The restaurant where he worked as a young man, "La Sirena" was frequented by Andres Huesca, who heard some of his compositions of the then young singer, among which was "Cuando el Destino" and "Yo". Huesca immediately decided to record this and following this in 1948 for the first time on the radio station XEX-AM and months after the XEW-AM, which was catapulted to fame. He married Paloma Gálvez and had two children, José Alfredo and Paloma.
He had no musical training—according to the singer Miguel Aceves Mejía, Jiménez didn't play an instrument and didn't even know the Spanish terms for "waltz" and "key". Nonetheless he composed more than 1000 songs. Among the most famous are "Ella", "Media Vuelta", "El Rey", "El Jinete", "Si Nos Dejan", "Amanecí Entre Tus Brazos", "Cuando el Destino", "El Caballo Blanco", "Llegó Borracho el Borracho" and "Que Te Vaya Bonito", as well as "Camino de Guanajuato", where he sang about his home State of Guanajuato as well as his home town of Dolores Hidalgo Guanajuato.
In addition to his own hit recordings, many of his songs have been recorded successfully by recording artists around the Spanish-speaking world, most notably by Pedro Infante, Rocío Durcal, Javier Solís, Pedro Fernández, Jorge Negrete, Vikki Carr, Luis Miguel, Lola Beltrán, Lucha Villa, Vicente Fernández and by Spaniards Julio Iglesias, Joaquín Sabina and Manolo García.
Jiménez passed at a young age, like others of his contemporaries: Negrete, Infante and Solís, the so-called "Three Mexican Roosters", or Tres Gallos Mexicanos all died young. He was struck-down by hepatitis at age 47 and is regarded, along with Agustín Lara and Juan Gabriel, as one of the best songwriters that Mexico has ever produced. He was certainly one of the most prolific composers in the history of popular music, world-wide.
Shortly before his death, he wrote and recorded his last song, "Gracias", thanking the public for all of the affection they had shown him. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for serious music fans from around the Spanish-speaking world.
Tu Recuerdo En Cuatro Copas
José Alfredo Jiménez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
oyendo una canción que yo pedí,
me estan sirviendo ahorita mi tequila
ya va mi pensamiento rumbo a ti.
Yo sé que tu recuerdo es
mi desgracia, y vengo aqui nomás a recordar,
que amarga son las cosas que nos pasan
Quien no sabe en esta vida la traición
tan conocida que nos deja
un mal amor.
Quien no llega a la cantina
exigiendo su tequila y exigiendo
su canción, me están sirviendo ya la
del estribo ahorita ya no se si tengo fé.
Ahorita solamente
yo les pido que toquen
otra vez la que se fue.
Quien no sabe en esta vida la traición
tan conocida que nos deja
un mal amor.
Quien no llega a la cantina
exigiendo su tequila y exigiendo
su canción, me están sirviendo ya la
del estribo ahorita ya no se si tengo fé.
Ahorita solamente
yo les pido que toquen
otra vez la que se fue.
The lyrics to Jose Alfredo Jimenez's song "Tu Recuerdo En Cuatro Copas" tell the story of a man who is sitting alone in a cantina, listening to a song that he requested. As he drinks tequila and remembers his past, his thoughts turn to an old lover whose memory still haunts him. He laments that her memory is his undoing, and that bitter experiences with women who have wronged him have left him feeling alone and betrayed. Despite this, he pleads with the musicians to play another song that will bring her memory back to him, showing how her memory still holds a strong hold on his heart.
Line by Line Meaning
Estoy en el rincón de una cantina oyendo una canción que yo pedí
I am in the corner of a bar, listening to a song that I requested
Me estan sirviendo ahorita mi tequila ya va mi pensamiento rumbo a ti
My tequila is being served right now and my thoughts are already headed towards you
Yo sé que tu recuerdo es mi desgracia, y vengo aqui nomás a recordar
I know that memories of you bring me nothing but misery, and I'm only here to remember
Que amarga son las cosas que nos pasan con hay una mujer que paga mal
How bitter things can be when there's a woman who treats us badly
Quien no sabe en esta vida la traición tan conocida que nos deja un mal amor
Who doesn't know the well-known betrayal that comes with a bad love in this life
Quien no llega a la cantina exigiendo su tequila y exigiendo su canción, me están sirviendo ya la del estribo ahorita ya no se si tengo fé
Who doesn't arrive at the bar demanding their tequila and their song, they are already serving me the spur song right now and I don't know if I have faith anymore
Ahorita solamente yo les pido que toquen otra vez la que se fue
Right now, I just ask them to play again the one that's gone
Contributed by Chloe V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Freddy Torrealba
Solo un genio musical como compositor y musico como Jose Alfredo podia hacer lo que hizo en esta combinacion musical con tres de sus mejores canciones, Tu recuerdo y yo, cuatro copas y la que se fue...una verdadera joya musical.
Carolina Coronado Olivares
Efectivamente omar un grande , si no es que fue el mejor
SuperVivelamusica
dos estupendas interpretaciones en una tu recuerdo y yo y cuatro copas buenisimas
enriqueodilon gomezlima
En el 2021 la escucho por primera vez y me fascina y rectifico es cantante no musico y es canta autor Y LO MEJOR DE MÉXICO Y ESTO LO MANDO PARA ZITÁCUARO MICH. EL NARANJO........
Christian Morrison
Puro Guanajuato
George Guzman-Cisneros
El Lp, no hay nada mejor, " Oh te
George Guzman-Cisneros
La invito"