Paulito's band, the Élite, has always been exceptional, but in 1997 he assembled the truly amazing collection of musicians who collaborated to create one of Timba's crown jewels, Paulito's masterpiece, "Con la Conciencia Tranquila". This album is definitely the starting point for those getting into Paulito's music for the first time. It's his best, and also one of the best, if not the best of the entire Timba genre.
In the early years, Paulito had tours of duty with Dan Den and Adalberto Álvarez, but it was in Opus 13 that he met up with Juan Ceruto, who would be his musical director and arrange almost all of his compositions throughout the 90's. Ceruto, a saxophonist gifted with absolute pitch and a Mozartean ability to conceive entire arrangement in his head without the help of a piano or computer, is also a perfectionist in terms of intonation and phrasing in the horn section. Ceruto, now widely acknowledged for writing and recording exquisite horn arrangements on any number of recent Cuban productions, put together what might be the best horn section in the history of Timba, featuring among others, the brilliant Alexander Abreu on trumpet. Paulito and Ceruto had a special and enduring creative chemistry that resulted in four and a half excellent albums in which almost every song was written by Paulito and arranged by Ceruto. The first was "Tú No Me Calculas". They later latched onto one of Timba's finest trap drummers, Joel Paez, and recorded "Sofocándote". Next they added Tomás Cruz, an extremely creative young conguero who now plays with Manolín in Miami, and Yosvel Bernal, a multi-talented keyboardist/singer/trombonist, and the nephew of Los Van Van's Edmundo Pina. This group recorded the album prior to "Con la Conciencia" which was released twice, with the same eleven tracks in different orders. The Nueva Fania version is simply called "Paulito" and shows PFG in a white suit against a white background. The other release is called "El Bueno Soy Yo". I'll have a lot more detail on these three albums and as well as Paulito recording prior to the formation the the Élite when I do the full series of Paulito pages, but my current impression is that the Élite really began to leap into creative fray of the Timba revolution with this third disc.
Regardless, there's no question whatsoever that all of the pieces fell together when synth player Sergio Noroña took over on piano and young Joel Domínguez was added on bass. Noroña, (who also has an uncle in Los Van Van!) ranks among the top few figures in the history of Timba piano playing, and his ultra-creative tumbaos blended magically with Ceruto's horn arrangments, as did the bass tumbaos of Domínguez who himself would go on to become the top-notch arranger responible for the Grammy-nominated arrangement of Issac Delgado's "La Fórmula". Joel is currently in Spain and timba.com is close to completing an interview with him. More fiery creativity came from Paez and Tomás Cruz in form of potent bloques and improvised percussion fills.Not to be overlooked is the sparse and creative campana bell style of bongocero Luis Chacón and the pristine coros of Noroña, Bernal and Paulito's talented sister Ana, and the tasteful guitar-playing of Rogelio Nápoles, brother of Manolín's bassist Victoriano Nápoles.
The creative chemistry of this highly-disciplined and rigorously-rehearsed group was something to behold. "Con la Conciencia Tranquila" is the perfect amalgamation of Paulito's songs, Ceruto's arrangements, and the ultra-creative rhythm section hooks of Noroña, the two Joeles, Yosvel Bernal and wonderfully melodic conguero, Tomás Cruz. And as a performing unit, the Élite of 1997 could go head to head with the monster Issac Delgado group that recorded "Rarities". If one were blessed with a Timba Time Machine, its default setting would have to be 1997. On any given night, Havana's blazing nightclub scene might feature the Charanga Habanera of "Tremendo Delirio", the Los Van Van of "Esto Te Pone La Cabeza Mala", the Manolín band of "De Buena Fe", the Bamboleo of "Yo No Me Parezco a Nadie", the Klimax of "Juego de Manos" and of course the twin juggernauts of Issac and Paulito. Incredibly, 1997 witnessed what was arguably the greatest incarnation of each of these seven groups.
Immediately after "Con la Conciencia Tranquila", the band recorded radio demos of "La Última Bala" (which was later re-recorded and retitled as "Una Vez Más" on the 2000 release), and possibly Paulito's greatest arrangement, the sublime "Laura No Está", which was inexplicably never released on a commercially available album. Then began a long series of personnel changes.
Paulito himself, while his outward image is that of a matinee idol surrounded by legions of adoring young female fans, is actually an extremely intelligent musician, with a highly developed ability to improvise both notes and words. He plays with the melodies and phrasing of his songs much more than most other Timba singers and has shown an extraordinary talent for spontaneously inventing guías in the heat of performance. He also has excellent pitch and phrasing and bootleg live recordings show him to be among the most consistently excellent Timba vocalists on the concert stage, where a singer must ply his or her craft without the benefit of modern recording techniques to make each note perfect.
So Paulito's glamorous and glitzy diva image belies the fact that he's also one of the best and most intelligent musicians in Timba. Somewhat tragically, however, his intelligence has occasionally failed him badly in terms of correctly assessing the value of keeping his band together. In defense of Mr. FG's legendary penchant for underpaying his musicians, the dynamics of the Havana scene are such that:
1) bandleaders tend to make many times more money that the sum of his sidemen
2) musicians are known to jump to other bands with frequency
3) the huge amount of young talent allows the bandleaders to quickly regroup when faced with defections.
But in 1997, both Issac and Paulito had musicians who could not be replaced so easily, if at all. Melón, Ceruto, Alain Pérez, the Joeles (Domínguez and Paez) -- these musicians were much more than sidemen. They were critically important creative figures without whose contributions, Timba as we know it would not exist. And they played together with a rhythmic fire that can't be described in words. It simply has to be heard. And yet, both Issac and Paulito were guilty of letting these historically great bands fall apart. The difference was that while Issac's band went to Spain, Paulito's went ot Issac!
We'll give you the blow by blow on all of this high drama and juicy chisme when we get to the full-blown sections on Paulito and Issac, but for now, we continue with the Paulito F.G. saga. Paulito managed to keep a steady flow of brilliant pianistic talent - from Noroña to Pepe Rivero to Yaniel "El Majá" Matos to Rolando Luna to Roberto "Cucurucho" Carlos, who has just recently joined Los Van Van. The Joeles were replaced by Mauricio Herrera and Cristobal Verdecia, both excellent. And so the group continued on, developing the excellent arrangements which form the core of "Una Vez Más...Por Amor", but partway through the recording of that album, Paulito lost Ceruto, who now concentrates on his own projects and on collaborations with (you guessed it) Issac Delgado. Alexander Abreu, generally considered the top lead trumpet player in Cuba, also departed.
In 2002, Paulito still has a fantastic band, but so far we haven't heard new material from him of the calibre of "Con la Conciencia" and the best of "Una Vez Más". Fortunately, recent live performances show Paulito's singing and stage manner to be stronger than ever and he still has quite an excellent and well-rehearsed band. The next album should be extremely interesting indeed. One rumor has Dariel Tellez, of Charanga Forever, taking over on piano for the Élite. Another has Paulito collaborating with Sergio George, who by the way is also rumored to be collaborating with Bamboleo, but it's been quite a while since those reports surfaced and it's seeming less and less likely that anything will come of them. There's a lot of uncertainty revolving around the fates of several major Timba bands in 2002 and Paulito's is one of them.
A BRIEF SECTION ON PAULITO'S EARLY HISTORY:
Paulo Alfonso Fernandez Gallo born on January 11,1962 in Buena Vista, one of the most popular neighborhoods in Havana.
As a young child he was inspired by such legendary musical figures as Benny Moré, Juan Formell and Pacho Alonso. However, his undeniable talent for music was inherited his from his mother Caridad Gallo, a pianist and poet. She use to asked him to sing along with her while she played the piano, teaching him the vocal lines, harmony, melody and bass.
His big career break came when legendary musician Adalberto Álvarez discovered and recruited him after recognizing his passion for singing. In 1990 he joined Opus 13 and in 1991 assumed leadership and turned it into Paulito F.G. y su Elite. Since then he has consistantly been one of Cuba's hottest performers captivating audiences of all ages, races and cultural backgrounds.
Te Bote
Paulo FG Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
que no teniamos nada que ver.
Tu sabes que yo lo nuestro acabe
porque no habia mas nada que hacer.
Y ahora no le cuentes mentiras a la gente
porque tu sabes bien que yo fui el que te bote.
Y ahora no le inventes historias a la gente
ay mama, acuerdate
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote
Tu sabes bien porque yo te deje
sabes tambien que no voy a volver.
Yo ya he perdido todo el interes
y por favor no me preguntes porque.
Te pido no le cuentes mentiras a la gente
porque tu sabes que yo fui quien el que te bote
me gusta no le inventes historias a la gente
ay mama, acuerdate
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote
Y te di el bote por tu despelote
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote.
Te di el bate por tu...?
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote
Te di la pira por tus mentiras.
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote
Te di la pata por tu recholata.
ay mama, acuerdate
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote
Y ya no engañes mas a la gente niña
que esa mentira mira nunca te la van a creer.
ay mama, acuerdate
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote
Te deje sola en la Habana
porque se que no me amabas.
Yo te bote
ay mama, acuerdate
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote.
ay quien te va a creer
quien te va a creer chiquitica.
ay mama, acuerdate
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote
Ahora no me pongas mala cara
camina como Juana la Cubana camina
yo fui el que te bote
yo fui el que te bote
Si te preguntan como es
di la verdad que yo te bote.
Di la verdad que te quise mucho
pero lo echaste a perder.
Si te preguntan como es
di la verdad que yo te bote.
Porque ese amor que yo te di
era todo para ti
para hacerte muy feliz
y tu acabastes con el.
Si te preguntan como es
di la verdad que yo te bote.
Por eso ahora
ya no te vuelvo a dar mi cariñito lindo otravez.
di la verdad que yo te bote
The lyrics of Paulo FG's song "Te boté" tells a story of a failed relationship. The singer addresses his ex-partner, reminding her that he was the one who ended their relationship because they had nothing in common anymore. He requests that she stop lying to people and telling fake stories about their breakup. The singer made it clear that he was the one who ended the relationship, and he does not want anyone to think otherwise. He accuses his ex-partner of not loving him and making things difficult for him during their time together. The chorus repeats the phrase, "Yo fui el que te boté," which translates to "I was the one who threw you out," reinforcing that he was the one who ended things between them.
Line by Line Meaning
Tu sabes que yo contigo termine
You know that I ended things with you.
que no teniamos nada que ver.
That we had nothing in common.
Tu sabes que yo lo nuestro acabe
You know that I put an end to our affair.
porque no habia mas nada que hacer.
Because there was nothing more to be done about it.
Y ahora no le cuentes mentiras a la gente
And now you should not lie to people.
porque tu sabes bien que yo fui el que te bote.
Because you know very well that I was the one who ditched you.
Y ahora no le inventes historias a la gente
And now do not make up stories to people.
porque tu sabes bien que yo fui el que te bote
Because you know very well that I was the one who ditched you.
ay mama, acuerdate
Oh mama, remember.
yo fui el que te bote
I was the one who ditched you.
yo fui el que te bote
I was the one who ditched you.
Tu sabes bien porque yo te deje
You know very well why I left you.
sabes tambien que no voy a volver.
You also know that I am not coming back.
Yo ya he perdido todo el interes
I have already lost all interest.
y por favor no me preguntes porque.
And please do not ask me why.
Te pido no le cuentes mentiras a la gente
I ask you not to lie to people.
porque tu sabes que yo fui quien el que te bote
Because you know I was the one who ditched you.
me gusta no le inventes historias a la gente
I like it, do not make up stories to people.
Y te di el bote por tu despelote
And I ditched you because of your mess.
Te di el bate por tu...?
I ditched you for your...?
Te di la pira por tus mentiras.
I ditched you for your lies.
Te di la pata por tu recholata.
I ditched you for your nonsense.
ay quien te va a creer
Oh, who's going to believe you?
quien te va a creer chiquitica.
Who's going to believe you, little girl?
Ahora no me pongas mala cara
Now don't give me a sour face.
camina como Juana la Cubana camina
Walk, walk like Juana la Cubana.
Si te preguntan como es
If they ask you what happened.
di la verdad que yo te bote.
Tell them the truth, that I was the one who ditched you.
Di la verdad que te quise mucho
Tell them the truth, that I loved you a lot.
pero lo echaste a perder.
But you ruined it.
Porque ese amor que yo te di
Because that love I gave you.
era todo para ti
Was everything for you.
para hacerte muy feliz
To make you very happy.
y tu acabastes con el.
And you destroyed it.
Por eso ahora
That's why now.
ya no te vuelvo a dar mi cariñito lindo otravez.
I will not give you my sweet love again.
Contributed by Sadie I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@julikanunez786
Quién que estuvo el la celia Sánchez manduley de holguin recuerda este temazo?
@ElsaMaA
Qué hombre tan rechulísimo!!!!
@lillevylaugart3764
2019 🇨🇺manera de bailar con esto
@gerardosaldanaperez
Esta muy chibgona me gusta esta canción ese ritmo esta de lujo
@noemifrometa9310
Pablito tu eres muy bueno completo soy tu fans fiel.
@PaulitoFG
gracias 🙏
@johannacarabaligarcia7229
Recuerdos qué Rico
@PaulitoFG
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
@julikanunez786
Pegajoso 🎉❤
@marleneruz9791
Que recuerdo hace 10 años no escuchaba esta canción como la baile jaja