Daniel Santos

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Daniel Santos , full name Daniel Doroteo Santos Betancourt (born February 5, 1916 in Santurce , Puerto Rico ; † November 27, 1992 in Ocala , Florida ), known as "El Jefe" and "El Inquieto Anacobero", was one of the most important Singer and composer of Latin American popular music.

Life

Daniel Santos grew up in the Barrio Trastalleres of Santurce. He had to end school after the fourth grade in order to financially support his parents as a shoe shine. In 1924 the family came to New York City , where Santos went back to school, learned English and sang in the school choir. At the age of fourteen he took up his own apartment.

By chance he was discovered by a member of the Trío Lírico , with whom he soon appeared regularly in the Borinquen Social Club . In 1938 he met Pedro Flores , who took him into his group, El Cuarteto Flores . With the group, which also included Myrta Silva and later Pedro Ortiz Dávila , Santos became known and sang numerous popular songs, including Despedida (1941) and Linda (1942), which Flores had composed for him.

He then became a member of the orchestra of Xavier Cugat , succeeding Miguelito Valdés , before being drafted into the US Army for military service. During this time he approached the Puerto Rican independence movement and the Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico under Pedro Albizu Campos , which brought him problems with the American government and the FBI. With his friend Pedro Ortiz Davila ("Davilita") he sang patriotic songs based on texts by Juan Antonio Corretjer .

Since the late 1940s, Santos commuted between New York City and Cuba for fifteen years, composing around 400 songs in that time. He sympathized with Fidel Castro's revolution , and his song Sierra Maestra became the hymn of Movimiento 26 de Julio . After hearing that Castro was planning to train children for the military, he withdrew, disaffected.

He then appeared on the radio station Suaritos, alternating with musicians like Toña la Negra , and finally received a contract with Radio Progreso to perform with the group Sonora Matancera , with whom he performed great successes by composers such as Pablo Cairo , Isolina Carrillo and Jesús Guerra .

Santos' eventful, unsteady life - he was married thirteen times and converted large parts of his earnings into alcohol - inspired several writers to write biographical works about him, such as Josean Ramos for the novella Vengo a decirle adiós a los muchachos, Salvador Garmendia for the book El Inquieto Anacobero and Luis Rafael Sánchez on La importancia de llamarse Daniel Santos . Based on Santos' own stories, Héctor Mújica wrote El Inquieto Anacobero: confesiones de Daniel Santos a Héctor Mújica (1982).

Santos recorded more than 700 songs on approximately 300 LPs released in the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Since the late 1980s, numerous recordings have been re-published on CD.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Santos, Daniel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Santos Betancourt, Daniel Doroteo (full name); El Jefe (stage name); El Inquieto Anacobero (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Puerto Rican singer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Santurce , Puerto Rico
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1992
Place of death Ocala , Florida, United States