Guillermo Portabales (6 April 1911 – 25 October 1970) was a Cuban singer-so… Read Full Bio ↴Guillermo Portabales (6 April 1911 – 25 October 1970) was a Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist who popularized that guajira style of Cuban music from the 1930s through the 1960s. His languid, melancholy, intensely lyrical guajiras and his elegant, stylish singing made him greatly popular throughout Latin America, where he is still revered.

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.

Guateque Campesino
Guillermo Portabales Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Hay guateque en el bohío
del compadre Juan Ramón.
Ya está en la puya el lechón,
ya está llegando el gentío.
Hoy viene abajo 'el bohío
es santo de Juan Ramón.

Y llegando bailadoras, comay, (1)

por los caminos atascaos.

Hoy lucen sus guayaberas,
sus polainas y sus machetes.
Los guajiros a la sitiera
engalanan el guateque.
Hoy rompen los taburetes
y se cae la talanquera.

El bongó, el tiple y el güiro
no han cesado de tocar,
porque así son los guajiros,
no tienen cuándo acabar;
es costumbre en los guajiros (2)
desde el tiempo colonial.

Ya la comadre Caruca
con tres piedras hizo el fogón.
Ya está sancochá la yuca,
ya está el mojo pa'l lechón

y ya Juan Ramón fue en busca (3)
del plátano verde y pintón.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Guillermo Portabales's song Guateque Campesino describe a lively rural party taking place at the home of a man named Juan Ramón. The party-goers are arriving, dressed in their finest clothes and carrying traditional instruments like the bongó, tiple, and güiro. The lyrics also mention the roasted suckling pig (lechón) that is already on the spit and the yucca and plantains that are being prepared to accompany it. The party is so big that the bohío (a traditional rural home) is coming apart at the seams.

The song captures the exuberance and joy of a rural party in Latin America. It celebrates the traditional customs and music of the region while also highlighting the importance of community and coming together. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of the scene, with girls in their typical dance dresses and men wearing guayaberas (traditional shirts) and machetes (a small, sharp sword). The party-goers are described as being happy and care-free, dancing non-stop and not wanting the festivities to end.

Overall, the lyrics to Guateque Campesino represent a celebration of life in rural Latin America. The song is a tribute to the beauty and vitality of the region and its people.

Line by Line Meaning

Hay guateque en el bohío del compadre Juan Ramón.
There's a party in the hut of our friend Juan Ramón.

Ya está en la puya el lechón, ya está llegando el gentío.
The pig is on the spit, and people are starting to arrive.

Hoy viene abajo 'el bohío es santo de Juan Ramón.
The hut will be destroyed by the end of the party in honor of Juan Ramón.

Y llegando bailadoras, comay, por los caminos atascaos.
Women dancers are arriving on the crowded roads.

Hoy lucen sus guayaberas, sus polainas y sus machetes.
Today, the country folks are showing off their best attire, including guayaberas, boots, and even machetes.

Los guajiros a la sitiera engalanan el guateque.
The country folks are decorating the party with flowers and other decorations.

Hoy rompen los taburetes y se cae la talanquera.
Today, the party is so crazy that even the stools and the fence are breaking down.

El bongó, el tiple y el güiro no han cesado de tocar, porque así son los guajiros, no tienen cuándo acabar;
The music of the bongó, tiple, and güiro are non-stop since the country people have a habit of continuing the party endlessly.

es costumbre en los guajiros desde el tiempo colonial.
This is a tradition of the country folks since colonial times.

Ya la comadre Caruca con tres piedras hizo el fogón.
Comadre Caruca has set up the fire with three rocks.

Ya está sancochá la yuca, ya está el mojo pa'l lechón
The yucca is cooked and the sauce for the pig is ready.

y ya Juan Ramón fue en busca del plátano verde y pintón.
Juan Ramón is now looking for green and ripe plantain.

Writer(s): Celia Romero

Contributed by Alaina C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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