Portabales was born José Guillermo Quesada del Catillo in the province of Rodas, in the former department of Las Villas.
At age 11, Portabales began work as a printer's assistant in Cienfuegos.
In 1928, he made his radio debut on the station CMHI, and from then on divided his time between his work as a printer and performing.
In the beginning, Portabales sang a variety of styles -- canción, tango, bolero, son until he discovered that his listeners enjoyed the guajira the most. He thereby refined the style and developed his signature salon guajira style in which he depicted in bucolic terms the life of the Cuban guajira (the rural campesino). Portabales sang and played guitar, accompanied bass and percussion. His guajiras have a gentle, lilting rhythm, mixing elements of the traditional son and the bolero.
Portabales continued to perform and perfect the guajira in eastern Cuba (the Orient) until invited to Puerto Rico in 1936. Portabales became instantly enamored of the neighboring Caribbean island and remained there for several years, singing in theaters, clubs and on the radio. In 1939, he married the puertoriqueña Arah Mina López, a journalist who joined him as toured Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, New York, and Tampa.
In 1940, Portabales returned to Havana to perform on stage and on radio with the Trio Matamoros. He also made a successful tour of United States and took an extended stay in Baranquilla, Colombia.
In 1953, Portabales finally settled for good in Puerto Rico, where he continued to record and perform and from where he made occasional tours of the continent. During the 1960s, he expressed his opposition to the Cuban Revolution in several compositions in discreetly poetic terms.
Portabales' career was tragically cut short when he died at age 59 in a traffic accident on Puerto Rico in 1970.
Al Vaiv N De Mi Carreta
Guillermo Portabales Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Los gallos están cantando
Compadre, están anunciando
Que ya empieza la jornada bien
Eh, entra el año y sale el año
Trabajo de sol a sol
Y cada día estoy peor
Cuando llegaré... cuando llegaré al bohío
Cuando llegaré... cuando llegaré al bohío
Eh, trabajo pa′ no sé quien
Que refrán más verdadero
Sudando por un dinero
Que en la mano no se ve, ya ves
Triste vida la del carretero
Que anda por esos cañaverales
Sabiendo que su vida es un destierro
Se alegra con sus cantares
Cuando llegaré... cuando llegaré al bohío
Cuando llegaré... cuando llegaré al bohío
In Guillermo Portabales's song Al Vaivén De Mi Carreta, the lyrics describe the life of a carter or a carretero who is going through the difficult and monotonous daily routine of working from dawn to dusk. The song begins with the roosters announcing the arrival of dawn, which symbolizes the start of another day of labor for the carretero. He expresses his weariness and frustration with life, saying that each day he is worse off than the last. His reflective and melancholic tone is conveyed through his repetition of the phrase "cuando llegaré al bohío" or "when will I arrive at the hut." It conveys a sense of longing for something more in life and a desire for an end to his endless toil.
Throughout the song, Portabales uses vivid imagery to paint a picture of the carretero's difficult life. He refers to the proverb "trabajo de sol a sol" or "working from sun up to sun down" to highlight the long and arduous hours the carretero spends working. The carretero toils for an unknown boss, not knowing who he is working for and what his precise contribution is. The chorus, which repeats lines about the carretero's longing to return to his humble abode, the bohío, where he can find refuge from his toil, highlights the carretero's discontentment with his current life.
Line by Line Meaning
Eh, se acerca la madrugada
Hey, dawn is approaching
Los gallos están cantando
The roosters are crowing
Compadre, están anunciando
Friend, they are announcing
Que ya empieza la jornada bien
That the workday is commencing well
Eh, entra el año y sale el año
Hey, the years come and go
Trabajo de sol a sol
Working from sunrise to sunset
Y cada día estoy peor
And every day I am worse
Compadre, que desengaño, bien
Friend, what a disappointment, well
Cuando llegaré... cuando llegaré al bohío
When will I arrive... when will I arrive at my humble home
Cuando llegaré... cuando llegaré al bohío
When will I arrive... when will I arrive at my humble home
Eh, trabajo para no sé quien
Hey, work for someone I don't know
Que refrán más verdadero
What a true saying
Sudando por un dinero
Sweating for money
Que en la mano no se ve, ya ves
That you don't see in your hand, you see
Triste vida la del carretero
Sad life of the cart driver
Que anda por esos cañaverales
Who walks through those sugar cane fields
Sabiendo que su vida es un destierro
Knowing that their life is an exile
Se alegra con sus cantares
Finding joy in their songs
Cuando llegaré... cuando llegaré al bohío
When will I arrive... when will I arrive at my humble home
Cuando llegaré... cuando llegaré al bohío
When will I arrive... when will I arrive at my humble home
Writer(s): Antonio Fernandez Ortiz
Contributed by Zachary J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Eliecer Landaeta
Que buena música, éxitos universales, vivirá por siempre en el corazón de cada quien, único.
Mike Nagle
Wonderful album. Thank you.
titio jurado
GUILLERMO PORTABALES EL REY DE LA GUAJIRA DE SALON UN ICONO DE LA MUSICA CUBANA CON UN GRA RIBETE INTERNACIONAL PARTICULARMENTE EN ECUADOR.
Josefina PeñaHerrera
Guillermo Portables el Rey dela Guagirs qu hermosa letra y vos exótica me facina Cuba la conozco x películas Mexicanas los Amo
Josefina PeñaHerrera
bViva Cuba x tener grandes intérpretes Gracias x toda las música
Edward Fonseca
Pa' los conocedores🎶Ahiii😎
Edward Fonseca
Gosaaa 🎶🎵🎶COLUMBIA😁
Andrew Mittelman
You did a good thing. Thanks.
Y-l'yukne Bayonne Addo
I thought this album was from 1968.