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."
Falsaria
El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
El juramento aquel era fingido.
Sólo siento, mujer, haber creido
Que eras el angel que yo habia soñado.
Con que te vendes eh! Noticia grata.
No por eso te odio y te desprecio;
Aunque tengo poco oro y poca plata
y en materia de compras soy un necio.
Sé que algun dia bajaras de precio.
Oye Salomé, perdónala, perdónala
Oye Salomé, perdónala, perdónala
(Piano solo)
Y pa' que la perdone, el hombre de las patillas blancas: Rafael Ithier.
(Piano solo)
Oye Salomé, perdónala, perdónala
In El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico's song Falsaria, the singer is expressing their disappointment and hurt over being deceived by their lover's false affections. The lyrics recall the moment when the lover's vow of love was proven to be insincere, leaving the singer regretful that they had believed in the lover's angelic facade. Despite the lover's betrayal, the singer declares that they do not hate or despise the lover, but rather hopes that the lover will eventually become more reasonable and genuine. The song's melodious instrumentals, including a solo piano part, add to the emotional depth of the lyrics.
The irony of the situation is also highlighted in the lyrics. The singer, who claims to be financially limited and a poor shopper, finds it amusing that the lover is selling herself at such a high price. However, in the end, the singer wants to forgive the lover and move on from the deception. The song is a testament to the band's ability to create catchy and relatable tunes, blending traditional salsa rhythms with contemporary elements.
Line by Line Meaning
Cuan falso fué tu amor, me has engañado.
Your love was false and deceiving, you have betrayed me.
El juramento aquel era fingido.
That promise you made was fake and insincere.
Sólo siento, mujer, haber creido
I regret believing, woman,
Que eras el angel que yo habia soñado.
that you were the angel I had dreamed of.
Con que te vendes eh! Noticia grata.
So you sell yourself, what a pleasant surprise.
No por eso te odio y te desprecio;
But I don't hate or despise you for it;
Aunque tengo poco oro y poca plata
even though I have little gold and silver,
y en materia de compras soy un necio.
and when it comes to shopping, I'm a fool.
Espero a que te pongas mas barata
I'll wait until you lower your price,
Sé que algun dia bajaras de precio.
I know someday you will become more affordable.
Oye Salomé, perdónala, perdónala
Listen Salomé, forgive her, forgive her
Oye Salomé, perdónala, perdónala
Listen Salomé, forgive her, forgive her
(Piano solo)
Y pa' que la perdone, el hombre de las patillas blancas: Rafael Ithier.
And to forgive her, the man with the white sideburns: Rafael Ithier.
(Piano solo)
Oye Salomé, perdónala, perdónala
Listen Salomé, forgive her, forgive her
Writer(s): Miguel Matamoros
Contributed by Maria Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@PedroRamos-wi7dm
LA ESCUCHE POR VEZ PRIMERA EN 1968 TENÍA 11 AÑOS AHORA 2023 CON 65 AÑOS LA SIGO GOZANDO LO MAXIMO EL GRAN COMBO DE PUERTO RICO...SALUDOS DESDE PERU 🇵🇪
@isabelramos9986
Es música de primera que se quedó para muestra por siempree
@isabelramos9986
🎉😍🌹🥳😂🌟💯⭐
@pepillomatagonzalez9527
Yo la escuchaba cuando veía la película Viva tepito , pero por estar viendo a los artistas nunca en la vida escuché la letra 😅
Ahorita en un momento de tranquilidad la pusieron el la estación de radio y me dio tiempo de escucharla bien analizando la letra 😂 esta buena la canción
Se me hace un poco arrabalera pero buena
😂
Solo saquenme de una duda
Salome es el hombre que dedica la letra o Salome es la mujer de la vida alegre?
@MiguelMorales-nl5kk
Pasarán generaciones tras generaciones y jamás pasarán de moda.
@juancordova4549
Gracias gracias puerto rico por tanto sabor que has aportado a nuestros pueblos latinos .Yo como mexicano te agradesco de corazon por tus musicos y canciones que me llenan de alegria y gozo.
@jorgeenriquez7784
Gran combo inigualables
@user-qo4yp3ot4n
Amigo. Escucha. Es buena esta canción. Yo soy su hincha. Después ausencia de Héctor Lavoe. Vámonos Almonte de Eddy Palmieri..los 3. Mejores tema que escuchado de la isla del encanto puerto.Ricoo. De Norteamérica.
@gkgs3532
Acoplamiento perfecto..voz ..instrumentos y tiempo..oiga la epoca de oro de la salsa..tiempos que no volveran
@abelahuja8980
Es un gran tema y luego interpretó por el gran combo. Jamás pasará de moda.