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."
Gotas De Lluvia
El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
sobre una gota, una gota dejando huellas
asi eres tu, mujer divina
que va dejando en mi vida huellas de pasion
si tu te vas
yo no se que voy a hacer
sin tus caricias
solo se
que tu has dejado huellas
que son dificil
dificil de borrar
reina mia yo solo se
que tu has dejado huellas
que son dificil
dificil de borrar
no me hagas padecer
el dia que tu te vayas ese dia morire
no me hagas padecer
tu no me dejes ahora boba
ahora es cuando es
no me hagas padecer
todo lo que ansio es tan dulce
tan tan dulce como tu
no me hagas padecer
como fue... je
no se decirte como fue
no me hagas padecer
yo solo se que ha primera vista
de ti me enamore
no me hagas padecer
si no eres tu mi negra
nadie podra ser
no me hagas padecer
parece que fue ayer
que eras mi novia
ahora mi mujer
no me hagas padecer
tu no me hagas
tu no me hagas
china padecer
no me hagas padecer
siento que voy por las nubes
tu no me dejes caer
no me hagas padecer
como podre reina mia expresar este amor
amor amor amor amor amor
amor amor que me da la vida
no me hagas padecer
eres parte de mi vida
mujer divina, divina mujer
no me hagas padecer
que linda, que rica, que buena, que bella, que dulce te ves
no me hagas padecer
sin tu querer no se que hacer
The song "Gotas de Lluvia" by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico is a romantic ballad that expresses the emotions of an enamored man to his lover. The opening verses compare the woman to a raindrop that leaves a trace on everything it touches. The singer is deeply in love with her and fears losing her affection. He admits that his life would be incomplete without her tender kisses, and he cannot bear the thought of her leaving him. He acknowledges that she has made a lasting impression on his life, and he cannot forget her love.
The rest of the song is an earnest plea to his beloved to remain with him. The man claims that he will do anything to make her stay and that he cannot live without her. He begs her not to leave him and to express her love for him. The lyrics express the passion and devotion of the man and suggest that they have a deep and complicated relationship. The song is an ode to the complexity of love and how it can shape one's life.
Line by Line Meaning
Como una gota de lluvia que va cayendo
You are like a falling raindrop leaving a trail behind, my divine woman.
sobre una gota, una gota dejando huellas
Just like a drop of water leaving a distinct mark, you too are leaving your passionate impact on my life.
asi eres tu, mujer divina
You are a divine woman with an indelible impression on me.
que va dejando en mi vida huellas de pasion
You are leaving passionate marks in my life.
si tu te vas
My love, if you leave me,
yo no se que voy a hacer
I don't know how to go on without you.
sin tus caricias
Without your tender touch,
tus besos y tu amor
Your love and kisses,
solo se
All I know is that
que tu has dejado huellas
You left marks on me.
que son dificil
That are difficult
dificil de borrar
To erase!
reina mia yo solo se
My queen, all I know is that
no me hagas padecer
Please, don't make me suffer.
el dia que tu te vayas ese dia morire
The day you leave me is the day I die.
tu no me dejes ahora boba
Don't leave me now, my love.
ahora es cuando es
Now is the time to hold on.
todo lo que ansio es tan dulce
All I long for is as sweet as you.
tan tan dulce como tu
As sweet as you!
como fue... je
How it happened... hmm.
yo solo se que ha primera vista
All I know is that I fell in love with you at first sight.
de ti me enamore
I fell in love with you.
si no eres tu mi negra
If you're not mine, no other woman can be.
nadie podra ser
No one else can be.
parece que fue ayer
It seems like yesterday.
que eras mi novia
When you were my girlfriend.
ahora mi mujer
Now, you are my wife.
tu no me hagas
Don't make me
china padecer
suffer, my dear.
siento que voy por las nubes
I feel like I'm floating on clouds.
tu no me dejes caer
Don't let me fall,
como podre reina mia expresar este amor
How can I express this love of mine, my queen?
amor amor amor amor amor
Love, love, love, love, love!
amor amor que me da la vida
Love, love, that gives me life!
eres parte de mi vida
You are a part of my life,
mujer divina, divina mujer
Divine woman, woman divine.
que linda, que rica, que buena, que bella, que dulce te ves
You look beautiful, rich, good, lovely, and sweet.
sin tu querer no se que hacer
Without your love, I don't know what to do.
Contributed by Vivian Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@lopz33
Un día como hoy, 25 de agosto de 1955, nació en Tampa, Florida, Estados Unidos, Jerry Louis Rivas Díaz, cantautor y tresero de ascendencia boricua. ¡Felicitaciones, Maestro! 🎉🎶🎤✍🎵🎊😀😀😀😀😀
@ricardohernandezgarcia8118
Estos señores los trajeron de otro planeta no tienen fin
@matildesalas7287
Canción inolvidable mi esposo ❤tqm amor x siempre parece que fuera Ayer an pasado 24 años ❤
@user-pq2sx2le9c
Esto si es musica !!!
@luisernestogonzalezvalenci9679
LLEVO 30 AÑOS CON MI ESPOSA Y EN EL COLEGIO LE DEDIQUE ESTA CANCION...Y SIGUE SIENDO MI GOT DE LLUVIA
@danielfabra4924
Esta canción en especial es tan bien hecha que siempre será un verdadero placer escucharla, saludos desde Colombia 🇨🇴
@silviaruthcoloradomunoz6479
Es sin duda uno de los mejores temas del Gran Combo de Puerto reo yla voz más querida de dicha agrupación únicos
@stevencandelapoveda2302
¿Quien la escuchará hasta que sea viejo y con su pareja al lado?
El mejor tema de El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.
#VivaLaSalsa
@pedrollucha7962
💪🏽💪🏽
@eduardomunoz3535
Asi es