida a los nenes
Cuando salen a bailar
Estan viviendo en un sueño
Que ni quieren despertar
Papi lindo ella le dice
Mamcita el le contesta
Sabiendo que en una de esta
La tormenta llegara
Pero ellos quieren aprovechar
Toda esta oportunidad
Que!
Que ya no quieren ese pan cun pin
Que no les gusta ese pin cun pan
Que el matrimonio es demonio
Si no se sabe llevar
In El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico's song El Matrimonio, the lyrics depict a beautiful and happy marriage where everything is resolved, and there are no problems. The song celebrates the beauty and happiness of marriage when things are going well. The lyrics describe a couple who are living in a dream and don't want to wake up. The wife refers to her husband as "Papi lindo," and he calls her "Mamcita." However, they know that eventually, the storm will come. Despite the inevitable challenges, the couple wants to take advantage of the opportunity they have and continues to enjoy their marriage to the fullest.
The song also reflects on the cultural expectations of marriage. The lyrics portray the wife as a dutiful daughter-in-law who takes care of her husband and her in-laws. She carries her mother-in-law, who is always content and happy, on outings with the family, and she looks after their children when they go dancing. The song also acknowledges the view that marriage can be a demon if it is not dealt with properly. The lyrics suggest that couples must learn to manage the challenges and work together to create a happy and successful marriage.
Line by Line Meaning
Que lindo es el matrimonio
Marriage is beautiful.
Cuando las cosas van bien
When things are going well.
Nada te molesta
Nothing bothers you.
Todo se resuelve
Everything gets resolved.
No hay ningun problema
There are no problems.
Que felicidad!
What happiness!
Todo se ve tan divino,
Everything looks divine,
Todo se ve tan real
Everything seems so real.
Estan viviendo en un sueño
They are living in a dream.
Que ni quieren despertar
That they don't want to wake up from.
Ellos cargan con la suegra
They are burdened with the mother-in-law.
Cuando salen a pasear
When they go for a walk.
Siempre esta contenta
She is always happy.
Nunca esta enojada
She is never angry.
Les trae la comida
She brings them food.
Que felicidad
What happiness.
Y hasta les cuida a los nenes
And she even takes care of their kids.
Cuando salen a bailar
When they go out dancing.
Papi lindo ella le dice
She calls him 'handsome daddy'.
Mamcita el le contesta
He responds by calling her 'mamacita'.
Sabiendo que en una de esta
Knowing that one of these days
La tormenta llegara
The storm will come.
Pero ellos quieren aprovechar
But they want to take advantage of
Toda esta oportunidad
All of this opportunity.
Que!
What!
Que ya no quieren ese pan cun pin
They don't want that same old routine.
Que no les gusta ese pin cun pan
They don't like that dull life.
Que el matrimonio es demonio
That marriage is a demon
Si no se sabe llevar
If you don't know how to handle it.
Contributed by Jasmine K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.