Yma Súmac was born on September 13, 1922 in Callao, El Callao, as Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo. Other dates mentioned in her various biographies range from 1921 to 1929 . Some sources claim that she was not born in Ichocán, but in a nearby village or possibly in Lima, and that her family owned a ranch in Ichocán where she spent most of her early life. It is also claimed that she is an Incan princess directly descended from Atahualpa. The story that she was actually born Amy Camus (Yma Sumac read backwards) in Brooklyn or Canada is a hoax. This reference asserts that she was known as Imma Sumack in recordings made before she went to the U.S.; Capitol Records changed the spelling to the more exotic "Yma Sumac". For a few months, in and around Capitol Records headquarters, it was rumored that Yma Sumac was actually a woman named Amy Camus who worked in the accounting department, but that was eventually disproved by Amy herself in her famous "I can't even sing" memo of August 1951.
She first appeared on radio in 1942 , and married composer and bandleader Moisés Vivanco on June 6 the same year. Using the stage name Imma Sumack, she recorded at least eighteen tracks of Peruvian folk songs in Argentina in 1943 . These early recordings for the Odeon label featured Moisés Vivanco's group, Compañía Peruana de Arte — a group of 46 Indian dancers singers and musicians. In 1946 , Yma Sumac and Vivanco moved to New York City, where she performed with the Inca Taky Trio, with Moisés Vivanco on guitar, Yma Sumac's cousin Cholita Rivero singing contralto and dancing, and Yma Sumac providing the soprano, until being signed by Capitol Records in 1950.
During the 1950s, she produced a series of legendary lounge recordings featuring Hollywood-style versions of Incan and South American folk songs, working with the likes of Les Baxter and Billy May. In 1951, she popularized Jorge Bravo de Rueda's classic song "Vírgenes del Sol". The combination of her extraordinary voice, exotic looks and stage personality made her a hit with American audiences. Sumac even appeared in a Broadway musical, Flahooley, in 1951, as a foreign princess who brings Aladdin's lamp to an American toy factory to have it repaired. The show's score was by Sammy Fain and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, but Sumac's four numbers were the work of Vivanco. Capitol Records, Sumac's home label, recorded the show, which failed but has lived on as a cult classic, in part because it also marked the Broadway debut of Barbara Cook. During the height of Sumac's popularity, she appeared in the films Secret of the Incas (1954) and Omar Khayyam (1957); she became a U.S. citizen July 22, 1955.
In 1957 , she and Vivanco divorced. They remarried that same year before divorcing again in 1965 . They had one son, Charles, born in 1949 . Apparently due to financial difficulties, Yma Sumac and the original Inca Taky Trio went on a world tour in 1961 , which lasted for five years. They performed in 40 cities in the Soviet Union, and afterwards all over Europe, Asia and Latin America. Their performance in Bucharest, Romania was recorded as the album Recital, her only 'live in concert' record. Yma Sumac spent the rest of the 1960s performing sporadically.
In 1971 , she released a rock album, called Miracles, and then returned to live in Peru. She performed in concert from time to time during the 1970s in Peru and later in New York. In the 1980s, she had a number of concerts both in the U.S. and abroad including at New York's The Ballroom in 1987 and several San Francisco shows at the Theatre on the Square among others. In 1987, she also recorded the song "I Wonder" from the Disney film Sleeping Beauty for Stay Awake, an album of songs from Disney movies, produced by Hal Willner. She sang Ataypura during a March 19, 1987 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, appearing alongside actor-comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Murray.
In 1989 , she sang once again at The Ballroom in New York. In March 1990 , she played the role of Heidi in Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in Long Beach, California — her first attempt at 'serious theater' since Flahooley in 1951. She also did several concerts in the summer of 1996 in San Francisco and Hollywood and two more in Montreal, Canada in July 1997 as part of the Montreal International Jazz Festival. She currently lives in Los Angeles.
In 1992, Günther Czernetsky directed a documentary titled Yma Sumac - Hollywoods Inkaprinzessin (Yma Sumac - Hollywood's Inca princess).
On May 2, 2006, Sumac flew to Lima, where she was given the "Orden del Sol" award by Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, and the Jorge Basadre medal by the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.
La Perla De Chira
Yma Súmac Lyrics
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Sultana de las sultanas…
Recuerdo tus marineras
Tus mocitas palanganas…
Paseos en las canoas
Al calor de las mañanas
Aunque lejos yo me encuentre
No te olvidare Sullana…
Recuerdo los picaditos
En casa de la colona
Rico seco de chavelo
Y estilao de la Simona
Sabroso sabor del claro
Servido en un chirihuaco
Además con su cebiche
De caballa y pejeblanco
Y en casa de la cristina
Y también donde bayona
Encajima Rafaela…
Mama de la Asunciona
Eh de volver a mi tierra
En busca de mi gallada
Recordando viejos tiempos
Para seguir la jarana…
Eh de volver a mi tierra
En busca de mi gallada
Recordando viejos tiempos
Hasta la vuelta paisana…
Ya saben que todo el norte
Se vende carne barata
A cinco reales la libra
Y un cholito de yapa…
Ya entro con la segunda… Manolo…
Recuerdo los picaditos
En casa de la colona
Rico seco de chavelo
Y estilao de la Simona
Sabroso sabor del claro
Servido en un chirihuaco
Además con su cebiche
De caballa y pejeblanco
Y en casa de la cristina
Y también donde bayona
Encajina Rafaela…
Mama de la Asunciona
Eh de volver a mi tierra
En busca de mi gallada
Recordando viejos tiempos
Para seguir la jarana…
Eh de volver a mi tierra
En busca de mi gallada
Recordando viejos tiempos
Hasta la vuelta paisana…
The song "La Perla De Chira" by Yma Sumac is a tribute to Sullana, a city in the northwest of Peru. The lyrics talk about the memories the singer has of her hometown and the things that make it special. She remembers the "marineras" and "palanganas" dances, as well as the rides in canoes during the mornings. She reminisces about the picnics and meals she had with her friends, such as "seco de chavelo" and "estilao de la Simona," and the delicious taste of "claro" beer served in a "chirihuaco" container. She also mentions the different families she visited, such as "casa de la cristina" and "donde bayona," and the women who made an impact on her life, like "mama de la Asunciona." The chorus repeats her longing to return to her homeland and reconnect with her "gallada," or group of friends, to continue the party and relive the good times.
Line by Line Meaning
Del chira eres la perla
You, Chira, are a precious gem
Sultana de las sultanas…
Queen of all queens
Recuerdo tus marineras
I remember your dances
Tus mocitas palanganas…
Your flirtatious young women
Paseos en las canoas
Boat rides
Al calor de las mañanas
In the heat of the mornings
Aunque lejos yo me encuentre
Although I am far away
No te olvidare Sullana…
I will not forget you, Sullana
Recuerdo los picaditos
I remember small gatherings
En casa de la colona
At the house of the landowner
Rico seco de chavelo
Delicious dried plantain
Y estilao de la Simona
And stewed meat dish
Sabroso sabor del claro
Tasty clear broth
Servido en un chirihuaco
Served in a wooden bowl
Además con su cebiche
Also with its ceviche
De caballa y pejeblanco
Made with mackerel and whitefish
Y en casa de la cristina
And at the house of Christina
Y también donde bayona
And also where Bayona lives
Encajima Rafaela…
Rafaela weaves lace
Mama de la Asunciona
Mother of Asuncion
Eh de volver a mi tierra
I will return to my homeland
En busca de mi gallada
In search of my gang/friends
Recordando viejos tiempos
Remembering old times
Para seguir la jarana…
To continue the party
Hasta la vuelta paisana…
Until I return, my friend
Ya saben que todo el norte
You all know that in the north
Se vende carne barata
Cheap meat is sold
A cinco reales la libra
For five reales per pound
Y un cholito de yapa…
And an extra little man
Ya entro con la segunda… Manolo…
Manolo enters with the second round
Contributed by Muhammad H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.